PROTECTION OF CROPS. 33 



If the orchard or field is to be protected as a whole, it should be 

 inclosed by a low fence so built as to leave no holes large enough to 

 admit a rabbit. While the animals could easily leap over a low fence 

 they are not likely to under ordinary circumstances.^ In southern 

 California experience has shown that a fence about 2 feet high affords 

 ample protection under ordinary circumstances, and many vineyards 

 and orchards are surrounded by lath fences 2 to 2^ feet in height. In the 

 rabbit-infested region near Bakersfield, Gal., the fences are built some- 

 what higher than usual — about 5 feet — and are made of laths securely 

 fastened with wire, which is stretched between posts set 15 or 20 feet 

 apart (see corral in PI. Ill, p. 47). Several kinds are in use, but in any 

 case the fence should be built well down to the ground, and may be still 

 further protected by running a barbed wire along the surface of the 

 ground, or by turning a furrow against the bottom to prevent the 

 animals from crawling under. A horizontal board fence may be ren- 

 dered rabbit proof by nailing slats between the boards or by placing 

 the lower boards closer together. Fencing material consisting of laths 

 interwoven with wire is sold in large rolls and can be had in some 

 localities ready for stringing to the posts. Woven wire fences are also 

 made especially for keeping out rabbits. One of the best fences is 

 made of galvanized wire netting with 1^-inch meshes stretched between 

 posts which are set in the ground at convenient distances. The netting 

 should be fastened with staples on the inside of the posts, and two 

 barbed wires, with barbs 2^ inches apart, fastened to the outside of the 

 posts, one just clearing the ground and the other an inch above the top 

 of the netting. The barbed wires will tear any rabbit that tries to 

 scratch under or jump over the fence. If desirable, a third wire may 

 be stretched a foot or two above the top of the netting, which will 

 make a fence high enough to keep out cattle.^ 



In regions having a heavy snowfall it may be necessary to build the 

 fences somewhat higher, as the rabbits, taking advantage of the drifts, 

 can oftentimes clear a low fence. This difficulty has been experienced 

 in Idaho, and some orchardists have used a combination fence made of 

 paling 4 feet high protected at the bottom outside by a strip of wire 

 netting 2 feet in width. Ordinary fences made of laths or paling can 

 not be relied on if wide spaces are left between the slats, as the rabbits 

 can then gnaw a hole large enough to gain entrance to the inclosure. 

 Prof. Charles P. Fox, director of the experiment station at Moscow, 

 Idaho, suggests that such fences can be still further protected by dip- 

 ping the slats in a warm solution of silicate of soda or protecting them 



'It may be interesting to note that a jack rabbit has been seen to clear a 7-foot 

 fence at a single leap. Mr. Charles Payne, of Wichita, Kans., had several animals 

 confined in an inclosure of this height and actually saw one or more escape by 

 jumping over the fence. (Am. Field, XLII, Sept. 29, 1894, p. 295. ) 



2 Wickson, California Fruits, 1889, p. 553; 2d ed., 1891, p. 577. 

 8615— No. 8 3 



