The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-05-24


a. anybody living can remember, the
t,IIowing question was q live one:
Cbould crows be listed among the
formers' friends or enemies9 1t would
onpear that simple question like this
oupht to have been settled before this
time. But it is far from being settled.
ia vote was to be taken upon it, the
farmers of the country would be found
divided as they were on the Sd Of No
vember.
The crow is denounced as a black,
unsavory bird. He pulls the corn
sprouting in the fields, or helps him.
self to the ripened grain in the fall. He
steals the eggs of birds, and devours
thecallow young, and sometimes chick
ems. These, if not the only counts In
the Indictment found against the crow,
are the principal ones.
The craw can plead his own "caws,"
but it might be difficult to fiud a jury
to whom his language Of indignant
Volapuk would be ineligible. There
fore, for the occasion, will volunteer
as counsel in his defense.
The crow is black. So is large pro-
portion Of the worlds human pOpulR,
ton. The sable races are not to be
outlawed on account of their color.
'Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadowed lining Of the FURNISHED
GEM"
The crow is called an unsavory bird
because he eats carrion. Well, 80 does
the American eagle, the national bird.
And, while I think Of it, the eagles
scream is not q whit more musical than
the crows tar-reaching and emphatic
lingo.
The crow pulls the young corn and
thereby gets himself hated and de-
tested for week or two. The astute
bird despises the very open network
Of tWine, the bits of tin glistening in
the sun and clattering in the wind, and
the make believe images that are any
thing but scarecrows. The crow is
alert; his keen instincts are not easily
deceived. His eye is on the farmer the
instant he leaves the house with his
gun. He sees him as he creeps along
beside fence, through coppice and
behind an intervening hill. Before he
gets within gun-shot the sharp note Of
warning is sounded, and every crow is
off to safe distaLCo. When the man
with his gun goes home discouraged,
the crows return to their mischief.
Young corn grows fast, and In a few
days is out of danger. A little shelled
corn scattered over the ground will
satisfy the crows, and they will leave
the crop undisturbed. If the corn has
been soaked in whiskey, it is said the
crows that psrtake of it will never re-
turn to the field. I cannot vouch for
this. If it is true, the crows are wiser
tnan some men know.
The loss caused by crows stealing
corn from the fields in fall seldom
amounts to much. Crows seldom steal
chickens. The most serious charge
Drought against them is that they de
stroy the eggs and young of other birds.
This they undoubtedly do. but ONLY
during the time when their own young
are clamoring for food. Hawks and
Owls have similar propensity. In
some States, these birds have been
condemned, and bounty offered for
Snelr destruction. Such legislation has
Oeen found, in Pennsylvania and else
"nere, to be very grave misteke.
against the acknowledged misde-
meanors Of the crow, we should be Just
enough to Offset the record of the un-
uOaOted good he accomplishes. He is
Oueot our most Industrious and persist
oUi nsectlVorous birds. The exhaustive
-u'esugatlons made by the division of
Utn'thology Of the Department of Ag
I1I'ulture prove this fact conclusively.
= :. winter ne lives as he best can, and
% a wonder that he lives at all. In
sumner large part of his food con
S Oh insects, among them some most
!uFlous to the farmer. He is a pow
a" suI olrd, and digs insects from the
oSIua oas4 with force that smaller birds
s.atT t exert. If the crow were to alb.
nm. ulmselt entirely for a few years,
8oIs ~eadows, pastures and cultivated
ts Us would be in sorry plight.
noo- I0 crow is not q delicate bird of
the coming from the South with
turr;. @aVent OF mild weather, and re
spt,.s before the first cold blasts of
n' He is always with us, a