296 BOAED OF AGRICULTUUE. [Pub. Doc. 



depends entirely on how the account balances at the end 

 of the year. 



The crow cannot fail to be very valuable to agriculture if 

 its food haliits are on the average more beneficial than in- 

 jurious. If, however, the balance is upon the other side, 

 the bird may become a serious pest. If in times of plenty 

 its numbers increase beyond all reasonable bounds, it is 

 likely to grow injurious in proportion to its numbers. 

 When crows become so plentiful in any locality that they 

 cannot find, in the fields and woods, a sufiiciency of animal 

 food for their young, they are likely to turn their attention 

 to poultry and wild birds, and also to do more injury to 

 farmers' crops. 



In summing up the evidence for and against the crow, it 

 must be admitted : first, that the crows injure the corn crop 

 to some extent, and some other crops slightly ; second, 

 they are somewhat destructive to the eggs and young of 

 poultry and wild birds ; third, they distribute the seeds 

 of poisonous plants ; fourth, they destroy some beneficial 

 insects, probal)ly killing more than they eat ; fifth, they eat 

 large numliers of frogs and toads. On the other hand : 

 (1) the service of the crow in destroying noxious insects 

 can hardly be overestimated ; ( 2 ) crows are of great ser- 

 vice in destroying field mice and other small mammals ; 

 (3) crows are useful to some extent as scavengers. 



AVhile it may be impossible with the data at hand to 

 determine the exact economic status of the crow in Massa- 

 chusetts, the question asked at the beginning may be an- 

 swered in a general way. The wholesale destruction of 

 crows is said to have been followed by a remarkable increase 

 of injurious insects, and from what is now known about 

 the crow's food we may conclude that, unless these birds 

 l)ecome unduly numerous, and therefore destructive, they 

 are likely to be of great service to the farmer. It will pay 

 the farmer to sacrifice some portion of his products to the 

 crow, provided he uses care that the cunning bird does not 

 overreach him in the bargain. 



