The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1912-05-01
FARMERS BEST FRIEND

THE SLAUGHTER OF THE BIRDS
COST THEM MILLIONS,
Ii 1t Was Not for the Feathered
Tribe the Insects Would Eat Up
All the Crops.
No species of wild creatures can
withstand exploitation for CONNER
cial purposes. On every case it means
speedy determination. Even the
whales Of the sea cannot survive the
modern steam Whaler and terrible
harpoon gun. A hundred years ago
there were millions Of American
bison; millions of fur seal. passen-
ger pigeons, grouse and quail. There
was the South African elephant with
out number; the Guadalupe elephant
seal, the great aux, the egrets of
Florida and Mexico, the mule deer OF
Colorado, the alligators Of the South
and the beavers of the North.
Where are they all? Destroyed,
annihilated, eXterminated by greedy
and rapacious men? Well, yes, but
woman-lovely woman-is an acces-
sorry after the fact. Her philapthrop-
ic sympathy is Of little value while
her hats are decorated with plumes
and feathers that could only have
been obtained by acts Of the utmost
cruely. The question has been rails
ed, how long will the farmers of
America continue to stand for the
sale Of the bodies Of their best friends
as food?
Wild creatures play an important
economic part in the affairs Of the
world, for which we all pay in high
prices of food. Many places even
now are deserts because wild life has
been exterminated and the insects
left to deyour the vegetation. If ey-
cry bird in the world were suddenly
wiped out of existence, the earth
would, within a priod of ten years,
become uninhabitable for man. This
fact has been verified in Australia.
There, whole districts in which the
| birds have been annihilated and
which were once a beautiful table
land, are now given over to grubs
and other insects, and been abandon
ed by agriculturists as place Of hab-
| itation.
The foundation of wealth in this
country is agriculture and forestry.
Hinder the growth of either and pros
perity is injured to a like degree.
Losses to farm crops from insects
and rodent pests amount to over a
billion dollars yearly. 1t, therefore,
becomes vitally necessary not only
for the farmer but for everyone else
to know the relation Of wild life,
especially birds, to agriculture and
forestry.
The bob-white is the most valuable
and important wild bird in existence
for the American home, garden and
farm. It does practically no harm
whatever and seems to specialize on
the pestiferous insects and weed
seeds. It's large size, compared with
other insectivorous birds, renders il
capable of doing an amount Of good
service which few people realize
From different crops representing a
single meal-and the bird probably
fills it's crop from six to ten times a
day-have been taken 500 seeds OF
smartweed; 500 Of sheep sorrel; l.
| 900 of ragweed; 5000 Of pigeon
grass; 10000 Of pigweed; table
spoonful of chinch hugs and over 100
potato beetles.
Feeding tests with pet bob-White
hen reveal the possibilities Of the
birds work in a garden or field. One
day, so adult potato beetles; anoth-
er, 1885 rose slugs; another, 5000
plant lice and SIS mosquitoes in two
hours. In addition to the above the
bird is known to feed upon the cotton
worm, the boil worm, the Mexican
cotton boil weevil, cut worms, cab
bage worms, cucumber beetles,
squash bugs, grasshoppers and crick-
cts, army worms and the Eessian fly.
If the estimate, s795,100,000 annual
damage to farm crops in the United
States from insect ravages is correct
and it is much too low, If anything
the bob-white alone might save us
over half this amount if people would
only give it a chance. Other tens OF
millions would be saved in weed seed
destruction. The bob-white is a So
ciable bird, makes a charming pet
and, if protected, will "home' about
the house and garden, becoming
much tanner and more responsive to
petting than domestic fowls In a
very short time it would be possible
to have these cheerful birds common
in every garden. Pet bob-white hens
average 65 eggs season and at the
Massachusetts State Fish Hatchery
one bob-white laid 100 eggs, practi-
cally all hatchable. AS many as ~
eggs have been found in a single
nest in the wild.
The Department of Agriculture at