52 



THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



which represent tne parts oi 

 the trap in a detached state 

 the third as it appears when set. 

 There is also a very sim- 

 ple description of trap, which 

 any rustic can make, and 

 which, in the absence of bet- 

 ter, may be used with effect : 

 it consists of a long box, open 

 at one end, having the sides 

 grooved to admit a sliding 

 door. The better to enable the reader to understand the construc- 

 tion of this trap, we subjoin the accompanying wood-cut : 



A Represents the en- 

 trance. 



B An upright, supporting 

 a horizontal beam, attached at 

 C to a string fastened to a bit 

 of meat, which, passing between 

 the two wires represented in 

 the wood-cut, is thus held in 

 that position. 



D Is the door, formed of 

 heavy material, and running 

 freely in grooves. 



"When the horizontal beam 

 is drawn downwards, the bit of meat placed between the wires at 

 C, the doo* D rises, and the trap is set. The rat, entering at D, 

 bites the meat at C ; the weight of the door, no longer restrained, 

 brings it suddenly down, and the animal is trapped. There can- 

 not be a better trap than this, when the nuisance is confined to a 

 few solitary rats ; but, as it only catches one at a time, it is com- 

 paratively useless where these pests exist in any number : the fact 

 is, that poison is then the only method to be relied on. There are 

 many objections to the use of poison ; amongst others, the obvious 

 one of the danger of poultry, dogs, or other animals, eating the 

 fatal mess, and falling victims to their error. To obviate this and 

 other objections, I shall show how the desired end can be attained 

 by means of a substance fatal to the rats alone the basis of that 

 substance is phosphorus. 



" The following recipe for the destruction of rats has been com* 



