The Charlotte Democrat., 1874-07-20
Necessity of Birds to the Farmers.

When, some years ago, the trees in the
streets and parks of New York aud it's sub
urbs were every summer stripped bare of
all the leaves by the ravages of millions of
worms, Notwithstanding the attempts at
determination made by gardeners and
others In scraping the bark, painting the
trunks, &C., We called attention to
the scarcity, or rather almost total absence
of small birds, caused by the fact that as
soon as single bird was seen anywhere,
scores OF street boys were after it, throw
ing stones. Finally the advice of natural
lists prevailed, and to the German popula-
tion of Hoboken, n. j., belongs the credit
of having imported number of sparrows,
SO abundant on the European continent,
especially in the forests of Germany. The
result was as anticipated, the activity or
the little scavengers in cleaning the trees
of worms is something marvellous, and in
short time they had disappeared, vegeta-
tion had become luxurlant, and the birds
increased from few scores into thousands.
Then New York took the matter up, and
not only placed the birds under the protec-
tion of the police, who prevented all harm
to them and arrested all offenders, but i'm
ported few score OF sparrows from Eng
land, which, in one year increased to hun
dreds and now number countless thousands,
while the nuisance of worms has disap-
peared. The West, which is often ravaged
by grasshoppers, will have to take this
hint, and cultivate insectivorous birds on
large scale The ravages OF the grass-hop-
pers have indeed been so enormously de-
structlve during the past year, particularly
III Iowa and Minnesota, as to lmpoVersh
large numbers Of farmers through the en-
tire loss of their crops, upon which they ex
clusively depended for subsistence. The
districts of country which are most infested
by injurious insects. are those where the
presence of birds is the least encouraged,
or rather where there is the most indulgence
in the manly sport of destroying them.
1t was the same in France. The rural
population there were a few years ago
strlkingly ly reminded of the necessity of pre-
serving the birds, and the Legislature was
overrun with petitions for law to that
| effect. The number of birds had been
| diminished from year to year, while that
| of inj furious insects was correspondlngly in
creased. 1t was estimated by those who,
at the time, took on themselves the careful
Investigation of the subject, that more than
one hundred millions Of birds eggs were
destroyed annually in the country.
| The only salvation of the West from this
visitation is in the sparrow, which, from its
| fecundity as we'll as its voracity, is of
| the most efficient insect destroyers. 1t has
never been so encouraged and protected as
to enjoy a fair opportunity to multiply its
forces, and to exhibit its insectivorous
power on such large scale our Western
States will require. The raising of'chickens
and poultry in general Oh the farms, will
assist this to a certain degree, as they also
| are ilSpctivOrous
| a foremost cotton-planter at the South
expresses an opinion, as the result of his
own observation, that the presence of the
sparrow in the cotton belt would effectually
wipe out the cotton worm, the ravages OF
which are estimated by tens of millions of
dollars.
In Germany the laws against the de-
struction of the sparrow are SO stringent that
there is a constant surplus of the birds for
expectation, and they are carried in num-
bers to distant points There is public
botanical garden at Melbourne, in
Australia, which is described as being
a superb one. 1t is the little kingdom oil
Baron You Mueller, who is we'll known as
a Jealous and scientific naturalist. He is
the most liberal of sovcreigns, for every
dav he gives liberty to hundreds of his
subjects. These are simply sparrows
which are sent to him from Germany in
cages of three hundred each. Every Ger
man vessel that anchors at Port PhilliE
carries thousands of these little but ener
getic birds to be preserved and utilized il
destroying the injurious insects of Austria
lia.-Mdnufdcturer and Builder.