MOUNTAIN LINNET. 
107 
entire plant. Then, again, as to the cabbages. The people, as 
I have remarked already, raise their seedlings almost exclu- 
sively in the little walled enclosures called 'plantie cruives.'' 
The sight of a thick crop of seedlings, perhaps only a few hours 
old, is far too much for the morals of the robbers, and in a very 
short space of time it becomes necessary for the ground to be 
resown. But is not prevention better than cure ? A sufficient 
quantity of old herring-net to cover an ordinary-sized sitting- 
room would entirely check the mischief. Then as to the 
turnips : careful watching for a few days would surely prevent 
nine-tenths of the evil, and many a poor neighbour would 
gladly allow his children to perform this duty merely for their 
keep during the day. With old-fashioned farmers, who still 
insist that hand-sowing and covering the drills by means of a 
shuffling motion of the feet is the best method, the objection 
is made that the seed comes up irregularly, and that the pro- 
cess of watching would occupy too many days ; but it is to be 
hoped that this difficulty will soon be overcome by certain 
enterprising Scotchmen who have within the last few years 
succeeded most effectually in removing many of the old standing 
prejudices of this nature — prejudices very seriously detrimental 
to that improvement in the material prosperity of the people 
the need for which is so painfully apparent to all who take an 
interest in their welfare. 
It would be unfair to deny that the myriads of linnets which 
are spread over the whole islands must be the means of destroy- 
ing enormous quantities of corn and turnips every year, but I 
never yet met with the farmer who could prove that he was 
really out of pocket by their visitations. How much rather 
may he not have gained by the destruction of seeds of various 
weeds, and by the rooting out and devouring of the hateful wild 
mustard, another cruciferous plant to which the lintie shows no 
mercy ? Few would censure the man who should fire into a 
fiock which was pulling up his plants by wholesale ; but the cruel 
attempt to slaughter the Mountain Linnet by thousands during 
the winter is useless. 1 have known it tried and persevered in 
