34 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[March, 



and not mere theories. It is true that an 

 educated man by fallacious arguments may 

 be more successful in impressing fnhe views 

 than an uneducated man is in advancing true 

 ones, but time and experience will eventually 

 demonstrate who is right and who is wrong. 

 As to the matter of education, it does not re- 

 quire a very higli degree of it in order to be 

 able to tell the truth when we liiwio the truth. 

 In conclusion, lunar influence upon the 

 earth's surface involves que.stions that are in 

 an unsettled condition among men— even 

 among those who are educated — but there are 

 plenty of other .subjects of a mure practical 

 character, whicli are worthy the pen of the 

 experienced farmer— subjects moie tangible 

 and nearer to his daily life, and the.se should 

 become the objects of his occasional illustra- 

 tion. 



THE BANE AND ANTIDOTE. 



The two paragraphs adduced below illustrate 

 a state of things in India that perhaps never 

 enters the mind of the average individual who 

 concerns himself but little as to how other 

 people live and die in this world ; and, even 

 those who may feel an interest in their fellow- 

 men, and contribute to their alleviation, may 

 be astonished at the aggregate of human ex- 

 posure to the fatalities of animal ferocity. 

 Venomous reptiles and caroiverous mammals 

 seem to be the bmw of India, however en- 

 dowed she may be in other repects ; and, al- 

 though we may suppose that she also, to 

 some exteut, possesess the antidote, yet it can 

 not be sutliciently strong to overcome the pre- 

 ponderatiugbane. India possesses many snake 

 destroying birds, notably the Secretary, the 

 Cassowary and the Vulture, besides many 

 others. If, therefore, with all these checks to 

 the increase of venomous snakes, together 

 with the hundreds of thousands destroyed an- 

 nually, under the auspices of government, 

 there is still such a fearful mortality from 

 snake bites, what might it be if none of these 

 counter-operations existed. The question in- 

 volved in these two papers is one that brings 

 before us on a large scale the relations that 

 one class of animals bears to another,in main- 

 taining the equilibrium of nature, in which it 

 is plainly evident that if the one did not at all 

 exist, even though its presence might be re- 

 garded by some people as an unmitigated 

 nuisance — what a fearful redundancy there 

 might be of the other more objec- 

 tionable class. This rule may also be applied 

 on a smaller scale to the noxious animals and 

 their natural antidotes in our own country. 

 We don't know what the mortality from 

 snake bites is in the United States, but from 

 all that gets into the prints we may infer that 

 it is very trifling when compared with India. 

 We have, however, a tolerable idea of tiie in- 

 juries sustained by agriculture fr.'m noxious 

 insects ; but we cannot even guess what it 

 might be if none of the natural antidotes ex- 

 isted; and yet because these often operate 

 against the interests of certain individuals, 

 they would have them all destroyed. Birds 

 in our own country, as well as in India, are 

 the natural enemies of insects, and to a 

 greater extent, too, than we may be aware 

 of; and yet many people are restive and im- 

 patient under the presence of birds, because 



they also appiopriate a little fruit, or other 

 substance of human production. 



Death from Wild Animals in India. 



The total number of persons killed by 

 snakes and wild beasts in the several Provin- 

 ces of India during 1R80 has gradually in- 

 creased from 19,273 in 1877 to 21,V)r0.in 1880. 

 The largest number of deaths occurred in 

 Bengal and the Northwestern Provinces and 

 Oudh, in which Provinces the deaths during 

 the year aggregated 11, .359 and 5,284, respecti- 

 ively. In Bengal 10,004 deaths were caused by 

 snake bites, 3,i9 persons were killed by tigers, 

 while in the aSTorthwestern Provinces and 

 Oudh, 4,723 persons died from snakebites and 

 265 were killed by wolves. The total number 

 (rf persons killed by wild beasts and venomous 

 snakes during the year 1880 was 21,990. The 

 increase was common to all Provinces, except 

 British Burmah. The number of cattle killed 

 increased from 54,830 in 1S7G, to 55,914 in 

 1879, and 58,386 in 1880, (exclusive of the 

 figures for Mj'sorc, where the deaths in the 

 previous year amounted to 5,899.) The in- 

 crease compared with 1879 is common to all 

 Provinces except the Northwestern Provinces 

 and Oudh, the Punjab, and Ajmere-Merwara. 

 In the Northwestern Provinces and Oudh the 

 totals for the two years are nearly the same, 

 aud iu the Punjab there was a decrease of 

 about 1,200 in the number of cattle killed. 

 The total number of wild animals destroyed 

 has fallen year by year from 23,459 in 1876 to 

 18,641 in 1879, and l'l-,8S6 in 1880. As com- 

 pared with the previous year the falling off 

 was common to all Provinces, except the Cen- 

 tral Provinces, Coorg, and Berar. The most 

 remarkable decrease occurred under the head- 

 ing "other animals" in the Madias Presiden- 

 cy, the figures for 1879 and 1880 having been 

 2,956 and 139, respectively. The number of 

 snakes shown as destroyed was 211,775, as 

 compared with 131,927 in the previous year, 

 the increase being mainly due to the very 

 large number (177,070) of snakes wliich were 

 killed in the Bombay Presidency. The total 

 amount of rewards paid for the destruction of 

 snakes was 11,663 rupees, as compared with 

 6,663 rupees tlie previous year. It is chiefly 

 in towns and villages that the destruction of 

 snakes is desirable, and for this reason it is 

 satisfactory to observe that so many munici- 

 palities are now beginning to offer rewards. 

