FEBRUARY. 67 



judiciously set in a main burrow. It is better near 

 a hedge, or in a plantation, than in the middle of a 

 field, where it is liable to be disturbed by cattle. A 

 strong hazel stick for the spring, two pieces of brass 

 wire, a little string, a few hooked pegs, and a top 

 made of the half of a piece of willow pole, about 

 six inches long and three in diameter, hollowed out, 

 are all the requisites for a mole-trap. 



RURAL OCCUPATIONS. 



Thrashing, tending cattle, early lambs, calves, 

 etc. continue, as in last month, to occupy the 

 thoughts and the hands of the husbandman. Ma- 

 nures too are carried to grass lands. Ploughing 

 is on the increase ; and spring wheat, beans, peas, 

 oats, and tares are sown. In mild weather, hedges 

 are planted ; overgrown fences are cut, or plashed. 

 Ponds and drains are made. Timber is felled, and 

 tree-seeds are sown. Copsewood is cut, and plan- 

 tations are thinned. In the garden, various opera- 

 tions of pruning, digging, sowing, etc. are going on. 



ANGLING. 



Almost every fresh-water fish is in season, ex- 

 cepting chub, during the latter half of the month, 

 and trout, which continues so till April. Roach 

 and dace are deemed to be this month in prime. 

 They frequent rivers, and must be sought for at this 

 season in deep, shaded holes, in clear waters with 



