1871. ] 
MOUSE-TRAPS FOR GARDENS. 
109 
A 
O □ 
7 
A Now, with, all the above difficul¬ 
ties in the way, it is no wonder that 
persons do not keep clear of mice by 
the use of the old tile trap ; but with 
the one I am about to describe, the 
mice seldom stop more than one 
- night, for if we hear that one has 
made his appearance we soon attend 
upon him, as we keep a lot of traps 
ready made, and sometimes we catch 
him before bed - time. It should 
always be borne in mind that it is 
best, especially where a crop of peas 
or anything the mice fancy, is soon to 
be planted, to keep a few traps set 
here and there about the place, 
rather than to wait till the crop is 
spoiled ; and traps made after this 
fashion are so enticing in appear¬ 
ance, especially in wet weather, that 
the accommodation alone may induce 
one or two mice to take shelter, in 
doing which they may touch the 
trigger, and bring down the whole 
house upon them. The usual way 
Fig. 1. Upright piece cut at top to a thin edge to be placed r i •. • • , , , i , •, 
in notch cut at a.—F ig. 2. Sloping piece cut to a thin edge 01 baiting is to put the bait on tile 
at bottom to be placed in notch cut in bait-stick at b .— -i n A ■■> ,-i __ 
Fig. 3. Bait-stick: c, notch to catch the upright stick to 0-^d Ot the stick, the consequence ot 
keep all together; privet to hold the bait-case to the -l* -l • f[ . -f -j. • f[-, rnwT1 
stick; e e, openings through which to bait the tin case.— WHICH 1S ? iHcit II li lb tHiOWH OuiSlu.6 
Fia. 4. The trigger ot improved flgure-of-4 trap, set up. the trapj Qr the th ; ef escapes be ; ng 
caught, it is usually carried away. This, however, seldom happens with my little 
pans, as being of tin, they do not suit their teeth. 
Now for the description. In the first place, my tile trap has no 
tile at all. Take apiece of board 9 in. square : thickness no object, 
say of |--in. stuff; bore two holes an inch or two inches 
from each side on one edge to hold two pegs; then take 
a piece of slate of the same size, and cut two notches corre¬ 
sponding with the pegs in the board, so that the slate may 
slip in between the pegs, which keeps all in a proper posi¬ 
tion. I find this size convenient, but of course the actual 
size is not important, only the larger the size the more 
certainty of catching. I enclose a set of sticks, as well 
as give dimensions ; it is not obligatory to abide by them, but I find 
