INJUEY TO CROPS. 31 



to my old orchard of a thousand peach trees by rabbits [Lepus sylvati- 

 cus and L. melanotis] is 50 per cent. Three hundred trees are barked 

 all around and below the bud, so that if they come out again they will 

 be seedlings. Whitewashing the trunks does no good, as the rabbits 

 take the whitewash and bark together." 



When irrigation was first begun near Lamar, in southeastern Colorado, 

 the rabbits were attracted from the surrounding country, and caused 

 much damage in the alfalfa and young orchards. Hunts were arranged 

 on a large scale to kill off the pests, and proved so successful that 

 regular 'rabbit days' have been celebrated for the last two or three 

 years at Las Animas and at Lamar. 



In Idaho much difiiculty has been esjierienced with jack rabbits at 

 the experiment station at Kampa, Canyon County. They are partic- 

 ularly destructive to oats, wheat, barley, clover, vegetables, and fruit 

 trees. Mr, T. T. Entledge, assistant director, states that entire crops 

 of grain and alfalfa are sometimes destroyed if small in acreage and 

 unprotected. 



Mr. J. B. Cure, of Rudy, Fremont County, writes under date of Sep- 

 tember 10, 1895: ''Jack rabbits have done a great deal of damage in 

 this part of the country to grain and lucern, and are increasing very 

 fast. * * * Some of the farmers have lost from 8 to 10 acres of 

 grain by rabbits this season." 



Complaints have also been received from the State of Washiugton 

 from Sunnyside, Yakima County; from Davenport, Lincoln County, and 

 from Prescott, Wallawalla County. Mr. Conrod, of Davenport, wrote 

 on December 19, 1887, that the jack rabbits were causing serious injury 

 to grain, apple and plum trees, raspberry vines, carrots, and cabbage. 



Mr. Oscar !N". Wheeler, of Prescott, writing under date of August 12, 

 1895, says: "Jack rabbits (white tailed) have done a vast amount of 

 damage to orchards, vineyards, and grain fields, but are not nearly so 

 numerous now as they were three or four years ago, when they destroyed 

 bearing orchards. Timber claims, planted in black locust that were 

 large and old enough to 'prove up' on, were destroyed by them. Peo- 

 ple who had hay stacked had to fence it to keep them off. I have 

 known large stacks of hay destroyed by them." 



In Utah, Mr. W. G. jS'owers wrote in February, 1887, concerning the 

 Black-tailed Jack Babbit {Lepus texianus) in Beaver County: "At 

 times its ravages are enormous; sweeping down from the bench lands 

 and sage plains in myriads, it devours entire fields of cereals. Last 

 year in this and adjoining counties on either side its depredations 

 amounted to several thousand dollars. Last year some farmers in this 

 county lost their entire crop of small grain from this source alone. At 

 Minersville not more than one-third of the crop was harvested; at 

 Adamsville nearly the total crop was taken; at Greenville one-half of 

 the crop was destroyed; and here (Beaver) about the same. This is 

 also a fair representation of the ravages in Iron County south of us." 



