The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-10 00:00:00

A NOVEL SCARECROW.

The amount of mischief done in our gardens and
fields by bhds of all sorts has been a moot point
from titre immemorial. That they really do con-
sume a Nast amount of fruit and grain is indispu-
table, and when the grain happens to be seed about
to produce a crop, the damage that the
smallest of birds may do is simply incalculable.
A few actual facts and a. little calculation
would probably show that from their destruction of
ssed birds are often more expensive to keep than men.
On the other hand, of course, there is the undoubted
fact that they destroy slugs and insects and thus, it is
often asserted, they• more than counterbalance any
mischief they may do. This may be so; but if birds
could be induced to take the slugs and insects, and spare
the seeds, they would be regarded as real benefactors,
without any drawback whatever. The way to do this,
says the Agriatural Economist, is to dredge the
seeds with red lead before sowing. The plan recom-
mended is to place the seed in sballow pans, sprinkle it
with water, and then dust over the red lead with the
hand or by means of a dredge-box. The lead,
of course, is poison, and it is said that birds recognise
it as such and give it a wide berth, never touching
anything adulterated with it or even lying near
it. The acuteness of old rooks in detecting corn
that has been steeped with arsenic is very well
known and smaller birds, according to the authority
referred to, show the same instinctive apprehension
of danger. It has been tiled several years, and each
year is said to have confirmed the efficacy of this
simple protection, which, it is affirmed, does not in any
degree interfere with the germination of the sea, or
with the health and vigour of the plant raised from it.
What would be the effect upon the soil of the eye-
tematic emplopnent of red lead in it year after year
might, perhaps, be a question requiring some con-
sideration, but this method of bird-caring ie very well
worthy of attention, more particularly as it does not
appear to involve the poisoning of the feathery raiders.
—Globe.

LEGAL Wit —Judge Dooly was remarkable for his
wit, as well as for other talents. At one place where
he attended court he was not pleased with his enter-
tainment at the tavern. On the first day of his arrival,
a hog—uuder the name of pig—had been cooked whole
and laid on the table. No person attacked it. It was
brought the next day, and the next, and treated with
the same respect; and it was on the table on the
day on which the court a3journed. As the party
finished dinner, Judge Dooly rose from the table, and
in a solemn manner, thus addressed the clerk: "Mr.
Clerk, dismiss that hog on his recognizance until the
first day of the next court. He has attended so faith-
fully during the present term, that I don't think it will
be found necessary to take any security.",

A PRACTICAL SUGGESTION.

The Times has published the following letter:—

Sir,—We are all anxious at this present moment to
make slme contribution towards the general endeavour
to lessen the quantity of drink that is consumed.
Will you allow me to offer in The Times some sugges-
tions which, if not novel, are at least seasonable?
I would press upon employers of labour in the hay
and harvest fields the desirableness of paying their
labourers entirely in cash, and letting them "find
their own beer." Where, as is now common, the emu-
ployer finds the beer, the quantity stipulated is gene-
rally in excess of all real requirements. I believe in
my neighbourhood it rung, for a man, from four to six
"pots "—i.e., quarts. This quantity each man thinks
himself bound to drink- otherwise he will as he con-
siders, lose- part of his remuneration. If each man
were debited with his own drink, he would be relieved
from this bad inducemtnt. The master might still
help his men to get their beer brought to them or made
accessible to them. I know some labourers of the better
kind who, under such circumstances, have their own
small cask, from which the kegs of the party are filled
ea3h morning.

I would fu-rther suggest that some liquor, other than
beer, should be provided for the labourers, especially
in the hayfield. A thoroughly good workman told mu
once that there is a dust generated by the hay when
tossed which makes liquor of some sort continually
necessary or, at least, acceptable. Men too often drink
beer to get rid of this irritating dryness of the throat.
Then heat and feverishness are produced, and even,
as my informant told me, sleeplessness follows, how-
ever tired the man may be.
I have myself for some years sent cold tea out into
the hay and harvest fields of the parish. I have sent it
as a present, and believe that it is best offered as an
extra and gratuitous refreshment by some neighbour
or by the wife of the employer. The men now some-
times ask for it, and the farmer will himself carry it to
the men, knowing that indirectly it diminishes drunken
ness and helps to keep the men able and steady.
I should be happy to describe to any of your readers
a tin vessel much uied by us and called a "tea-maker."
It is available for any parochial purposes.-1 am, Sir,
yours faithfully, RICHARD GEE, D.D.
Tae Vicarage, Abbots-Langley,