SCARECROWS AND VARIOUS DEVICES 



any wages. Have you seen a fine turnip swarming 

 with turnip caterpillars ? You know well enough the 

 ravages of wire-worms, leather jackets, and the rest ? 

 You must have the services of the birds to keep down 

 these pests. I have proved over and over again that 

 starlings and other birds eat them in enormous 

 numbers, and it is now possible to allow such valuable 

 service to 20 on unrestricted and at the same time rest 

 assured that your own seeds are safe. Similar good 

 results are obtained by the use of ' Clark's wheat 

 protector ' (the maker of this is Mr G. B. Clark, 

 Woburn Sands, Beds., England), which is a carbolised, 

 instead of a tarry, preparation; this will dress some- 

 thing like a bushel of seed at a cost of a modest 

 penny." 



In South Africa, where native umfaan labour is so 

 cheap, it pays to keep boys to patrol the orchards and 

 fields with empty tins at the times when the crops are 

 liable to be attacked by birds. 



Spraying budding fruit trees with nicotine emulsion 

 has good results. It is very lasting, and one spraying 

 is usually sufficient to protect the buds until they 

 burst, when they are then safe. If much rain has 

 fallen, a second application will be needed. Birds 

 abominate the bitter taste of nicotine. This method 

 has been practised with great success in England by 

 fruit farmers against the bud-eating sparrow and 

 bullfinch. 



A simple device to scare birds is mentioned by 

 Mr E. J. Piatt in Farm, Garden, and Birds. He 

 says : — 



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