 These results are not regarded as satisfixctory, 

 because the falling ofl' in the number of wild 

 animals killed has been accompanied by an 

 increase in the destruction of.men and cattle. 

 Tlie government of India attributes this to 

 the operation of the Arms act, although the 

 reports assert that licenses are freely granted 

 in tracts where wild animals abound. — iicknce 

 Oossip. 



Snake Destroyers. 



Birds are, perhaps, the greatest snake de- 

 stroyers, especially certain families of them. 

 Even small insectivorous birds will dev(nir a 

 tiny serpent as readily as a worm when they 

 flnd one, and storl's, falcons, pelicans, cranes 

 and some vultures are always on the lookout 

 for this special delicacy. The secretary bird, 

 Serjjentarius rcptilivorous, owes its scientific 

 name to this habit ; tlie ca.ssowary and sun- 

 bittern are said to I'uter'.ain a similar par- 

 tiality ; while peacocks are so fond of snakes 

 that tliey will actually desert the home where 

 they are fed for a district where these reptiles 

 are ijlcntiful. A well-known London banker 

 purchased a small island on the west coast of 

 .Scotland some time ago; no attempt at culti- 

 vation had been made there, and it was unin- 

 habited save by sea-birds and vipers. That 

 the latter should have swarmed in such abun- 

 dance in a situation so far north and i.solated 

 from the mainland is ceitainly remarkable; 

 but there they were in force so strong that the 

 b;inker found his newly acquired territory 

 quite unavailable for the purpose he had in- 

 tended it — » shooting and fishing .station in 

 summer. Acting under advice, he procured 

 six pairs of pea-fowl and turned them loose 

 on the island, which they very soon cleared 



of its imwelcome tenants, or at any rate re- 

 duced their luimbers to such an extent that 

 the remainder could be evicted without much 

 danger or difliculty. Almost any bird will 

 attack a snake of suitable size (of .course it is 

 not to be expected that a lark will swallow a 

 boa-constrictor) ; and it is a ciirious thing 

 that thev eat venomous or non venomous 

 species indiscriminately. They appear to first 

 disable it by a .sharp blow with the beak on 

 the spine, then kill it by successive pecks and 

 shakings which dislocate the vertebrne, and 

 finallv transfix the head ; then gobble itdown. 

 The presence of the venom in the bird's unin- 

 jured stomach would do it no harm, but one 

 would have supposed that the sharp fangs or 

 broken bones projecting through the mangled 

 skin in its passage down must sometimes 

 cause excoriations of the mucous membrane, 

 and thus provide a means of inoculation, even 

 if the aggressor did not get bitten in the com- 

 bat. Neither accident, however, has been 

 observed to occur liy those who have re- 

 peatedly watched the operations. Pigs are 

 tremendous fellows on snakes, too. They, as 

 well as peacocks, have done good service in 

 ridding entire islands of these dangerous 

 pests ; and it is said that Maritius was cleared 

 of poisonous reptiles by the wild hogs which 

 were imported there in the first instance, and 

 have now spread over the island. — All the 

 Year Bound. 



"REVISED FRUIT LIST." 

 We insert the following from the German- 

 town Telegraph, not because we feel confident 

 that it will accord with the preferences of all 

 horticulturists — even in the same latitude — 

 but because it has been compiled, and at vari- 

 ous periods revised, by a veteran experienced 

 in horticultural, as well as editorial lore ; and, 

 also, because it may be more reliable and 

 more general in its practical application than 

 catalogues embracing the fruit stock of the 

 entire Union, if not the entire world. Of 

 com-se individual fruit growers will also have 

 their preferences based upon their own ex- 

 periences. Moreover, it has not only been 

 demonstrated that one particular farm is bet- 

 ter adapted to the thrift of some particular 

 fruits than another one near it, but that even 

 on the same farm, to a great extent, these 

 diverities of adaptation exist. If a man pos- 

 sesses only a small fariii, or desires to restrict 

 his cultivation to only a few varieties, other 

 things being equal, it would perliaps be most 

 judicious in him to make his selections in the 

 numerical order that they appear on the list, 

 unless he is positive a variation from this 

 would be better for him individually. Under 

 any circumstances, that should be selected 

 which is best adapted to the special locality. 

 Every fruit season we still see a great quantity 

 of "trash" in the way of fruit and vegetables 

 exposed to sale iu our markets, and we have 

 often wondered whether people will ever dis- 

 cover that the best is the most profitable and 

 finds a more ready sale, and can also be culti- 

 vated with as little labor as the inferior varie- 

 ties ; and even if it cannot, it is quite certain 

 that the gathering and bringing to market is 

 the same, but when tliere tlie compensation is 

 always favorable to the suiierior kinds. It 

 would not do to say that farmers keep the 

 best of their produce for their own u.se, and 

 only sell the worst to others ; for, nine times 

 ill ten, the converse is the case. Doubtless it 

 is altogether owing to indiflerence to the sub- 

 ject of fruit culture, or devotion to some other 

 more absorbing iuteresit or prejudice again.st 

 "Book-farming." But it is never too late to 



