Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-10-05
PERSISTENCE OF PESTS,
they Thrive and Increase whiIo DesirabIs
Creatures Grow Fewer.

they Thrive and Increase whiIo Desira bI,
Creatures Grow Fewer.
From the sowing and planting o.
MS seed. almost, indeed from the
turning of the furrow, the farmel
enters upon a contest with the weeds
for place in which his crops ma,
grow, aud if he or the crops are moi
yanqnished, as the weeds never are
the warfare continues till harvest
| time.
While ne, with infinite labor, pre-
pares the ground and sows his seed
with all care, praying that droutt
may not wither nor floods drown it,
and that frosts may not cut down the
tender plants, the winds of Heaven
and the fowls of the air scatter broad
cast the seeds of the noxious weeds,
Or they lie dormant in the ground
| awaiting opportunity, and then they
| terminate in sterile places, fence cor
ners and hooks Of the wayside, and
| flourish alike in scorching sunshine
and in sodden soil.
They defy the latest and the EARL.
est frosts, grow with their roots in
the air; and cut down, spring up,
grow on, blossoming and ripening
their seed in creeping stealth and
even unscathed by blight; and Sc
flourish in spite of all unkindliness OF
man or stress of nature, that the
husbandman wishes they might by
some freak of demand become the
useful plants, his present crop the
undesired ones.
Somewhat of the position that
weeds stand opposed to the plants
which the husbandman depends upon
for his livelihood, vermin mold toward
the beasts and birds, upon which the
sportsman depends for his recreation.
While they whose protection men
endeavOr to MAINTAIN during the sea.
son of prOcreation, and at times when
scarcity of food prevails. decrease of.
ten to complete extinction, the yer.
min, whom the hand of man is al.
ways against, continue to increase
and multiply OF at least hold thelI
own.
To them as to the weeds nature
seems to deal a kinder hand, and
spares, even nourishes, while she de-
strOys their betters.
The snow crust, that walls the
quail in living tomb, makes royal
banqueting hall for the pestiferous
field mice, where they feast and revcl
in plenty, secure from all their enc
mics, feathered or furry. 1t impoundl
the deer, but gives free range to the
wolf and to his as pitiless two-legged
brother, the crust hunter
The wet seasons that drown the
callow woodcock and grouse work no
har.a to the ravenous brood of the
hawk and owl, nor to the litter OF
fox, mink or weasel. Wet or dry,
hot or 'cold, the year fosters them
lroughout its varied round.
Winged ticks kill the grouse, but
the owl enduTes their companionship
with sedate serenity and thrives with
a swarm of the parasites in the covert
of his feathers.
The skunk has been in bad odot
since mans first acquaintance with
him, and has always been killed on
sight as pest that the world be the
sweeter for being rid of. In latter
years the warfare against him has re-
ceived an impetus from the value of
his fury, but though this has gone on
relentlessly for quarter of a century,
or more, his tribe still live to load
the air with fragrance that inches
the ambitious trapper to further con-
quest.
All the year round all the farmers
and their boys wage war upon the
crows, but each returning autumn
sees the columns Of the black army
moving southwark with apparently
unthinned ranks, while year by year,
the harried platoons of ducks and
geese return fewer and less frequent.
Those detested foreigners, the En-
glish sparrows, increase aud multiply
in spite of bitter winters and right
eous persecution, while our natives,
the beloved song birds, diminish in
mum bers
Thus on every hand we find the un-
desirable in animated nature, the
birds and beasts that we would gladly
be rid of, maintaining their mum bers,
while those who increase we desire
are losing ground and tending toward
extinction.
The prospect for the sportsman OF
the future is indeed gloomy, unless
he shall make game of the pests and
become a hunter of skunks and a
shooter Of crows and sparrows Who
can say that hundred years hence
the leading sportmen of the period
will not be wrangling over the points
and merits of their skunk and wood
chuck dogs and Dragging of their bags
of crows and sparrows?-Forest and
Stream.