1064 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



in the same manner as for a woodcock. To explain this more exactly : tie a string to 

 some pole set fast in the ground, and to this string fasten a small short stick, made thin 

 on the upper side, with a notch at the lower end of it ; then set another stick fast in the 

 ground, with a nick under it ; bend down the pole, and let the nicks or notches join in the 

 slightest degree : then open the noose or string, and place it in the path or walk of the 

 fox. By strewing flesh-meat, pieces of cheese^ &c., as you pass along, you may entice 

 the fox to take the same road. 



6849. To shoot a fox, anoint the soles of the shoes with swine's fat, a little broiled ; then go towards the 

 wood, and, in returning, drop here and there a bit of swine's liver, roasted and dipt in honey, drawing 

 after you a dead cat ; and by these means he therefore will be allured to follow you. 



6850. The fox is sometimes taken with a hook, made of large wire, and turning on a swivel like the 

 collar of a greyhound ; it is usually hung so high from the ground, that he is compelled to leap to catch 

 at it ; and baited with fresh liver, cheese, &c., and if a trail be run with a sheep's paunch, as before 

 directed, he will be drawn to the bait with the greatest ease. 



6S5 1 . The pole cat (Felis putorius, L. ,) may be caught and destroyed by a dead-fall, con- 

 structed in the following manner. Take a square piece of wood, weighing forty or fifty 

 pounds : bore a hole in the middle of the upper side, and set a crooked hook fast in it ; 

 then set four forked stakes fast in the ground, and lay two sticks across, on which sticks 

 lay a long staff, to hold the dead fall up to the crook ; and under this crook put a short 

 stick, and fasten a line to it : this line must reach down to the bridge below ; and this 

 bridge you must make about five or six inches broad. On both sides of this dead-fall, 

 place boards or pales, or edge it with close rods, and make it ten or twelve inches high. 

 L,et the entrance be no wider than the breadth of the dead-fall. A pigeon house, 

 surrounded with a wet ditch, will tend to preserve the pigeons ; for beasts of prey natur- 

 ally avoid water. 



6852. The weasel, or Foumart^ (Felis vulgaris, L.), though in some respects beneficial, 

 in as much as when domesticated, it destroys rats, mice, moles, and other noxious 

 vermin, is nevertheless, in a wild state, a formidable foe to poultry and rabbits. Weasels 

 may be destroyed by putting in their haunts small pieces of paste, consisting of pul- 

 verized sal. ammoniac, mixed up with the white of an egg, wheaten flour, and honey. 

 Tlie strewing of rue round the place where hens nestle, is also said to drive away these de- 

 predators ; as also will the smell of a burnt cat ; as allanincials are terrified at the burning 

 of one of their own, or of a similar species. 



6853. The badger {Ursus meles, L.) destroys great numbers of young pigs, lambs, 

 and poultry every year. Some use a steel trap, or a spring, such as foxes are taken in, 

 to catch them. Others sink a pit-fall, five feet in depth and four in length, forming it 

 narrow at top and bottom, and wider in the middle ; they then cover it with small sticks 

 and leaves, so that the badger may fall in when he comes on it. Foxes are sometimes 

 taken in this manner. Others, again, pursue a badger to his hole, and dig him out, this, 

 is done by moonlight. 



6854. The mole {Talpa eurojycea) is injurious by the subterraneous roads and hills of 

 earth which it forms in grass lands. With regard to the removal of mole hilis, various 

 practices are in use ; but the most effectual is that derived from the experience of a 

 successful IT! ole- catcher, and communicated to the public by Dr. Darwin, in his Phi/- 

 tologia. This man commenced his operations before sun-rising, when he carefuUy 

 watched their situation ; and frequently observing the motion of the earth above their 

 walks, he struck a spade into the ground behind them, cut of their retreat, and then dug. 

 them up. As moles usually place their nests at a greater depth in the ground than their 

 common habitation lies, and thus form an elevation or mole-hill, the next step is to destroy 

 these nests by the spade ; after which the frequented paths are to be distinguished from 

 the bye-roads, for the purpose of setting subterraneous traps. This object may be 

 effected by marking every new mole-hill with a slight pressure of the foot, and observing 

 the next day whether a mole has passed over it, and destroyed such mark ; and this 

 operation should be repeated two or three mornings successively, but without making 

 the pressure so deep as to alarm the animal, and occasion another passage to be opened. 

 Now the traps are to be set in frequented paths, and should be made of a hollow, wooden 

 semi-cylinder, {Jig- 283. ), each end of which should be furnished with grooved rings, 

 containing two nooses of horse-hair, that are loosely fastened in the centre by means of 

 a peg, and are stretched above the surface of the ground by a bent stick or strong hoop. 

 As soon as the mole passes half-way through one of these nooses, and removes the 

 central peg in its course, the hoop, or bent stick, rises in consequence of it elasticity, 

 and of course strangles the mole. The simplicity of this mode of destroying mole- 

 hills and moles, recommends itself to general adoption, as those whose grounds are thus 

 infested may easily extirpate them, by teaching this practice to their laborers. 



6855. 2'he domestic rat {Mus rattus, Ij., Jig- 746.) a7id common mouse, (M. mus- 

 culus, L.) are extremely destructive to the farmer, whose interest it becomes to 

 extirpate as many as possible. Among the various expedients suggested for this pur- 

 pose, the following have been found the most successful. 



