1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
483 
and belonged to twenty-five species. One of 
the most abundant was the Black-throated 
Bunting ( Spiza Americana), which was rep¬ 
resented by eleven specimens—the largest 
number of any one species obtained. This 
bird, very common in prairie regions, belongs 
to the family of Finches ( Fringillidce ), which 
also includes the Sparrows, the Grosbeak, 
and many other of our best known birds. 
The family is commonly reported to feed 
chiefly upon seeds and grains, taking insects 
only incidentally. These eleven Buntings do 
not bear out this statement, however, as 
only one of them had eaten vegetation of any 
sort, and this only a few seeds of the com¬ 
mon “Pigeon grass” ( Setaria ), abundant 
everywhere in cultivated ground; while 93 
per cent of their food consisted of insects, 
and the remainder of snails. Just half their 
food proved to be Canker Worms, 5 per cent 
other “ measuring worms,” 17 per cent cut¬ 
worms of undetermined species, and 2 per 
cent snout beetles—these noxious insects thus 
composed about three-fourths of their food. 
Besides these I found only 3 per cent of car¬ 
nivorous beetles, a few scavenger beetles (11 
per cent), some ants, and a single wild bee, 
with a slight sprinkling of other insects. 
From 50 to 60 Canker Worms made an aver¬ 
age full meal for this species of bird. 
Next in order of numbers comes the Cedar 
Bird ( Ampelis cedrorum), sometimes called 
the “Cherry Bird,” and greatly persecuted 
for its mischief in the cherry orchard. This 
is one of the loveliest of birds; it flies in 
flocks and wanders far and wide, according 
to the distribution of its favorite food. A 
flock of about thirty had apparently taken 
up their residence in the orchard. The food 
record of the seven which were killed is very 
brief—Canker Worms 100 per cent expresses 
it all. The number of Canker Worms in each 
stomach, determined by actual count, ranged 
from seventy to one hundred and one ; and 
was usually nearly a hundred. Assuming 
that these constituted a whole day’s food, 
the thirty birds were destroying 3,000 worms 
a day, or 90,000 for the month during which 
the caterpillar is exposed. 
The Thrash family rank next in import¬ 
ance. Three Robins, three Catbirds, and two 
Brown Thrushes, eight in all, were taken. 
Twenty per cent of their food was Canker 
Worms—although the Catbirds shot had 
eaten none—and 20 per cent cutworms and 
other caterpillars. Thirteen per cent was 
wire worms and spring beetles (Elatet'idce 
and their larvae), 11 per cent was leaf chafers 
(chiefly Anomala binotata), which is injuri¬ 
ous to the grape); 8 per cent was ants, and 
12 per cent was predaceous beetles (Harpal- 
idce). ‘ ‘Thousand-legs” and dung beetles made 
up most of the remainder. Having hereto¬ 
fore found the Thrushes and the Bluebird 
distinguished, under ordinary circumstances, 
for an unusual destruction of predaceous 
beetles, I looked with especial interest to the 
tables of the food these birds had taken under 
the very exceptional conditions existing in 
this orchard, to see whether they still kept 
up this habit. Fifty-nine birds of these spe¬ 
cies shot in May in previous years had been 
found to eat an average of 8 per cent of these 
useful insects; while those shot in this or¬ 
chard had averaged 15 per cent of the same. 
This striking fact at once confirms the pre¬ 
vious account of the habit of these species, 
showing that an unusual abundance of other 
attractive food does not break it up, and also 
shows the greater abundance of these beetles 
in this situation, indicating that they too, as 
well as the birds, were attracted to this place 
by the presence of the worms. The Thrushes 
do not seem to be as gross feeders as the 
Cedar Bird or the Black-throated Bunting, as 
twenty-five Canker Worms made them about 
an average full meal. Sixty per cent of the 
food of the single Bluebird shot consisted of 
Canker Worms, 35 per cent of predaceous 
beetles ( Enisodactylus Baltimorensis), 4 per 
cent of spiders, and 1 per cent of dung beetles. 
