150 



means of which, united with his own efforts, he might rid his 

 grounds of those insects which have hitherto heen a constantly 

 increasing pest. 



In 1826, insects of various kinds had become so universally- 

 destructive, as to cause serious apprehensions for the safety of 

 all kinds of products. One of our hoticulturists commimicated 

 his opinions on this subject to the '^ Massachusetts Yeoman," 

 expressing his belief that the unusual number of these destroy- 

 ers was occasioned by the destruction and diminution of those 

 feathered tribes, which are designed by the Creator as a check 

 upon the increase of insects and worms. His neighbors ex- 

 pressed their astonishment that everthing in his garden should 

 look so thrifty and flourishing, while every plant in theirs was 

 cut down and destroyed, almost as soon as it sprang up, by 

 these vermin. " I have no concern about it," he replied; "my 

 Robins see to that. I preserve them from their enemies — the 

 boys and the cats — and they preserve my garden from insects 

 and worms. In one corner of my garden, near my dwelling, 

 is a tree in which a couple of these friends of man have reared 

 their families for three successive years. There has ever been 

 a harmony between my birds and me." This was the whole 

 explanation of the healthfulness of the fruits and vegetables in 

 his garden : He preserved all the birds in his garden, and, they 

 devoured the insects that infested it. Grasshoppers, he said, 

 in the early stage of their existence, and for some weeks after 

 their appearance, are not larger than flies ; and ten or twelve 

 birds would clear a whole field of them, before they could be 

 large enough to do any injury ; and he besought all pai'cnts, 

 as they valued their property and the blessing of Heaven, to 

 prevent their boys from shooting Robins and other birds. 



It is well known that the small Owls are useful as destroy- 

 ers of the larger moths and nocturnal insects ; they are also 

 excellent mousers. The Hon. Richard Peters, in " The Me- 

 mou's of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture," 

 remarks of a small species of Owl, " The numbers of mice, 

 moles and other vermin destroyed by the Short Eared Owl are 



