=Barrel trap.=--About 60 years ago a writer in the Cornhill Magazine gave details of a trap, by means of which it was claimed that 3,000 rats were caught in a warehouse in a single night. The plan involved tolling the rats to the place and feeding them for several nights on the tops of barrels covered with coarse brown paper. Afterwards a cross was cut in the paper, so that the rats fell into the barrel (fig. 9 (1)). Many variations of the plan, but few improvements upon it, have been suggested by agricultural writers since that time. Reports are frequently made of large catches of rats by means of a barrel fitted with a light cover of wood, hinged on a rod so as to turn with the weight of a rat (fig. 9 (2)). =Pit trap.=--A modification of the barrel trap is the pit trap (fig. 10). This consists of a stout narrow box sunk in the ground so that the top is level with the rat run. It is fixed with a cover of light wood or metal in two sections, the sections fitting nicely inside the box and working independently. They turn on rods, to which they are fastened. They are weighted near the ends of the box and so adjusted that they swing easily. An animal stepping upon the cover beyond the rods is precipitated into the box, while the cover immediately swings back to its place. Besides rats, the trap is well adapted to capture larger animals, as minks, raccoons, opossums, and cats. It is especially useful to protect poultry yards, game preserves, and the like. The trap should be placed along the fence outside the yard, and behind a shelter of boards or brush that leans against the fence. =Fence and battue.=--In the rice fields of the Far East the natives build numerous piles of brush and rice straw, and leave them for several days until many rats have taken shelter in them. A portable bamboo inclosure several feet in height is then set up around each pile in succession and the straw and brush are thrown out over the top, while dogs and men kill the trapped rodents. Large numbers are destroyed in this way, and the plan with modifications may be utilized in America with satisfactory results. A wire netting of fine mesh may be used for the inclosure. The scheme is applicable at the removal of grain, straw, or haystacks, as well as brush piles. In a large barn near Washington, a few years ago, piles of unhusked corn were left in the loft and were soon infested with rats. A wooden pen was set down surrounding the piles in turn and the corn thrown out until dogs were able to get at the rats. In this way several men and dogs killed 500 rats in a single day. POISONS. While the use of poison is the best and quickest way to get rid of rats and mice, the odor from the dead animals makes the method impracticable in occupied houses. Poisons may be effectively used in barns, stables, sheds, cribs, and other outbuildings.