1U68 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
October 12, 
A TRAPPER’S NOTES. 
PART I. 
Mink Trapping and Traps. 
I hat’s learned from experience that 
No. IVz traps are the best to use for 
all-around trapping. They cost -more 
and are somewhat heavier to carry 
than the No. 1, but one is so much more 
sure of holding an animal. All traps 
should be oiled before setting with some 
good fine oil, just joints and working 
parts. Traps that are new should be 
colored; this can be done by boiling 
them in soft maple bark. New traps 
should be tried and fitted by smoothing 
latch and notch in pedal that latch fits 
in; pedal should not be much higher 
than the jaws of trap when set. Try 
the new trap to see how easy or hard 
it sets. Set trap and try it with left 
hand; put index finger under jaw of 
trap, finger under pedal, and then on 
top of pedal; work pedal down to 
spring easy. To spring harder leave 
higher. Traps for mink and other small 
animals should spring quite easily, and 
heavier animals somewhat harder. To 
get bait you need a gun and it should 
be a shotgun too. I have used both 
rifle and shotgun while hunting deer 
and trapping; have shot for animals 
with them. The rifle damages too much 
hy tearing the skins and is not as good 
for shooting bait, as with some prac¬ 
tice anyone can shoot game running 
or flying, and will not damage fur as 
much as with rifle. 
My favorite baits are red squirrel, 
partridge, wild duck and fish. Shoot 
squirrels with shotgun at short range, 
and with fine shot, so as to make the 
meat bloody. One squirrel will make 
four baits, other game for bait in pro¬ 
portion. Don’t skin or pick bait; it is 
best without, and can be carried whole 
and cut oft as needed. I add a small 
piece of fish to each bait if it is possi- 
MINK TRAP IN POSITION. 
ble to get it. With traps, bait and gun 
start for some stream or lake; more 
on lake trapping when we are done with 
stream. Follow along stream until you 
come to a place where the bank is 
18 inches high or higher with a short 
beach to water’s edge, say 18 or 20 
inches from water’s edge. This is my 
favorite place to set for mink. The 
water must be shallow, two or three 
inches deep. Dry sticks are better than 
green sticks, as chopped or cut greet! 
sticks are liable to attract the animal’s 
attention. Get dry sticks, limbs or poles 
that you can break. Break them and 
shove in ground from bank to water’s 
edge in an oblong enclosure for mink; 
stakes should stand about 15 or 16 
inches high and close together. Leave 
an opening at water about the size of 
trap. Trap should be one to 1 V* inches 
under water. When set, stake trap out 
■in water as far as chain will allow, 
so as to drown animals when caught. 
Set trap in opening just a little out 
in stream, see above. When mink comes 
along he will have to climb bank or 
go over trap and close to bait. The 
bait is fastened in back of bait house 
with a small stick with a hook to hold 
bait; the stick is made of any small 
limb or branch. It is a good idea to 
put some pieces of bark or sticks under 
bait to keep it from tainting, as damp 
ground will mold or taint bait. When 
bait gets moldy or tainted it should be 
replaced by fresh. The trap stake is 
made the same as the bait stick with 
hook on, only heavier, and two or three 
feet long. The hook keeps ring of trap 
chain from being pulled off stake. Traps 
can be fastened to logs, poles, roots or 
anything that is solid enough to hold 
by driving; the little dog attached to 
ring of trap chain by driving dog in 
them with hatchet. The bait house can 
be used any place along water’s edge, as 
bait will attract animal to trap, but any 
steep bank they are forced to go to it. 
Traps can be set under over-hanging 
bank. Set straps and pin a piece of bait 
over in bank. Traps should be under 
water until water freezes too much. 
Another good place may be found 
around stumps or trees; there some¬ 
times will be holes that mink go through 
in such places. When it gets too cold 
to set in water, dry sets have to be used, 
Cover trap with feathers, moss or rab¬ 
bit fur plucked off the skin of the 
rabbit. Snow makes a good cover for 
traps. - s. D. VOSBURG. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Cattle Eating Shingles. 
The following appeared in “The 
Maine Farmer 
In reply to an inquiry in a late number 
of “The Farmer,” for a remedy for cattle 
chewing shingles, boards, or pieces of wood, 
I will say that I believe a liberal feeding 
of bran or clover hay will stop this seem¬ 
ingly unnatural craving. I have no trouble 
with my cattle when I have plenty of 
clocer hay and when I do not and they be¬ 
gin to chew old boards, I give two or four 
quarts of bran a day in two feeds, and 
the trouble usually disappears in a few 
days. r. w. Howard. 
Every year we have 50 or more ques¬ 
tions from people who find their cattle 
eating old boards, chewing old bones, or 
drinking filthy water. The trouble is 
usually worse with young stock. It is 
caused by a lack of lime and phosphate 
in the food. There being this lack of 
bone-forming material the entire sys¬ 
tem is upset. Nature cannot do her 
proper work in building up the body, 
and the result is a “depraved appetite.” 
In their craving for bone-forming food 
the cattle gnaw at anything they can 
find. The remedy is to provide what 
the cattle need. Bran is good, also 
clover hay or oil meal. Cornmeal does 
not help much. A handful of fine bone 
meal with the grain will help. 
4U 
Stacking Cornstalks. —I read in the 
Hope Farm Notes on page 978, bow some¬ 
one wishes to know how to stack corn 
fodder so that it will not mould or heat. 
When I w#s a boy we did the following 
way, with good results: Cut a pole 16 or 
20 feet long, sharpen the large end for 
fence post; make a hole in the ground 
with crowbar and set the pole as near 
straight and solid as possible. Then make 
a platform around the pole of blocks and 
old rails or poles to about a foot above 
ground and in width according to the 
length of cornstalks. Then lay the bundles 
around the pole, butts out, tops to or about 
a foot past the pole. If necessary, put 
occasionally a bundle next to the pole in 
order to keep the middle higher than the 
outside, so the water will drip off the butts 
of the stalks. When the stack is about 
high enough draw in so the stack will be 
nearly to a point. I think a little rye 
straw would make a good cap to help keep 
out the rain. The stalks always kept nice 
and dry. Those days the stalks were fed 
out of doors in the Winter. I would not 
advise building stack more than 12 or 15 
feet high, as it might be inclined to tip 
over. e. p. F. 
, West Kortright, N. Y. 
Oat Straw for Bedding. —J. T. K., on 
page 985, asks if oat straw has any ef¬ 
fect upon the health or condition of the 
horse if used for bedding. In my experi¬ 
ence I say it has no bad effects upon horses 
for bedding, as I and all the rest of the 
farmers in this northern section use oat 
straw for bedding horses and cows, as 
oats are the main grain crop grown in this 
dairy section. The main trouble we have 
is to prevent the horse from eating his 
bedding, and by tying a horse a little 
short this can be overcome, as he can¬ 
not reach the floor with his nose. We also 
feed oat straw to cows and horses in Win¬ 
ter, as horses do not work much here at 
that season. We feed it in preference to 
hay, as they will not be troubled with 
heaves, and' cows in milk relish, oat straw 
once a day when fed corn silage, so do not 
be afraid of using oat straw for bedding, 
but look out for buckwheat straw, as it 
will give a horse what we call the buck¬ 
wheat itch. a. g. w. 
Jefferson Co., N. Y. - i 
Concrete 
Hog-Houses 
The clean, warm, well-kept hog 
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pigs to a litter a$ early as March 
is the rule in a hog-house built 
of concrete. 
When you build insist upon 
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