he dog see where
you place it. Then take the dog with you near to where the rat or skin
is buried, and you will soon see that the dog knows its work. Do this a
few times, and you will see that once the dog finds the dead Rat or the
skin it will never forget. The younger the dog the better, the right age
to break a puppy this way being about four or five months. Break it in
for taking to the water at the same time. If you want a good working dog
always keep it on the chain when at home, and feed it at the same time as
the ferrets, but do not over-feed it; also give it one dose of castor oil
or syrup of buckthorn every 14 days. I recommend this because you never
know the nasty poisonous stuff that the dog gets on its stomach from the
dirty brook and river sides.

Let me add that all I have written about ferrets and dogs are not given
merely from hearsay, but are the facts derived from study and experience
during 25 years of dog and ferret-keeping.

PART III. THE HABITS OF RATS.

Rats breed very quickly. This I have often proved by visiting a given
haunt for many years together. I remember an instance in point one June,
when out with dog and ferrets. The dog made a set under the root of a
tree. I put the ferret in and it bolted eight young Rats, nearly half
grown, still suckling the bitch Rat. When the old Rat bolted my dog
killed it, and whilst the dog was shaking it I found she was very heavy
in young again. This, therefore, will prove how quickly Rats breed.

Another result of my observation may be of interest to my readers. After
removing a lot of old rubbish when ratting I came upon a nest of just-
born Rats, and, in curiosity, I cut the tails off the lot, and then put
the young Rodents back, leaving the nest undisturbed. When I returned
next day, I found the old Rat had carried all her young away, and, later,
I found the same tailless lot in another part of the building, and, after
disturbing them again, I found the following day that the bitch Rat had
killed every one by eating off their heads. This destruction of the
offspring I have witnessed on more than one occasion. The old bitch Rat
has always killed them in the same way by eating off their heads.

I must not forget to tell you of the young Rat's dread of the ferrets. I
have often seen when the ferrets have been put in the hole the young Rats
(not many days old and their eyes yet unopened) creep out of the hole.
This is a proof th