I n.i ri;\ IN n I RSI RIKH \ \ l» l u:« 11 \i;l». 
attack- licluw tin- surface :i i >« 1 except under cover "I no\i rarely 
extend them above ground. The} sometimes consume the entire 
roots of small apple trees so that «>ul\ the trunk is left (PL III. 
fiL r . I). Experienced nurserymen prevent serious injur} t<> standing 
stock by clean cultivation. Stock that has been taken up In the fall 
and " heeled in M or kept in storage pits is, however, liable to attack, 
especiallv if covered b} straw, leaves, or other litter. Hence for 
protection from freezing i\ loose covering of soil is better than litter. 
Winter seed l>cds of conifers, oaks, and nut-bearing trees are often 
attacked by Held mice and need t<> be carefully protected from them 
a- well as from white-footed mice (Peromyscus) . Small pine trees 
in thf nurser} also are liable to injury, -nice their low branches 
usually furnish »-o\ er for mice. 
Ainonir th«' nursery stock injured by field mice arc apple pear. 
quince, plum, peach, cherry, crabapple, sugar and Norway maple. 
chestnut, black locust, Osage orange, sassafras, alder, white ash, 
mountain ash, various oaks, cottonwood, willow, pine, and wild 
cherry tree-: also blackberry, raspberry, rose, currant, and barberry 
bushes, as well as grape vines. In the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica 
Plain. Mas*., during the winter of L903-4, meadow mice destroyed 
thousands of trees and shrubs, including apple, maple, sumac, bar- 
berry, buckthorn, dwarf cherry, snowball, bush honeysuckle, juniper. 
blueberry, dogwood, beech, r.nd larch. Plant- in nursery beds and 
acorn- and cuttings in boxes especially were harmed." 
[NJTJRY TO ORCHARDS. 
'Tree- transplanted from the nursery into the orchard are m more 
danger from field mice while the outer hark is green and tender, hut 
there are instances in which tree- 5 and 6 inches in diameter have been 
attacked and killed by them. Most farmer- are inexperienced as 
Drchardists, and plant fruit trees only for family use. Engrossed in 
the production of other crop-, they often neglect the orchard and per- 
mit annual grasses or weeds to grow up, which afford cover for mice. 
Often, too, clover or orchard grass is sown in the orchard as a cover- 
ing for the ground, and the heavy growth left for winter mulch is 
augmented by fallen leaves, ruder such condition- it i- not strange 
that mice injure the trees. It i- remarkable, indeed, that so many 
orchards escape injury. That they do so may in part be attributed to 
the fact that they are often near dwellings, where hen- scratch and 
cats prowl. 
Attack- upon orchard- by mire are not always accomplished under 
cover of -now. nor are they confined to winter. They frequently 
occur in summer, often in September. During the winter of L905-6 
o Boston Transcript, April 16, 1904. 
10700— No. 31—07 i 
