* 
IN THE POULTRY YARD. 17t 
cruel, cunning and ferocious face of a. rat and hesitate about de- 
stroying him by any possible means. ‘The loss of an occasional 
chicken would always rouse up my ire, and after such occasions I 
would vow vengeance against the whole race. A few would be 
shot; one or two would be trapped ; but the work was too slow 
and: uncertain, and we would fall back upon the dogs and cats. 
Finally the rats increased to such an extent, and became so bold, 
that one night they carried off an entire brood of my most valuable 
chickens. I thought, then, that it was time to do something. 
I then built a small house, 8 feet square and 6 feet high, with 
just enough roof to shed the rain. -It was made of inch stuff, and 
had a door but no windows. ‘There was a good floor, covered 
_with old tin roofing that I got for almost nothing. ‘The tin was 
carried about six inches up the sides. 
This house was filied with straw, in which was placed some 
wheat, corn, etc., and a handful or two of meal was also scattered 
over the straw. On every side was a hole .3 inches in diameter, 
which entered just above the tin. Four men could easily move 
this house to any part of the grounds. ‘he first night we placed 
it néar the coops in which the young chickens were kept and 
awaited results. ‘The rats soon found it out, and, as we could 
easily see by their tracks, made it their home, A remorseless war 
was then carried on against them in every other part of the prem- 
ises. ‘Tobacco smoke was blown into their holes; their breeding 
places were disturbed; their runs were filled with broken glass, and 
life made as uncomfortable for them as possible in every place ex- 
cept “Rat Castle.” ‘here they were left in peace and quietness. 
At the end of a week, however, we went over the ground again, 
and drove tobacco smoke into every hole we could find. This 
was done by means cf a piece of rubber hose and one of the most 
powerful “smokers” used by bee-kcepers. With one of these 
smokers and a few feet of rubber tubing we could, in a few min- 
utes, fill all the space between the floor and the ground, and’ be- 
tween the wall and the lathing of any building, and drive the smoke 
out at holes twenty feet away. ‘The effect of this tobacco smoke 
was most surprising. We know of no animal that can stand it. 
