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A KICKING HEIFER.

WOOL.

Yeno's Lightning Cough Cure.

-. DAIRY CLEANLINESS.

Stitch in Time.

THE KING AND HORSE BREEDING.

AMERICAN MEAT TRUSTS.

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[No title]

" IRISH " BACON.

What Newtown has found Montgomery…

! CODDLING THE PREGNANT EWES.

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EXTERMINATING RATS.

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EXTERMINATING RATS. Leaflet No. 244, issued by the Board of Agriculture, is concerning The destruction of Rats." Fortunately, Montgomeryshire is not so infested as other parts of the King- dom. In some places they have been a terrible nuisance. It states that two kinds of rats are found in Great Britain, the black rat and the brown rat, or sewer rat. The females of both species breed at a very early age, and though they go with young for six weeks they have several litters in the year, each litter comprising from six to fourteen young. Rats therefore increase in numbers very rapidly if sufficient food is available. It is highly desirable, both from an economic and a sanitary point of view, that rats should as far as possible be de- stroyed.. The destruction oi rats is essen- tially a matter for local effort, and the occa- sion for the attempt to be made is when the danger of injury from their presence outweighs the probable cost and trouble of killing them. There are three methods which may be employed in the destruction of rats:-(I) Hunting; (2) trapping; (3) the use of poison or rat virus. There is not much to be said about the first of these methods. Most residents in the country are acquainted with the ratting instinct of terriers, and with the employ- ment of ferrets, and a knowledge of the practice can better be obtained by experi- ence than by description. As regards traps, the spring trap, which kills the rat at once when the spring is released, is the best, but care must be taken to see that, no other animal is caught, and traps should there- fore be visited frequently. Another kind is the wire trap, on the eel-basket principle, which the rat can enter easily when at- tracted by the bait, but cannot leave. Rat poisons are sold in all country towns by chemists, and several patent.or proprietary poisons are advertised in agricultural and other newspapers. They are generally composed of phosphorus paste or arsenic, but strychnine may also be employed, while the use of barium carbonate has alsc been recommended. Plaster of Paris is sometimes used mixed with flour, which sets in a hard mass in the rat's stomach. It must be remembered that rats are very suspicious, and if they find that any num- ber of their fellows die after eating any kind of food, they will avoid such food for some time. It will be as well, therefore, to vary the form and appearance of the pois- oned bait at intervals. Thus, after using poisoned bread for a while, oatmeal simi- larly treated should be used. In any case, poisoned baits should only be laid by authorised and responsible people. Rat viruses, of which there are several on the market, can be used without fear of direct injury to any animals other than rodents.

POULTHY MANAGEMENT.

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" IRISH " BACON.

! CODDLING THE PREGNANT EWES.

POULTHY MANAGEMENT.