PRAIRIE GOPHER. 37 



off roots and stems, and then usually pulling the plant down into the ground. 

 Gopher hills in meadows are considered a great nuisance hy those who ran mowers, 

 but no complaints have been made of their injuring the meadows other than that a 

 little grass or grain is covered up. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher says: "Both at Storm Lake, Iowa, and Bound 

 Lake, Minn., complaints were made of the damage done by Pocket 

 Gophers in gnawing off the roots of fruit and shade trees. Mr. Louns- 

 bnry showed me an apple tree, fully G inches in diameter, all the roots 

 of which had been cut off by Pocket Gophers. He had lost ui)ward 

 of 100 apple trees in the past few years by these destructive rodents. 

 Vegetable gardens also suffer severely from their depredations." 



Mr. D. W. Lounsbury writes from St. Joseph, Mo.: "On the farm 

 of a friend here one- tenth of an orchard of 18 acres planted last spring 

 (1888) was destroyed by Pocket Gophers." 



Mr. Henry I. Warden, Keosauqua, Iowa, writes: "They are very 

 destructive to young orchards. I have lost a good many trees by their 

 eating off the roots. * * * I have seen hickory saplings 2 inches 

 through with the roots all eaten off by Gophers. * * * I have 

 always paid 25 cents per head for all caught on my place." 



Mr. S. S. Dickinson, of Larued, Kans., writes as follows of Pocket 

 Gophers: "Late in the fall and in the winter and spring they eat 

 apple and other tree roots. They have destroyed 200 apple trees for 

 me in the past two years." 



From Eeeder, Kans., Mr. George Briggs writes: "They are destruc- 

 tive to fruit trees, running underground and cutting all the roots off. 

 Five percent of all the trees in this neighborhood have been killed 

 by the Pocket Gopher. * * * Last year we planted one acre in pea- 

 nuts, from which we raised 100 bushels; 25 bushels were destroyed 

 by Gophers." 



From Louisburg, Miami County, Kans., Mr. G. H. Aiken writes: 

 "The Pocket Gophers are destructive here and possess no redeeming 

 traits. They are rather difficult to catch. They throw up mounds in 

 our meadows and cut off roots of young hedges, grapevines, etc." 



Dr. G. S. Agersborg writes from Vermillion, S. Dak. : " Geomys bur- 

 sarins is very destructive and seems to work underground entirely, 

 eating carrots, parsnips, and tree seedlings, especially black walnut, to 

 within 2 inches of surface. They store away potatoes for winter. I 

 know of one instance where nearly 2 bushels were found in the bottom 

 of a burrow." 



From Anthony, Kans., Mrs. H. C. Bowens writes: "Our experience 

 has been that they eat roots and fruit and undermine vegetables. 

 They ate our sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes about an inch under 

 ground, leaving the tops to die." 



Mr. Edwin A. Donnell, of Zumbrota, Minn., says in a letter of Decem- 

 ber, 1886: "One of my neighbors plowed out two bushels of potatoes 

 which had been gathered in one deposit, and were as clean as if they 



