farmers' miscellany. 103 



" A cautious observer, liaving found a nest of five young jays, 



)bserved, that each of these birds, while yet very young, con- 



fumcd at least fifteen of these full-sized grubs in one day, and of 



pourse would require many more of a smaller size. Say that, on 



|in average of sizes, they consumed twenty apiece, these for the five, 



oake one hundred. Each of the parents consumes say fifty ; so 



hat the pair and family devour two hundred every day. This, 



n three months, amounts to twenty thousand in one season. But 



js the grub continues in that state four seasons, this single pair, 



'^ith their family alone, without reckoning their descendants after 



j^e first year, would destroy eighty thousand grubs. L'^t us sup- 



jose that the half, namely, forty thousand, are females, and it is 



inown that they usually lay two hundred eggs each, it will appear 



lat no less than eight millions have been destroyed, or prevented 



om being hatched, by the labors of a single family of jays. It 



i by reasoning in this way, that we learn to know of what impor- 



;mce it is to attend to the economy of nature, and to be cautious 



jow we derange it by our short-sighted and futile operations." 



We say, then, spare the little birds. They may be of use in 



living thousands of dollars to the farmer, and we hope no one 



rill allow the boys to murder them for sport. 



We wish, for the same reasons as above, to recommend the toads 



j) mercy. They are generally regarded as a loathsome thing, and 



ften killed. But we can assure our readers that they are very 



>eful in a garden for destroying insects. Peach trees are often 



ifested with a7iis, which feed upon the fruit just as it begins to 



pen, eating a little hole into the peaches, which causes them to 



it before they are ripe. Now we can recommend the toad as an 



jfectual remedy against them. Make a box around the foot of 



je tree and place one of these animals in it, and he will keep it 



ftirely clear. He may also keep off, in some measure, the regu- 



1 peach insect. For the latter purpose, however, we would 



ijlher encourge the small species of woodpecker to live near us. 



'Some of these small birds, by proper care, can be rendered quite 



:ne and domestic. The wren and the bluebird can be easily col- 



J:ted around a garden by simply putting up little boxes on poles 



Ir them to build in ; and the little wren will destroy the worms 



;d millers, and sing you many a merry note into the bargain. 



