The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-06-24
A NEW ENGLAND CORN FIELD
A Fence OF a Single String-Tne
Result.

From my inn had walked eastward
for perhaps mile; then at the little
schoolhouse had taken a cross-road,
which presently began to climb. After
leaving two or three cottages behind me
Zone of them boasting the singalarity of
paint. came to another, which ap-
peared to be the last, as the road not far
beyond struck into the ancient forest.
First, however, it ran up to small
plateau, where, out of sight from the
house, lay scanty quarter of an acre,
in which, under none LOO favorable con-
ditions, the old parable, First the
blade, then the ear, then the full corn
in the ear," was in the primary stage of
a fresh fulfllment. The ground was
but newly cleared, and the brambles
still felt themselves its true and rightful
possessors. Who was this puny-looking,
good-for-nothing foreigner, that they
should be turned out of house and
home for his accommodation So they
seemed to be asking among themselves,
as they lifted up their heads here and
there in the midst of the pale-green
shoots. The crows, on the other hand
babe the new conner welcome-as the
wolf welcomes the lamb. Against
these hungry lovers of his crop (who
loved not unwisely, but too welD, the
farmer had fenced his field with a
single string, stretched from corner TO
corner. He must put extraordinary
faith in the conslderateness of the birds,
looker.on might think; such a bar
rier as this could be, at the most, moth
thon nnlito hint IF
ship, delicate reminder against
thoughtless tresspassing, courteouslv
indirect suggestion to such as needed
not a physical, but only a moral, re-
straint. Or one might take it as an ap-
peal to some known or fancied super
stitiousness on the crows part; as if the
white cord were a kind of fetch, with
which they would never presume to
NEEDLE. But the rustic would have
laughed at all such far-fstched cock
neyish differences. This strange seem
ing device of his was simply an attempt
to take the suspicious in their own
suspiciousness; to set before Corvus a
hindrance so Enthusiastically insufficient
that he would mlstrust it as cover for
some deep-laid and deadly plot. Prob
ably the scheme had not been crowned
with complete success in the present in
stance, for from pole in the middle of
the Enclosure dead crow was dangling
in the breeze. This was q more bust
ness-like signal than the other; even
cockney could hardly be in doubt as to
its meaning; and the farmer, when |
afterwards met him, assured me that it
had answered its purpose to perfection.
The crow is nobody's fool. Live and
learn" IS his motto; and he does both,
but especially the former, in a way to
excite the admiration of all disinter-
ested observers. In the long struggle
between human ingenuity and corVine
it is doubtful which has thus
far obtained the upper hand. Nor have
| ever quite convinced myself which of
the contestants has the better case.
The crow is thief" the planter de-
clares; "he should confine himself to a
wild diet, or else SOW his own garden
Yes yes" CGrVus makes reply; but
it | steal your corn. you first stole my
land" Unlike his cousin, the raven
who along with the Indians. has re-
treated before the pale-face-the crow
is no ultra-conserVatiye. Civilization
and modern ideas are not in the least
to him. He has an unfeigned
respect for agriculture, and in fact may
be said himself to have set up IS gentle |
man-farmer, letting out his land on
shares, and seldom failing to get his full |
half of the crop; and, like the shrewd |
that he is, he insUres himself |
against drought AID other mischances |
by taking his moiety early n the sea-
son. AS plant no acres myself, per-
haps find it easier than some of my |
fellow citizens to bear with the faults |
and appreciate the virtues Of this sable |
aboriginal. Long may he live, say, |
this true lover of his native land. TO try |
the patience and sharpen the wits of his |
would. be exterminators.-Ata