The Newtown bee., 1900-05-25
desired and give special attention to mail orders.
Birds.
A PAPER BY REV E. l.. wHITCoME OF BLOOMFIELD BEFORE POOTATUCK GRANGE OF VIEWPOINT.

BLOOMFIELD BEFORE POOTATUCK
 GRANGE OF VIEWPOINT. We are awakened mornings and delight c sd by the singing of birds, we are re- minded that spring with it's beauty and charm has come again and that we are I entering upon another year oftoil, pleas- , are, care ana hope.
 The birds charm us with their songs, , cheer us as we toll and help us in many ! ways The subject of my paper tonight | Will De merely upon what birds do for us. Ine practical farmer is very careful apouG the help he hires, that his soil may not be overtaxad and his horses and cat tie misused, for TO man can prosper when his stock is abused. And SO he selects with care the man who Is to serve him, whether he is faithful and trustv. whether he is an early riser or night bug, then there Is the price he Is to pay. Now men who desire work for the season for nine months, but other help comes in | fiocks and only ask their board, while l they devote their best efforts for the benefit of the farmer, money is useless to them. There is great force in the state ment that the Heavenly Father feedeth them. That is He has made most abun- dant provision for all their needs. The birds song seems to say to the farmer
 ''I have come towork for you this season.
 I will serve you the best I can, my wants
 are few they are regulated by my size. F am small but am active. I am an
 early riser. I work all hours from the
 rising to the setting sun. I work in the
 sunshine. I work in the rain. I want
 place for my nest where can rear my lyoung. will gather the food the fam fly requires on your farm." We can im-
 agine, as we listen to the birds song, that
 he says, May come. May come and
 work for you" What answer shall we
 give him. Greet him with kindness, make
 him feel that he is welcome, that, if he
 erects his home near us we will not dis.
 turb him, we will feed him with the
 crumbs from our table and he will be sat.
 isfied. Then he will be happy and make
 us happier by living near to us.
 But will the farmers ask, "How car
 this little creature that flies over my
 head be help to me, what benefit shall
 gain from his presence ! How shall ]
 be richer at the end of the year by hay
 ing aocks of birds feeding upon my fieldi
 picking up my grain, sampling my
 cherries and strawberries" Let us ex
 anime this matter and see If we can fint
 benefits and also if birds are really i'm
 portsnt helpers to the practical farmer
 The birds may feed small part of tn
 season upon the fruits we raise for ou
 tables but these are not the staple foo
 of the birds, they are no doubt luxurie
 to him, something like after dinner pie
 but the bird wants something that i
 more substantial for the. season.
 regular diet. And 80 you will se
 the little fellow hunting all throug
 your trees, all over your fences
 hopping through your shrubs and 8
 over your meadows and picking up ths
 which he likes to live upon, generally il
 sects. Now we have been learning witt lg in few years much about insects, an " the mischief they are doing. They al like countless army of destroyers
 our fields. It is most evident that tt IS bird prefers them to any other kind is food. The farm may spray his Ire. ly with poison and k these pests, but tn as takes time and money. He is driven wit y work and at times is short of none y other things on the farm demand his in ul mediate attention and the insects kee Is- up their work, till some crop is utterl CT ruined. It was to furnish food as lu. n. ury for his table but 1t is too late no, k, Yet the birds have been helping all the 2, can and had there been more birds the ne would have destroyed the insects ar an saved the crop.
 d. We feel from this view of the subje. k, that the birds are the most importan ed the most reliable, the cheapest help u rs farmer can have. They are blessing an the whole community.
 ill It would seem that if birds had not bet e, 80 ruthlessly destroyed few years ae nd our farmers would not have to exper It. 20 much time to destroy the insects he save their crops. It is proved that u 'e. birds are willing and anxious to do th n- work, by the analysis of birds stomacl g, in the different months of the year, tn is we may know just what they feed upt on as the monthe come and go. Many of u he birds, as you we'll know, migrate to u or South in the autumn, to return to us ke the spring. All of these birds live larg it's ly upon insects that are so abundant a xryiSh T rnfn ho~ kok 'st robin, brown thrasher, catbird, many To- the sparfows, the Baltimore oriole, wre ly and many others that return to us eal ly season from the first of April to the Ia es Of May or the first of June. Then the y. are other birds that may be cs He'd see ne eating birds. Now one of the great tro te bles on all our soils in this vicinity is u en weeds that grow without cultivatio nt grow, in fact, ln spite of cultivation. I'll CT farmer runs his cultivator over his field es works early and late with his hoe, aI m the weeds grow and each season he rais
 8 good crop, in spite of all his efforts to kill, Of these intruders. Weeds claim tf sy best soil and take or steal the best of u ne fertilizer away from the plants the fs run np or gardener wishes to raise. Now whi IT, the hoe and the cultivstor do much h. eradicate weeds, still some will ever su Id ceed in ripening multitude of, seeds, It's spread and grow the next season, ar on every close observer must have seen tn, H. many of the garden weeds produce 6 es almost incredible number of seeds.
 as A single plant may produce as man ed as hundred thousand seeds in yea nd q nd if uuahooRod uyovJ1 ,,rodpoo sx, :,