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feeders suffer greater proportional losses, for managers of larger 

 barns recognize the enormous drain and usually provide rat-proof 

 bins, if not rat-proof stables. When rats have access to a stable 

 they take a good share of the feed directly from the mangers, but the 

 loss is seldom noticed. 



Rats are exceedingly fond of malt, and in malt houses and brew- 

 eries constant watchfulness is needed to prevent losses. Mills, ele- 

 vators, and warehouses in which grain and feed stuffs are stored are 

 subject to constant invasion by rats and mice. 



A full-grown rat consumes about 2 ounces of grain daily. A half- 

 grown rat eats nearly as much as an adult. Fed on grain, there- 

 fore, a rat eats from 45 to 50 pounds a year. The cost depends 

 somewhat on the kind of grain. If wheat, the value is 60 to 75 cents; 

 if oatmeal, about $1.80 to S2. Several feeders of horses ia Wash- 

 ington, D. C, estimated the cost of keeping each rat on their prem- 

 ises at $1 a year. Even though half the grain eaten is waste, the direct 

 loss from this source to feeders is enormous. 



MERCHANDISE IN STORES AND WAREHOUSES. 



The loss from depredations of rats on miscellaneous merchandise 

 in stores, markets, and warehouses, is second only to the losses on 

 grains. Not only are food materials of every kind subject to attack, 

 but the destruction of dry goods, clothing, books, leather goods, 

 and so on is equally serious. Merchandise other than foodstuffs is 

 usually destroyed for making nests, but books and pamphlets, 

 especially the newly bound, and some other articles, furnish food 

 in the glue, paste, oils, or paraffin used in their manufacture. Some 

 kinds of leather have a peculiar attraction for rats, while others are 

 never touched. Shoes are seldom gnawed unless they have cloth 

 uppers or are made of kid. New harnesses are not often attacked, 

 except collars, which contain straw, and cruppers, which are stuffed 

 with flaxseed. Old harness leather is salty from the perspiration of 

 horses, and rats and mice gnaw it for this reason. Kid gloves and 

 other articles made of similar leather are often destroyed by rats. 



Lace curtains, silk handerkerchiefs, linens, carpets, mattingsj and 

 other dry goods in stores are often attacked by rats. Some of the 

 stuffs contain starch, which serves as food, but most of them furnish 

 nesting materials only. A slight injury makes these articles unsala- 

 ble; this is especially true of white goods, which are easily ruined 

 by soiling. Nearly all large dry goods and department stores suffer 

 heavy losses from rats. Grocers, druggists, confectioners, and other 

 merchants also have similar experiences, and to the direct losses 

 must be added the sums expended in fighting the pests. 



