4,90 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



acute observer, by the aid of a niieioscope of only 

 ordinary power, 'can, after any liard winter, see 

 quantities of the eggs (generally adherent to small 

 twigs) of the butterfly, ruptured and uuprolific, 

 from their generating power being destroyed by 

 excessive cold. 



But man has a greater friend than even these 

 useful animals. Insects feed on each other; for some 

 are predatory, and live on others, which are their 

 natural food. Otherr/ise if this were not so, every 

 vegetable growth on the surface of the earth, fi'om 

 tiie multitude of insects, would have long since been 

 destroyed, and all animated beings must have ceased 

 to live. If any doubt this, look at the many varieties 

 of the spider ; see the regularity, mathematical pre- 

 cision, and beauty of its web, woven with such art 

 to entrap its destined food. Again the mud-dabbler, 

 a species of wasp ; preys on the spider itself, 

 by storing them away in magazines of clay or mud, 

 formed with considerable architectural skill, as food 

 for their larvae to feed on. Thus has infinite Pro- 

 vidence in mercy and goodness placed checks which, 

 apparently inoperative, inefficient, and imperceptible, 

 still with" unerring certainty retaia within ordinary 

 bounds the unlimited increase of any one species 

 that, from their multitude, might become detrimen- 

 tal or destructive to all created beings. 



The most important and useful among birds is the 

 innocent little wren, intended by nature, from the 

 number of its young, often twenty or twenty-five in 

 number, its unceasing industry and perseverance, to 

 be the general scavenger of the larva of the butter- 

 fly, on which they and their young feed. Their 

 interminable industry, activity, and the multitude of 

 the larva they destroy, are exemplified in the follow- 

 ing experiment : I have attached to my country 

 home a nest of these little birds, near to whicii 

 stands a paper mulberry tree, from which, with watch 

 in hand, I counted, in twenty-four minutes, forty- 

 two of the larvae of the butterfly conveyed to the 

 nest by this pair of wrens. Wiiat, then, must be 

 the amount destroyed in five weeks — the time it re- 

 quires to rear their young brood — allowing twelve 

 working hours to the day? It is immense, abnosl 

 beyond calculation in its consequences. Supposing 

 only one grub in a minute,it will make the destruction 

 of the larvse by this single pair amount in five weeks 

 to 21,G00. What, then, must be the number eaten 

 by a few pairs of this truly useful and melodious 

 little bird, which always seeks refuge near the habit- 

 ation of man ? How worse than cruel, then, their 

 destruction by mischieveous boys or sportsmen, who, 

 for lack of legitimate game, often wantonly destroy 

 numbers of this and other species of little birds 

 equally useful. 



Unless coercive means be taken to prevent the 

 destruction of such animals as feed on insects, the 

 day is not far distant when failure of the most im- 

 portant agricultural products will arise from the 

 depredations of insects; indeed many fruits and 

 vegetables are now becoming scarce from this cause 

 alone; "witness the potato and pumpkin, not ex- 

 ceeded by the sweet potato in flavour and nutriment, 

 and many other valuable vegetables unnecessary 

 now to be mentioned. 



The next most useful bird, from its great destruc- 

 tion of insects, is the bull-bat, or, as it is erroneously 



called, the whippor-wiU. Their nutriment is gnats 

 of various species, some predatory and others in- 

 jurious to vegetation ; indeed all in the gnat form is 

 grist that comes to their mill, even the tormenting 

 and much dreaded mosquito. From the stomach of 

 one of these birds I took and counted four thousand 

 seven hundred and two gnats, consisting of nine 

 different species — all the varieties I have noted. 

 Besides, I am certain the stomach contained, partly 

 digested, as many more, which from their jjartial 

 dissolution, it was impossible to enumerate. Taking 

 in view the rapidity of digestion in birds, what 

 myriads must a few of this species destroy in the 

 course of the summer ! 



The swallow comes next in the category. Ob- 

 serve its com|)lete mechanical adaptation for swift 

 motion. Has the vaunted power of man ever inven- 

 ted a ])rojectile more perfect in shape to surmount 

 the resistance given by the air to all bodies rapidly 

 moving through it ? Observe how this perfect and 

 beautiful little animal skims over river, lake, or plain, 

 apparently in sport, but actually destroying multi- 

 tudes of insects for food, among others the fabled 

 gallinipper and well known mosquito. 



The water-martin is useful by destroying many 

 species of a larger size than the preceding. Again, 

 there are the tom-tit and sap-sucker, heretofore con- 

 sidered to be injurious by the holes they make in 

 the apple-tree : from the erroneous supposition of 

 injury to the tree by making tiiesc incisions, num- 

 beis have been slaughtered. How fatal a mistake 1 

 Notice when the tree is completely bored all over 

 the body, and some of the chief limbs, how thrifty it 

 looks ; "how large and sound the apple ; and how 

 luscious the flavour of the fruit. Observe the trees 

 which have not been visited by these birds — many 

 look skin-bound, fruit small and knotty, taste flat 

 and watery. 



What is I he rationale of this ? Simply that each 

 perforation is made for the extraction of the larvae 

 of an insect, which, if not removed, would spoil the 

 size and flavour of the fruit, and eventually destroy 

 the tree. What a pity, then, to exterminate so use- 

 ful an animal ! Man often from impulse^ without 

 proper consideration, immolates his best friend. 

 Contrary to common belief, I consider the famed 

 locust beneficial to fruit trees, notwithstanding the 

 great outcry about their destructiveness — a fact 

 very easily substantiated if germane to the present 

 matter. 



So the more we learn of the intricate minutiae of 

 creation, the greater our surprise and admiration of 

 the wonderfully wise system of check and counter- 

 check established, where we see animals almost im- 

 perceptible, and apparently the most useless and 

 contemptible, performing functions which, to the 

 superficial, would seem incidental and objectless ; 

 but the deep observer of nature, scanning every- 

 thing with a philosophic eye, sees and recognizes in 

 the action of the most insignificant a necessary 

 link of the chain, without which the beauty and 

 grandeur of the whole would be marred ; rendering 

 it a doubtful problem if creation itself could exist 

 without their agency. — Diary of a Country Doctor. 