To follow the food of the remaining species 
at similar length, would occupy too much 
space, and I will mention only the most 
important and interesting facts. Canker 
Worms composed nearly 80 per cent of the 
food of two Indigo Birds, and about the same 
ratio of the food of two Orchard Orioles. In 
a single Black-billed Cuckoo, they- made 
three-fourths of the food ; in a Chickadee, 
likewise three-fourths; in three Summer 
Warblers (Dendrceca cestiva), 67 per cent; in 
two King Birds, or “Bee Martens” (Tyran- 
nus Carolinensis), 43 per cent; in two Warb¬ 
ling Yireos, 35 per cent; in a Red-headed 
Woodpecker, 32 per cent; and in two Rose¬ 
breasted Grosbeaks, and a Red-winged Black¬ 
bird, respectively, 5 per cent and 2 per cent. 
Another Fruit Ladder, 
Mr. M. S. Coe, Oswego Co., N. Y., sends 
a sketch of a fruit ladder he has used several 
years, and thinks it superior to any other. 
A pole (basswood or hemlock) is split up 
five or six feet from the bottom, and spread 
as shown in the accompanying engraving. 
The “rounds” are l‘/ a inch wide, and ’/ a 
inch thick, and curve upward, thereby hold¬ 
ing the foot securely against the pole. In 
picking, set the ladder pretty straight, and 
jump on the first round enough to set 
the sharpened points into the ground. Its 
advantages are: that it is light to handle, 
stands securely, and can be set in a small 
crotch where a two-sided ladder could not go. 
'The season that is now clos¬ 
ing, has shown many weak spots in the grain 
fields, and the remedy for them is largely 
drainage. Agricultural plants can not hope 
to do their best, or even repay the cost of 
sowing, on places where their roots must be 
either in a saturated soil, or one baked to the 
hardness of a brick. Such land must be 
drained to be profitable. It may be that there 
will be time before the season closes, to make 
the needful drains, and begin next year with 
no weak (because wet) spots in the field. 
Bar for Sagging Gate. 
Mr. J. K. Miller, Lancaster Co., Pa., sends 
a sketch of a farm gate, with an attachment 
to over-come the sagging: “The gate is 
made of ordinary inch boards, abvut six 
inches wide. The end of the gate, a, is made 
A LIFT-BAR FOR A GATE. 
of two boards, and the end, b, is made of 4 
by 6-inch material. One board of the end, a, 
is notched. The diagonal piece, c, is fastened 
at d, by means of a bolt through it and the 
lower board. The end, a, of the diagonal 
piece, is shaped to fit the notches. By means 
of this arrangement, the gate can be raised 
and lowered any desired distance. It can 
also be used as a passage for pigs between 
fields, by simply raising the gate sufficiently 
to let them go through. A board is also 
tacked to the notched board, to prevent the 
diagonal piece from slipping out of its place. 
Thick and Thin Seeding of Wheat. 
BY J. W. MCBRYDE, PROF. OF AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY 
OF TENNESSEE. 
A generation or so ago, four bushels, or 16 
pecks of 6eed wheat, were considered a mod¬ 
erate seeding for an acre of land; now,not a few 
are contending that one peck will suffice. It is 
clear that either the old-time farmer was sin¬ 
gularly wanting in observation, and recklessly 
lavish of seed, or that the agriculturist of to¬ 
day is advocating a “ penny wise and pound 
foolish ” practice, not based on the facts of 
ordinary experience. Are we not going too 
fast, or were our forefathers so hopelessly 
astray—is there no golden mean ? 
Boussingault well remarks, in writing of 
wheat culture, “ it is, however, a question of 
the very highest importance, to ascertain the 
proper quantity of seed.” It cannot be re¬ 
plied, “ neither in this nor in any other agri¬ 
cultural process is there, or can there be, any 
cast-iron rule—different varieties, and soils, 
and times of sowing, and methods, require 
varying amounts of seed. ” Everybody knows 
and admits all this, but does not the excep¬ 
tion prove the rule ? The question is simply 
this—for approved varieties, average soils and 
seasons, usual times of seeding, and ordinary 
methods and culture, what is the right 
amount of seed, or the nearest approxima¬ 
tion thereto, in any given section of country. 
Surely nature will vouchsafe some reply to 
experiments asking such a question as this. 
I do not claim that mine, herein detailed, 
embody her reply—but only that it merits 
close attention, and justifies the further ques¬ 
tioning of the great mother of us all. 
In the fall of 1879,12 plats, of ‘/i 6 acre each, 
were laid off in a field of fair average fertili¬ 
ty, which had been in clover for the two 
