MISCELLANEOUS PESTS, 299 



Rats (Mus decumanus). — Tlie Conimou or Brown Rat 

 is a mischievous creature either indoors or outdoors, feed- 

 ing on seeds, fruit, or roots, and should be prompt!}^ ex- 

 terminated. 



PiEMSDiEs. — (1) The quickest and easiest ways of exter- 

 minating rats is to ferret them out. (2) Where this can- 

 not be done, have resort to wire or steel traps. Bait with 

 toasted cheese or bacon, and handle the traps with gloved 

 hands. After the traps are set, sprinkle the following rat 

 scent about the trap: Aniseed, Joz. ; aquafortis, 3 drops; 

 musk, Igr. Mix the musk and the aniseed well together 

 before adding the aquafortis. This scent will attract the 

 rats readily to their doom. (3) Find out their runs, and 

 block them up with broken glass .and cement. (4) Rat 

 poisons. These, however, should only be used where 

 there are no children, pets, or poultry. 



chaptp:r II. 

 WEEDS ON PATHS, ETC. 



Paths and drives formed of gravel, stone, or ballast, are 

 bound sooner or later to become infested with weeds. The 

 reason is that the material contains a certain proportion 

 of earthy matter capable of supporting vegetable growth; 

 and, as there are no means of preventing weed seeds being 

 conveyed by the agency of winds, birds, etc., these will 

 germinate, and render measures being periodically adopted 

 for their destruction. Of course, there is no possibility 

 of this trouble arising in the case of tar, asphalte, and 

 concrete paths. Fortunately, we have at our disposal an 

 effectual means in the shape of powerful liquid weedi- 

 cides, capable of killing weeds wholesale, and thus there 



