New Ideas for American Boys; The Jack of All Trades — John Shaqi
New Ideas for American Boys; The Jack of All TradesBeard, Daniel Carter
General
New Ideas for American Boys; The Jack of All Trades
Beard, Daniel Carter
Amusements; Sports
This is explained because some of the readers may not live near any
dealer in wire-goods, and will be compelled to order what they want
by letter. To do this intelligently they should understand the trade
terms. Galvanized wire-netting, used for small bird-cages, comes in
one-half, five-eighth and three-quarter-inch mesh, and is made of from
No. 18 to No. 22 wire. The width of this netting varies from two feet
to four feet. One-and-one-quarter-inch mesh is used for pigeon-houses,
and the netting is from two feet to six feet wide. One-inch mesh is
used for quail, ruffed grouse, pheasants, prairie-chickens, etc. A
two-inch mesh is usually used for chicken-coops.
[Illustration: FIGS. 24 and 25.]
As a rule, the mesh which has square spaces is called wire-cloth, and
that which has six-sided spaces is called netting. For mice, rats,
chipmonks, flying-squirrels, gray and red squirrels, use about No.
2-1/2 square mesh of No. 17 galvanized wire.
For woodchucks and musk-rats use a rather small mesh and pretty heavy
wire, for their teeth are strong chisels, and you will be surprised
to see what skilled mechanics they are in the use of the tools with
which nature has supplied them. For rabbits, a two-inch mesh or any
of the nettings used for poultry answers all purposes; but for foxes,
if you use a two-inch mesh, be careful to have it of heavy wire. The
writer’s Skye terrier pup gnawed its way through the chicken-coop
wire-netting on various occasions, and a fox has all the energy of a
terrier, coupled with a most surprising amount of ingenuity and skill
in jail-breaking.
A Pair of Foxes
I once owned could undo any knot or catch that I could invent with
which to fasten them, and I was only made aware of the fact from the
complaints of lost chickens which came from our neighbors.
While the neighbors were protesting, Faust and Mrs. Faust lay in front
of their den, staring innocently at us with their great brown eyes,
but investigation proved that the chains which apparently confined
them were attached to nothing but their collars; and, furthermore,
when I pushed the foxes aside with my foot, sundry quills and
feathers, protruding from the fresh earth of their bed, showed only
too plainly that our neighbors were not without reason in suspecting
my innocent-looking rascally pets. I at last solved the problem by
chaining the foxes together, and in spite of all their cunning, they
never learned to go through the same opening in the fence, but each
chose a different exit, and both were then held by their chain.
Each Cage
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