EXTENDING THE HARVEST 91 



corn. This difficulty is not insuperable. It is when 

 an isolated plot is sown, and ripens earlier than the 

 other corn in a district, that the greatest damage is 

 done. 



The remedy is for a number of farmers in a locality 

 to take up the work simultaneously, so that the attack 

 from birds is not confined to a small area. Seldom, 

 though it may be different in these times of stress, 

 is it likely that a number of farmers in any locality 

 are disposed to take up any new method simul- 

 taneously. Generally they prefer to adopt the "sit- 

 on-the-fence" attitude, and watch the results of some 

 pioneer. 



In the writer's own case he has surmounted, to a 

 certain extent, the difficulty indicated by confining his 

 early corn sowings to rye. Perhaps because rye is so 

 well bearded, birds do not do much damage on an 

 early ripened crop of this cereal. In the case of oats 

 the loss sustained has been frightful, and in the early 

 experiments the fields of early- sown oats had to be 

 cut in an unripened condition, and made into hay. 



With early ripened wheat of a bearded variety, the 

 writer's crops have not suffered to any great extent, 

 but as previously stated, no experiments have yet 

 been completed with very early- sown crops of this 

 cereal. 



In practice, in the cooler and wetter parts of these 

 countries — that is, in the slower ripening districts — I 

 have found that, bad as is the damage from sparrows 

 and linnets in the case of early-ripened corn, it is 

 certainly much less than that usually sustained in 

 such districts by late harvests, with the usual 

 accompaniment of bad weather,." lodged " corn, and 

 the damage done by birds. 



This bird trouble year by year seems to be getting 

 worse, and perhaps, when we do really seriously set 



