RECOMMENDATIONS. ,53 



the last two quarters of 1907, in the same city, 83,832 rats were 

 killed. The premiums, 8 ore per rat, amounted to $1,787.36 and the 

 other expenses to $1,198.60, a total of $2,985.96. 



In the city of Stockholm, Sweden, the organized work of destroying 

 rats began in February, 1901, and has progressed steadily for the 

 past seven years. The premium paid is 5 ore per rat and the total 

 number of animals upon which the bounty was paid during the first 

 six years follows: 1901 (11 months), 146,191 rats; 1902, 96,443 rats; 

 1903, 95,348 rats; 1904, 106,263 rats; 1905, 103,233 rats; 1906, 92,037 

 rats; 1907, 72,282 rats; a total for seven years of 711,797 rats, upon 

 which the premiums amounted to about $9,540. The results here 

 given are hardly encouraging to those who hope for speedy extermi- 

 nation of these pests in large cities. It shows that the animals repro- 

 duce almost as rapidly as they are destroyed under the stimulus of a 

 very small premium. 



The Danish Society for Rat Extermination has a membership of 

 over 2,000 of the leading citizens of the Kingdom. It has interested 

 and enrolled in its work leading men throughout Europe, and will 

 undoubtedly exert a potent influence for good upon the entire world. 

 As a public policy in America the wisdom of offering bounties for the 

 destruction of noxious animals is open to question, but the Danish 

 society does not confine its work to advocating a single plan for rat 

 destruction. Its chief importance lies in its ability to awaken general 

 interest in the work and to secure cooperation and system in carrying 

 out definite plans. 



The influence of the Danish society has been manifested recently 

 in the organization in England of the Incorporated Society for the 

 Destruction of Vermin. The objects of attack are not only rats and 

 mice, but also sparrows, ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, and flies. The 

 immediate activities of the society are to be directed against the 

 brown rat, of which species the society estimates that 40,000,000 

 exist in the British Islands. The first number of a quarterly period- 

 ical devoted to the objects of the society appeared in October, 19.08, 

 and considerable interest has already been aroused. 



SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS. 



The following are important aids in limiting the numbers of rats 

 and reducing the losses from their depredations : 



1. Protection of our native hawks, owls, and smaller predatory 

 mammals — the natural enemies of rats. 



2. Greater cleanliness about stables, markets, grocery stores, 

 warehouses, courts, alleys, and vacant lots in cities and villages, and 

 like care on farms and suburban premises. This includes the storage 

 of waste and garbage in tightly covered vessels and the prompt dis- 

 posal of it each day. 



