378 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
of three or four. They make no noise, and 
station one on the branch of some high tree 
to give the alarm in case of danger. A man 
may at such times get near enough to them 
to see their proceedings, if he have no gun, 
but should he have one, the alarm is given 
before he is within shooting distance, and the 
bevy rise. 
Various devices are continually employed 
for protecting the corn, one of the cheapest 
and most successful of which is, stretching 
twine around the field on poles, in imitation 
of a net. The sagacity of this bird is so 
great that he can be cheated only in a saga¬ 
cious way. From the difficulty of approach¬ 
ing him with a gun, it is popularly believed 
that he can smell powder, and a plan for pro¬ 
tecting corn-fields with a mixture of sulphur 
and lamp-oil is now making the tour of the 
exchanges. But Audubon has proved that 
vultures are not endowed with even ordina¬ 
ry powers of smell, and there is no greater 
reason to believe that the crow is. Stuffed 
figures of men intimidate him for a little 
time, but he soon discovers the cheat .7 Steep¬ 
ing seed-corn in tobacco, hellebore and va¬ 
rious other poisonous solutions, is said to 
prove most effectual. 
Wilson speaks of catching crows with 
a clap net and stool crow, as pigeons are 
caught; but, whatever may have been the 
simplicity of crows in those days, Young 
America can be caught by no such clap-trap. 
The king bird is the mortal enemy of the 
crow; he soars above him, and dives down 
upon him with murderous aim. Nutall says 
that a single pair of these brave little birds 
are sufficient to clear an extensive corn¬ 
field of the black depredators ; so that we 
have another reason for preserving the king 
birds. 
Our crow breeds in the northern States 
but once a year, though farther South it is 
said to raise two broods. The nest, on 
which the male and female sit alternately, 
“ is formed externally of small twigs, coarse¬ 
ly interlaced together, plastered and matted 
with earth, moss, and long horse-hair, and 
thickly and carefully lined with large quan¬ 
tities of the last material, wool or the finest 
fibers of roots, so as to form a very comfort¬ 
able bed for the helpless and naked young. 
The tree they select is generally lofty, and 
preference is often given to some black and 
concealing evergreen, marked with numer¬ 
ous blotches and streaks of blackish brown 
or olive.” 
Audubon regards common crows as birds 
of passage, but they make their appearance 
in this Stale at any time during the winter 
when the temperature is above the freezing 
point, where there is anything to be obtained 
for food. They are popularly believed to 
crawl into rotten stumps and hollow logs for 
shelter, though during seasons of prolonged 
frost they are frequently found frozen to 
death. 
Wilson says they come down into the 
valley in winter, and roost in the bushes 
near streams. He mentions an island in the 
Delaware River, covered with reeds, called 
the “ Pea Patch,” where they winter in 
great numbers ; and says that a sudden rise 
in the river during the night once drowned 
them in such numbers that the adjacent 
shores were blackened with their bodies. 
This bird goes to roost silently and stealth¬ 
ily, in long straggling lines. Burns alludes 
to this habit in the verse, 
“ The black’ning line of crows, to their repose.” 
Sitting by the window just before dark one 
afternoon in winter, we saw a crow fly into 
the top of a small spruce tree in front of the 
house. The branches were covered with a 
light snow that had been falling during the 
day, and though quite concealed, yet he 
jarred a little of it down at intervals as he 
arranged himself to roost. Unfortunately, 
after he was apparently settled for the night, 
a man approached the tree with sled and 
oxen, when our sable visitor took alarm and 
sought some other lodging. 
We confess to a partiality for the crow, to 
a love for his really native American blood ; 
to a respect for his hardy, take care-of-him- 
self habits ; to an admiration of that wonder¬ 
ful sagacity God has given him ; and we 
should be glad to have him become as famil¬ 
iar with men as are the rooks of England 
and our own barn swallows. And yet, Mr. 
Crow, if your acquaintance can only be 
made at the expense of the corn crop, you 
must excuse us if we decline all intimacy. 
We have often been told that your lady, Mrs. 
C., prefers her own children to those of 
other people, and so we are sure you will 
allow us the privilege of feeding our own 
children in preference to yours. So beware 
of the twine. 
