192 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



[P. D. 4. 



Plants Attractive to Fruit-eating Birds. 



Farmers know that birds are fond of the earhest cherries and 

 strawberries, and that some will feed on raspberries and black- 

 berries unless there is other more attractive food near. There- 

 fore, if fruit is wanted only for home use it is well to plant 

 enough for the family and the birds. If cultivated small fruits 

 are planted in quantity, all the fruit-eating birds of the neigh- 

 borhood will be there when the fruit is ripening. But there are 

 other fruits even more attractive to birds. First among these 

 for early summer are the wild strawberry (Fragaria americana), 

 the June berry or service berry (Amelanchier cariadensis) , the 

 red-berried elder (Sambucus racemosa) and the white mulberry 



(Moms alba). The wild straw- 

 berry fruits as early as the 

 cultivated varieties, and it 

 lasts longer. The June berry 

 is earlier than the earliest 

 cherries, and is supposed to 

 hang later, but in my experi- 

 ence the birds get all the June 

 berries before July 4, and if 

 gray squirrels are very numer- 

 ous they are likely to take the 

 fruit even before it becomes 

 ripe enough for the birds. This is a fine fruit to cultivate 

 could the birds be kept away from it. The red-berried elder 

 fruits early in June, and like the common elder (Sambucus 

 cawa^^en^is), which fruits in Massachusetts in August and Septem- 

 ber, is one of the chief attractions for summer birds. All the 

 mulberry trees are extremely inviting to birds. The native red 

 mulberry (Morus rubra) is useful but does not fruit' quite so early 

 in June as the introduced white mulberry (Morus alba). The 

 Russian mulberry has been widely recommended, attracts 

 birds remarkably, and in some cases has been established in 

 Massachusetts, but it appears not to be hardy on the higher 

 lands of the State, and seems to require special treatment to 

 establish it here. The Downing (or the New American, which 

 appears to be identical) is a cultivated variety with a fruit 



Tupelo or sour gum. 



