The Falls City tribune., 1909-04-09
PROTECT THE WILD BIRDS
Wild Birds Can Alone Save the
Crops From Insect Pests

Broadway feather dealers. t h e
farming forces of this entire state
are today fighting desperate bat
tie for a law which will fully pro-
tect the wild birds that they know
can alone save their crops from IN
sect pests. Headed by the VA
tional Association of Audubon So
c~ieties and the state grange with a
membership Of $1,000 working
farmers, every agricultural interest
in the Empire State is lined up to
demand such measures to prevent
the butchery of the insect-eating
and non.game birds as have be-
gun to benefit the farm lands of
Iowa, Massachusetts Michigan, Lou
isianna, South Carolina and West
Virginia. Unless the professional
traders in the scalps of these
slaughtered songsters are n o W
made to respect the economic value
of their prey, it is declared, the
orchardists and agriculturists of
the whole country will soon suffer
by the increase of every form of
insect plague.
Declaring that the valuable bird
resources of the whole American
people are at stake on the princi-
pile of this battle of the New York
farmers against the commercial
feather hunters, Clifford Pinchot,
head of the National Conservation
Commission has today come out IN
strong support of the proposed
legislation. Letters of warm ~.
dorsement of this campaign have
also been received at theAudubon
headquarters here from G. +. Cox
president of the New York Acade-
my of Sciences, Madison Grant
chairman of the executive com.
mittee of the New York Zoologi-
cal Society, DR.. Pearson New
York State Commissioned of Agri-
culture and l.. p. Felt, the state
entomologist. F. n. Godfrey,
master of the state grange, has
already actively enlisted with all
his forces in the fight.
Half of the daily food of the
crow blackbird alone is made up Of
the insect pests hat destroy the
crops it has been proven by X
pert examination Of 2250 s.omaehs
of these wild birds, the results of
which are being submitted to the
Legislators here by DR.. Palmer Of
the government department of
agriculture. With others of the
non-game species that it is propos-
ed to protect here, these birds have
been shown to be the only etfec-
tive check to the plague of Brown
Fail and Gypsy moths which is
sweeping over the country from
the New England states where
So, 100000 has already been spent
IN am attempts to curb its de-
v~astation of the crops and woods.
With the insect-eating birds it is
also planned to shield the snowy
owl which is known to consume
the hordes of meadow mice whose
depredations have cost the orchard
lists of the country millions Of
dollars.
This battle for the proper pro-
lection of the nsect-eating birds
will have its effect upon the whole
country, said Vim. butcher, presi-
dent of the National Association
of Audubon Societies at its head
quarters, 141 Broadway, today.
More than Il ,000,0 600, 900 has been
proven by the government to have
been lost to the farmers of this
and last year through the depre.
dations of insect pests. We want
to determine if this vast loss to the
nation is not to be considered
rather than the selfish interests of
the few dealers in the plumage Of
the very birds that destroy these
insects. 1t is high time for the
farmers, orchardists, rancbmen
and planters of this country 10 as.
sert themselves IN this matter as