1883.] UTILITY OF BIRDS IN AGRICULTURE. 105 



The Chairman. I was not aware of it. 



Mr. Pratt of Cornwall. I know of one that does. I 

 would like to ask the gentleman who said the crows pulled 

 up his corn when it was eighteen inches high, what kind of 

 tar he used ? I have used coal tar for five or six years, and 1 

 have never had a spear pulled. 



Mr. Lock WOOD of So. Windham. I can answer the gentle- 

 man here who wanted to know how they found where the corn 

 was that was not tarred. They did it by sampling in my 

 field. They went around sampling here and there. I left a 

 little corner planted with corn that was not tarred, because 

 the tarred corn gave out. They destroyed that by wholesale. 



Dr. RiGGS. There was some mistake about that. I never 

 knew a crow to touch corn after it got to the second tier of 

 leaves. 



Mr. LoCKWOOD. I can bring you testimony enough to 

 prove the fact. 



Dr. RiGGS. I would go fifty miles to see that. I don't 

 doubt you have been informed so. 



Mr. LocKWOOD. No, sir ; I saw it myself. 



Mr. Pratt. Pour boiling water on the corn before you ap- 

 ply the tar. A large table spoonful will color a pail of 

 water. 



Dr. RiGGS. You must stir it continually, because if you 

 do not stir it, you will kill the life of the corn, so that it will 

 not come up. I have been caught in that trap. You may 

 pour it on very hot, if you will keep stirring it, and not use 

 too much tar. If the water is hot, it will dissolve the tar, 

 and as you pour it on, it will coat every kernel of corn, and 

 not a crow will touch it. They will even leave the field in 

 some instances. If you let the water stay upon your corn 

 any length of time, it will kill the chit, where the corn first 

 starts, just as certain as you do it. You want to pour it off 

 and cool it almost instantly after you have got it stirred up 

 very well, so as not to have it kill the corn. 



Mr. Gold. I have had corn pulled after the second hoeing, 

 when the scare-crows had been removed from the field, and 



