St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-05-22
FARMERS AND BIRDS.
why tie Feathered v1sit0Rs Sbooo0
He Carefully Protected.

why tie Featherea v1sit0Rs Sbo010
He Carefully Protected.
The farmer who pretends to keep
up with the times" provides himself
with all the modern appliances which
kre adapted to his business.
If part of the land Is marsh. he will
it with the most approved
sy stem of drainage; if it has not been
properly 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
er calls to his aid not only all the i'm
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 q wind
mill and asks the wind to aid in rais-
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 a time: but only to meet
new dangers. Now the insects ap-
pear upon the scene and the aspect
changes.
Can it be that the farmer has put him
self to all this great expenditure OF la
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 is made
to the blackbirds in "A New England
Spring."
"Fust come the b!ackbirds clatterin' In
tall trees.
An settlin' things in windy congresses
queer politicians. though. for I'll be
skinned.
Ef all on 'em 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 16, 900, 600 900 insects during one
season. The blackbird does not risal
Patti as 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 il the
''Brown Creeper." which searches every
tree. rs if it had a special contract to
secure a certain number of specimens
Of ''larvae" every week. Thus does this
bird Qike mny others) take time by the
forelock" and destroy millions of in
| sects before they have chance to
emerge from this first stage Of their &
| istence.
But we must not forget our old friend
the robin, Of which il is said:
| .o,, .ovra mama or other
| All men who know him. call him brother
The robin is more than a brother te
the farmer, for. by his activity in de
youring insects. he sometimes benefit.
the farmer more than could rea
brother.
Have the farmers any adequate tdes
of the value of the services rendered
them by the birds? The best author
ity states that the birds effect saving ts
the country each year Of not less thar
500, ,OOO, 600. The farmer should be th'
birds best friend and stanch defend
er, for it is the birds alone which stant
between the farmer and the loss o
his crops. "But," argues some plea
yune tiller of the soil, 1.-The birds ca
nv cherries, and the crows pull up m.
corn. and I'm bound to kill en-"
The Smithsonian Institution lon|
ago sent out = warning to the farmer
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 I
the not hunter, or is offered up to sal
isfy the demands of that tyrant, Dam
Fashion, then, and cnly then. wi
some farmers see where they have ere
but it will be too late. The ruin wi
! !ave been wrought, the damage done
. The farmer should see to it that TIL
bows and girls of his neighborhood ar
taught that the killing of birds. o
robbery of their nests. is a crime; nc
!, only an injury to their neighbors. bu
an actual harm to themselves-for b<
vond all question the destruction of til
, birds will cause the boys and girls .
the present day to weep bitter tears Q
repentance later in life. when they rea
ize the harm which has been done. an
|they will reap the penalty. Under tn
old English law (and ours rs welD e
: mans house is his castle" and the ma
has right to defend his home-eve
to the extent of killing the man wh
Il tries to enter without permission. Wi
! anyone attempt TO say that bird wh
bu;,ds n nest, in which il lays ITS egg