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52 



THE ILLINOIS F^RMEH. 



erating power being destroyed by exces- 

 sive cold. 



But man has a greater friend than 

 even these useful animals. Insects feed 

 on each other , for some are predatory, 

 and live on others, which is their natu- 

 ral food otherwis(>. If this was not so, 

 every vegetable growth on the surface of 

 the earth, from the raidtitude of insects, 

 would have long since been destroyed, 

 and all animated beings must have ceas- 

 ed to live. If any doubt this, look at 

 the many varieties of the spider, sec the 

 regularity, mathematical precision, un<l 

 beauty of its web, woven with such art 

 to entrap its destined food. Again, the; 

 mud- dabbler, or species of wasp, which 

 preys on the spider itself, by storin<i; 

 them away in magazines of clay or mud, 

 formed with considerable architectural 

 skill — a food for their larvae to feed on. 

 Thus has an Infinite Providence in mer- 

 cy and goodne=s placed checks which, 

 apparently inoperative, inefficient, and 

 imperceptible, still with unerring cer- 

 tainty retain within ordained bounds the 

 unlimJted increase of any one species 

 that, from their midtitude, might become 

 detrimental or destructive to all created 

 beings. 



The most important and useful among 

 birds is the innocent little wren, intend- 

 ed by nature, from the number of its 

 young, often twenty or twenty-five in 

 number, its unceasing industry and per- 

 severance, to be the general scavenger 

 of the larvre of the butterfly, on which 

 they and their young feed. Their in- 

 terminable industry, activity, and mul- 

 titude of the larvre they destroy, is ex- 

 emplified in the following experiment : I 

 have attached to my country home a nest 

 of these little birds, near to which stands 

 a paper mulbery tree, from which, with 

 watch in hand, I counted, in twenty-four 

 minutes, forty-two of the larvse of the 

 butterfly, conveyed to the nest by this 

 pair of wrens. AVhat, then, must be the 

 amount destroyed in five weeks, the time 

 it requires to roar their young brood — 

 allowinsc twelve working hours to the 

 day. It is immense, almost beyond cal- 

 culation in its consequences. Suppose 

 only one grub in a minute will make the 

 destruction' of the larvae by this single 

 pair amount, in five weeks, to 21,600. 

 What, then, must be the number eaten 

 by a few pairs of this truly useful and 

 melodious little bird, which always seeks 

 refuge near the habitation of man ? How 

 worse than cruel, then, their destruction 

 by mischievous boys and sportsmen, who 

 for lack of legitimate game, often de- 

 stroy numbers of this and other species 

 of little birds equally useful? 



Unless coercive means be taken to 

 prevent the destruction of such animals 

 as feed on insects, the day is not far 

 distant when failure of the most impor- 

 tant agricultural products will arise from 



the depredation of insects ; indeed, many 

 fruits and vegetables are now becoming 

 scarce from this cause alone; witness 

 the potato and pumpkin, not exceeded 

 by the sweet potato in flavor and nutri- 

 ment, and many other valuable vegeta- 

 bles unnecessary now to be mentioned. 



The next most useful bird, from its 

 srreat destruction of insects, is the bull, 

 but, or, as it is erroneously called, the 

 "whip-poor-will. Their nutriment is gnatH 

 of varion^ species, some predatory and 

 others injurious to vegetation; indeed 

 all in tlic gnat form is a grist that comes 

 to tlunv nuU, oven the tormenting and 

 much dreaded mosquito. From the 

 stomach of one of these birds I took and 

 counted four thousand seven hundred 

 and two gnat?, consisting of nine differ- 

 ent species — all the varieties I have 

 noted — besides, I am certa«i<,the stom- 

 ach contained, partly digested-, «;£ many 

 more, which, from their partinr dissolu- 

 tion, it vas impossible to enjftnei^ate. — 

 Taking in view the rapidity of digestion 

 in birds, what myriads must a few of 

 this species destroy in the course of the 

 summer. 



The sAvallow comes next in the cate- 

 gory. Observe its complete mechanical 

 adoption for swift motion — has the 

 vaunted power of man ever invented a 

 projectile more perfect in shape to sur- 

 mount the resistance given bv the air to 

 all bodies rapidly moving througli it? 

