THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



I need I will send vou a communication or two gist of worms, grubs and insects; one hundred 

 of a somewhat graver cast in the course of the crows then, in one season, destroy 4,780 pounds 

 summer. In the meantime, allow me to thank of worms, grubs, insects and larvae; from this 

 you for* the kind invitation contained in the one fact, some slight idea may be formed of the 

 Planter to gossip agriculture with you on the j usefulness of this much persecuted bird, the far 

 banks of your beauiiful river, and believe me to 



be, with great respect, 



Truly yours, 



Simon Brown. 



We hope Mr. Brown will not forget his pro- 

 mise to let us hear farther from him, and that 

 our touchiness will not prevent him from animad- 

 verting freely upon what he sees of an objec- 

 tionable character amongst us. We are a little 

 restive under the accents of reproof, but when 

 administered gently by the hand of a friend, it 

 is a wholesome medicine, and one we should 

 try to swallow without a wry face. 



BIRDS ON FARMS AND ORCHARDS. 



mer s best friend : but a thousand more well-at- 

 tested facts might be stated to show the value 

 of birds to the farmer, if more were needed. — 

 Let then, every farmer, and every one who is 

 interested in the labor of the farmer— and who 

 is not 1 do what, he can to protect them, and the 

 face of the country will no longer present the 

 appearance of a scorched and blasted wilder- 

 ness, but will preserve its beamy to the eye, and 

 the trees will produce their fruit in season. 



New England Farmer. 



REAPING MACHINES. 

 During our late harvest we have had in our 

 vicinity two rival machines for reaping wheat. 

 Messrs. M'Cormick, of Rockbridge, and Hus- 

 sey, of Baltimore, were the competitors for pub- 

 lic favor. On one or two occasions they met 



An extensive experiment has been made on 

 the Continent, the result of which has been, the by agreement in the same field and a considera 



opinion that farmers do wrong in destroying 

 crows, jays, &c, and the small birds on their 1 

 farms, especially where there are orchards. — | 

 That birds occasionally do mischief amongst 

 ripe grain, there can be no doubt ; but the harm 

 they do in autumn, is amply compensated by 

 the good they do in spring, by the havoc they 

 make amongst the insect tribes. The quantity 

 of grubs and btigs destroyed by crows, and of 

 caterpillars and their grubs by various small 

 birds, must be annually immense. Other tribes 

 of birds which feed on the wing, destroy mil- 

 lions of winged insects, which would otherwise 

 infest the air and become insupportably trouble- 

 some ; even those usually supposed to be mis- 

 chievous in gardens, have actually been proved 

 to be innocent, for on examination they have 

 been found to destroy those buds only, which 

 contained some destructive insect. On some 

 very large farms, the proprietors determined a 

 few years ago, to offer a reward for the heads 

 of crows, but the issue proved destructive to 

 their farms, for nearly the whole of their crops 

 failed for three succeeding years, and they have 

 since found it necessary to import birds to re- 

 stock their farms ! And of late years, the ex- 

 tensive destruction of the foliage and young 

 fruit trees in orchards, by a species of caterpillar, 

 has excited the attention of the naturalist; and 

 it has been found to have arisen from the habit 

 of destroying those small birds about orchards, 

 which, if they had been left unmolested, would 

 have destroyed or kept down these destructive 

 insects. 



Every crow requires at least one pound of 

 food a week, and nine-tenths of their food con- 



ble crowd assembled to witness the contest. A 

 field belonging to Mr. Ambrose Hutcheson, a 

 few miles above the city, was the arena of the 

 first trial. Here, the palm was awarded to 

 M'Cormick, as will be seen by the following 



REPORT. 



The undersigned were called upon, at the 

 farm of Mr. A. Hutcheson, to witness the per- 

 formance of the wheat reaping machines, in- 

 vented by Cyrus H. M'Cormick and Obed Hus- 

 sey, and to decide upon the merits of the same. 

 We are unanimously of opinion, that both of 

 them are valuable inventions, and richly merit 

 the encouragement of the farming community. 

 They both performed most admirably. The 

 Committee feel great reluctance in deciding be- 

 tween them. 

 M'Cormick's. 



But, upon the 



whole, prefer 



C. W Gooch. 

 W. H. Roane. 

 James Pae. 

 Curtis Carter. 

 Francis Staples. 



June 30, 1843. 



Mr. Hussey, however, contended that he had 

 not had a fair chance, inasmuch, as the field 

 had been selected by his adversary, and was 

 not calculated to test those qualities in the ma- 

 chines in which his excelled ; moreover, he 

 said, that circumstances compelled him to 

 come to the trial with a low priced, inferior ma- 

 chine, which was not at all the one generally 



