RATS AND MICE To Destroy Rats and Mice.—Meth ods recommended for destroying rats and mice may be summed up as the use of poisons, traps, ferrets, fumigation, and the rat-proof con struction of buildings. In addition, Lt bacteriological product has been dis covered by the Pasteur Institute which communicates to rats and mice an infectious disease, not dangerous to man or other animals, by which they are completely exterminated. The loss to the United States from the brown or Norway rat alone is said to amount to several million dollars a year. These animals also spread the germs of infectious disease from house to house, and the bubonic plague or " black death " from city to city. An exhaustive list of the destructive agencies employed against rats and mice in historic times would more than fill this volume; but most of them are worthless, and only a limited number are necessary.
To Poison Rats.—Mix to a stiff dough I part of barium (carbonate of barytes) with 4 parts of corn meal, or 1 part of the barytes with 7 parts •of water.
Or spread barytes on moistened bread and butter or toast. Scatter these preparations in small quantities in the rat runs. This poison is with out taste or smell, and in the small quantities that suffice to poison rats or mice is harmless to domestic ani mals. It acts slowly, and the ani mals before dying will, if possible, leave the premises in search of wa ter. Hence this is the safest poison to employ in dwellings. All recepta cles containing water must be cov ered while this or any other poison is in use, and care must be taken that there are no leaky pipes or pools of water on or near the premises.
Or insert dry crystals of strych nine in small pieces of raw meat, sausage, or toasted cheese. Place these in the rat runs.
Or dissolve ounce of strychnine sulphate in 1 pint of boiling water, add 1 pint of thick sugar sirup, and stir vigorously. Soak wheat or oat meal in this strychnine sirup over night and spread it about the runs, but do not use strychnine in occu pied dwellings, as it is an active poi son, and the rats die in their holes before they can escape in search of water.
Or make a dough of phosphorous paste with corn meal, oatmeal, or flour and a little sugar, and add a few drops of oil of rhodium or ani seed. To make phosphorous paste, melt I pound of lard in a glass fruit jar, set it in boiling water, and when melted add ounce of phosphorus and 1 pint of alcohol. Screw on the top and shake the jar vigorously to form a complete emulsion. Allow this to settle and pour off the spir its, which may be used again for the same purpose.
Or dissolve in a glass fruit jar ounce of phosphorus in 10 ounces of warm water, and mix to form a stiff dough with 10 or 12 ounces of rye meal, 10 ounces of butter, and ounces of sugar. Place small quan tities of the dough in the rat run ways.
But remember that phosphorus readily ignites by friction, and the rats may carry it into their holes and set the place on fire ; hence it is not as safe to use as barytes or strych nine.
To Stop Rat Holes.—Where the rat holes are visible, pour a little water into them at night, and after the ground about them becomes damp, sprinkle a thin layer of caus tic potash or chloride of lime in and about the holes. The damp potash sticks to the rats' feet and produces sores. In attempting to lick these they communicate the sores to their mouths.
Rats caught in traps after the use of caustic potash are often found to have a mass of sores about the feet, tail, and mouth. They will usually leave the buildings before death. Hence where the holes can be found, this method is preferable to poison.
Or the holes may be coated with soft tar, or stuffed with burdock or cockle burs.
To Stop Mouse Holes.—Protect the bottoms of sideboards, cupboards, and the like with a layer of sheet tin ; or cover mouse holes in plaster side walls with a piece of window glass set into the plaster and held in place by plaster of Paris. Filling the hole with plaster does no good, as the mice will gnaw through again.