FARMERS' REGISTER— METHOD OF ATTRACTING RATS AND MICE. 31 



early in the spring, after or before the general 

 ploughing is done or begun, so that the rooks 

 were in want of a job, they would come down in 

 great numbers wherever they saw the land fresh 

 turned up, and would do a very great service. 



If the lands were short, the plougli should do 

 two lands at once, a bout on one, then the other, 

 to give the rooks time. Some of your readers, 

 sir, would laugh at this ; but I am a very great 

 friend to rooks, and would rather iiave a rookery 

 near my farm than a preserve full of game, and 

 myself the only lawful sportsman thereon ; ibr 

 thougli they are destructive at times, where the 

 farnier is not acquainted with the liest method of 

 sending them "over tlie hills and far av/ay," yet 

 they do invaluable service where insects abound. 



Jflethod of 



aiitl Mice. 



Hats 



From the Edhiburgli Farmer's Magazine. 

 Mr. Broad, a farmer at Thruxton in Here- 

 fordshire, has at last published his metliod of de- 

 stroying rats and mice ; and, as we understand that 

 he has received a public reward for the discovery, 

 there is every reason to suppose that the means he 

 has adopted are effectual. We tlierefore propose 

 giving an abstract of the plan he has recommend- 

 ed, as any mode of destroying such pernicious 

 vermin cannot be too generally jiiade known. 



The first object to be attended to is the trap, 

 which differs but little from tlie common box- 

 trap. The size most approved of by BIr. Broad is 

 two feet long, eight inches wide, and nine inches 

 deep, inside measure. If it be either longer or 

 more narrow, the rats will not enter it so freely ; 

 and if it be shorter, the danger of their escape af- 

 ter having entered, and of being struck by the fall- 

 ing doors, may be increased. In each door tliere 

 is a grate, made of iron wire ; for the old rats 

 would soon destroy either brass or copper. This 

 grate should be four inches wide; it is intended to 

 attract the rats when taken to th.e light, and to 

 prevent their injuring other parts of the trap with 

 .their teeth. The bridge upon which the rats 

 tread, to occasion tlie falling of the doors, should 

 be made of tin, or very thin iron plate, about six 

 inches wide, and four bi-oad, so as to extend nearly 

 across the inside of tlie trap. And the neck of the 

 bridge should be made of a light slender bar of 

 iron, about two and a half inclies long, so as to ex- 

 tend about two-thirds of an inch beyond the ex- 

 ternal surface of the side of the trap, for tlie pur- 

 pose of setting it. A thin plate of iron or tin 

 should be nailed upon the inside of the aperture 

 through which the neck of the bridge passes, 

 otherwise the rats will soon spoil the trap by en- 

 larging that passage. The end of the bridge op- 

 posite to the neck must be suspended about half 

 an inch from the bottom or floor of the trap, liy a 

 single loop of ii'on wire attached to a hook fixed 

 in the side of the trap ; by v*hich means the bridge 

 being v^y loosely suspended, will move witli the 

 slightest pressure upon either side of it, and the 

 trap will be made to strike by the weight of a 

 . small mouse. 



The trap should be made of elm, birch, or pop- 

 lar boards, which are without scent. The wood 

 should be well seasoned, otherv/ise the boards will 

 be subject to warp, and the doors in consequence, 

 "vill not fall perfectly. 



As soon as tlie traps are prepared, the most pro- 

 jjer and convenient places for setting tliem must 

 1)6 sought. Tliese are either close to their holes, 

 where every animal is less timid, or where they 

 are known to come regularly for their food. Where 

 a number of convenient and projier places for set- 

 ting the traps can be had, it is advisab/le to set a 

 considerable number of engines to work at once, 

 so that much destruction may be made in a short 

 time; for though, wherever proper attention is 

 paid, every rat v/ill l^e taken, still, when their 

 number is lor a long time slowly diminishing, tlie 

 survivors grow suspicious ; and it will sometimes 

 require, in taking- a hundred rats, more troubde to 

 destroy the last five than the preceding ninety- 

 five. Few situations, however, require more than 

 half a dozen of traps. 



The materials for attracting rats are 1st. the oil 

 of carraways ; and 2d. good pale malt, ground for 

 brewing, and not discolored in the drying. 



The proportion of the oil of carraways to the 

 malt appears to be about 1 to 9000. 



Much care must be taken in preparing and set- 

 ting the traps ; and the most trifling deviation 

 from the following instructions, will often destroy 

 all chance of success. Be jjrovided with as many 

 ordinary trusses of sweet clean straw as you have 

 traps, and take from each truss a small bundle, 

 about as much, when compressed in the hand, as 

 will be an inch in diameter. Then take a small 

 vial bottle, the neck of which is al^out one-third of 

 an inch wide, and which contains half an ounce of 

 oil of carraways ; invert the bottle upon the palm 

 of your hand, and then return it to its former po- 

 sition, letting no more of its contents escape than 

 that which has adhered to the hand, whilst the bot- 

 tle has been inverted. Rub your hands then Avell 

 together, and draw the straw through them, bend- 

 ing it so as to render it soft and flexible. Let it 

 then be placed lengthways in the trap, and laid 

 smoothly and evenly to cover the bridge, and 

 every part of the floor of the trap, regularly. — 

 Then take five half-pints of the malt ; place it in a 

 large basin ; invert the vi?.l of the oil of carraways 

 upon the palm of the hand, and take from it the 

 quantity Avhich adheres as already directed ; rub 

 tlie hands together so as to spread the oil of carra- 

 ways regularly over them ; tiien take up succes- 

 sive portions of the malt in each hand, and subse- 

 quently, with both hands, rubbing it between 

 them, that every part of it may be equally scent- 

 ed. Much accuracy is here necessary ; for if the 

 quantity of the oil of carraways be too great, the 

 rats ^vill not touch the malt till the scent is partly 

 gone off. 



Let about half a pint of tlie malt be thrown into 

 each trap, by the hand of the person who has pre- 

 pared it, scattering it rather regularly over every 

 part of the floor. Place the traps then in the situa- 

 tion where they are to remain, and secure the doors 

 from falling, by placing the pin just at the height 

 they are to stand, when the traps are set. Divide 

 each truss of straw into half a dozen parcels, and 

 put a band round each ; place two or three of these 

 at each end of every trap, and sprinkle a few loose 

 straws over each, so as in some degree to conceal 

 the traps from the eyes of the rats. If the room 

 contain any furniture, or trunk of any kind, let 

 the traps be set behind it, if it stand near the holes 

 by which the rats enter; or move the furniture, 

 that it may partially conceal the traps; not so 



