126 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



the pleasure of cutting the flowers myself and 

 presenting them with a bouquet ! 



Of the four-legged there are but two — rabbits 

 and moles. Rabbits are easily dispensed with by 

 a shotgun — or Paris green on lettuce leaves 

 spread appetizingly about, just in time for sup- 

 per. The shotgun would be the surer method, 

 if we can persuade the local game warden that 

 the rabbit was damaging the crops. (By the 

 way, rabbits in early spring are excellent ferti- 

 lizers for grapevines and climbing roses!) 



But moles often become a serious menace 

 where dahlias are to be grown. 



Fortunately our Government is wise enough to 

 consider moles as vermin, allowing us to kill 

 them by whatever meians we wish. In a few 

 European countries, moles are considered bene- 

 ficial to the farmer, as they devour the pupa of all 

 pestiferous insects, and seldom if ever eat of the 

 roots of crops. That is all very well in Germany. 

 I have often wished the moles that visit my 

 garden were in Germany. I do not want them 

 in my dahlia beds and I am sure that my readers 

 do not want them in theirs. 



Moles usually make their permanent runs in 

 early spring. If the run is damaged by forking 

 the garden, they come back and repair it. 

 These runs usually lead to the nest, quite far 



