SCARECROWS AND VARIOUS DEVICES 



also highly effective in scaring birds from grain crops 

 at the time when they take a heavy toll of the ripening 



grain. 



Writing of a substance called " corvusine " in 

 Farm, Garden, and Birds, issued by the Royal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds, 23 St Anne's Gate, London, 

 Mr E. Purcell Jones, in an able essay, says: — 



" I have left until the last that form of protector 

 (note the exact term) which I consider is of untold 

 value to the farmer. I speak of a proprietary article 

 which has been placed on the market under the title 

 of ' corvusine ' (the manufacturer of this is Mr A. E. 

 Hawker, 59 Mark Lane, London, E.C.). ^ On the 

 Duke of Westminster's estate here in Cheshire it has 

 been tested with the very best results. It is a combina- 

 tion of sundry chemicals with a harmless tarry basis, 

 and it is used to dress the seeds before sowing. It is 

 absolutely non-injurious to the seeds ; indeed, greatly 

 helpful, inasmuch as it effectually kills such diseases 

 as the smut of wheat. The various soil pests give it 

 a wide berth— to birds it is anathema. The makers 

 of this article claim that its use costs about 6d. per acre, 

 and I know that farmers whose seeds suffer from birds 

 will find it the most productive 6d. per acre they ever 

 spent. Now, while it is of no service in protecting 

 the grain when it is ripe, it possesses, while the crop 

 is growing, this immense advantage as a protector 

 over the mechanical scarer — it prevents the birds 

 feeding on your seeds, but it does not altogether drive 

 them off the land, so by its means you get the inestim- 

 able services of the scavengers without having to pay 



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