New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-02-12
lwxitt.a for the Sunday Re:,:nIcsn.s
ABOUT BIRDS.
Their Domestic Uses and Their Traffic

| IWIittca for the SUNDAY Re.':DAcln
ABOUT BIRDS.
Their Domestic Uses and Their Traffic.
Birds are wealth. rs much as are fruit
trees. flower beds, s:lrubbery OF ans other
ornamental property. which the farmer
takes prid. in and enjoys. They are es-
sentialy a part Of the property IN all asr;-
! cultural districts. and have ! spe:ia. value
in proportion TO their everyday uses In
Europe they are protected a. 'lomestics,
each domain settin, apart \ small trac: OF
! woodland for the raising OF r0okc.Ies.
swarms, etc. and are nc:ec. as a vl.le. mar
ketable. The hunter and the NOR. cup.
able trapper are required 20 carry the SOW
ereigns license in order 70 prey upon them.
and their boundaries of operation are
marked oi.t to them with Jealous precision
that they may not :rcspass ON -: kill any
bird not comm. within the curview Of their
game laws. In Louisiana the country Is
desolated from year to YEA. By the whole"
sale devastation of all who mag have :,
fancy tor slau.hte,in.. and ready market
j, found for the birds which every Idle rag.
abond Grams into his wallet from whatso"
ever plantation or other private property.
Day after day on il street. are to De seen
the tratfi. in the robin and other inferior
but highly. useiu! biris--no: as an article
WHICH might ornament U.: Yar!ocs during
long and dseary imprisonment. but SIM
ply that tin. epicure may enjoy Mcmen:
in cleaning its tender bones.
None VIII deny the iom-st:.. Use. Ok these
! .ocallei inferior birds. Everybody has
seen them tollow;n, the pillow and destroy.
ing the yesmin "a they are slcown to The
! surface: AMI say. i: swarm OF 'aese birds
! spread Themselves. over tie burrows .: the
new,y-byole en- up land. VIVA: y nice result: il:
; would make in ia. agricultural statistics Of
ISL. Few consider the va.us "f = :ar,n
; reop!ei with a tsv thousands -! such ia.
, habit.nt.: and We. IL IS obvious thas 'ie
soil itself gives birth - :,,e !soiscns tina: kill
it. productiven.>.. and en.en.ier The
! noxious and .ie.e.er!ous substances which
defeat the jest interests Ut agriculture.
The calamiti.S which Oe:.l The South few
years ago. in the failure %: Its cotton c:op
! would probably never have "ccu-.ed bat
for the absence nj som. lestrove: vi insect
life. similar to these socA,leI inferior bids,
although we 10 no; remember hav!n. heard
the expression halt dozen :.nes
The grain fields Of England aud mos. Of
tue Channel islands. with old. WORKOUT soil
and medium cultivation produce, an aston
ishins harvest every wear. considering the
small amount Of arabic land. devoted to
agriculture: while here. where the bread
acres stretch around every village "A, far as
the eye can reach. :he produce il not one
tenth. The. sol! i. new. s;ls dew. and sun.
shine of ages have. manured i. bu: i is bar.
rem and uneican. and creates myriad of
foes to devour anything that may be en-.
trusted to il. The cleaning OF the land has
not been done in good faith. The work has
not been done by birds AZ, il is elsewhere
and this may possibly account COR the great
disparity, acre Cor acre, o: the yield IA Eng
land and Louisiana.
The fields are swarminy with birds. The
newly brokcn-up lands are covered with
myriads destroying tho vermn. and divest-
ing the soil of an army waiting to feed on
and destroy the tiny seed. with as deadly
an effect az if they poisoned the air. In
other parts lime is used for the purposes re
ferrcd to. Year after year hundreds and
thousands of bushels are slaked out and
scattered to swecten and purify tho soil, at
an enormous cost and yet all this night he
saved by a simple and humane determine
ton to protect the birds. They do the work
more ctfectually, and planters would not
unprotitaby invest little money i'll the
purchase of little settlements of them.
1t may be argued, in answer, that nobody
is going to invest money III such a transi-
tory estate especially, as the climate is rot
adapted to the importation of foreign birds,
but all We can say is, that we can easily III
crease our own native tribes. by merely pro
hbiting their ira ffic. Perhaps, there is no one
city in the Union that presents such a focmi-
dable looking army Of Observation-Disclosures
bond in their habits, and insolent even to
hardihood-as Now Orleans. Their bazars
are on every street corner, Dozens and
more of these useful birds in awful looking
cages, are exhibited to the pedestrian with
an indifference which one might interpret as
signifying " If you do not like to purchase,
pass on"
Is it not a species Of vagrancy, this catch
ing and peddling of birds. in order to make
livelihood9 1t is certainly no honest cali
ing, but highly productive Of evil to the
agricultural interests of the State. A horde
of worthless men alone live by It, to the III
jury of all others, and to the great detri
ment of all crops, and the health of the
soil Yet, strange to say, they find ready
patrons on the streets, who pay every ex'
orbrant demand asked, simply for the graf
tication of taking the poor bird home to kill
it, and tondly fancy they axe en;"y.n, a
feast.
Charles II. Prebie is tle Massachusetts
express messenger who was notified last
week that Sl3OO0O awaited his order. that
being the estimated value Of the estate o:
his uncle who had Just died IN Ohio. Super
intendent Jones remarked at pay day that
he presumed Charles wouldn't be round at
many more pay days. Well" said
Charles. I'll stay awhile longer. don't
know why | can't work as well now as be
| fore"
} A widow who appealed to the spirit OF
her departed husband to advise her as to a
, purchase she was contemplating, received
the following answer "Do just as you
please because l know you will any way
don't forget peoples dispositions, even il
: have been through death. So, Nancy, do