and the full length of the boards that are up, for
sometimes under the boards the Rats can get out of one joist into
another, and if you use the long net you can catch them whichever joist
they bolt at.

Now we will suppose you are ferreting a seven-storey building, which
might occupy three or four days. If you have ferreted two stories the
first day, during the night the Rats that have not been ferreted on the
lower stories may get back again to the top storey.

How to prevent this happening I will give you a plan of my own, which I
don't think any Rat-catcher but myself has ever employed. The course of
action--a rather expensive one I admit--is the following: While you have
the boards up you must go to the druggist and get two shillings' worth of
cayenne pepper, and put it into a pepper duster. Scatter the cayenne
along the boards and joist where you have had the long sheet net, and
also along the other end of the joist where you put the ferrets in, and
you will find that under no consideration will Rats face the cayenne
pepper. Cayenne is alright for any dry place and will last a long time,
but it will not do in any water closets or any damp places, as dampness
takes all the nature out of the cayenne.

After ferreting in any kind of building, always go carefully round the
outside, and see that there are no broken air grids, or broken cellar
windows, as these are likely ways that the Rats get into the building at
first. When ferreting always be careful how you set your nets, and be
extremely quick on the Rats when they bolt, for sometimes if they get
back they will face the ferret before they will bolt again; then the
ferrets kill them under the floors, and this as in the case of poisoning
them is liable to cause an abominable smell, more especially where heat
is near.

In the whole of my experience of Rat-catching, which is a lengthy one, I
never gave a guarantee to clear a place completely, in Manchester or any
other town where so many large buildings are so close together. And let
me show the reason for this. Take Cannon Street, Manchester, as an
illustration. Here are six or eight different firms in one block of
buildings. Now, suppose four of these firms are suffering from the
damage the Rats are doing. Well, one or two of these firms may go to the
expense of having the Rats cleared away. But between the two buildings
there may be a hardware business or ironmonger's shop, where Rats cannot
do any