MOLES Sm,—Sir Stephen Tallents asks among other questions what purposes
lead moles to travel above ground My experience is that they do so in large numbers 'when :n late summer, particularly in clay soils, the ground sets like cement. Tunnelling at such times must be hard going, indeed ; but an even greater inducement to come to the surface and find their way quickly to some moister place is the fact that at such times the worms go deeper into the ground. Moles do not burrow deeply. In places where there are five or six inches of loamy topsoil which overlays clay or sand they tunnel at the contact, as can frequently be seen by examination of molehills.
This bringing up of pulverised undersoil to be gradually converted to topsoil is, I think, to be placed to the mole's credit in addition to the valuable drainage and aeration of soil for which he is responsible. It is disconcerting to wake up in the morning and find molehills in the midst of one's gravel path ; but, so far as grassland is concerned, the mole is seldom present where his services are not required, and if the husband- Man is prepared to take a tithe of the troub!e with his bush harrow that the tunneller has taken in performing his very useful function, the maximum benefit can be secured. I hope Sir Stephen Tallents will press on with his enquiries and eventually give us a book on the subject
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