VOL. LXIII
INDIANAPOLIS, FEBRUARY 8, 1908.
NO. 6
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Befriend the Birds.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Sn much has been said and written by
government experts, naturalists ami amateur observers, about the value of birds
in their relation to agriculture, that any
thing brought out now on this subject
would seem useless of repetition. Yet
the story of binls is one that will ever
admit of rehearsal ami, in view of the
fait of their useful mission, anyone will
iloubtless be pardoned for discussing the
subject again.
As, spring time is not far distant, the
birds will soon return to take up their
commendable labor of protecting both
fruit trees and grain fields from the pestiferous insects which destroy them. Recently President Dutcher of the Associated Audubon Societies, in commenting on
the rapid disappearance of the native
American birds, due to ruthless destruction and changed conditions, affecting
tluir habits of life, said that tbis unwarranted decimation is costing our people eight hundred million dollars each
vear, in crop losses by insects,—a sum
equivalent to the total Xational Bank
capitalization throughout our country.
Tins enormous loss is borne directly by
Die farmers and indircetly by the general
imrjlte. It   is   a   loss   in   crops, "which
can in no wise be compensated for, and
one which is directly the result of the
stolid indifference of Americans, touching
tin- protection of our useful native birds.
If there ever was a time when public sentiment should be aroused, favorable to a
general economic need it is now here, and
that need is the adequate protection of
our feathered  friends  and  helpers.
These bird friends are always welcome
both for tbeir insect destroying traits and
their cheerful songs, but we should give
them more than an ordinary welcome upon their return. We should encourage
and induce them to come and stay with
us, all through the summer and work in
our fields and orchards, as our most
friendly  and  helpful  allies.
According to the methods of nest building and home site selection the common
birds, on the farm, may be divided into
three classes:
1. Those that select protected places,
afforded either by nature or man, such ns
a hollow in a tree, a bird house or something similar;
-. Those that prefer the forks and
.i'sitches of trees, in which to build their
Bestfr;
3. Those that build their nests on the
"found, protected by grass, shrubbery or
weeds:
To the first class belong the. wren, the
Purple martin, swallow, blue bird and,
sorri to say. the pesky little English
sParro\v, whom no farmer counts as his
friend.
The bait way In whieh we may encourage these winged creatures, is to
Provide for them, neatly constructed
homes, in. onr lawn and orchard trees. We
know of no other occupation that gives a
farmer hoy more pure enjoyment and better reward, than to build a lot of these
"linature houses for the use of these valuable birds during their mating and brood-
lng seasons. Many a pleasant hour can
"e spent in providing these little tenements for hirds. If the work and time
Put in making these birds homes is not
Wore than repaid, in song and useful ser-
v,pe. the writer is greatly mistaken.
Along about the first of April one may
"spect the general  retnrn of most of our
common birds and it will be to our young
friends' interest to anticipate their arrival, by putting up these houses, to let
to these busy laborers.
In placing bird boxes one must be governed somewhat by the natural nesting
habits of the tenants. The locality should
be chosen with a view of pleasing them.
For instance, the blue bird is accustomed
to build his nest at a hight of about four
feet from the ground, so by placing a
bird house at this hight, you make his
occupancy of the house more certain.
This  condition suits him  and  it  prevents
pugnacious Kngiish sparrow, which wages
continual war tore against our loveable
and useful native birds, and destroy farmers crops. These nervy foreigners will
drive the modest blue bird and wren nway
from the house and set themselves up as
tyrants whenever permitted to do so. The
sooner this rascal is numbered with the
thing of the past, the better it will be
with our serviceable American birds. A
good wny to entrap, the Kngiish sparrow
is to place grain, soaked in ethyl alcohol,
within easy access of the birds but out of
reach of the poultry.    It will be an  easy
1
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Farm Home of Mrs. Adella Lang. Fountain Co.
his worst enemy, the Kngiish sparrow,
from interfering with his domestic life,
for this nuisance will not build his nest
much lower than twenty feet from the
ground. The openings in the blue
bird box should not be larger than a silver
dollar.
The purple martin's home should be
placed about twenty feet from the ground,
and the doors to this future home should
be opened promptly on April lst, so as not
to give the English sparrow any chance
to pre-empt the martin's claim. When the
martin is through with bis tenancy, close
up the box that the sparrow can not
bother it.
