VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, DECEMBER 4, 1909.
NO. 48
BIRDS    CONTROL    INSECT    INCREASE.
By Guy E. Mitchell.
The question is quite frequently in
the farmer's mind—"To what extent
do birds limit the increase in insect
life?" While for hundreds of years it
has been a matter of general observation that the common singing birds
subsist largely upon insects, it has but
lately been understood that insects
form one of the most important items
of food for the great majority of birds.
Many of the game birds and the smaller
birds of prey eat a considerable
amount of insects, especially during the
breeding season.
Many farmers condemn many species of birds because they consume
vegetable matter. It is true scientists
admit, that while in their examinations they have not found the stomachs
of any species which did not contain
some vegetable matter, it Is probable
that in many cases this element is
purely accidental. When insects are
picked from the ground, or from
plants, small seeds or bits of leaves are
easily taken and swallowed at the same
time. In the case of the western yellow-throat animal food amounted to
99.77 per cent of the whole contents of
the stomach,' which shows the insignificance of the vegetable part, and tends
strongly to prove that plant food was
not sought at all, but was taken by
chance with an insect morsel.
To illustrate destructive capacity of
birds, Prof. F. E. L. Beal of the Biological Survey mentions a case where from
3,000 to 5,000 insects have been found
in a bird's stomach at one time. While
it is true, he states, that birds are not
so numerous as insects, this disadvantage, if any, is not sufficient to overcome the advantage of greater size with
corresponding capacity for destruction.
Another point in favor of birds, he
adds, is their ability to travel long distances, so that in case of a local outbreak of any species of insect they are
able to rally quickly to the spot and
render good service in checking the
further increase of the pest. That
birds will fly from one point to another
where insects are in abundance, is illustrated by a letter received by the
Department of Agriculture from a
California correspondent in which he
says:
The canker-worm episode is quite
a common one with us here. In one
district there has been a threatened invasion of the prune trees several times,
but each time the (Brewer) blackbirds
came to the rescue and completely
cleaned them out. I have often seen
bands of blackbirds working in an in-
tested orchard. They work from tree
to tree, taking them clean as they go.
tt a worm tries to escape by webbing
down they will dive and catch him in
mid-air.
When the Rocky Mountain locust invaded the fertile plains of the Mississippi Valley, it was preyed upon by
every species of land bird, and even by
some water fowl. Birds that normally fed upon other food, attracted by the
unusual abundance of these insects, ate
them freely and continuously while
they lasted.
It is contended that birds have no
means of discriminating between harmful and harmless insects and consequently    devour  both    species.       This
may be true, still the fact remains that
certain insects, when kept in check are
perfectly harmless yet capable of becoming highly injurious in large numbers. A counter-argument is advanced
that the farmer when he sprays the
trees for scale destroys quite often the
natural enemy of the latter and can
not discriminate between the good and
the bad, taking his chances of doing
the most good in the simplest manner.
Had   birds   preyed   exclusively   upon
THE    FARMER    ANI)    LIQUOR.
By W. S. Smith.
Farmers are commonly sober men,
and have sober tastes. This is indicated
by the large dry vote in agricultural
counties. If of the more intelligent
class, they are not moved by the cry
of "destitution that must accrue to
to farmers by the closing of distilleries
and breweries."
Attractive Farm Residence.—Elevation
harmful insects, they .together with
the predaceous and parasitic insects,
might have completely exterminated
their natural prey. In that case both
birds and predatory and parasitic insects would be without their natural
food, and in consequence must themselves perish, unless they could find
some other source of subsistence. In
the meantime, vegetation would have
enormously increased, producing complications difficult to foresee. Fortunately birds eat insects indiscriminately, so that the two great opposing
forces, the vegetable eaters and the
birds and insects that feed upon them,
are kept in a state of practical equili-
brim. This is the ideal natural condition.
