===================+==========================+========================= | Quarter ended June 30 | Quarter ended Sept. 30 +---------+---------+------+---------+---------+----- Kind of trap | | Number | | | Number | or poison | Number | of rats | Per | Number | of rats | Per | set |caught or|cent. | set |caught or|cent. | |poisoned | | |poisoned | -------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+----- Spring or snare | | | | | | traps | 120,565 | 8,377 | 6.9 | 130,627 | 7,753 | 7.47 Wire cage traps | 47,075 | 339 | .72 | 40,621 | 395 | .97 Poison bacon, rice,| | | | | | or coconuts | 166,237 | 1,216 | .731| 177,309 | 216 | .12 -------------------+---------+---------+------+-----+---+---------+----- | Quarter ended-- +---------+--------- | June 30 | Sept. 30 ----------------------------------------------------+---------+--------- Number of rats: | | Caught by dogs | 160 | 5 Killed with clubs and other weapons | 2,889 | 3,818 Found dead from other causes | 316 | 297 ----------------------------------------------------+---------+--------- No accurate record was kept of the number of each kind of rat bait set. Only the total of all was recorded. Bacon or coconut with strychnine and rice with arsenic were used. For instance, for the quarter ended June 30, 1913, there were 166,237 poison baits set in new territory and the rats found poisoned average for each 100 baits 0.72. During the next quarter there were 177,309 baits set in territory that had been worked over, and only 216 rats, or 0.12 rat per 100 baits, were killed. From the foregoing it appears that the rat poison ranks lowest in efficiency but perhaps highest in economy. In view of the fact that the original cost of the cage trap is many times more than that of the spring trap, and the cost of maintenance is very high, it will be apparent that the spring trap is by far the more economical as well as more effective of the two. Generally speaking, however, the number of rat catchers engaged and the location of their operations has the largest influence upon the total catch of rats. For the fiscal year July 1, 1912, to June 30, 1913, inclusive, the total catch was 55,101 rats (Manila only); to December 1, 1913, 79,676.