MEDITERRANEAN WHEAT AND THE WHEAT 
MIDGE. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
My Mediterranean wheat has this year 
been infested with a small orange-colored 
worm, which consumes the grain while in 
the milk. Within each husk of the heads 
affected, one, two, or three of these rascals 
could be found. They were of the appear¬ 
ance of chestnut-worms, of a uniform orange 
color, dull in their motions, of the size of 
half the head of a very small pin, or not 
much larger than a grain of sand. The 
ridges across them could only be seen with 
a magnifier. They were to be found in 
about one-third the heads of wheat, and con¬ 
sumed the upper half or two-thirds of the 
heads they occupied. The lower grains of 
the same heads were small and shriveled. 
I do not know the usual name of this pest, 
nor can I find it described in any thing I 
have access to. Whatever its name, the 
important fact is, that this is Mediterranean 
wheat, the seed of which has not been 
changed for five years. This is the first 
time any insect has injured it sufficiently to 
attract notice. 
A fly, a little smaller than the house-fly, 
with black, hard wings, and an orange-col¬ 
ored head, was observed here and there 
while the wheat was in blossom. 
A field of Fife spring wheat standing next 
to this, was affected in the same way. 
Southside Staten Island, Richmond Co. 
[Our correspondent will find a description 
of the above insect in an article entitled the 
“ Destroyers of our Grain.”! 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A GREAT HAIL STORM. 
We have often read vivid and thrilling ac 
counts of hail storms, in various sections of 
our country, and often shuddered, as we read 
the account of the hail storm, recorded by 
Moses, Exodus ix, 22—32 ; but, we never 
saw, ijor read of a more severe hail storm 
than the one which passed, yesterday, over 
the northern part of Tompkins County, and 
the southern part of Cayuga County. There 
was a tremendous storm of rain, and the 
wind blew a furious gale. On my farm, the 
hail did but little damage, for the heaviest 
part of the storm passed me, on the north. 
But, where the storm was the most furious, 
it is almost impossible to compute the damage 
done to grain, and trees, on large farms. It 
is truly discouraging to farmers, to see their 
labor so quickly prostrated in the dust. One 
of my neighbors told me to-day, that his 
loss is not less than one thousand dollars. 
Where I was, the water fell, in less than 
half an hour, over two inches on a level. 
The hail stones were of immense size ; but 
the most part of them were about the size of 
hen’s eggs. Think, for a moment, of men 
and boys, for one hour, after the storm had 
ceased, picking up hail stones, with a shout, 
“ there is another, larger than my first!”— 
think of splendid houses, with their neat, 
smooth sides, all marred and bruised, and 
the neat blinds broken to splinters, and every 
pane of glass shivered to atoms—think of 
large fields of golden grain, oats, barley, and 
spring wheat, just ready for the craddle, 
beat, in a few moments, into the ground, and 
appearing as if they had been a place of 
daily resort of ten thousand turkies, geese, 
ducks, and “ sliank-highs ,” innumerable— 
think of corn stalks standing stripped of their 
leaves, with the large ears plucked off by 
huge hail stones—think of choice fruit trees, 
and beautiful shrubs and ornamental trees, 
threshed to a stub—think of poor dumb 
brutes, running and dodging this way and 
that way, to shun the pelting storm that fell 
upon them, and which, to-day, appear quite 
sore and lame—think of almost every farmer 
hastening to the store, and calling for one, 
two, and three boxes of window glass, to re¬ 
pair his windows with—and you will have 
something of an idea of the hail storm, which 
passed over here yesterday. 
S. Edwards Todd. 
Lake Ridge, Tompkins Co., N. Y., Aug. 17. 
One Wav to Cook Chickens. —The follow¬ 
ing is highly recommended : “ Cut the 
chicken up, put it in a pan and cover, it over 
with water ; let it stew as usual, and when 
done make a thickening of cream and flour, 
adding a piece of butter and pepper and salt; 
have made and baked a pair of short cakes, 
made as for pie crust, but rolled thin and 
cut in small squares. This is much better 
than chicken pie and more simple to make. 
The crusts should be laid on a dish, and the 
chicken gravy putover it while both are hot.” 
PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
1800. 
1850. 
Population. 
.5,305,925 
23,191,876 
Area of Territory. 
. 820,680 
2,936,166 
Exports. 
...$70,971,780 
$171 ,S98,720 
Imports. 
$178,138,318 
Tunnage. 
972,492 
3,535,454 
Seamen. 
60,000 
140,000 
Commercial treaties with... 
19 nations. 
Revenues of government ... 
...$10,624,997 
$43,375,798 
Expenses of government . 
.. $7,411,370 
$43,002,188 
