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mother must have been near this birth.
As this is my only experience on this part
of Moles: do not know as they always produce ^pairs[double underline] [illegible]
The nest was very neatly made of corn silks
and must have been taken nearly 30
feet under ground: but as they were
dug out could not tell how large
the chamber was. nor how made
Of the remaining questions I can only ^answer 2 or 3
In searching for food in summer they sometimes
graze along at a depth of 18 ⁱⁿ to two feet
What voice have they? it squeak (quite faint)
And now if you give me a call
next September I will show you sweet
potatoes which if the Moles have not eaten
apart of have at least gnawed in pieces
to get ^them [illegible] out of theire way
[over this paragraph is a drawing - a square with an x in the center]
sometime a row several rods long will look flourishing untill just before digging when
not a whole potato can be found.
In regard to squirrels mentioned in the last
P.F. Jan'y ^8th they are plenty in this
section but it would be very difficult
to obtain a live one before spring as
the old ones are very shy but young ones
are taken by the boys about here every ^spring spring.
If there is any information in this I shall
be pleased if not please use it in lighting
the fire. If you are still cultivating [illegible]
Evergreens please send me a price
catalogue if you can Yours Faithfully
Dec 12^th 1857 L.C. Flanders