WITS REFERENCE TO HORTICULTURE. 



73 



Fig. 10. 



>late or brick and crushes them ; the same trap of larger dimensions 

 is almost equally effective for rats. It must be set lightly, the weight 

 resting on the projecting part of 

 the upper part of the trap ; 

 otherwise the perpendicular part 

 of the trap will prevent the weight 

 from falling. The black and the 

 brown rat are omnivorous, and 

 the latter takes occasionally to 

 water and swims readily. Both 

 are extremely difficult to extir- 

 pate, and the various modes of 

 entrapping them are too nume- 

 rous and well known to require 

 description here. The hare feeds 

 entirely on vegetables, and is very 

 injurious when it finds its way 

 into gardens and young plantations. It eats the bark of several trees, and 

 is particularly fond of that of the Laburnum. Various mixtures have 

 been recommended for rendering the bark of young trees obnoxious 

 to the hare, and an ointment composed of powdered sloes and hogs' 

 lard is said to prove effectual. Stale urine of any kind, mixed up 

 with any glutinous matter that will retain it on the bark, has also been 

 recommended. The rabbit is more injurious to gardens than the hare, 

 because it is much less shy, and much more prolific. It may be deterred 

 from injuring the bark of trees by the same means as the hare, 

 and from eating pinks, carnations, and other evergreen herbaceous 

 plants, by surrounding them with a tarred thread, supported by sticks 



Fig. 11. 



1. Upright support. 



2. Diagonal liner. 



3- Bait stick, cut into to catch 1, and 



notched at the end to hold 2 fast. 

 4. Slate, brick, or stone crusher. 



J 



Triple fence : a, for excluding cattle ; b, sheep fence : c, hare and rabbit fence. 



dipped in sulphur, at the height of six or eight inches from the ground. 

 The only effective barrier, however, is a strained wire fence, closely 



