The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1908-12-31
How Birds Preserve The Trees.

Now and again some enterprising
newspaper man expatiating on the
work of the Audubon Societies dishes
up n remarkable symposium regarding
some undertaking Of the. National As
ISOLATION or makes extraordinary claims
ia respect 10 the usefulness OF birds
Then some doubling Thomas" very
properly discounts the tale and even
expresses donbtas 10 whether the birds
ARE. after all, SO necessary to mans
welfare ms the protectionists would have
US believe. But the practical benef
elal results.o the work Of. the birds
have now been so long observed and
81 coneluslvely proven that there is no
longer any room for doubt regarding
their usefulness. Destruction Of trees
a I'd crops always follow eYreuH de-
pletlon of the numbers of the smaller
nstive buds. Moreover conservation
OF birds produces the opposlte'e
In lssI'5 ! made experiments to at
tract birds into an old orchard in Med.
f)rd, Mass. Food and nesting boxes
brought the birds 10 the orchard in con
siderable numbers The succeeding
sumner apple tree insects such a. the
cankerworms and the tent caterpilIars
were very abundant aud stripped the
foliage from NEST OF the apple trees in
the town, but mine remained in good
foliage and bore almost the only full
crop OF fruit IN tewn that year, DE
tails OF this experiment are given in
bulletin eutitled Birds as Protectors
Of Orchards. which is published and
distributed free by the Massachusetts
State Board Of Agriculture. Similar
experiments year after year have dem
onstrated clearly the dollars snd.cents
value OF the birds Ia orchard and wood
land. But while my observations were
under way the German Baron Hans
van Bsrlepsch was carrying out, nm.
known 10 me, number of more ex.
isnsive and psinstaking experiments in
bird conservation on his great estate al
seebsch. He secured results there far
more striking than my modest ..efIorts
produced here. lie studied the meth. |
DDS OF attracting and feeding birds and
those OF constructing nesting boxes and
bird shelters. He carried
gu, The game preserve principle with
birds until he had breeding on his
home park Of " acres about 1000 small |
birds, two pairs Of wild ducks. one pair
Of Moor hens and one ofgfebes. Three |
hundred nesting boxes hung up in his
are all inhabited by birds. In |
nss 400 acres Of woodland there are two
thousand nesiin. boxes and eserywh here
IL 10 trimmed a. 10 make
dense and safe nesting places for the
birds while the enemies Of birds are
destroyed by The keeper 81 The estate. |
The results Of this work are thai the |
estates OF The Baron Won Berlepsch are |
free from insect injury When others
suffer. In 1896 the woods in the com.
Try round about wefe stripped BY cal.
erpsllars u Tofiria viriAuA. The wood 4
OF Won Beriepseh ~as untouched and
stood out among the surrounding
woods hke green Oasis. Al distance
ct iiile more than quarter Of mile
from a lhe tini traces Of ihc plague
were apparent and quarter o. a male
further on u appeared IL full force.
THIS e just about the distance that
small birds carr, food 10 their young.
fn~ Prasslan Government fosessers
have aos adopted similar measures
with iae rNsalts. Aud the Nalsvual
AsseciAiscu u Aadnbon Societies. Is
nos 'asrodncing in,o This eoaHiry for