NOXIOUS VERMIN. 71 



barrel, from which a long tube leads, end- 

 ing in another trap-fall, from which he is 

 tumbled into a tub of water and drowned. 



A more simple mode has lately been ad- 

 vertised in the newspapers, and which, it is 

 stated, has been very successful. Take any 

 water-tight vessel, and fill it partly with 

 water ; pour on this bran nearly to the top, 

 and, simple as it appears, more than a doz- 

 en rats have been caught by it in one night. 

 It need hardly be mentioned, that it should 

 be put in some place to which the fowls 

 have no access. 



Arsenic is frequently employed, but is 

 exceedingly dangerous. An equally good 

 poison is the powder of nux vomica, mixed 

 up with Indian meal, and scented with oil 

 of rhodium, of which rats are peculiarly 

 fond. 



In some districts birds of prey, such as 

 hawks and owls, are very destructive to 

 young chickens. Where fowls are suffered 

 to roam about, crows will seize young chick- 

 ens upon every occasion. This danger is 

 much diminished where guinea fowls are 



