422 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 10,iO. 



operation put into effective, harmonious, and widely corre- 

 lated action on a large scale, involving many thousands of 

 farmers and stockmen, their organizations, and county. 

 State, and Federal officials. 



Some idea of the seriousness of the losses suffered annu- 

 ally from the native rodents, including prairie dogs, ground 



1119706 



Results of I'rairie-Dog Activities. 



A close-up view showing detail of work of prairie dogs on a heavily infested 

 area. All valuable forage grasses, including their root systems, had been com 

 pletely destroyed, leaving only a few scattering clumps of weeds and wire 

 grass. Not less than 100,000,000 acres of range and agricultural lands are 

 infested by prairie dogs, these animals selecting the most productive valleys 

 and bench lands for their devastating activities. After poison treatment, 55 

 dead prairie dogs were counted on the area in the illustration. 



squirrels, pocket gophers, and jack rabbits, may be obtained 

 from the following estimates submitted during the fiscal 

 year 1917 by certain State directors of agricultural exten- 

 sion: Montana, $15,000,000 to $20,000,000; North Dakota, 

 $0,000,000 to $9,000,000; Kansas, $12,000,000; Colorado, 

 $2,000,000; California, $20,000,0011: Wyoming, 15 per cent of 

 all crops; Nevada. 10 to 15 per cent of all crops, or $1,000,000; 

 New Mexico, $1,200,000 loss to crops and double this amount 

 to range. In a single county of Virginia, losses of or- 



