94 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



snare will be found sufficient. Tliere are several modes of 

 making this last-mentioned snare ; the best that I have ever 

 tried is made as follows : — 



In swamps or young woods where rabbits frequent, select a 

 sapling which is straight and of a diameter of from an inch 

 and a half to two inches at the ground ; trim tlie small limbs 

 and twigs off to a height of about eight feet and cut off the 

 stem at that point ; prepare a slip-noose on a strong cord thirty 

 inches in length, and affix one end of the cord on the upper 

 end of the sapling ; eight inches from this end tie a thin piece 

 of wood an inch in length and a quarter of an inch in thickness 

 to the cord ; this is called the button. Select a forked stick, 

 cut it to the length of a foot and drive it into the ground 

 beneath the upper end of the sapling when it is bent to the 

 ground ; observe care in having the sides of the fork point in 

 the same direction with the bent sapling ; pass the button 

 through the fork, and, keeping the noose from passing through 

 with it, adjust the button in a perpendicular position, the upper 

 end resting against the side of the fork above, the lower end 

 pressing against a piece of wood six inches in length, a quarter 

 of an inch wide and an eighth of an inch thick, called the 

 spindle, which is passed between the extreme lower end of the 

 button and the fork. Open the noose and extend it before and 

 around the spindle, and keep it raised from the ground to the 

 height of an inch or more, by thrusting into the ground, within 

 the noose, a circle of pieces of small sticks. The snare is now 

 ready to set, which is simply done by affixing to the end of the 

 spindle, within the noose, a small sweet apple or portion of a 

 larger one. It will be seen that the animal, in order to touch 

 the apple, must pass its head into the noose ; the moment the 

 bait is touched the spindle drops, the button of course flies out, 

 the noose is drawn tightly around the rabbit's neck, and it is 

 instantly strangled. A little] practice will enable one to set 

 this snare in about the time it takes to write a description of 

 it, and it excels anything that can be prepared for the cap- 

 ture of rabbits. 



The other mammals not heretofore mentioned, found in New 

 England, are either beneficial or neutral in value on the farm. 

 The weasels, minks, &c., are open to the same praises and 

 objections with the skunk ; the bats are beneficial ; the foxes. 



