The Red Cloud chief., 1885-07-17
eR,eNn.

FARMERS FRIENDS.
A,s..,. which AsA 3. IT, D.ser.~sass q
lsJasssos Isseeea
Every farmer should make II his busi.
ness TO ascertain what. in animated
nature. are his friends and wha; his enc
mics; by 50 doing he viii be able 70
avoid killing those animals which aid
very much in the destruction OF insects
injurious to vegetation in both his gar
den and field
II a skunk should venture into the
corn-feld or garden TO root; out q few
bugs or worms that are DESTROYING val
liable plants. he il voted a nuisance,
aad traps are q; once reso-ted To To ex-
terminate what is considered an in
truder. and a. the skunk l. an animal
easily caught he Will be very likely 10
get into the trap the first night; thus the
farmer DESTROYS u Of hi best friends
Close observers understand tina: the
skunk lives almos, entirely on bugs
and worms; he i particularly fond Of
cut worms and the large white worms
with red heads. The latter il o:ten found
in such numbers a. to destroy ali vege-
table substance, unless dug out in the
spring. To do this by human labor
would be almost an impossib1ity. but
when the skunks and crows find them
they will in very short time dig the
ground all over and pick out every
worm The skunk Is condemned be-
cause he VIII occasionally eat Il tew
chickens and because Of his odor: but it
is not a ~hundredth part as much work
to protec; the chickens as il would be
TO dig out the worms he would DESTROY;
and as TO the odor. il is only when the
skunk is disturbed and his life is in dan
cer. that he uses this very di~sagrecabie
Let the skunk alone and he
Is no more dlsaTeeable ihan the do
mcstic cat.
The toad lives on insects and is so
perfectly harmless that farmers ought
10 take some measure 10 protect him
A few toads in the garden will DO more
10 clean ont the cut worms than several
men. Since the introduction Of Paris
green the toad has had a very hard
time of il. for i is very difficult, for him
to decide which bugs have been poi
soned and which have not; If he eats a
bug full # Paris green he is very likely
to be- made sick if he does not die. The
improved harrows and culfivators have
made the life of q toad much more I'M
comfortable, il cot more uncertain.
than when only the Y harrow was sold
To pulverize the soil. This danger
seem. to be unavoidable. and the future
prospect of the toad is very dark in
deed. With the loss of the toad the
farmer loses one of his best garden
friends.
Among the birds that may be classed
o. the friend Of the farmer the much
despi>ed crow stands at the head. vet
he Is prosecuted and treated rs an out
law; he is hated because he occasion
ally pulls up a little corr when. it gets
a few inches high, unless some means
are taken to prevent him: n he is u
timid bird this is easily done; a white
line run around the field. with a few
pieces of bright tin hung on il. is q SURE
protection to the corr on an ordinary
sized field. on a very large field a few
cross lines may be put up. II the lines
be put up before the crows begin
to pull the orn they will be
very sure TO keep the crows away.
The amount of worms and grubs which
a crow viii consume in q year is
enormous; n one who doubts this. II
he will take a good field glass and
watch n flock of crows when they are
on the ground. will soon be convinced
that they live principally on bugs and
worms. The swallow is another bird
that lives on insects. many of which
come from worms that are destructive
TO both plants and fruits. Farmers
would do well to encourage these birds
TO build their nests in sheds about the
barn. When a colony of swallows once
get established they will be very sure to
come back to the same place every e a
son. Tie bluebird is also IN insect
eating bird: his voice is Il welcome one.
and il is always heard in the early
spring-time: he seeks building places
near the dwelling. especially when en-
Outraged to do SO by providing good
building places for him. Unfortunate
" the introduction OF the English spar
row bids fair to drive the bluebird
from our homes. The biuebird he ne
naturally timid. and the sparrow bold
aud defiant. he often yields to the spar
row even after having built a nest If
the farmer would devote the time TO
killing the English sparrow which he
now deyotes To the killing of skunks
and crows il would he spent TO more
profit
Farmers should spend more time
studying the habits o; the animals tina,
live on the farm; if they would. the mis-
take which they now make in killing
their hest friends would not occur. for
then they would be able to distinguish
their friends from their enemies. and
contine themselves to the killing Of only
their enemies.-MaSsdcAusettS Plough
man.