FARMERS' REGISTER. 



637 



pflar at the month of the rat-ho!es, the sharp cun- 

 ning eyes carel'ully ecaiining the windows above, 

 10 see if there was any danger belbre venturing 

 out. By-and-by, if all continued quiet, one or 

 two younir ones would emerge, followed by a few 

 more, but the old ones would rarely trust tiieni- 

 selves out without a long continued assurance of 

 peace and safely. Even the young ones learned 

 caution. An-ongst other ex|)edienls, a box was 

 balanced on a slick, with a bait inside. One 

 morning the box was discovered to be down, but 

 the floor round about was strewed with chips. A 

 rat had pulled the box down upon himselt; but he 

 scorned to be kept a prisoner. He had gnawed 

 the floor, scooping out a channel, and then cut out 

 an arclivvay in the side of the box, through which 

 he had walked out. 



It was suggested to the head of the establish- 

 ment, th&l if he would cause a live rat to be 

 smeared wil]i some offensive ingredient, and then 

 turned off, its smell would so annoy the others, as 

 to make them shift their quarters. It was done, 

 but the rats did not choose that their whole body 

 politic should be upset because one unlucky va- 

 grant was ill-flavored. Whether he was killed, 

 or merely expelled, did not appear. Another ex- 

 periment was tried — a cruel and a hazardous one. 

 A large rat, daubed over with turpentine, was set 

 fire to, and suffered to go off, its body smokintr, 

 and a long piece of cord being attached to its tail. 

 It was (ound about a week afiervvards in the court- 

 yard, having been killed during the night by the 

 dog. It had nipped its tail off', close to the body, 

 in order to get rid of the cord, and seemed to have 

 been recovering from the effects of the useless and 

 dangerous mode of torture to which it had been 

 subjected ; but whether or not it had lost " caste" 

 amongst its acquaintance and neighbors, and had 

 become a wanderer, could not be ascertained. 



At last a rat-catcher was employed, and it was 

 amusing to remark the quiet mysterious air with 

 which he affected to go about his business, and 

 the contempt he manifested towards all dabblers 

 in the science of rat-catching. He came with his 

 lerrets and his dogs, and began his operations in 

 an out-house. Presently the barking of the dogs 

 told him that there were rats below, and taking a 

 ferret from his bag, he let it descend. In a minute 

 or two, a squealing announced the alarm and dis- 

 may which the presence and assault of the ferret 

 had caused ; ami the rat-catcher, civing the word 

 of command to his dogs, "Stand!"' set each to 

 guard a separate hole. Several rats now sprang 

 out, and were killed, and a considerable number 

 were killed by the ferret, which was some time 

 belbre it re-appeared, havingstayed below to gorge 

 itself. The rat-catcher was employed for about a 

 week, during wliich time he destroyed a great 

 number. On some part of the premises he would 

 not let his lerrets loose, fearlijl of not recovering 

 them, if they entered a drain or sewer. There 

 he employed poison and traps, and was certainly 

 very successful in capturing. He did not exter- 

 minate the colony, but he seriously thinned its 

 numbers. 



A rat-catcher usually agrees with a farmer or 

 country gentleman to keep his house and grounds 

 free from rats lor an annual payment, or else he is 

 paid so much for the particular job. The first 

 mode of payment is, of course, the most satisliic- 

 tory to a man who Ibllows rat-catching as a pro- 

 VoL. VIII.— 63 



fession, as it constitutes one of his certain depen- 

 dencies for a livelihood. One rat-catcher, who lives 

 in the neighborhood of London, states that he 

 usually keeps from twenty lo thirty lerrets, wliicli 

 he Jtieds with rate. A thoroughly trained ferret, 

 when let loose, will kill as many rats as it can, 

 and return to its keeper, but one not so docile of- 

 ten stays a long time in the ral-holes, feeding on 

 the animals it has killed. 



The individual rat-catcher to whom we have 

 alluded mentions that, on one occasion, he turned 

 a ferret into a rat-hole in a barn, Avhen he heard 

 the usual signals of distress, evincing the havoc it 

 was making. Afier having waited a long time, 

 hp heard a sound, as if the ferret was uttering a 

 stifled kind of moan, and being anxious to ascer- 

 tain the cause, he got a board lo be lifted, and 

 found that the ferret had completely blocked up 

 the passage behind it with the bodies of the rata 

 it had killed, and was suffocating lor want of air. 

 When a ferret is employed to turn out rabbits, the 

 rat-catcher secures its mouth by a stitch on each 

 side. 



The voracious and destructive habits of the rat 

 not only make it a great pest wherever grain is 

 housed or slacked, but cause it to be disliked ge- 

 nerally wherever it makes its appearance. We 

 can almost tolerate a mouse in the drawing-room, 

 wlien the appearance of a rat in the kitchen 

 creates a shudder of horror. A thoroughly-do- 

 mesticated cat usually declines a combat with a 

 full-grown ral, though we have seen a kitten as- 

 sail a rat nearly as large as itself, unsuccessfully 

 yet courageously. But rat-catchers know that 

 localities have great influence on the savage na- 

 ture of rats — a rule, in fact, which holds with all 

 savage animals, large and small. In places where 

 they are not much hunted and scared, rats are 

 cunning and timid, and a person who has nerve 

 and dexterity enough to seize one with his hand 

 will sometimes find them so overcome with fear 

 as scarcely to attempt to bite. Thus we have 

 seen a boy (and doubtless many persons have 

 witnessed similar leats) seize a large rat, raise it 

 in the air, and dash it on the ground. But wher- 

 ever they are in considerable numbers, and are 

 not much disturbed, they are audacious and fierce, 

 and bite wickedly and cruelly. 



FAILUKE OF LATE BROODS OF SILIC-WORaiS. ■ 



From tlie Journal of the American Sillc Society. 



August 12, 1840. 

 Gideon B. Smith, esq. 



Dear Sir — By common consent, the cultivators 

 of the silk-worm look to you for information on ail 

 matters connected with silk culture. From the 

 experience of the present season, it is obvious 

 that we have much lo learn, though it cannot be 

 denied that much has been achieved. In my dis- 

 trict of country, and as far as I have heard from, 

 more remote parts — and my infnnnaiion has been ■ 

 quite extensive — the early br,r.cls of silk-worms 

 were healthy without scarcely any exception. If 

 there were exceptions, they were owincr to tainted 

 efrgs. Not only was the result satistaatory and 

 encouraging in cases where the rearings were ju- 

 diciously conducted, but there have been equally 

 successful rearings where almost every rule of 



