Seed-Carriers 227 



other rubbish. A certain field which had been left to 

 itself for some time was found to be full of young bur- 

 oaks, there being no parent tree anywhere near from 

 which the acorns could possibly have been carried, even 

 by a high wind. 



Now, how could these have been planted, save by 

 birds? Pigs simply crunch up and eat nuts and acorns 

 where they find them; and though the squirrel sometimes 

 carries them several hundred yards, it seldom does more, 

 while the field-mouse certainly does not lay up her winter 

 store very far from where her crops grow. Besides, 

 neither tree-squirrels nor mice act in concert, and planting 

 on so large a scale must have required a small army to 

 accomplish it. 



No doubt, however, both tree and ground squirrels, as 

 well as mice, are responsible for the planting of many 

 a single nut-bearing tree; for sometimes they may be 

 startled, and made to drop their treasure before they reach 

 home; some may forget their storehouse, and some may 

 die before it is empty. 



But the gray tree-squirrels may have done more, for 

 unlike the red and the ground squirrels they bury their 

 winter store of nuts and acorns separately, one by one, 

 about a couple of inches deep; and though they have 

 such good memories as to be able to find them again, even 

 when buried under a foot of snow, no doubt in many cases 

 accidents have happened, and their stores have been left 

 undisturbed, and would have excellent opportunities of 

 growing. The number of these little animals in North 

 America was something extraordinary in bygone times; 

 for in one year (1749) six hundred and forty thousand 

 were destroved in Pennsylvania alone. They may well, 



