GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 247 



hawks. Minks are not so easy to manage. The best 

 chance is to trap them on their way to the ponds 

 in the fall, as that is the time when they make their 

 way up the brooks. Green's method of trapping 

 minks, which is the best I know of, is as follows : 

 " Make a box eighteen inches long by six inches 

 broad and deep, leaving one end open. Set a com- 

 mon game-trap (such as is used for catching muskrats) 

 in the open end of the box, in such a position that 

 when the jaws are closed they will be in a line with 

 the length of the trap. If it is set crossways it will be 

 apt to throw the mink out, instead of catching it. Put 

 the bait in the further end of the box (a piece of meat 

 or a dead fish will answer for bait), set the trap, and 

 cover it over with a large leaf. Now there is only one 

 way for the mink to get at the bait, which is by walk- 

 ing over the trap." You will be very likely to catch 

 the mink in this way, though you will probably get a 

 few house cats first. When minks begin to infest 

 your waters, you will see the advantage of plank ponds 

 over earth ponds ; for in plank ponds the minks can- 

 not hide permanently, but must come and go every 

 time they make a meal off the fish. On the contrary, 

 in the earth ponds they will find some old muskrat- 

 hole or other place where they will probably take 

 up winter quarters ; and when the ground is frozen 

 solid for a foot or two below the surface it will be 

 found very hard to dislodge them. It is almost im- 

 possible to trap them then, for two reasons. In the 

 first place, as they have a subterranean passage to 

 their daily food they seldom appear above ground, 



