4 CIKCTJLAK 3 81, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



however, where orderly arrangement is desirable, and in the lighter 

 field soils, where the drying of the roots may result from the passage 

 of a mole down the rows, the presence of these small burrowers 

 should not be tolerated. 



TULIPS 



Tulips appear to be the frailest in structure of all the bulbous 

 plants commonly grown, and the underground parts at least as in- 

 viting as any other to the appetites of small burrowing animals. 

 More complaints are made about the damage these animals do to 

 tulips than to any other class of bulbs, the charge usually being laid 

 at the door of the mole. This insectivorous animal, the principal 

 diet of which in humid climes is earthworms, is often directly re- 

 sponsible for the loss of bulbs. Captive moles held under conditions 

 as natural as possible eat tulip bulbs regardless of the size, but never 





Figure 1. — Damage to tulip planting done by pocket gophers : 15,0U0 bulbs destroyed, 



Salem, Oreg. 



store them or any other food supplies. Moles may often follow 

 planted rows on account of the presence of fertilizer in them and 

 their consequent attraction for worms and insects. 



Being frail, the tulip plants are sometimes seriously damaged by 

 moles passing along the rows beneath the surface and breaking every 

 stem in their progress. The bulbs may or may not be taken later, but 

 the wilting and discoloring stems betray the damage. 



Mole runways are often used as highways by rodents, including 

 mice, pocket gophers, and, occasionally, young rats, and this makes 

 it difficult to determine the relative damage done to tulip beds by each 

 kind of animal. The meadow mice, however, do considerable burrow- 

 ing on their own account, leaving open holes here and there. 



Within its natural range, the pocket gopher is always a menace to 

 tulip growing (fig. 1). This applies particularly to districts of west- 

 ern Oregon, where pocket gophers of a large species or of one or more 

 smaller species are likely to be locally abundant. The menace is the 



