HOUSE EATS AND MICE. 



5 



PROTECTION OF FOOD AND OTHER STORES FROM RATS AND MICE. 



Past attempts to exterminate rats and mice have failed, not so much 

 because of hick of effective means as because of the neglect of nec- 

 essary precautions and the absence of concerted endeavors. We have 

 rendered our work abortive by continuing to provide subsistence and 

 hiding places for the animals. If these advantages are denied, per- 

 sistent and general use of the usual methods of destruction will prove 

 far more successful. 



RAT-PROOF BUILDING. 



First in importance, as a measure of rat repression, is the exclusion 

 of the animals from places where they find food and safe retreats for 

 rearing their young. 



The best way to keep rats from buildings, whether in city or in 

 country, is to use cement in construction. As the advantages of this 

 material are coming to be generally understood, its use is rapidly ex- 

 tending to all kinds of buildings. The processes of mixing and lay- 

 ing this material require little skill or special knowledge, and 

 w^orkmen of ordinary intelligence can successfully follow the plain 

 directions contained in handbooks of cement construction.^ 



Many modern public buildings are so constructed that rats can 

 fmd no lodgment in the w^alls or foundations, and yet in a few years, 

 through negligence, such buildings often become infested with the 

 pests. Sometimes drain pipes are left uncovered for hours at a time. 

 Often outer doors, especially those opening on alleys, are left ajar. 

 A common mistake is failure to screen basement windows which must 

 be opened for ventilation. However the intruders are admitted, when 

 • once inside they intrench themselves behind furniture or stores, and 

 are difficult to dislodge. The addition of inner doors to vestibules is 

 an important precaution against rats. The lower edge of outer doors 

 to public buildings, especially markets, should be reinforced with 

 light metal plates to prevent the animals from gnawing through. 

 Any opening left around water, steam, or gas pipes, where they go 

 through walls, should be closed carefully with concrete to the full 

 depth of the wall. 



Dwellings. — In constructing dw^elling houses the additional cost of 

 making the foundations rat-proof is slight compared Avith the ad- 

 vantages. The cellar walls should have concrete footings, and the 

 walls themselves should be laid in cement mortar. The cellar floor 

 should be of medium rather than lean concrete. Even old cellars 

 may be made rat-proof at comparatively small expense. Rat holes 

 may be permanently closed with a mixture of cement, sand, and 

 broken glass, or sharp bits of crockery or stone. 



1 Farmers' Bulletin 461, Use of Concrete on the Farm, will prove useful to city and 

 village dwellers as well as to the farmer. 



