March, I'.d l 



iitji (jIarden ajsd field. 



409 



p.irl on iusccls. At the last six 

 leather sales iu Loiiilou there have 

 been sohl the skius ol ^712,000 kuij;- 

 lishers. Supposing; that each ol 

 these ate 150 noxious iuseets daily 

 — a very couser\ati\€ estimate — we 

 have then man)- billions of iuseet 

 pests saved in a single year that 

 t)ii};ht to haN'e boon Ucstroyed by 

 the aj^eney of the birds that have 

 been themselves destroyed, and 

 their services for ever lost to man. 

 kind, for no worthier purpose tiuui 

 millinery. And this estimate, do 

 not forget, docs not take into ac- 

 count the unrestricted increase of 

 these pests. Kvery one of these 

 kingfishers was worth its weight 

 in gold to the himian race. Its 

 skin sold for o/id. Take another 

 case — that of the Indian roller. 

 Immense value is attached to the 

 food habits of this bird. Besides 

 eating locusts and grasshoppers, 

 w"hich are extremely harmful to 

 crops all over India, it feeds greed- 

 dy on the dreaded white ant. Yet 

 thousands of these birds are sold 

 annually at the Loudon feather 

 sales. And the price ! I/ast Oc- 

 tober, just to give you an idea, 

 one auctioneer sold 1,600 skins of 

 this bird for id. each; and 2,575 

 for %d. each. 



The number of pestiferous rodents 

 eaten by hawks and owls is al- 

 most as surprising as the number 

 of caterpillars eaten by insectivor- 

 ous birds. In 1885, before the 

 United States had learned her les- 

 son in the economijc value of birds, 

 the Legislature of Pennsylvania 

 passed an Act which provided a 

 bounty on every hawk and owl 

 shot. The bounty was claimed 

 on 180,000 hawks and owls. An 

 irruption of rodents followed, 

 which did 3,850,000 dollars' worth 

 of damage to the agricultural in- 

 terests of the State. The Legis- 

 lature repealed the Act. 



Were it not for the locust birds, 

 there are many localities in Unit- 

 ed South Africa in which agricul- 

 ture would perish. If it were not 

 for the ibises, spoonbills, and cranes 

 in Australia, which check the peri- 

 odical irruption of grasshoppers, 

 there are many districts in the 

 Commonwealth in which farming 

 operations would be impossible. 



The great services which birds 

 render the Empire as weed-des- 

 troyers (10,000 seeds of harmful 

 weeds have been found in the 

 stomach of a single bird), as scav- 

 engers of bays and harbours (a 

 great human mortality has been 

 known to take place owing to the 

 destruction for their plumage of 

 sea birds, which kept the beaches 

 free from decaying animal matter) 



as tree-planters, not to mention a 

 do/.en other benelits, cannot be di- 

 hited upon now. it is of more im- 

 portance that you should know 

 what the destruction ol bird Ivle 

 means to the I'impire in increased 

 cost of living. 1 am obliged to go 

 to the United States lor data for 

 my arguments. 



It was not until many of the 

 most valuable species ol l)irds had 

 been slaughtered to the point of 

 extermination that the people of 

 the United States rcaliz,ed tiieir im- 

 mense value. They showed their 

 wisdom by proliting by the lesson 

 of events. The slaughter has been 

 practically stopped. Years, how- 

 ever, must elapse Ijefore the bal- 

 ance of Nature can be restored. As 

 a warning, to us, 1 propose giving 

 some facts and ligivres to show 

 what the destruction of bird life 

 in the past is costing the United 

 States to-day. 



Scientific examination, conducted 

 throughout the four seasons, has 

 been made by the experts at Wash- 

 ington of an immense number of 

 the stomachs of all classes of birds, 

 collected from every State and 

 territor}^ of the Union, and from 

 Canada. From the evidence ob- 

 tained by these elaborate investi- 

 gations, the Bureau of Biological 

 Survey has proved that the annual 

 loss to the United States, due to 

 the ravages of insect and rodent 

 pests, is 1,000,000,000 dollars. 



