XXII. 



INSECTS BIKDS. 



IF I were to estimate the average absolute loss 

 of the farmers of this country from Insects at 

 $100,000,000 per annum, I should doubtless be far 

 below the mark. The loss of fruit alone by the de- 

 vastations of insects, within a radius of fifty miles 

 from this City, must amount in value to Millions. In 

 my neighborhood, the Peach once flourished, but 

 flourishes no more, and Cherries have been all but 

 annihilated. Apples were till lately our most profit- 

 able and perhaps our most important product ; but 

 the worms take half our average crop and sadly 

 damage what they do not. utterly destroy. Plums 

 we have ceased to grow or expect; our Pears are 

 generally stung and often blighted ; even the Currant 

 has at last its fruit-destroying worm. We must fight 

 our paltry adversaries more efficiently, or allow them 

 to drive us wholly from the field. 



Now, I have no doubt that our best allies in this 

 inglorious warfare are the Birds. They would save 

 us, if we did not destroy them. The British plowman, 

 turning his sod with a myriad of crows, blackbirds, 



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