 Observe how this perfect and ber.utiful 

 little animal skims over river, lake, or 

 plain, apparently in sport, but actually 

 destroying multitudes of insects for food, 

 among others the fabled gallinipper and 

 Avell-knoAvn mosquito. 



The water martin is useful by destroy- 

 ing many species of a larger size than 

 the preceding. Again there is the tom- 

 tit and sap-sucker, heretofore considered 

 to be injurious by the holes they make 

 in the apple tree; from the erroneous 

 supposition of injury to the tree by mak 

 ing these incisions, numbers have been 

 rlaughtered. How fatal a mistake? — 

 Notice when the tree is completely bored 

 all over the body, and some of the chief 

 limbs, how thrifty it looks ; how large 

 and sound the apple, and how luscious 

 the flavor of the fruit. Observe the 

 trees which have not been visited by 

 these birds — many look skin bound, 

 fruit small and knotty, taste flat and 

 watery. 



What is the rationale of this? Sim- 

 ply that each perforation is made for the 

 extraction of the larvae of an insect, 

 which, if not removed, would spoil the 

 size and flavor of the fruit, and eventu- 

 ally destroy the trees. What a pity, 

 then, to exterminate so useful an animal. 

 Man often from impulse, without proper 

 consideration, immolates his best friend. 

 Contrary to common belief, I consider 

 the famed locust beneficial to fruit trees. 



notwithstanding the great outcry abottt 

 their destructivencss — a fact very easi- 

 ly substantiated if germane to the present 

 matter. . '..,;•: 



So the more we learn of the intricate 

 minutias of creation, the greater our sur- 

 prise and admiration of the wonderfully 

 wise system of cheek and counter-check 

 established, where we see animals almost 

 imperceptible and apparently the most 

 useless and contemptible, performing 

 functions which, to the superficial, would 

 seem incidental and objectless ; but the 

 deep observer of nature, i?canning everyr 

 thing with a philosophic eye, sees and 

 recognizes in th* action of the most in- 

 significant, (7 necessary link of the chain, 

 without which the beauty and grandeur 

 of the whole would bo marred ; render- 

 ing it a doubtful problem if creation it- 

 self would live without their agency. 



C. R. 



-•*- 



The Past Winter. 



We spesdc of the winter as past, but we 

 n):iy yet find it lingering in the lap of Spring. 

 In a large portion of the winter months, 

 the weather was unusuallv mild, — more 

 so that we have witnessed for years in 

 the same season. 3Jany learned men have 

 endeavored to account for this extraordinary- 

 weather on natural principles; but we have 

 seen no speculations upon the subject pos- 

 sessing a deeper interest than those of Hon. 

 Thomas B. Butler, a judge of the Supreme 

 Court of Connecticut, a notice of which we 

 find in ''7V<<? Homestead," a Valuable agricul- 

 tural pajier, published in Hartford, Connec- 

 ticut. Judge Butler -Shakes the following 

 points : 



"First, There is nothing peculiar or'local 

 in the advance of vegetation of this season. 

 (January.) 



"Second, There is nothing anomalous or 

 extraordinary in the meteorological character 

 of the month. It is comparatively very mild 

 — just as was to b^ and was expected. It 

 would have been an anomaly if it had been 

 otherwise." ^ 



In support of this second proposition it is 

 shown that the forces which produce and 

 control atmospheric variations are subject to 

 changes, and these occur, or rather recur, 

 quite regularly, once in ten years, but most 

 markedly in double decades or once in twen- 

 ty?years. Thus January of the eighth year 

 in every decade of this century and for some 

 time previous has been exceedingly mild 

 compared with the same month of the pre- 

 ceding year, as shown by several parallel 

 series of observations made in different pails 

 of the country. A single exception is noti- 

 ced — the year 1817 was the mild one instead 

 of 1818. 



Here then is a most important fact. But 

 still it is asked, "How are these currents ac- 

 counted for? Judge Butler answers : 



"We have two great primary and trans- 

 cendantly important natural "institutions," 

 in the eastern part of this continent. They 



Ifi^ 



