30 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1869. 



that wealth of erudition, which proved fatal to the Boston Atlas. But not to 

 weary you with views that have been so often elaborated from this place, a cita- 

 tion is made from the evidence of one whose knowledge upon the matters where- 

 of he affirms is alwaj's the fruit of careful and exact observation and analysis. 

 Dr. J. R. Nichols, of the Journal of Chemistry thus effectually explodes this 

 harmful fallacy of the beneficial influence of birds : 



" There is much that is sentimental and attractive in the numerous essays upon bifds 

 and insects, found in our fashionable magazines and newspapers. Farmers and horti- 

 culturists in the country are informed by these parlor gentlemen in cities, who write 

 essays, that the race of binls is almost extinct, owing to the ' ruthless war ' waged upon 

 them by said farmers and fruit-raisers ; and, in consequence, grubs, worms, caterpillars, 

 flies, bugs, etc., have invaded the land, and increased so fearfully that they are eating 

 up every green thing. •■• * The joke of this whole matter lies in the fact that 



most birds, robins more particularly, are not fond of the worms and insects destructive 

 to vegetation, such as canker-worms, caterpillars, the curculio, etc. Who, in conducting 

 a pnst moitem upon a robin ever found a canker-worm in its stomach ? No one ; instead 

 of these, at the right season of the year, that organ is found full of cherries, straw- 

 berries, grapes, etc., stolen from orchards and fruit gardens. Birds nevi r were so plenty 

 in New England as during the past five years ; and the ravages of insects and worms 

 never were more disastrous than during that period. Robins, according to the state- 

 ments of careful, competent observers, have increased fourfold, under the influence of 

 the protective enactments passed by our Legislatures. They swarm around our dwell- 

 ings, build their nests and hatch their young upon the shrubbery under the windows, as 

 if conscious of full protection. We love robins, and most other birds. It is indeed de- 

 lightful to be awakened in the morning by their songs. They are so familiar and do- 

 mestic in their habits, we come to regard them almost as household pets. We are quite 

 willing to divide our fruit with them, give them the large.-t half; but we cannot allow 

 them the while. We do love the birds, but we love good fruit also ; and it seem to us 

 that the time has arrived, at least in some portions of Massachusetts, when in order to 

 save any of the valuable soft fruit, we must reduce the number of birds so that this class 

 of consumers will not demand the whole of the production. Birds are simply orna- 

 mental, beautiful objects in nature ; as to their being of any essential service in the 

 destruction of insects, that is all a delusion. We must regard them in the same light 

 we do dogs, cats, rabbits, and other household pets. They are to be protected, and cared 

 for, until the number becomes unreasonably large, or they annoy us, and destroy our 

 property ; then we must thin them out in some way. 



Last year we lost our cherries, many of our strawbeiries, all of our Delaware grapes ; 

 and our neighbors were subjected to the same losses. We would suggest that the laws 

 relating to the destruction of robins and some other birds, be suspended for a period 

 say of three years. 



And still, notwithstanding remonstrance, argument, absolute demonstration 

 indeed, the Great and General Court, at its last session, made the obnoxious 

 provisions of the law for the protection of birds yet more comprehensive and 

 stringent. In justice, however, it must be confessed that it is to the same 

 egregious body of men that we owe the latest largess to the Hartford & Erie 

 Railroad, and the ultimate resolution to determine at once and forever the num- 

 ber of cubic feet contained in the Hoosac mountain. 



The usual weekly meetings have been continued with customary interest and 

 success. Many superior specimens of fruit and flowers have been exhibited, 

 and, in frequent instances, the identification of varieties has proved alike ben- 

 eficial and satisfactory to growers who were ignorant of the proper names. The 

 annual display of Roses aud Strawberries, as a whole, was the finest ever held 



