The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-04-17
FARMERS AND BIRDS.
Why tie Feathcred VisttOrs should
lie Carefully Protected.

Are adapted to his business.
If part of the land is marsh, he will
it with the most approved
system of drainage; if it has not been
cultivated, he buys the best
subsoil plows in order that the riches
which lie just below the surface may
be brought to light. The fertil-
izers which he thinks best adapted to
the crop which he wishes to cultivate
are procured and applied with lavish
hand; knowing as he does that this ex-
penditure will repay him, perhaps,
a hundred fold. The enterprising farm
err calls to his aid not only all the inn
proved tools and improvements for cul-
tivation, irrigation and protection, but |
invokes also all the forces of nature, |
which can in any way assist him. He |
lifts the subsoil and invites the air to |
help him pulverize il he erects wind
mill and asks the wind to aid in rails
ing the water with which to irrigate; |
he digs bitches, and calls upon the wa
ter, which the wind power has lifted.
to do its part in nourishing the parched |
earth. Thus his vegetables, his grain
and his grasses, through an intelligent
use of natures forces, spring up and |
flourish for time; but only to meet
new dangers. Now the insects APP
pear upon the scene and the aspect
changes.
Can it be that the farmer has put him
self to all this great expenditure of Ia
Dor, tools, material, and time, only to
be thwarted at last? 1t certainly looks
so. But nature, which was responsible
for the danger, now provides the remedy
and that remedy is the birds, which
come in regular order each spring, al
most as regular as the seasons. In the
"Bigelow Papers" this reference ismade
| TO the blackbirds in "A New England
Spring."
"Fust come the blackbirds clatterin' In
tall trees,
| An settlin things in windy congresses
| Queer politicians. though, for I'll be
skinned.
| Eff all on EN- don't head against the wind. "
! Then the blackbirds are soon fol-
| lowed by others, and when the proper
time comes each family does its full
! duty, and the insects are obliged to
! succumb 1t is stated by competent au-
! thority that the red-wInged blackbirds
destroyed in single locality more
than 10000, 900. 900 insects during one
season. The blackbird does not rival
/ Patti rs a singer, but it does attend
strictly to business; and its business
| like that of an entomologist) is bugs.
But long before this, other BIRDS have
been working for the farmer, searching
all the hidden places, under the bark OF
trees, about old stumps, amidst the
moss and dead leaves. and in other
places which the farmer never dreams
Of. for the concealed :" larvae" where the
embryo insects are thus destroyed by
the million. One of the most Industri-
Gus of these early workers is the
Brown Creeper," which searches every
tree, as if it had special contract to
secure certain number of specimens
IF larvae" every week. Thus does this
bird dixie may others) take time by the
forelock" and destroy millions of in
, sects before they have chance TO
emerge from this first stage of their ex-
: stence. =,
, But we must not forget our old friend
J the robin, Of which it is said:
by some name or other.
All men who know him. call him brother
The robin is more than brother to
the farmer, for, by his activity in de-
youring insects. he sometimes benefits
the farmer more than could real
brother.
Have the farmers any adequate idea
!. of the value of the services rendered
them by the birds? The best author
ity states that the birds effect saving to
the country each year of not less than
SlOO, 900 900. The farmer should be the
I birds best friend and stanch defend
or. for it is the birds alone which stand
r between the farmer and the loss OF
his crops. But" argues some plea
, yune tiller of the soil, 1.-THE birds eat
INV cherries, and the crows pull up my
, corn. ami I'm bound to kill EN-"
E The Smithsonian Institution long
/, ago sent out warning to the farmers
I of the country regarding the impending
/. extinction of the birds, and the dire
: full results which are sure to follow
When the last bird yields its life t.
the pot hunter, or is offered up to sat
n | lSfy the ueTnHntlS VI IhuN y i"i', D"i''
T Fashion. then, and only then, viii
c some farmers see where they have errec
4 but it will be too late. The ruin viii
II lave been wrought. the damage done
e The former should see to it that the
bows and girls of his neighborhood ar
- taught that the killing of birds, ol
, robbery of their nests. is crime; NO
= only an injury to their neighbors, bn
, an actual harm to themselves-for be
: yond all question the destruction of tn
e birds will cause the boys and girls o
n the present day to weep bitter tears o
repentance later in life. when they real
ize the harm which has been done an'
they will reap the penalty. Under tn
old English law land ours as welD -
mans house is his CASTLE" and the maj
has right to defend his home-evel
TO the extent of killing the nan wh'
tries to enter without permission. Viii