Litchfield enquirer., 1880-05-06
The Farmer, the Gunner, and the Birds.

The farmer in the country as well as the gardener near the city observes the approach of the shooting season with a shudder He l knows that in a few days not only the sports man but also the pot hunter will be abroad in the land, and that they will be followed by swarm of half-grown boys with guns in their hands, who will pervade every quiet lane, poke through every copse, and frighten away the innocent and useful birds which they do not destroy He looks at his quiet herd of fattenng steers, and mentally calculates tLe amount of flesh they will run off when stam- peded by the fusilade soon to open around his peaceful enclosure. ,...,, . ....... | lhe damage to fences, crops, stock, and poultry yards which these depredators infiict is very large item ot loss. But it is nothing in comparison with the actual loss to the crops from the wholesale slaughter of insectivorous birds. These, to be sure, are protected by | law; but the law is really never enforced | If the destroying vagabond be stranger the farmer is afraid to interfere with him lest he return and burn his buildings at night. If he IS the son of neighbor or of resident of the ! next village, he will not incur the dspleasure ot his family by prosecution. And so the I birds suffer in myriads and the worms and insects come d'>wn unopposed upon the grow l ing crops and fruits; and the aggregate dam age would be appalling if it could possibly be ascertained in figures.
 It has been gravely asserted by men who have given the subject serious and patient study, that the locust and 'grasshopper pests, which, from time to time, devastate some of our Western States and Territories, are due to the wholesale destruction of the game birds of the Rocky Mountain slopes and the Missis- sppi Valley. Prof Riley, State Eutomolo- gist of Missouri, declared that one grouse would ID season consume eggs and larv8 of 1 locusts enough, if matched out, to destroy the crops upon one hundred acres of land.
 These birds are the guards which nature has set over the fields, and we might as we'll pois- on the soil as to leinove them from their ap- pointed work And what the grouse is to the Western farmer the beautiful Virginia par trldge is to the Eastern-for it comes in num- bers proportioned to the fields sown, and takes as recompense of it's guardianship of the young crops only the scattered grains of the harvest. Even the ungainly crow has at length found favor in the eyes of the husband man. He pays for the few grains he steals from the first planting by an incessant war fare upon countless unseen enemies of the corn But these are not all. The trees the hedges, and the grass are alive with smaller birds which contribute their share to the se- curity of field and orchard, and which are swept away in multitudes by the foolish gun ners who infest the country from the first of October to the first of January.
 But is there no remedy? None except the rigid enforcement of the law. For various reasons, farmers will not do it themselves, and sportsmen's associations are too few and far between. We suggest, therefore, that ass"- citations of persons interested either in the preservation of the sport or of the game be formed in each county. Let them seek the farmers and get them to agree that none but members of the association shall shoot on their lands. In return for this the association shall agree that there shall be no shooting out of season, and no shooting of any but game birds, and it shall further agree to prosecute vigor- ously every person found trespassing en the farmers land, and also to bear the charges of local advertisement warning unauthorized gunners away. The exchequer of the asso. citation would be easily kept in condition by an admission fee and small annual tribute which would give the paying member the privilege of shooting on all lands controlled by that body.
 The advantages of such plan, bothto far. mer and sportsman are very great and very obvious. We commend it to their consider. ation. ..