Sharp County record., 1885-07-30
FARMS FRIENDS.
Animals Which id in the Destruction OF
Inhous Insects.

nature. are histendS and what MS enc
mics; by so dig he will be able to
, avoid killing bse animals which aid
very much in t. destruction OF insects
injurious TO veaation in both his gar
den and field.
If skunk suld venture into the
corn-feld or gsden to root out a few
bugs or wormstat are destroying val
liable plants, his voted nuisance
and traps are a,nce resorted 10 to eX-
terminate what's considered an in
truder, and as b skunk is an animal
easily caught b will be very likely to
get into the traythe first night; thrs the
farmer destroys3ne of his best friends.
Close observer understand that the
skunk lives anoSt entirely on bugs
and worms; he's particularly fond of
cut worms andihe large white worms
with red heads The latter is often found
in such numbf las to destroy all vege-
table substan unless dug out in the
spring. To this by human labor
would be aim an impossibility, but
when the skuln and crows find them
they will in Try short time dig the
ground all ov9 and pick out every
worm. The skink is condemned be-
cause he will OCCASIONALLY eat a few
chickens and J lause of his odor; but it
is not a hundr lh part as much work
to protect the dickens as it would be
to dig out the 'obrms he would destroy;
and as to the 0dSr, it is only when the
skunk is q turbd and his life is in dam
ger, that : uses this very diSagreeable
weapon,. Let the skunk alone and he
is no more disagreeable than the do
mestic cat.
The toad lives on insects and is so
perfectly harmless that farmers ought
to take some measure to protect him.
A few toadS in the garden will do more
to clean out the cut worms than several
men. Since the introduction of Paris
green the toad has had very hard
time of it, for it is very difficult for him
to decide which bugs have been poi
Soned and which have not; if he eats
bug full Of Paris green he is very likely
to be made sick if he does not die. The
improved hairrows and cultivators have
made the life of toad much more un-
comfortable if cot more uncertain,
than when only the V harrow was sold
to pulveg the soil; This danger
seems to(be NJ avoidable, and the future
of the toad is very dark in
deed. with the.loss of the toad the
farmey loses one of his best garden
friendH 3.
Am long the birds that may be classed
as ting, friend of the farmer the much
despHSed crow stands at the head, yet
ne isl prosecuted and treated as an out
"''' he is hated because he occasion
as up a. little corn when it gets
fsw inoss, s ,shl saRnls.s lf.s s9@s means 81
timid bird this is easily done; a white
line run around the field, with few
pieces of bright tin hung on it, is a sure
protection to the corn on an ordinary
sized field, on very large field a few
cross lines may be put up. If the lines
be put up before the crows begin
to pull the corn they will be
very sure to keep the crows away.
Ihe amount of worms and grubs which
crow will consume in year is
enormous; any one who doubts this, if
he will take good field glass and
watch 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
tr build their nests in sheds about the
barn. !" nen 0lony of swallows once
get established hey will be very sure to
come back to the same place every sea-
son. The bluelird is also an insect
eating Bird his 7oice is welcome one,
and it is alwars heard in the early
spring-time; he seeks building places
near the dwelling especially when en-
couraged to do So by providing good
building places for him. Unfortunate
ly the introduction u of the English spar
row bids fair I'd drive the bluebird
from our homes The bluebird being
naturally timid, and the sparrow bold
and defiant, he ofen yields to the spar
row even after having built nest If
the farmer would devote the time TO
killing the English sparrow which he
now devotes to the killing of skunks
and crows it would be spent to more
profit.
Farmers should spend more time
studying the habits of the animals that
live on the farm 4 they would, the mis-
take which they now make in killing
their best 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. Massachusetts Plough,
man.