to this and an inch from the front edge of the board a notched
peg should be inserted. A gimlet hole should now be bored on a
line between the auger hole and notched peg, and half an inch from
the latter. A small stout screw eye should next be inserted at
the rear edge of the board, and another one fastened to the back
board, two inches from the bottom. With these simple preparations
the box is complete. The bait stick should be about five or six
inches long and supplied with a notch at the upper end. It should be
of such a size as to pass easily into the auger hole, and provided
with a peg inserted through it at about an inch and a half from
the notched end, as shown in our illustration at (_a_). The object
of this peg is to prevent the bait stick from being drawn entirely
[Page 56]
through the hole by the force of the pull from above. The catch piece
should be only long enough to secure its ends beneath the notches in
the peg at the top of the box and the projecting bait stick. It should
be bevelled off at the tips as in the instances previously described,
and attached to a piece of sucker wire, the point of attachment being
at about an inch from the end of the stick. The wire should be about
two and a half feet in length, the catch piece being fastened at about
six inches from one end. To set this neat little invention it is
first necessary to procure a strong and elastic switch about four
feet in length, sharpen it slightly at the large end and insert
it firmly in the screw eye at the back of the box, securing it in
place at the top by strings through the screw eye at that place. By
now attaching the short end of the wire to the tip of the sapling,
inserting the bait stick from the inside of the box, and securing the
catch piece in the notches, the other pieces will be in equilibrium,
and the only remaining thing to be done is to pass the long end
of the wire through the gimlet hole, and form it into a slipping