DRESSING SEED BEFORE SOWING 147 



quented by house or wood mice, field or grass (bank) voles. Op- 

 posite the hole in the pot and 2 or 3 in. from the entrance, sus- 

 pend a smooth wooden roller (s) turning freely on a piece of wire 

 (/), and this hooked (u) outside the pot. Smear the roller with 

 lard, or preferably rub well with cheese and dust with oatmeal. 

 Sprinkle a little short straw or rough hay on the surface, but leaving 

 the hole clear, and scatter a mixture of grass and clover seeds about 

 the hole. The short-tailed field-mouse or vole, long-tailed field 

 or wood-mouse, and the house-mouse, alike, will soon gather about 



FIG. 95. INVERTED SUNK FLOWER-POT TRAP. 



References : q, slate ; r , inverted flower-pot ; s, wooden roller ; t, suspending wire ; u, hooks ; v, 

 aperture ; w, saucer for holding water ; x, space between solid soil and flower-pot thaf may be 

 stuffed with easily removed material so as to empty saucer of dead victims at intervals and 

 renew bait. 



the trap and, attracted by the dainty smell from the roller will 

 leap upon it, thence be precipitated to the bottom, whence they 

 cannot escape. The trap acts best when kept dry; therefore, in 

 wet weather, a ridge tile may be placed over the trap so as to form 

 a run and keep water from the aperture. Instead of using a slate, 

 the flower-pot may be inverted on a saucer of similar size, filling 

 this with water so as to drown the voles or mice as they fall in. 

 DRESSING SEED BEFORE SOWING. To protect seeds, particularly 

 beans and peas, from the ravages of mice and rats, it is advisable 

 to dress the seed before sowing. For this purpose we have found 

 paraffin oil the most effective. The process is very simple, an or- 

 dinary flower-pot sufficing to prepare the dressing as follows : 

 Cork the hole tightly (Fig. 96, P y) and place in the seed (z). Sprinkle 

 on sufficient paraffin to thoroughly moisten the top layer, then take 

 the pot in both hands by the rim and shake the seed upward with 

 a turnover movement, so as to bring the bottom seed by degrees 



