HAIR — the crowning glory of many women and of some men, the protector of the skull from heat and cold, rain and wind — has been put to a new use by scientists at the Cary Arboretum in Millbrook, N.Y.

Wildlife experts at the arboretum. the environmental branch of the New York Botanical Garden. have been using human hair as a deer repellant, means of discouraging the animals from chewing some of the trees and shrubs on which they thrive.

The scientists have been testing hair's deer‐repellent qualities by wrapping fist‐sized packages of it in nylon netting and hanging the packages on the branches of some 1,000 shrubs and young trees at the Dutchess County arboretum.

Hair for the experiment was originally obtained from local barbershops, but as the program expanded, it was also provided by Seligman & Latz, corporation that operates more than 700 beauty salons around the nation. In addition, the company has given the arboretum a $7,000 grant for research.