154 FRUIT FARMING 



larvae, and being a hungry bird he requires a quantity 

 to make a dinner; therefore, if Cuckoos are noticed in 

 the plantations, they should be encouraged, and the 

 gun laid aside for a time. It is a beautiful sight to see 

 a nest of long-tailed Tits, with the parent birds, flitting 

 from tree to tree in the winter, examining every cavity, 

 every loose piece of bark and cranny, for the pupae of 

 moths and the eggs of other insects ; how regularly they 

 work, and how cheerfully they flit from twig to twig. 

 Not less to be encouraged are the other members of this 

 family, the large and small Blue-tits, Tree Creepers, 

 Nut Hatches, Whitethroats, Chiff-chaff, Garden War- 

 blers, and Blackcaps are great scavengers in the 

 summer season, and should never be destroyed, or their 

 eggs taken. The Chaffinch is not mischievous, as far 

 as we know. Starlings must be kept from the Cherries 

 in summer, at other times they are useful. Rooks 

 do much damage by settling on bushes and breaking 

 young branches with their unwieldy bodies, especially 

 among Gooseberries and young Plum trees. 



FOWLS should be largely kept on Fruit Farms, and 

 partially starved to make them voracious, and be 

 tamed so that they follow the digging and pick out 

 the insects and pupae in the winter ; and they will 

 eat many millions of caterpillars, which can be dis- 

 lodged by tapping the trees in summer, especially in 

 Nut plantations. The stick used for this should be 

 covered with sacking or carpet to prevent bruising 

 the boughs. 



SPRING FROSTS. After a spell of fine warm weather 

 during the blossoming season, a rapid change may 

 take place on a shift of wind, and severe frosts 

 play havoc with the blossom or embryo fruits. In 



