The complete vermin-killer, or, gentleman's and farmer's guide / [Thomas Simpson].

  • Simpson, Thomas
Date:
1772
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The complete vermin-killer, or, gentleman's and farmer's guide / [Thomas Simpson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    T H E INTRODUCTION. O M E may think it odd for a man to fit down and write on fo trifling a fubjedt as Vermin ; but when confl- dered by thofe who feel the bad effects of not deftroying them, I flatter myfelf they will think my time not altogether thrown away. The method that the nobility, farmers, &c. make ufe of, is to fend for a man, known in the country by the name of a Rat-catcher, to whom they pay a ftipulated price for every Rat ; the Rat-catcher by this method picks up a good living ; for when not employed, his leifure hours are taken up in cathing Rats, or purchahng them alive, which he keeps by him till fent for again, and the morning alter he has fet his traps, he carries the live Rats with him in a bag, and impofes upon his employer a certain number, perhaps not one of them taken in the traps the night before ; there- fore