Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-02-20
AGRICULTURAL.
From the Massachusetts, P.Oughpan.l
TITr yVnnnpTrEr1

human industry has there been more
fruitful field for theorists than IN that OF
Agriculture ; but n great change is taking
place, the farmers of to-day are more IN
telligent, more eobservingandmoreth thought
ful than the farmers who lived in the tirst
half OF the present century. The time
has gone by when the intelligent farmer
will he satisfied with books that are re-
hash of English authors, and the time has
come when only advanced ideas are con
sidcred Of value. He who now writes
upon subjects relating TO the garden, the
orchard, or the field, must carefully turn
over and examine the fresh living leaves
of nature, and from this inexhaustable
store-house of knowledge gather up, and
record important facts, us seen by an I'M
prejudiced eye, and understood by an in
telliGent mind.
These thoughts have been suggested
by passing through an apple orchard and
observing that some of the trunks of the
most vigorous trees had been riddled
with holes made by Woodpeckers. A
careful examination of the orchard, call
ed fresh to memory what writers have
said upon the subject the living evidence
was so strong against the written record,
that the whole subject was carefully re-
viewed and arriving at the conclusion
that writers. even Of recent date, are evi-
IDENTIFY misleading the farmer. it NATURAL
ly suggested the idea of calling the at
tentiOn of the numerous intelligent read
ers Of the PioJghn'Gn TO what seems to
be an error, on the part of those whose
desire to protect the birds is SO strong
that they misinterpret facts, TO build mp
such theories rs will secure universal adj
miration for every species of the feath-
cred tribe
Wilson, III his description of tho Dorny
Uio0GpccEcr saws in fall, he is particu
larry fond of boring the apple trees for in
sects, digging circular hole through the
bark, Just sufficient to admit his bill /;
after that. a second, third etc, in pretty
regular horizontal circles round the
body of the tree; these parallel circles of
holes are often not more than an inch or
an inch and n half apart, and sometimes
SO close together that have covered eight
or ten Of them at once with a dollar From
nearly the surface Of the ground up to the
first fork. and sometimes far beyond II,
the whole bark Of many apple trees is
! perforated in this manner, SO rs to appear
as if made by successive dicharges of
buck-shot and our little Woodpecher-
]
principal perpetrator of this supposed
mischief, / say supposed, for, so far
from these perforations of the bark be-
ing ruinous, they are not only harmless,
/ but, [ have good reason to believe, really
! beneficial 10 the health and fertility of
the tree.
''In more .han fifty orchards which L
! have carefully examined, those trees
IL l,,-r hn cl-ar
! for some trees they never touch, perhaps
because not penetrated by insects) were
uniformly the most thriving and SEEM
inglv the most productive. OF decayed
trees more than three-fourths were un-
touched by the Woodpecker Several
! intl igent farmers, with whom | have
conversed candidlv acknowledge the truth
Of these observations, and with justice look
upon the birds as beneficial. From
this it would seem tina: Wilson paid more
attention to the habits Of birds than he
did of insects. Because the most vigor
Gus trees are perforated, tits NJ evidence
that the vigor is caused by the birds;
it would be Just as reasonable to assert
that robins improve the varieties of cher
ries. and prove the truth Of the assertion
by showing that in an orchard of cherry
most cherries from bear the best fruit,
and those tha: they eat the least from the
poorest fruit - and 10 encourage farmers
to protect the birds that they may improve
the varieties Of cherries.
Ii farmer, or even Il naturalist, should
meet a boy coming from an orchard with
a small pod hit. which he had been using
to bore 10000 holes through the bark of
tl,.ff. lao, lao
likely to receive any praise for his labor
to free the orchard from insects, or any
reward for making the trees more viGor-
ous
Every carcfui observer well knows that
insects which penetrate the bark, on the
upper portions of the trunk of apple
trees. are not found on healthy, vigorous
growing trees, with smooth franks; but
that they make their first lodgment on
the trunks of trees that are SCARED and
diseased. Careful observers also well
know that the wo0lpeckcr never works
around the trunk Of the tree, at the sur
face Of the ground, where the horer
makes it his home. or ON TIE blackened
patches. on the trunk of a tree, where, if
he liked them, he could make a good
breakfast on those fiat headed girdlers,
that poison the inner bark, and suck away
the life of the tree.
Birds are endowed with an instinct
which teaches them Just where to look
for the food that suits them best. Ii
they were in search of the small insects
that sometimes winter between the rough
dend outside bark and the smooth live in
side bark of the tree they would simply
scale off the loose bark and secure the
insect they would not penetrate through
tlfe live, healthy bark. where insects are
never found but If they desire the inner
bark 10 eat, then their instincts would teach
them to select those trees that were the
most vigorous, because they would furnish
the largest amount of tender inner bark.
We ought not to encourage the farmer to
rely ON the birds to keep his orchard in
healthy condition by keeping il free from
insects Cor he who leaves his orchard to
the care Of the birds. will few years find
that the insects are masters Of the ins'itu-
tion, and that Tie birds have left for
more thrifty orchards.
\ careful observation for many wears
/ has failed 10 discover a single instance
/ where Il woodpocker has picked the bark
/ of 4 tree in the vicinity of either borcrs
/ or girdlcfs. If this is the food they are
| in search Of, Is il reasonable to suppose
that ;hey would always chance to avoid
| them, even supposing they arc entirely
destitute of both intelligence md III
| stinct?
However dearly We may love the birds,
We must cndeavortO see them with mpre
/ judi"od eyes, and give them credit for
/ just wiiui Is t!.,ir due. and no more. If
they gladdon uEr hcnrts with their Joyous
morning conc.Its during the spring
iauniiis they are entitled to our gratitude,
and II portion Of oar cherries, and per-
hais H." principal portion of the inner
hank # orr l.a! applc-trocs; but We
/ should moi pelmi. oGr grn;iiudetusIllmd
( oar eyes ti.at We cannot distinguish their
bad from their good qualities.
/ Hrs En- HARU.-Thc No,fh,ceStcya
/ Lu0ttermdH, of Chicago, in recent art-
/ Gle on telephone, remarks as follows
1t,