1895 
239 
Notes from the Rural Grounds 
A DISCUSSION OF MOLE TRAPS. 
How They Work; “ The Best Kinds.” 
There are few subjects about which we have had 
more inquiries, first and last, than the best means of 
killing moles. In our early experience, we used 
every poison or device of which we could hear, to rid 
our grounds of the pest, as at that time we were lay¬ 
ing out and grading the Rural Grounds, and the fresh 
soil seemed to attract all the moles in the neigh- 
borhood. The lawn and sod bor- 
n j 
ders were riddled in all directions 
- . like a network. The freshly set 
L — plants were upset, or so burrowed 
Jk jE fe3SU| under that the roots were deprived 
jWW of moisture. Even newly-set trees 
• - were so i n j ur ed by them, losing 
^ and putting forth new leaves sev- 
Fig. 70. eral times in a season, that they 
would perish. Corn saturated 
with strychnine, as well as castor oil beans and 
plants, sulphur, tar, and we know not what, 
were all tried without disturbing them in the 
least. At that 
time we would 
have given $50 
for any prac- I I 
them or driving a J ■I! 
ly loaned to us # jfil 
one made at the I f Ij MMP 
these were ^ 
r a i s e d by the f 1 I ^ v 
upright, iron I 
bar, and held Fig. 71 Fig. 
by a lever con¬ 
nected with a 
flat plate which 
pressed upon 
the earth over 
the mole run or 
broad, steel >1 j; •* i; 
spring which ‘A ; jj 
drove the j; . •• 
prongs into the :• ;; 
earth. This 
was effective if 
set every day so '' "'' 
as to clear the * IG> 
holes for the 
prongs ; otherwise they would easily become filled. 
But, really, it was so much trouble to set it day after 
day, that we finally gave it up as of more trouble 
than worth. An illustration of this trap will be found 
in The Rural of 1880, page 184. Fig. 70 from H. A. 
Dreer’s catalogue shows the same trap on a small scale. 
Later, the Hales trap was introduced—Fig. 71. The 
rod is raised by a circular handle until the shoulders 
come above the frame of the trap. The shoulders are 
shown in the lower of the two small cuts near the top, 
to the right. Then turn the handle slightly, which will 
allow the shoulders to rest on the frame and prevent 
the spring from acting. Now set the trap across the 
mole run, and press the legs into the ground until the 
plate, or trigger, rests upon the run. Then turn the 
handle back and let it go, repeating until the pins (six 
in number, three on each side) have made holes for 
themselves in the ground and the pin plate strikes the 
cross bar of the frame. Now press the trigger upon 
the soil, raise the rod and turn it sideways, as before. 
The lever is now to be inserted more or less into one 
of the notches of the trigger handle. Then turn 
the shoulders of the rod back until it is square 
with the frame, and the trap is set. When a mole 
passes either way, he raises the trigger, which allows 
the lever to fly out of the notch, and the pins, descend- 
