The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-06-21
THR Farm VALUE OF THR CROW
He Does More Good Than Harm.

E4S OoeS more GooQ nan Ham,
G. E., Waterloo, N. H.-Will you
give the best way to poison crows, and
the best way to protect young growing
corn from them9 In your formula for
poisoning them please bear in mind the
safety of tile lives of farm animals that
may chance to feed on the grass where
the poisoned bodies of the crows may
fall and decay.
Answered by M. Y. Slingerland, in
Rural New Yorker.
The common crow is a much abused
bird~ But few farmers realize that the
crow should be classed among our
beneficial birds. However, this fact
was scientifically demonstrated several
years ago by our government em
ployees, but it will be q long time be
fore ecsre-crows cease to be familiar
sight IN American corn fields The
charges against the crow are that it
pulls sprouting corn; that it injuries
corn in the milk; that it destroys cul
tivated fruit, and that it feeds on the
eggs and young of poultry and wild
birds. The stomachs of over 900 crows
have been carefully examined by ex
perts; these crows were shot at various
seasons Of the year, and in different
parts Of the country. AIlof the above
charges were sustained by the stomach
examinations, so far as the simple fact
that crows feed upon the substances
named. But the extent of the injury
id q verv different matter. The total
quantity Of corn eaten during the en-
tire year amounts to 2b per cent. Of
the food Of adult crows, and only
about nine per cent. Of the food
of young crows. Leaving the
young out of consideration, il may
be said that, in agricultural dis
tricts, about one quarter of the food OF
crows consists Of corn. But less than
Ia per cent. Of this corn, and only three
per cent. of the total food Of the crow,
consists Of sprouting corn and corn in
the milk; the remaining 80 per cent.
Of the corn is chiefly waste grain picked
up here and there, mainly in winter,
and of no economic value.
In the case of cultivated fruits, the
loss is trivial. The same is true of the
eggs and young of poultry and wild
birds, the total for the year amounting
to only one per cent. Of the food.
AS an offset to his bad habits, the
crow is to be credited with the good
in destroying noxious insects and other
injurious animals. Insects form &c
per cent. Of the entire food, and the
great msjority of these are grasshop'
pers, May beetles, cutworms and
other Injurious kinds. In May end
June, during the May beetle season,
these beetles form the principal insect
food of the crow. Only few stomacha
do not contain them, and stomachs are
often filed with them. The fact that
the May. beetle season comedies with
the breeding season Of tbs crow is OF
special Importance, the principal IN
sect food Of nesting crows consisting o.
these beetles. Grasshoppers occur in
the stomachs throughout the year; in
August and through the fall, they con-
stitute by the greater part of the in,
sect food, often occurring in astonish-
ing numbers, and forming the only in
sect food. To the same side OF this
scale must be added the destruction OF
mice, rabbits, and other Injurious
rodents, by the crow.
Thus. in summing up the benefits
and losses resulting from the food
habits of this bird, it is clear that the
good exceeds the bad, and that the
crow is q friend rather than an enemy
Of the farmer; he gets only three per
cent. OF his food from your corn fiald,
and in return, eats nine times as much
of your Injurious insects during the
year. We must, also, not forget the
good work the crow does as scaven
ger.
Some intelligent farmers who realize
the money value OF the services OF the
crows, either feed them old corn dur
ing the time when the growing corn is
IN the milk, or else tar the corn before
planting, in both cases projecting