NURSERY PRACTICE FOR PRAIRIE-PLAINS PLANTING 143 



It has been observed that the set can be made more effective if the 

 salt blocks are placed on flat-topped mounds of soil 1 foot high and 

 2 to 3 feet across at the top. These small ''knolls" apparently attract 

 the rabbits. The salt block should be staked down with a piece of 

 Xo. 9 wire inserted through a small hole in the block. The salt should 

 be cleansed occasionally of any soil which accumulates on it. This 

 control method is most effective when the vegetation is green and 

 succulent. 



A good control method in winter is to use as bait ears of corn or 

 heads of maize which have been treated with a strychnine material. 

 The bait is tied or wired near a lath which is pushed into the snow so 

 that the bait is a foot above the snow level. Bait so placed is not as 

 easily covered by drifting snow as when placed on the ground. 



The bait is prepared by making a paste consisting of 4 ounces of 

 standard poison mixture (2 ounces of strychnine alkaloid, 2 ounces 

 baking soda) stirred into a hot starch solution. Stir 2 tablespoons of 

 gloss starch into 1 pint of cold water, add it to 3 pints of boiling water, 

 and heat until the starch is clear. The ears of corn or heads of maize 

 are dipped into this hot paste and allowed to drain. The same 

 quantity of the starch paste applied to 24 quarts of whole oats makes a 

 fairly effective bait. This may be exposed by placing tablespoonfuls 

 at bait spots in the rabbit trails. 



Regardless of which bait method of control is used, care should be 

 taken that livestock or other animals and birds do not get the bait. 

 Further, the dead rabbits should be collected frequently and buried 

 in a deep pit to keep dogs or pigs from getting them. 



It must be borne in mind that food habits of the various animal 

 pests vary from season to season and from one locality to the next. 

 Only a trial-and-error method based on experience will teach which 

 bait is most acceptable at any one season of the year. 



Before any poison campaign is started the State laws should be 

 studied to determine if the procedure is legal. In most cases, ade- 

 quate control by other means should be tried first. 



BIRDS 



Birds are not generally a serious problem in deciduous nurseries 

 and usually do more good than harm, especially if a considerable part 

 of their diet consists of insects and weed seeds. Birds may cause 

 damage before germination by scratching out the seed and eating it, 

 but they are more likely to nip and break the seedlings at time of 

 emergence from the soil. 



One of the most feasible methods of reducing bird damage, in some 

 instances, is to fall-sow the seed. This results in earlier germination 

 and very often the germination is completed by the time the main 

 flight of certain species of migratory birds reaches the locality in 

 which the nursery is located. In other instances it may be found 

 desirable to delay sowing until the birds have passed on their way 

 North. 



One of the most feasible methods of coping with the problem is 

 to have one or several men patrol the nursery area during the sowing 

 and germination period. They should be equipped with guns and 

 blank cartridges or with some other type of Qoisemaking device. 



