UTILITY OF BIRDS TO AGRICULTURE. 107 



THE UTILITY OF BIEDS TO AGEICULTUKE. 



ESSEX. 

 An Essay, by Frank H. Palmer, of Boxford. 



Better and more intimate acquaintance with the habits of 

 birds, animals and plants which are to be found in the vicinity 

 of the farm, is the only way to appreciate the assistance nature 

 is willing to render to the farmer ; and the more educated and 

 intelligent farmers become as a class, the more will they study 

 the principles of growth and reproduction in the natural world. 



It is a universal principle in the whole realm of nature that 

 animals and plants live by the destruction of other animals or 

 plants. So life is transmuted into higher life, and a chain of 

 existence is formed, one link of which being broken, disastrous 

 results are sure to follow. 



Now nature, if left to herself, establishes this wholesome 

 equilibrium between the feathered and insect tribes, viz. : she 

 produces no more insects than can be kept in check by the 

 birds. But man, by his artificial habits, disturbs the proper 

 balance between these tribes. By cutting down the woods, by 

 disturbing the quiet of the forest by the sharp report of the gun, 

 he destroys or drives away the birds, and thereby stimulates 

 the production of insects, which become almost the greatest 

 pests of the agricultural interests of the country. The extent 

 of the evil caused by the infringement of these natural laws 

 is easily demonstrated, first by reference to the undoubted facts 

 of past experience, and secondly by showing what must surely 

 follow the destruction of birds. It is estimated that at least 

 5,000,000 bushels of wheat are yearly destroyed by insects in 

 the United States. One hundred thousand rose trees were lost 

 by one florist in France, being destroyed by insects. Wilson 

 says : " Would it be believed that an insect no larger than a 

 grain of rice should silently and in one season destroy some 



