1S38] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



281 



Rut nirriculliirft is not only the most natural, it 

 is also the most allurinfi and pleasant of tlie my- 

 riad pnrsuiis oC humanity. The variety of the 

 aparlnients and furniture of nature, tlic ijlory of 

 her coloriuirs, the frairrance of her odors, and tlie 

 ever varyinrr hue and aspect of her seasons, are 

 tlie (Treat Ibuntains of a variely, without \v!iicl\ 

 the existence of a chancinir and change-lovinn; 

 creature, Avould be a terrihle monotony. It is 

 pleasant too to plant in hope, and to watch 

 throuirh years oC youth and bloom to decay. It 

 is pleasant to train the vine, to pluck its ripenino; 

 clusters, and to repose in the shade of its spread- 

 in<T rrreenness. It is pleasant to aniicipate through^ 

 winter, the flowers, the dew, and the briiiht sky of 

 spring. It is delightful lo view the waving fields 

 ripen unto the harvest. And though in turning 

 the rank and reeking soil we may remember with 

 a sigh that we are moving the wasted mould of 

 many a one once as iree in thought and lifi^ as 

 liim wlio guides the plough, the next flower that 

 attracts the eye will chide our useless melancholy. 



Bur we would not run wild wilh a general view 

 of a theme so enticing to thought and fancy; we 

 would but pursue a branch, a single, small, but im- 

 portant and prolific branch of this extensive sub- 

 ject; one which, though in its mention it may seem 

 paltry and trifling, richly deserves a discussion 

 among other branches which have received at- 

 tention, to the exclusion of this, only because 

 thev are more superficially apparent. 



This su!)ject naturally presents itself in the two 

 following divisions — and they will embrace the 

 consideration of the whole object which we have 

 in view. 1st. The intimate connexion which ex- 

 ists between the interests of agriculture, and the 

 increase and diminution of our indigenous birds, 

 and the injur}- resulting from their wanton and in- 

 discriminating destruction. 2d. The best means 

 of putting an end to this injury with its cause — 

 and as far as possible in (he limited space which is 

 allowed us — we will endeavor to prove that these 

 topics are not by any means to be overlooked and 

 slighted in the different views of the general sub- 

 ject of agriculture. 



Those who believingly adopt the atheist theory 

 of a chance creation, must in consistency discard 

 that ultimate doctrine of Christianity, that every 

 thing, however diminutive it may be, is formed for 

 pome end. We are clad that we differ from them. 

 We rejoice in believing that every existence, ani- 

 mate or inanimate, is a member of a vast and 

 united fiimily of servants and worshippers, that 

 nothing is formed in vain, that every atom has 

 its task to perform, as surely as every spirit an ac- 

 count to render. Idleness is an unnatural word 

 coined to describe an unnatural propensity. In 

 the wide sense of subservience to a divine design, 

 the world knows not the term, nor the trait which 

 it describes. There is nothing idle, for good or 

 for evil, for weal or for wo, rearing or casting down, 

 building, or bringing to nought, for judgment or 

 in mercy, creation is a vast and faithful agent do- 

 ing the biddings of an Almighty and Omniscient 

 Governor. Oursubject is intimately connected with 

 the idea, let us apply it more practically. 



We think we may say, without fear of contra- 

 diction, that none of the birds of the air, not even 

 those which are now most sought, for that pur- 

 pose, were originally created expressly for food, and 

 yet that seems to be the onlv light in which we 



Vol. VI.— 36 



regard them. Our first parents and their posteri- 

 ty, till after the flood hail ravaged the earth, and 

 changed our race and the laws of lile and con- 

 duct under which th(^y were created, were forbid- 

 den lo eat of that which had lile. The whole ani- 

 mal kingdom was interdicted as food; a fiict which 

 modern epicures may believe with wonder. And 

 even now, when by permission rather than com- 

 mand, the primitive rule is abandoned, and we 

 destroy life to appease the cravings of hunger, 

 thousands of species, both of beasts and birds 

 bear, whether rightly or througli mere caprice, 

 the character of uncleanness. Nay, even of those 

 of the feathered creation, which do not come un- 

 der the latter class, a vast number are too small 

 and worthless to be seriously sought for as food, 

 loo diminutive and paltry in appearance and avail- 

 ability as conducive to subsistence, to reward the 

 labors of those who would look to them for a sup- 

 ply of their wants — unavailing as far as any di- 

 rect influence upon man is concerned but to please 

 his eye, and thrill his ear with their melody, and 

 yet it is with these smaller members of the tribe 

 that we have now, chiefly, to do, in pursuing our 

 subject. These diminutive and seemingly worth- 

 less, though pretty creatures, are, strange as it 

 may seem to those who think that to kill them is 

 so pleasant and agreeable a sport, of immense ad- 

 vantage in the great design and economy of na- 

 ture. That these species, then, were created at 

 first, or are now permitted to exist and increase, 

 merely to supply fi^od to our race, is an idea, which 

 any one but he who is endowed wilh a Lilli- 

 putian mind or appetite will discard. For what 

 then were they formed? for certainly they are the 

 work of design — the produce of a hand whose 

 omniscience covers at an onward glance, the whole 

 existence of the object he is framing. What is 

 there in the great business of the universe? With 

 the solution of this question we open up our sub- 

 ject to the reader, and give it forth to the agricul- 

 turist from its obscurity, as a subject worthy, at 

 least, of thought. 



The nature and habits of birds, are as widely 

 difl'erent, as those of the more familiar, because 

 more accessible beasts, and therefore we would 

 not be understood as saying, that all, even of 

 these more diminutive species, are uselijl to the 

 fiirmer. It is not so. Some are of no use, others 

 decidedly injurious, and with the latter we would 

 hold no terms; we would say, destroy them in 

 any manner, which in itself vv'ould not do more 

 injury than it would prevent if successful — but a 

 large number of these creatures are most useful 

 and faithful servants of the tiller of the ground. 

 And that is not all; their labor is manifold. A 

 great multitude unite with some of the beasts 

 and larger birds, in doing the vast and indispensa- 

 t)le duty of removinf; the impurities of decaying 

 vegetable and animal matter which but for them 

 would be a much more prolific source of mias- 

 ma and disease. They are the great unpaid and 

 unthanked scavengers of the earth. While my- 

 riads, as we have said before, are the assistants 

 and ready instruments of the farmer, and through 

 him of mankind. Let him who would derive in- 

 formation to stengthen our remark and his own 

 convictions, consult the natural history of this cu- 

 rious and beautiful race — and his doubts will va- 

 nish and give place to a light which should long 

 since have shone upon him and guided him in re^ 



