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THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



counties; however, all voted in its favor when brought before them in 

 convention. The possibility of procuring additional funds from the 

 Boards of Supervisors appeared to be a problem; however, in most 

 cases the work of the commissioner had commanded the interest and 

 respect of the supervisors to such an extent that there was no great 

 hesitancy to set aside funds for such necessary work as ground squirrel 

 control. A sound policy was usually outlined and adhered to by the 

 commisisoners consisting generally of the establishment of a revolving 

 fund for the purchase of poison supplies in large lots for preparing 

 poisoned grain as cheaply as possible and a systematic campaign by 

 districts to clean up lands of negligent owners. Payment of bills for 

 enforcing the abatement of the squirrel nuisance was paid from the 

 general fund which was reimbursed upon the collection of liens. 



Naturally opinions as to proper means of procedure under the law 

 differed with counties, hence if a uniform program could be adopted 

 great good would come of it. At the convention of county horticultural 

 commissioners at Sacramento in November, 1917, the attorney general 

 for California appeared before this body and answered as many ques- 

 tions as had been submitted to him in writing previous to the meeting 

 as well as several asked verbally. This official cautioned the commis- 

 sioners as to proper use for the law entrusted to them. It should not 

 be used as a threat but should be so judiciously enforced that the farmer 

 would consider the enforcement a benefit rather than a burden. 



Some commissioners had followed the plan of sending legal notices 

 to all landowners without any particular warning excepting an occa- 

 sional newspaper notice. Others took pains that all should be fully 

 informed as to the legal requirements and best methods of control. 

 This latter method gave personal acquaintance with a majority of those 

 who would be interested enough in squirrel control to serve as dissem- 

 inators of proper information, thereby avoiding the service of many 

 notices. Inspectors who had been called together and given a detailed 

 set of instructions as to properly serving notices and in methods of 

 controlling rodent pests were found to produce a good feeling among 

 the landowners, consequently better results were noted. 



To take a portion of a county for purposes of rodent control, and 

 systematically work such a district, proved to end in a more promising 

 way than in cases where sporadic work was attempted all over a county 

 or where merely the complaints of landowners adjoining an infested 

 area were looked after. Systematic control operations without skip- 

 ping plots has certainly saved time and labor. Fortunately, proper 

 control methods have resolved themselves to two for the year, namely, 

 poisoned barley for the dry season and carbon disulphid for the wet; 

 hence a proficient inspector can develop a trained crew of men to 

 conduct this work in a short time. 



Unsettled labor conditions due to the war have, of course, handicapped 

 the work an untold amount during 1918, inasmuch as rates of pay for 

 laborers could not be placed high enough to attract men of the ability 

 desired. Good mechanics and shipyard workers were developed out 

 of numbers of men whose inclinations prior to this time had kept them 

 satisfied to remain in rural communities. Squirrel work never paid 

 any more than the average farm hand was receiving. 



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