HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



I 



W'a«"e Will- oil IGllts 



Continued liom p:igi- 1, column 2 



sulfur over grain sacks ai-e used. Such 

 measures do decrease damage, yet they 

 do not decrease the rat population. The 

 ineffectiveness of such measures becomes 

 apparent when we realize the fact that 

 rats breed 6 to 10 times a year and pro- 

 duce an average of 10 young at a litter. 

 Young females breed when only three or 

 four months old. 



Use of Barium Cai bonate 



The use of poison is the best and quick- 

 est way to get rid of rats. Certain poi- 

 sons such as phosphorous and strychnine 

 are so rapid in their action that the rats 

 die in the buildings and if there is any- 

 thing worse than a live rat we believe it 

 is a dead one in the partition. Barium 

 carbonate is a slower poison and the rats 

 usually leave the buildings in search of 

 water before dying. It is one of the 

 cheapest and most effective poisons for 

 rat extermination. In the small doses 

 fed to rats and mice, it is harmless to 

 domestic animals. 



It is important to find out what kind 

 of bait rats will take before using poison. 

 On most farms, hamburg steak or sau- 

 sage will be the best bait as there is 

 usually plenty of grain around. Other 

 recommended baits are meal, flour, oat- 

 meal, fish and bread. After you have 

 discovered what bait the rats will take, 

 use 1/4 pound of Barium carbonate to 1 

 pound of bait. The prepared bait should 

 be placed in the rat luns, about a table- 

 spoonful in a place. It usually helps to 

 wrap the poisoned bait up in a quarter 

 sheet of newspaper. This seems to give 

 the rats a feeling that you don't want 

 them to get it. If a single application 

 fails to kill or diive the rats away, it 

 should be repeated, usually with a change 

 of bait. 



For poisoning rat? in poultry house- 

 the following methods is recommended: — 

 Two wooden boxes should be used, one 

 considerably larger than the other and 

 each having one or more holes in the sides 

 large enough to admit rats. The poison 

 bait should be placed on the bottom and 

 near the middle of the smaller box, and 

 the larger box should then be inverted 

 over it. Rats thus have free access to 

 the bait, but the fowls are excluded. 



Past attempts to exterminate rats and 

 mice have failed, not so much because of 

 lack of effective means as because of the 

 neglect of necessary precautions and the 

 absence of concerted endeavors. We have 

 rendered our work abortive by continuing 

 to provide subsistence and hiding places 

 for the animals. If these advantages are 

 denied, persistent and general use of the 

 usual methods of destruction will prove 

 far more successful. 



Rat=prcff Building W 



First in importance, as a measure of , •'/ 

 I'at repression, is the exclusion of the ■?■'- 



animals from places where they find food 

 and safe retreat for rearing their young. 

 The best way to keep rats from build- 

 ings, whether in city or in country, is to 

 u.se cement in construction. As the ad- 

 vantages of this material are coming to 

 be generally understood, its use is rapidly 

 extending to all kinds of buildings. The 

 processes of mixing and laying this 

 I material require little skill or special 



i'onlnnn-r1 on p'lBe 11. r-i,lunin 1 



(GuHrlte l^riuting (Tn. 

 Nnrlbaiuptnn. Ifflaaa. 



H, D. SMITH 



Hatfield, Mass. 



GRAIN, COAL, ICE 



AND 



FARM MACHINERY 



PAL RADIO PHONES 



^2.69 



Freshman 5 tube sets ^60.00 



If you want Radio, we have it 

 All Radio tubes checked when you buy them 



argwis 



H^^^SHili^ 



ty/ njM'N nrREETT 



Northaniy>ton , Mass. 



Baskets for use around the Farm — 



PECK, '/, BUSHEL and BUSHEL BASKETS, 



CLOTHES BASKETS, 



GALVANIZED BASKETS. 



Our stock of Baskets includes a variety of sizes and styles, 

 among which you will find BASKETS suitable foi- your purpose. 





FOSTER-FARRAR COMPANY 



162 Main Street, 



Northampton, Mass. 



