The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-06-21
RATsI

Prof. w. +. Massey says:
There is no doubt that most Of the
trouble from rats and mice comes from
the faulty construction of farm build.
lngs ard the slovenly habits of many
farmers in GLOWING Rccumulations of
rubbish under which the rats can har
Dor. We live in house which was
built with especial pains to exclude all
chances for rats getting into il, Have
been in it seven years, and though
there are rats all around the neighbor-
hood, we have never seen nor heard
one here. Now and then few mice
get in, but they are easily disposed Of
by choker traps and cats. On the farm
the first thing should be to build or re.
new the outbuildings so that there will
be no place for the rats to hide and no
way for them to get into the corn crib
and granaries. Then keep some good
cats and do not have them stay any.
where but about the barnP. Never feed
them in the dwelling, but always let
them have milk at the barn, and they
will stay there. The Maltese we have
found te-be the best of all barn CATS,
They are large and strong enough to
fight the largest rat, and are generally
good hunters. Keep mainly female
cats to raise new broods, for they hunt
morevigorously when they have young
to feed. l. have seen cat lug in q
rabbit as large as herself for heryoung
to feast upon, and had as lief see
them get the rabbits as the rats. Do
not monkey with the white rats, just
as well have grey ones. Cannot see
any benefit from swapping colors. Do
not try to poison rats, as you viii be
sure to make q nuisance about the
place, and as one Of our correspond
ents says, lone dead rat is worse on
the place, than a dozen live ones" If
constant watchfulness and cleanliness
are observed the rats will never in.
crease to dangerous degree, and the
cats will be able to keep them in check.
We have seen-a wire trap here that
will catch them wonderfully fast at
first, but they soon learn to avoid any
trap. Traps seldom catch the old rats.
We once had q cellar badly infested
by rats which had burroWed under the
earthen floor in all directions coming
down outside along the brick wall. We
were near q tin can factory and noticed
wonderful pile Of scrap tin Of all de-
grees of sharpness. The proprietor
readily gave US the pile. We dug
around the wall on the outside and
rammed the trench full of the tin scraps
and grouted them with cement. Then
the floor Of the cellar was dug out and
a number of rats killed while doing it.
A layer a foot thick of the tin scraps
was pounded down solid and then the
cement grouting poured over the whole.
When well set good coat Of smooth
cement was placed over the whole to
make solid floor. No rat was ever
known in that cellar afterwards, though
we killed 86 in digging up the earthen
floor. In q frame house we once built
we placed on the silIs between the
misunderstanding and the plastering
for two feet above Che stills small
screened gravel of water rounded sort,
making it all perfectly clean Of earth
that could bind it and all of the uni
form size Of q marble. Rats could not
get up through this and make holes as
the loose gravel rolled in on them as
fast as moved, and we never had any
rats there. This we believe to be the
best plan for the protection Of a frame
house. Then make the flooring run
flush and tight against the weather
boarding so as to give no chance to get
behind it. We thank our correspond.
ents for the full discussion to day, and
hope that in the busy season now on
hand they will not forget the Pool.