The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1912-03-08
WORTH MILLIONS TO FARMERS
By means of careful study in tn

BY means of careful study in the
biological department of the United
States, the department of agriculture
has secured evidence that proves, be-
yond a doubt, that without birds to
police the air, keep the farms and
crops free of insects and small ro-
dents and destroy the weed seeds,
the crops of this, the greatest agri-
cultural nation in the world, would
be a failure. 1t is estimated that in
sects are damaging the crops of this
country to the extent of $50,000,00O
annually. Noxious weeds would prob
ably double this amount in expense
to the farmer. These figures seem
to be enormous, and it is sad to say
that the ruthless slaughter Of both
song and plumage birds is largely re-
sponsible for this state of things.
The Audubon and other societies,
also the agricultural department, are
waking to the fact that some stin-
gent steps must be taken to stop this
wanted destruction. There is one
man in the biological survey who has
spent twenty years collecting proof
for and against the nations feathered
citizenry. The stomachs of many
thousands of birds have been dis
sected with microscope and minute
| instruments. A balance sheet has
been kept showing indisputable evil
dence if each has eaten things that
| were beneficial to farm life, or things
that would injure the grain. With the
| general exception of the English
sparrow, the rice bird and one or two
| members of the hawk family, this
tireless biologist has proved all birds
! invaluable aids to the farmer. The
| Jay, blackbird, cuckoo and many 9TH
ers have been exonerated. In the
case of the red wing blackbird he
has shown that 81 per cent. of the
| food eaten was the seed of noxious
weeds, while 13 per cent. was divid-
ed between noxious insects and farm
grain. The bobolink goes south to
the rice fields and does 100000
worth of damage year. There hunt
ers kill and ship them north again.
Within the past five years the pres
ident has created, under the general
1o,d oef;oo doporfp,opf IF tho info
rior, twenty-three reservations for
the protection of native birds. Some
are on the Florida and gulf coast,
some in the north central states and
others on the Pacific coast. Seven
islands in the gulf are federal reser-
vations, while eighteen more are re-
served by the Louisiana Auduban So
ciety under state authority.
The birds on these twenty-three re-
serves are protected by law enact
ed two years ago providing that 1T
shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt, trap, capture, wilfully disturb,
or kill any bird of any kind whatever,
or take the eggs of such birds on any
lands of the United States, which
have been set apart or reserved as
breeding grounds for any birds by any
law, proclamation or executive or
der, except under such rules and reg
ulations as may be prescribed from
time to time by the secretary OF agri-
| culture"
When we consider the enormous
amount of territory to be kept free
| from insects, and the comparatively
small number of birds to undertake
this work, it would appear that the
few thousand acres set aside for the
breeding grounds and the present leg
! islation for their protection is totally
inadequate Thousands of huntsmen
| kill for the market, thousands more
for sport" or just the pleasure OF
| killing, and thousands more for the
purpose of obtaining wings and feath-
ers for the persons of whom the late
Charles Dudley Warner so well re-
marked "A dead bird does not help
the appearance of an ugly woman,
and a pretty woman needs no such
adornment" Each wing or breast on
woman's hat tells a silent tale OF
life needlessly sacrificed, but the
egret is a mute witness to tragedy
Not only was one bird sacrificed for
that particular treasure, but it was
the mother bird, killed when her
brood was young in the nest, depend
ing on her for food, and leaving them
to perish of cold and starvation.
1t is against this evil that the Au
duban Society has long waged war
but the effect is not yet telling, for
while thirty-two states enacted the
societys laws, they did not all en-
force them.
The bird is protection to our far.
mer besides being a pleasure to all