DESTRUCTION OF VERMIN. 57 



carts for the repair of those roads in his parish 

 which are not provided for by toll-gates. 



Winter, though not the season, generally, for 

 military enterprise, is not a bad time for the 

 farmer to proceed against very many of his 

 enemies, with any advantages of arms, engines, 

 and generalship, which he may possess. The 

 enemies which I now refer to, are rats, mice, 

 and weasels ; many kinds of birds and insects ; 

 and last, but not least in mischievous impor- 

 tance, many tribes of four-footed game ! With 

 regard to all these, no qualification for killing 

 them is needful, but the power of catching or 

 finding them; and for this purpose, various 

 schemes and arts, and clever ones too, are 

 made use of. In the United States much less 

 attention is paid to the destruction of such crea- 

 tures as prey upon and injure our crops, than 

 in England. In this latter country rat-catching 



