VI. DISEASES OF FRUIT-TREES. 



manner. They are hard driven for food at this time of 

 the year j and they will actually strip whole branches. 

 It is, however, contended by some persons, that, after 

 all, they do no harm -, for that, there are insects in the 

 bud which they eat j and that it is not the herbage that 

 they want, but the animal, seeing that birds live upon 

 grain, and pulse, and insects, and not upon green things. 

 This is by no means true : they do live upon green things, 

 or, at least, they eat them as we see fowls eating grass, 

 during a great part of every day. I believe that these 

 little birds eat the buds, and are not at all looking after 

 insects. The wild pigeons in America live, for about a 

 month, entirely upon the buds of the sugar maple, and 

 are killed by hundreds of thousands, by persons who erect 

 bough-houses, and remain in a maple wood with guns and 

 powder and shot, for that purpose. If we open the craw 

 of one of these little birds, we find in it green stuff of 

 various descriptions, and, generally, more or less of 

 grass, and, therefore, it is a little too much to believe, 

 that, in taking away our buds, they merely relieve us 

 from the insects that would, in time, eat us up. To 

 keep birds from buds is a difficult matter. You cannot 

 net all your trees j nor can you fire with shot amongst 

 your trees without doing a greater harm than that which 

 you wish to prevent. Birds are exceedingly cunning in 

 their generation -, but, luckily for us gardeners, they do 

 not know how to distinguish between the report of a gun 

 loaded with powder and shot, and one that is only loaded > 

 with powder. Very frequent firing with powder will 

 alarm them so that they will quit the spot, or, at least, be 

 so timid as to become comparatively little mischievous. 

 p5 



