A NATURALIST. 109 



thus left along the rows, as if they had been arranged 

 with care, offer a melancholy memorial of the work 

 which has been effected by these cunning and destruc- 

 tive plunderers. 



Numerous experiments have been made, where the 

 crows are thus injurious, to avert their ravages ; and the 

 method I shall now relate I have seen tried with the 

 most gratifying success. In a large tub a portion of tar 

 and grease were mixed, so as to render the tar sufficiently 

 thin and soft, and to this was added a portion of slacked 

 lime in powder, and the whole stirred until thoroughly 

 incorporated. The seed corn was then thrown in, and 

 stirred with the mixture until each grain received a uni- 

 form coating. The corn was then dropped in the hills, 

 and covered as usual. This treatment was found to re- 

 tard the germination about three days, as the mixture 

 greatly excludes moisture from the grain. But the crows 

 did no injury to the field ; they pulled up a small quantity 

 in different parts of the planting, to satisfy themselves it 

 was all alike ; upon becoming convinced of which, they 

 quietly left it for some less carefully managed grounds, 

 where pains had not been taken to make all the corn so 

 nauseous and bitter. 



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