If a poultry yard is in an open space where the sun's rays will strike it squarely, a shade can be put up as follows: A piece of old carpet, rug, or canvas, fastened to the wire mesh with clothespins, will produce a shade at any place desired.—Contributed by Walter L. Kaufmann, Santa Ana, Cal.
Reflector for Viewing Scenery from a Car Window
Construct a box of pasteboard or thin wood, about 9 in. long, 3 in. wide and 2 in. thick, and fasten two pieces of mirror in the ends at an angle of 45 deg., both sloping in the same direction with their reflecting surfaces toward each other. An opening as large as the mirror is cut, facing it, in the box at the end A, and a small hole bored through at the end B so that it will center the mirror. Both of these apertures are covered with plain pieces of glass.
The Reflecting Device as It is Used in a Car Window for Viewing the Scenery Ahead
In use, the end A is placed outside of the car window and the user places an eye to the small hole B. It is impossible to be struck in the eye with a cinder or flying object.—Contributed by Mildred E. Thomas, Gordon, Can.
A Muskrat Trap
It is difficult to catch muskrats in an ordinary steel trap, as a broken bone allows them to sever the flesh and escape. During the summer these rats build a shelter for the winter constructed of moss and sticks placed on the river or lake bed, the top extending above the water level and the entrance being through a hole in the bottom near one side, while the passage itself is under water. It, therefore, only remains for the trapper to make one of these houses over into a huge wire trap so that the animal may be caught alive.
A Trap for Catching Muskrats Alive in One of Their Mounds Built of Moss and Sticks