24 



POCKET GOPHERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Other methods of trapping Gophers have been tried with varying suc- 

 cess, and numerous kinds of traps have been devised for the purpose. 

 Five of these are figured in a bulletin of the Oregon Agricultural Exper- 

 iment Station (Bull. No. 25, April, 1893). Many of them are clumsy 

 and expensive, and few, if any, can compete with the common steel trap 

 when the latter is properly used. 



Poisoning. — Poisoning is a simpler and more expeditious method of 

 destroying Gophers than trapping, but is more laborious than the use 

 of bisulphide of carbon. The use of poison is always attended with 

 danger, for in spite of all precaution, other animals than those for 

 which it was intended are liable to get it. 



The usual method is to insert a small quantity of arsenic or floured 

 strychnine into a piece of potato and push the potato as far as possible 

 into a fresh Gopher's hole and then close the opening securety. The 

 Honorable J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture, has found 

 arsenic on white potatoes and apples efficacious in destroying Pocket 

 Gophers at his home in eastern Nebraska. 



Phosphorus has been used extensively in California, Washington, 

 and Oregon in destroying ground squirrels, and to a less extent for 

 Pocket Gophers. Mr. Allen Chattin, of Charter Oak, Iowa, states that 

 he has entirely exterminated the Gophers from his own and several 

 neighboring farms by the use of phosphorus. His recipe is as follows: 



Put a stick of phosphorus in a 5-gallon can with a little cold water; 

 next pour in hot water, not quite boiling, until the can is half full, and 

 stir with a stick. When the phosphorus is melted add. while the water 

 is stirred constantly, 2 pounds of sugar, and immediately after the 

 sugar is dissolved thicken to a stiff batter with corn meal and flour, 

 half-and-half* Now add wheat and stir until stiff. While adding the 

 wheat add also 15 to 20 drops of oil of rhodium. The wheat will soak 

 up all the water in the mass and it will become quite hard. Keep in a 

 cool place. Small pieces may be chipped off as needed. Gophers may 

 get too little strychnine to kill them, but no matter how small a piece 

 of phosphorus they get it will Anally prove fatal. Dig down to an 

 open hole, drop in a small piece, put a clod to keep the hole from filling, 

 and cover over with loose dirt to exclude the light. 



It should be borne in mind that phosphorus is one of the most deadly 

 poisons. I do not wish to be held responsible for recommending the 

 use of this or any other poison on the farm. 



Use of wire netting. — In Bulletin No. 5 of the Oregon Agricultural 

 Experiment Station it is stated that young trees may be protected by 

 a cylinder of wire netting 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet in length placed 

 aroirnd the roots when the tree is planted. The top of the cylinder 

 should be 4 to o' inches below the surface of the ground, and the bottom 

 may be left open. Netting with a three-quarter inch mesh is recom- 

 mended. 



