258 ANNUAL REPORT 



Mr. J. S. Harris. T might say that he is very careful of the 

 b^^ds while his older brother takes his gun and goes for them in 

 earnest. 



Mr. E. B. Harris. Well, he is only three or four years older 

 than myself and as soon as I catch up with him I am going to 

 lick him. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Kramer said the birds last summer destroyed a third of 

 his crop, ate one-third and left a third, so it was raising a crop 

 on shares; one could put up a scare-crow to frighten them, but 

 the robin was the meanest bird of all; it sits on a post and watches 

 you put it out and as soon as he finds out what it means he goes 

 right at the fruit same as ever. 



Mr. B. B. Harris. Our friend Kramer has done fairly well; 

 says he received one-third for his share; that is all I give my 

 father. If the bird gets half his share I never shoot it. 



Mr. Kramer. You want the birds to take one share, is that it? 



Mr. Cutler. My neighbor, Mr. Crandall, prevents the birds 

 getting his grapes by putting small paper sacks over them; he 

 has practiced that three or four years. 



Mr. Underwood. Last year we had some very nice grapes, 

 fine and sweet, and were expecting to have two or three tons of 

 grapes. In going through the vineyard one day I was surprised 

 to find the birds had hardly left a bunch untouched. They must 

 have taken nine-tenths of them. They did not eat them entirely 

 but picked into the bunches and spoiled them. We had a pretty 

 good gun and we made a slaughter among them by means of 

 which we saved a portion of the crop. 



President Elliot. Was it not pretty dry down there? 



Mr. Underwood. Well, I should say it was; it was dry all 

 summer. 



President Elliot. I would suggest the propriety of setting out 

 dishes with water in them near your vineyards where the birds 

 can get a drink. It may be their thirst for water they wish to 

 overcome more than anything else. 



Mr. Underwood. I might be a little ungenerous, but the lake 

 is close by us and the birds can go there for water. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Harris. This is a serious question but there is no doubt 

 in my mind that the birds are more beneficial than injurious. 

 'They are fond of small fruits and live largely on wild fruits. 

 They take shelter among the vines at times and their sharp 

 claws injure the grapes, the fruit splits open and the wasps and 

 bees prey upon the fruit. Some birds are man's greatest friends. 