The survey has shown that thir- 

 ty-eight species of birds eat the 

 cotton-boll weevil, and that there 

 was not one of these species that 

 was not slaughtered ruthlessly in 

 days gone by. Does anyone be- 

 lieve that the consequent annual 

 loss of 60,000,000 dollars to the 

 cotton crop does not mean an 

 increase in the price of icotton ? 

 In Indiana and Ohio, in one year 

 2, --'-,000 acres of wheat were des- 

 troyed by an irruption of insects, 

 due to the almost total oblitera- 

 tion of their natural enemy — the 

 bird. Does anyone believe that 

 this occurrence did not raise the 

 priice of wheat ? There are no 

 countries in the world where in- 

 sects impose a heavier tax on farm 

 products than in many of our over-i 

 seas dominions. Yet from the 

 trackless forests of Papua round 

 the world both ways, to the sugar 

 plantations of the West Indies, the 

 feather trade is attackinor the ex. 

 istance of an immense variety of 

 birds. ' No species whose plumaee 

 is marketable is spared. — United 

 Etmpire. 







Rest and quietness are essential 

 for rapid fattening. 



Tree-Flanting in bouthern 

 California. 



By \V. Aicr\yii Canie. 

 Soutliein California is a very 

 large i)laee, with perhaps as wide- 

 ly Uiver.se conditions as may be 

 lound everywhere. But to Ameri- 

 cans in general. Southern Califor- 

 nia means those once barren val- 

 leys now known for their wealtn 

 and beauty throughout tUc worlu. 

 To the -Australian, scenting home 

 amidst the ever present gums, 

 come thoughts of the future. Sure- 

 ly we in Australia, with natural 

 advantages so simdar to Califor- 

 nia, can do as much for our land 

 as the Aiivericans have done for 

 theirs ? Redl'ands, Riverside, and 

 many another city have solved the 

 old argument of cit}- v. country 

 by being so much of both that 

 one cannot sa}^ where one ends and 

 the other begins. Small areas, in- 

 tense cultivation, and civic pride 

 have made this beautiful country. 

 It is " up to " Australians to do 

 likewise. Much of the charm of 

 the cities (all are not beautiful) 

 lies in their trees. Almost to a 

 tree they' have been planted by 

 hand, for except on the mountain 

 ridges. Southern California is prac- 

 tically treeless. Many kinds of 

 trees are found in parks and gar- 

 dens, but the following predomdn- 

 ate, and will probably prove the 

 most useful in South-eastern Aus- 

 tralia. One of the most common 

 is the Pepper tree (Schinus molle), 

 whose hardiness and rapidity of 

 growth is proverbial, and needs no 

 emphasising. Eycalyptus of many 

 species are used, but the Blue-sfuni 

 (E. globulus) predominates. It is 

 planted in avenues, as break winds 

 and in groves for timber and fire- 

 wood. In avenues eucalypts are 

 usually topped about 6 feet from 

 the ground, and send up three to 

 six stems above that point. For 

 firewood they are cut down, and 

 suckers allowed to shoot from the 

 butt, three or four to each tree. 

 The trees are cut ovet in rotation 

 everv four to seven years. 



Silky oak (Grevillea Robusta) is 

 largely used in streets. The Kur- 

 rajong, often miscalled Bottle tree, 

 and the Camphor Laurel, give a 

 pretty effect with their lighter 

 greens, and are often alternated., 

 The former does not appear to 

 produce seed in quantity, though 

 Australian trees are usually verv 

 prolific in America. Pines are not 

 largely used, though not uncom- 

 mon, and include the Bunya Bunva 

 and the Moreton Bay pines, as 

 well as Pinns radicata, the com- 

 mon pine about Sydney suburban 



