Vermin of the Farm. 
213 
ground 6in., in an upright position, forming a close fence 2ft. 6in. high round 
the stack. To prevent its being blown down, a short stake is driven into 
the ground on the inner side at each joint, and a wire nail driven into the 
stake and bent over the edges of the iron plates. 
“ I noticed round one of our stakes that the marauders had made a padded 
road outside the iron fence, but there was no sign that the rampart had been 
scaled. The iron sheets are placed 4ft. from the bottom of the stack. At 
first sight this fence may appear expensive ; but it is practically everlasting, 
if care be taken of the sheets. Considering the damage which is done to 
corn in a stack infested by rats and mice, besides what they eat, I do not 
think it is a bad investment. I do not know if this plan has been adopted 
before ; but, from the interest everyone takes in it who has seen it, I should 
think it may be new, and, I hope, useful to many.” 
To this the Editor appended the following note:— 
[“ The plan above described is not new as regards England, although it 
may possibly be so as regards Sussex. It is a good method of keeping rats 
and mice out ; but of no use (rather the reverse, by excluding old buck rats 
and weasels) when any vermin have got in. This is sure to happen, unless 
almost daily supervision is practised to see that no rake, fork, or bit of 
timber is left standing and leaning up against the stack, serving as a stair- 
case by which rats and mice can enter. It is also desirable to turn down a 
fold — not less than Sin. wide — and put this at the underground end, tending 
outwards. This prevents the rats from digging and making a thoroughfare 
under the iron sheets, which they will do (and enter by it) in a single 
night. Coming to the buried edge, they are baffled, and they have not in- 
telligence enough to begin again sufficiently far back to undermine that. 
Still, protection of this kind has frequently proved effectual to stacks, when 
carefully done at first and looked after. — E d.”] 
To get rid of rats in a poultry yard it is a good plan to make 
some chloride of lime into a thick paste, and smear the rats’ runs 
with it. Or chloride of lime mixed with water in a large water- 
ing-can may be poured into their holes. A strong solution of 
carbolic acid may also be employed in a similar way. 
Finally there is a plan which most people seem very unwilling 
to try, namely to abstain from killing the natural enemies of the 
rat — weasels, stoats, polecats, kestrels, owls, and buzzards. 
The elongated form, slender body, and short legs of all the 
weasel tribe especially fit them for following such vermin as 
rats and mice in their retreats, while their activity and strength, 
and large and powerful canine teeth enable them to overtake 
and kill them frequently with ease, though sometimes not with- 
out a terrible struggle. We have watched with breathless inte- 
rest a single-handed combat between a stoat and a large rat 
very much heavier than itself. The fight took place in the 
middle of a dusty road across a common over which the rat was 
passing when the stoat sprang at his throat. It was an anxious 
moment as the two rolled in mortal conflict on the hard road, on 
which they raised a cloud of dust. From the superior weight 
