No^. Birds— Sumac— Life Insurance— Insurance from Fire. 359 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Birds tlie Farmers' true Friends. 



In the last number of the Cabinet, your 

 correspondent, in speaking of the habits of 

 birds, (although he admits most of them to be 

 of service to the farmer,) says some are of no 

 use, and others decidedly injurious: with 

 these he would hold no terms. Perhaps, upon 

 closer observation of the habits ol" even these, 

 he may find himself mistaken. Let us see: 



There is the purple grakle, or crow black- 

 bird, whose fondness for, and depredations 

 upon the young corn, is so well known, is 

 much more partial to the grub worm, and if 

 permitted a resting-place on our premises, un- 

 molested, would follow the ploughman in the 

 furrow, and destroy great numbers of them, 

 not uprooting a single grain of corn as long 

 as this supply continued. Crows would do 

 the same — to be sure they would, in de- 

 fault of finding grubs, help themselves to 

 some of the corn; but cannot this be prevent- 

 ed by soaking the grain in something nause- 

 ous, or coating it with tar ? These expe- 

 dients should be tried before we condemn 

 them to destruction. 



Again, the different species of hawks, so 

 generally considered as pirates, and destroy- 

 ed without mercy, I believe do us more ser- 

 vice in the destruction of field mice, moles, 

 &c., than would be counterbalanced by the 

 loss of a few chickens. Humanitas, Jr. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Sumac. 



Mr. Editor. — In the fourteenth number 

 of your second volume, " A Friend to Native 

 Industry," invokes attention to the produce 

 of one of our indigenous plants, namely, the 

 sumac ; more than 13,000 tons of which, he 

 says, were consumed in England, in 1832 

 and 1833, for dyeing. Will " A Friend," or 

 some other friend, should this meet the eye 

 of such, be so kind as to inform us, whether 

 a person collecting a quantity of the sumac 

 berries, and drying them thoroughly, could 

 dispose of them here at a price sufiicient to 

 indemnify him for his labor] What, in fact, 

 is sumac worth per pound, or per hundred 

 weight ■? Is the produce of the American 

 sumac equal to that from other countries.'' 

 By the bye, there is another most interesting 

 production of some of our middle states, 

 which, we think, ought to afibrd a source of 

 profit, namely, the wax procured from the 

 myrtle berry. This is of a beautiful green- 

 ish color, and possesses great solidity, being, 

 on this account, much used by the poor for 

 adding to tallow to improve candles. Should 

 there be a fair price offered for this article, its 

 collection would afford profitable employment 

 to hundreds of poor persons. Can any one 



tell us what price the wax of the myrtle 

 would command ' Enquirer. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



liife Insurance. 



Every farmer should understand and appre- 

 ciate the importance of fire insurance, and 

 every farming district should secure the be- 

 nefits of an office insurance against loss by 

 fire. There is also another system of insu- 

 rance less understood, but equally important; 

 we refer to life insurance — by which is 

 meant, that a person secures to his family, in 

 the event of his death, a considerable sum of 

 money, by the payment of a small annual sum 

 during his life. From the monthly reports 

 of theGirard Life Insurance and Trust Com- 

 pany, in Chesnut street, it is obvious that 

 many see the importance of making this cer- 

 tain provision for their families, to be received 

 by them when they most require it. It can 

 be done, too, for a very small sum: for in- 

 stance, a man thirty years of age pays $ 1 31 

 cents, and if he dies within the year, his fa- 

 mily receives from the office $100. If he 

 pays $13 10 cents, they receive $1000 : thus 

 it is evident how cheaply the advantages of 

 life insurance may be had ; and that a per- 

 son, however moderate may be his income, 

 can secure his wife and children from desti- 

 tution. 



In England, so many families have been 

 saved from want and dependence by the in- 

 tervention of life insurance, that the practice 

 is general; and most persons of limited in- 

 comes, and whose families must rely upon 

 their daily personal attention to their affairs, 

 resort to life insurance as the best saving in- 

 stitution, and the most certain mode for a mo- 

 derate provision for a family, in the event of 

 one's death. 



For !he Farmers' Cabinet. 



Insurance against loss by Fire. 



A provident n an guaideth liiinseif against loss hy fire. 

 Scarcely a season passes by without hear- 

 ing the melancholy tidings of some farmer 

 having lost his barn, perhaps his house also, 

 by lightning, or by fire, originating in care- 

 lessness or design. Some seasons we hear 

 of many such catastrophes, even in a single 

 county. The loss is always total, and generally 

 falls on those who are least able to bear it, for 

 the wealthy are generally so provident that 

 they provide against such casualties by effect- 

 ing insurance against eventual loss. How 

 many are the cases where individuals, who 

 were in comfortable circumstances, have been 

 landed in the deepest distress in a few hours 

 by the operation of fire; and then the course 

 of proceeding is for the feeling and benevolent 

 of the vicinity to embark in the charitable 



