FARMERS' REGISTER— WHEAT DEGENERATING INTO CHEAT. 



83 



fowl, not only to the water at large, but to the de- 

 sired part of it. 



Having, by tliese means, allured them to the 

 mouth of the pipe, or canal, leading from the wa- 

 ter to a tunnel net, fixed at the head of it; but hid 

 from the sight among trees and aquatic plants ; the 

 difficulties now remaining, are those of gettingthem 

 off the bank into the water, without taking wing; 

 and of leading them up the pipe to the snare which 

 is set for them. 



To get them off the bank into the water, a dog, 

 (the more he is like a fox the better,) steals from 

 behind a skreen of reeds, which is placed by the 

 side of the pipe, to hide the decoy man, as well as 

 his dog, until the signal be given. On seeing the 

 dog, tlie ducks rush into the water ; where the 

 loild fowl consider themselves as safe from the 

 enemy which had assailed them. 



But among tlie wild fowl, a parcel, (perhaps 

 eight or ten) of decoy ducks have mixed, and were, 

 probably, instrumental in bringing them, with 

 greater confidence, to the bank. As soon as these 

 are in the water, they make for the pipe, at the 

 head of which they have been constantly fed ; and 

 in which they have always found an asylum from 

 the dog. The wild ducks follow ; while the dog 

 keeps driving behind ; and, by that means, takes 

 off their attention from the trap they are enter- 

 ing. 



As soon as the decoyraan, who is all the while 

 observing the operation through peep-holes in the 

 reed ski-een, sees the entire shoal under a canopy 

 net which covers and encloses the upper part of the 

 pipe, he shews himself; wlien the wild fowl instantly 

 take wing ; but their wings meeting with an imper- 

 vious net, instead of a natural canopy formed of 

 reeds and bulrushes, they fall again into tlie wa- 

 ter, and, being afraid to recede, the man being 

 close behind them, push forward into the tail ot 

 the tunnel net which terminates the pipe.* 



This being the use of the pipe, its form becomes 

 obvious. It ought to resemble the outlet of a natu- 

 ral brook, or, a natural inlet or creek of the prin- 

 cipal water. The mouth ought to be spacious, 

 and free from confinement, that the wild foAvl, 

 on their first rusliing into the water, and while 

 they have yet the power of recollection, may be 

 induced to begin to follow the tame ducks ; and 

 for the same purpose it ought to be crooked, that 

 its inward narrowness, and nets, may not, in the 

 first instance, be perceived. The lower part of a 

 French horn is considered as the best form of the 

 pipe of a decoy. 



One material circumstance remains yet to be 

 explained. It is the invariable nature of wild 

 fowl to take wing witli their heads toward the 

 wind ; and it is always imprudent to attempt to 

 take them in a decoy, vniless the wind blow down 

 the pipe : for, while their enemy is to leeward of 

 them, they have less scruple to go up the pipe, 

 making sure of an escape by their wings. But, 

 what is of still more consequence, if the wind set 

 up the pipe, when they take wing under the cano- 

 py net, some of tliem would proliably escape, (a 

 circumstance always to be dreaded,) and those 

 which fell again into the water, would fall, of 

 course, with their heads toward the wind, and 



would, with greater difficulty, be driven into the 

 tunnel. 



This circumstance is so well known, by decoy- 

 men in general, that every decoy is, when circum- 

 stances will admit of it, furnished with three or 

 four different pipes, pointing to distinct quarters 

 of the horizon, that no opportunity may be lost on 

 account of the wind. 



* I was tokl by the proprietor of a decoy, who is 

 liimscif fond of the diversion, and whose veracity I have 

 no reason to doubt, that he has, in this way, caught 

 "nine dozen nt a push." 



For the Farmers' Register. 



EXPERIMENT TO TEST THE POSSIBILITY 



OF WHEAT DEGENERATING INTO CHE AT. 



October 20th, 1832. A spot about twenty feet^ 

 square, on one side of a field of corn, was left out 

 when all the adjacent ground was ploughed and 

 sowed in wheat three days before. Soil, a silicious 

 loam, (which had been marled in 1820,) on a re- 

 tentive subsoil, which by preventing the sinking 

 of the water from rauis, keeps the surface very 

 wet through winter and spring. The surface of 

 this part of the field is a very gentle slope, decli- 

 ning towards the north, and the lowest spot of the 

 whole (and therefore the most exposed to water) 

 is where the space was marked for this experi- 

 ment. There the surface becomes level. The 

 whole field, including this spot, had been ploughed 

 five or six inches deep last winter, for corn, and 

 well cultivated, but not later than the beginning of 

 July. All remained very clear of weeds. 



The space was slightly smoothed by the broad 

 hoe, merely to level the clods, but not broken any 

 where an inch deep, and generally not cut at all. As 

 the corn had been tilled level, and not hilled, the 

 surface required but little smoothing. Wheat was 

 selected for the trial which had passed through a 

 cockle-sieve, and of course was all either shrivel- 

 led, or very small grains if plump. Lines were 

 slightly traced along the edge of a straight rod, 

 (not more than half an inch deep,) and a few 

 seeds, varying from three to seven, were placed 

 accurately at every six inches of the line, by 

 notclies on the rod made at those distances. The 

 seed was carefully cleaned of every grain of cheat, 

 spelt, and cockle. Half the square was thus plant- 

 ed in such rows six inches apart, and the remain- 

 der in similar rows twelve inches apart. For fear 

 that even this very defective seed might not be 

 bad enough to insure the change to cheat, one of 

 the subscribers picked out a number of the most 

 shrivelled and imperfect grains, all of which he is 

 confident will bring cheat, if they are capable of 

 produchig any thing, which is very doubtful from 

 their appearance. One of the rows was planted 

 with these grains, four being carefully deposited 

 at each distance of six inches. All the seeds were 

 covered with about half an inch of mould taken 

 by the hand from the intervals between tlie lines ; 

 and the wliole space was then slightly beaten over 

 with the flat of the broad hoe. 



About four feet Avidth adjohiing the square, and 

 of similar unbroken corn land, was strewed broad- 

 cast with similar defective seed, and covered as 

 shallow as possible. 



The earth dry at this time, and in fine order for 

 plougliing. The weather uncommonly warm for 

 the last three days. 



Present and assisting at the making of this ex- 

 periment the undersigned Thomas Cocke and Ed- 

 mund KufFin of Prince George county, and Wil- 

 liam J. Cocke of Sussex — the first a believer and 

 the second an unbeliever in the change of wheat 



