Wendell McGatheys, age 13 of Fredericton .B., for his question:

 How do you raise a nutria?

The nutria is a fur bearing rodent of South America. He is also called the coypu and the mouse‑beaver. He is a water loving animal and his native home is marsh and swampland. Because his fur coat is valuable in the fur trade, Mr. Nutria and his family have been brought to live in North America. Naturally, the furry fellow must have swampland. For water and water weeds are necessary to him. Nutria ranches have been very successful in the swamps of Louisiana and New Jersey.

A full grown nutria is about two feet long plus another foot of tail. He cannot be raised in a hutch like a rabbit. He must be given his freedom in open marsh country. There he will feed and multiply. What's more, the nutria should be introduced only to waste swampland. If there are gardens and crops near by he will raid them. The hungry fellow is a great one for salads and he does not mind whose greens he steals.