The natty little wren should have his
tiny home, with doors just about the size
of a quarter, left invitingly open, set up
at about ten or twelve feet from the
ground. This wren's box should be fastened to a tree, ns it is afforded a better
protection there than any place else. As
for the swallows they need no special
house, fsir they adapt the barn eaves and
spaces under the barn rafters al the peak
of the roof, to their domestic needs. And
what strange contributors they are with
their peculiar nests, of mud. whose
walls are made of the dried grasses and
mnd, and the interior cosrly lined with
soft chicken feathers. Il" ynu want the
swallows to remain with you. see to it
"that they have ample openings to pass in
,and out of the barn. Their cheerful twitter as they travel to and fro in quest of
insects, will be in itself sufficient reward
for your courtesy towards them.
Every precaution shouhl be taken to keep
awnv     and   ever    to     exterminate       the
matter to gather up the drunken sparrows
and despatch them, while other birds unfortunate enough to eat this baited grain
can be put aside and allowed to regain
consciousness.
The birds building their nests in trees
and upon the ground do not require the
encouragement of prepared homes. All
they need is some evidence of friendliness
on the part of man, and this may be
shown by no molestation, and the exercise
of common sense towards them.
The robbin is the old reliable friend of
the farmer. What farm home is complete
in the springtime without the cherry song
of Redbreast, or the sight of his nest in
the trees upon the lawn? Encourage his
presence and protect, him from his enemies. Then there are the Baltimore oriole, titmouse and blue jay,—all friendly
tss the agriculturist, as insect destroyers,
and which build their homes and rear
their young near the dwellings of men. Do
Sot drive Ihem away. Among those birds
building their nests upon the ground may
be mentioned, in particular, the friendly
quail, the ground, or chipping, sparrow
and the killdeer, all depending principally
npon insects for food.
It is a Matter of deep regret that the
ruthless sportsman and pot hunter have
rfiade snch alarming inroads upon the Bob
White's numbers that he is fast becoming
extinct iA our state. Knless our law makers insure him Setter protection he will
sssssii ■_,, the way of the wild pigeon and
wil.l turkey. This beautiful, useful and
home luring bird is the farmers best native feathered friend. He is a great insect   exterminator  and   particularly   so   in
the case of the Colorado potato beetle and
the wheat destroying Hessian lly. Life
on au Indiana farm would seem unnatural
without the welcome pipe of our friend
Bob White. Po what is within your power to have laws passed to accord him his
well deserved protection:
We must have our native birds not only
for the sake of sentiment surrounding
them, but also for the sake of agricultural
utility. Tbey are worthy of our care aud
merit of mankind  interest.
H. S. Chamberlain.
Spring Care of  Meadows.
Editors Iadlana  Fanner:
By the time the grass starts in the thin
ansl unproductive spots in tbe meadows
and pastures should have had a thin dressing of good manure. Don't overdo the
thing and pile on too much manure in ona
place, for that will kill out any grass that
may he left and produce too rank a
growth for several feet around. Just a
thin spread, put on soon enough so that
the last snows and early rains will work
it down into the soil is all that is necessary. Go over these spots with a disk,
if there are enough of them to make that
necessary, and harrow down afterwards,
and sow a mixture of grasses. If these
things are looked after every spring we
will have cleaner meadows and a much
larger  crop. We  are  doing  too  much
slip-shod work on our meadows and pastures. One should know precisely the
grasses best suited to each particular field,
and know just how to handle the soil of
each to bring it to best condition to produce the best quality and greatest amount
of grass. In bringing grass lands to a
gnoil condition, the roller should be used
every spring, while the ground is ratner
soft. It will press the crowns back into the soil, and firm the whole seed-bed
so as to save moisture when the drying
months of mid-summer come on. Heavy,
firm soils are the best for continued
growth, but an occasional disking will do
most    old    meadows good. Sometimes
there are spots which become so bound
that they require vigorous treatment to
get them into condition. Go at them
rough shod and let the disk cr plow tear
them all to pieces. I,. C.  B.
Illinois.
Care of Manure.
The most valuable manure made during
the winter season, is while the fattening
stock and dairy cows are eating up the
crops of the previous year. The man-
Use is a valuable by-product, and a little
care in handling it properly will prevent
any serious waste. The greatest loss
comes from open feed-yards, those located on the side hill. It has been shown
by tbe Ohio Experiment Station that
when manure*was exposed for three
months in an open yard during the winter
or early spring, it lost nearly one-third of
its total fertilizing value. These experiments also showed that more manure was
produced from dairy cows than from fattening steers. We should not lose sight
of the fact that the crops which we are
now feMling. used up some of the most
s ssi'inial elements in the soil, and also,
that proper care of the manure made in
both stables and yards, will return a
large proportion of the material taken
from the soil. There is a tendency this
spring to sell both grain and young stock.
This kind of policy will not keep up a
farm   very   long. Keep   tlio   stoek   at
woi*k turning out your fertilizer for next
season's  crop.