TIE TRAP FOR RABBITS.—­An inexpensive and permanent sewer tile trap for cottontail rabbits has proved very effective in Kansas.  To make the trap, proceed as follows: 

“Set a 12 by 6-inch ‘T’ sewer tile with the long end downward, and bury it so that the 6-inch opening at the side is below the surface of the ground.  Connect two lengths of 6-inch sewer pipe horizontally with the side opening.  Second grade or even broken tile will do.  Cover the joints with soil so as to exclude light.  Provide a tight removable cover, such as an old harrow disk, for the top of the large tile.  The projecting end of the small tile is then surrounded with rocks, brush, or wood, so as to make the hole look inviting to rabbits and encourage them to frequent the den.  Rabbits, of course, are free to go in or out of these dens, which should be constructed in promising spots on the farm and in the orchard.  A trained dog will locate inhabited dens.  The outlet is closed with a disk of wood on a stake, or the dog guards the opening.  The cover is lifted and the rabbits captured by hand.

“These traps are especially suitable for open lands and prairies, where rabbits cannot find natural hiding places.  They are permanent and cost nothing for repairs from year to year.  If it is desired to poison rabbits, the baits may be placed inside these traps, out of the way of domestic animals or birds.  This trap also furnishes an excellent means of obtaining rabbits for the table, or even for market.”—­U.S.  Dept. of Agri.

Blueberry Culture.

U.S.  DEPT.  OF AGRICULTURE.

Blueberries thrive best on soils which are so acid that they are usually considered almost worthless for ordinary agricultural purposes.  Blueberry culture, therefore, offers possibilities of profit to individual land-owners in districts in which the general conditions are especially hard and unpromising.  Blueberries can not be grown in ordinary fertile soils.

Although frequently confused, especially in the South and in the Middle West, blueberries and huckleberries are quite distinct.  In New England the name “huckleberry” is restricted to berries which contain 10 large seeds with bony coverings like minute peach pits which crackle between the teeth, while the name “blueberry” is applied to various species of berries containing many but very small seeds.  It is the latter, not the large-seeded huckleberry, which offers possibilities for profitable culture.

At the present stage of the blueberry industry it is best to begin by transplanting the most promising wild bushes, selecting them for the size, flavor, color and earliness of the berry as well as for the vigor and productiveness of the bush.  These plants can be propagated in various ways, which are described in detail in a professional paper of the department, Bulletin No. 334, by Frederick V. Coville.  The aim of the cultivator should be to secure bushes which will produce large berries.  These cost less to pick than small ones and bring a higher price on the market.  A berry eleven-sixteenths of an inch in diameter has already been produced under field culture.