MISCELLANEOUS PESTS. 208 



saucer or dish, moisten very slightly, then sprinkle 

 powdered red lead over them, and well stir till the seeds 

 are properly coated. Spread the seeds out to dry, then 

 sow them. A small quantity of paraffin oil sprinkled over 

 the seeds before sowing will be equally efficacious. Eows 

 of peas may be protected by means of pea guards, or by 

 bending sticks over and placing fish-netting thereon. 

 Strands of black cotton stretched over seed beds will 

 frighten away birds from crocuses and carnations, and 

 dristings of soot and lime render the leaves distasteful. 



Cats. — We shall, doubtless, invoke the w^ath of some 

 of our cat-loving readers by having the audacity to in- 

 clude Felix domesticus in a book on garden pests. There 

 can be no question, however, that, while there are well- 

 bred and w^ell-cared-for cats who do no harm to gardens, 

 yet, on the other hand, there are, unmistakably, others 

 that do unlimited mischief in scratching up seeds of plants, 

 and damaging plants by fighting and squabbling among 

 them. We feel, therefore, that we must give a hint or 

 two how to prevent the latter doing injury, but in doing 

 so we Fhall certainly not offend owners of well-behaved 

 pussies by giving suggestions for maiming, killing, or tor- 

 turing them. W^e are far too fond of cats ourselves to do 

 anything that would suggest injury or cruelty to them. 

 We may here make a passing reference to the legal aspect 

 of the cat in relation to the garden. It is a criminal 

 offence, punishable by fine or imprisonment, to lay down 

 poison for, or to shoot, or to trap cats. A cat is recog- 

 nised by the law as a domestic animal, and therefore 

 comes under its protection. 



Kemedies.— (1) The owner of a garden is not bound to 

 fence his garden round with wire or with netting, or any- 

 thing else, to prevent animals from trespassing upon his 

 property. It is a neighbour's duty to prevent his cat 

 from straying and doing damage. Write at once to your 

 neighbour and tell him that if the cat does further damage 

 you will immediately bring an action for damages in the 



