The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-05-06

| 'EaV mas ocCu o"cctcucu Oy the process
OF termination is favorite food and
eagerly sought. 4, In the earlier days,
when crows were more numerous and
cornields less so )thc farmers had u
constant struggle during the first two
or three weeks after the corn appeared
above the ground to save it from the
crows. Various devices, in the shape
Of scarecrows, we're designed to fright
en- away the marauders, but most of
them were only irdifferently success
full. More recently the plan Of coat
ang the seed with tar has been ex-
tensivcly used. and in on experiment
made by the department not single
kernel of tarrcd corn was disturbed,
while rows Of untarred seed immc-
diatcly adjoining were almost entirely
destroyed. 1t has been asserted that
crows pull up corn for the sake Of the
grub that may be found about the
roots and not for the kernel, but care.
fui investigation has disapprovcd this
assertion. They do eat the sprouted
kernel, although they also devour the
grubs uncarthcd at the samc time,
but the result to the farmer is the
same, and it is poor consolation to
know that if the corn had not been
eaten by the crow it would have been
killed by the grub.
TIE FOOD OF THE CROWS.
Examinations made on the stom-
achs Of 500 crows show that about 20
per cent Of the food for the year con-
sists of grain, of which corn consti.
tutes more than 81 per cent, the
greatest quantity being eaten during
the three winter months. All Of this
must be either waste grain picked up
in the fields or roads or stolen from
cribs or shocks. A good deal is taken
in the three fall months, when corn is
soft, and May, the month Of sprout-
ing corn, shows slight increase over
the other months. Only small quan.
titles of other grains are taken. On
the other hand, the loss of grain is
shown by tho examinations to be
moro than Offset by tho destruction Of
insects, these constituting more thau
- per cent Of the crows : yearly diet,
and the larger part of them arc nox
ious. Add the mice, rabbits and 9th
er harmful mammals destroyed and
the result shows total of about %
pei. gent of the food to consist Of api.
mails whose destiuction Is beneficial
to the farmer. With the we'll known
propensity Of the crow for searching
highway and byways, stock yards and
pastures, it must be admitted that at
least one-half of the grain eaten is
waste, the consumption Of which en-
tails no loss. The remainder Of the
crows diet consists of wild fruit,
seeds and various animal substances,
and from this point Of view it is evi-
dent that what grain he takes is we'll
paid for by the insects destroyed.
'"The crow blaokbird is one OF the
most abundant species of troublesome
birds, and when fook Of them at
tacks field the result is usually dis
astrous. These birds are fond Of
grain and, being of good size and
abundant, have the power to do great
harm. The examination of more
than two thousand Of their stomachs
has shown that grain forms 45 per
sent Of the food Of the year, and of
this amount dorm Constitutes 80 per
cent. Hundreds Of communications
havo been received by the department.
of agriculture tcstifying to tbeif de-
structiveness, get many OF these ac-
knowledge that the birds eat large
Quantities of insects, especially dur
ing the breeding season, and that
many insects arefed to the young.
But. while this is demonstrated fact,
it would be difficult to convince the
farmer that the good they do at one
season compensates him for his loss
at another and there is little doubt
that in some parts Of the country
these birds are too numerous for the
farmer to realize the best results from
their services.
"All Of the other species of black
birds are addicted to similar food and
it behodEes the grain grower to pre-
pare for them before his crop is DO
stroyed or badly injured. The COM
mon turtle doves live almost entirely
on grain and do most harm in tho
spring, when they feed in newly sown
L