Is there a farmer who would not welcome the destruction of half of all the
individuals of every species of insect in
the world—half of the cotton boll
weevils, half of the Colorado potato
beetles, half of the chinch bugs, half
of the codling moths, half of the innumerable multitude of predatory and
parasitic species. By this holecaust
many insects that are now troublesome
would by this reduction be rendered
comparatively innocuous, while in
other cases the farmer would be able
to cope successfully with the remainder. Now this reduction would leave
entirely undisturbed the internal relations of the insects themselves. The
predatory beetles remaining would
have proportionally just as many scales
or larvae to feed upon as before. The
parasites would have Just as many
hosts to infest and the scales and
larvae would have just as many enemies to prey upon them. That a
great increase in vegetation would take
place is probable, but this would very
soon be counterbalanced by the unusual supply of food offered to rodents
and other herbivorous mammals, and
in a fact In a short time the insects
themselves would, through the Increased facilities for multiplication, resume
their normal numbers unless there
arose some other factor to hold them
in check, such, for instance, as a great
increase in the number of birds.
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Attractive  Farm  Residence.—Floor
Plan.
There never was any sense in the
claim that this process will reduce the
demand and the price of corn, rye and
barley.
Corn is higher now than It was when
the liquor business ran at full tide. If
barley and rye are not higher, it makes
no difference, for these are poor crops
at their best. The ground will do
better ln oats, alfalfa or broom corn,
all of which are useful crops and have
no element of harm ln them.
But there is one real danger. The
grape-juice is easily found, and the liquor it makes is a dangerous Intoxicant.
There are men (and women) who make
up many gallons of wine, and keep it
about the home as an "innocent beverage;" and many a farmer's boy has
formed, right there, the taste for alcoholic drinking.
And cordials! How many good people make  up  blackberry cordials?
I remember a student I once had to
send home, who told me his mother
gave him cordial to make him quit
crying, when he was a little fellow.
He was quite dissipated in his school-
habits, and gave me some real bother.
I have not followed him, but I guess he
made a bad drinker. And I find splendid farmers who keep whiskies, beer,
ale, etc., about the house as medicines.
It is an old time notion, hard to eradicate, that such a precaution is necessary. A little way back in United
States history, these drinks were kept
by the barrel. And in those days the
cup was passed daily about the family
circle. Such a thing as a log-rolling,
cornhusking or house-raising was not
completely provided for unless the beverages were produced. There is a
genuine advance and Improvement at
that point now, because the barrel is
rarely found, and it is not common any
more to offer drinks to company as a
matter of hospitality. I am sure the
agreatest danger to rural people is in
two things that are current. First the
home production of intoxicants; second
the ease with which the farmer may
supply himself in the cities and larger
towns.
There is no safety to the country boy
so long as drinks are sold in nearby
towns. Nor can towns be hindered
from selling drinks so long as distillers
and brewers are allowed to manufacture them.
The moral associations of the traffic
are bad; and men willing to grow rich
from the profits of such a business are
usually willing to sell any way they
can. Blind Tigers and Speak Easies
could not possibly exist if the brewers
and distillers were law abiding men.
The supplies come from these and only
these sources. So, as all towns are
cursed with drinks, even in dry states
and counties, there is but one way to
render young farmers all safe, and that
is to do away utterly with the traffic by
stopping  the  factories.
This is what prohibition means; and
it is vastly more than merely stopping
one-fourth of the saloons, as our local
option has done.
THAT WINTER WATER SUPPLY.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
About this time of year a farmer will
make the common mistake of neglecting to give the farm water system
proper  attention.
Before the ground freezes, all pipe
connections should be made; while any
underground trouble should be ascertained, and immediately overcome.
Windmills, pumps, tanks and hydrants
should be carefully inspected, and fully
repaired. Some      of      these      will
need        banking-up, to protect
them from the severe freezing
weather. Every water-pipe and cutoff must be well covered to prevent
freezing. It's unhandy and disagreeable working at these jobs during raw,
wintry days, and you simply cannot afford to neglect a single item of preparation, at a season when It can be
quickly and efficiently attended to.
M.  A.  Coverdell.