The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-04-06
TO PROTECT THE BIRDS
Fight in New York for a Law to Pre-
vent lndiscriminate Slaughter.


New York, April Opposed
solely by, it is claimed, Broadway
feather dealers, the farming forces Of
this entire state are today fighting
for a law which will fully protect the
wild birds that they know can alone
save their crops from insect pests
Headed by the National Association
of Audubon Societies and the state
Grange with a membership of $4,000
working farmers, every agricultural
interest in the Empire state is lined
up to demand such measures to pre-
vent the butchery of the insect-eating
and non-game birds as have begun to
benefit the farm lands of Iowa, Mass
achusetts, Michigan, Louisiana, South
Carolina and West Virginia.
Declaring that the valuable bird re-
sources of the whole American people
are at stake on the principle of this
battle of the New York farmers
against the commercial feather hunt
ers, Clifford Pinchot, head of the Ma
tional Conservation Commission has
come out in strong support of
the proposed legislation. Letters OF
warm endorsement of this campaign
have also been received at the Audi
bon headquarters here from c. F.
Cox, president of the New York Aca-
denny of Sciences, Madison Grant,
chairman of the executive committee
of the New York geological Society
DR.. Raymond A. Pearson, New
York state commissioner of agricul-
ture, and F. p. Felt. the state ento-
mologist 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 in
sect pests that destroy the crops it
has been proven by expert examina-
tion of 2,250 stomaches of these wild
birds, the results of which are being
submitted to the legislators here by
DR.. T. S. Palmer of the government
department of agriculture With
J others of the non-game species that
| IL is proposed to protect here, these
birds have been shown to be the only
effective check to the plague of Brown
fail and Gypsy moths which is
sweeping over the country from the
, New England states where 81, 900 900
has already been spent in vain at
tempts TO curb its devastation of the
crops and woods With the insect
eating birds it is also planned to shield
the snowy owl which is known to con-
sumo the hordes of meadow mice
whose depredations have cost the or
chardists of the country millions OF
dollars.
This battle for the proper pro-
/ lection of the insect-eating birds will
have its effect upon the whole coun-
/ try" said William butcher, president
of the National Association of Audu-
bon Societies at its headquarters. GAL
Broadway. More than $1,000, 900, 900
have been proven by the government to
have been lost to the farmers of this
land last year through the depreda-
lions OF insect pests. We want to de-
termine If this vast loss to the nation
ia 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,
ranchmen, and planters of this coun-
try to assert themselves in this mat
ter as the agriculturists are doing in
this state We feel that we can count
upon the support of every patriotic
American to help us save the nations
valuable bird resources"