118 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
riatlfaral gtprtmeni 
CULTIVATE THE SOCIETY OF BIRDS. 
The song of the robin under our window, 
that hails the approach of the sun at earliest 
dawn, and watches his receding rays at 
faintest twilight, reminds us of a promise 
long since made, to speak a good word for 
birds. They are man’s natural companions, 
the guardians of his fruits, the graceful den¬ 
izens of his trees, the minstrel choir whose 
tuneful notes wake him from slumber and 
whose vesper songs soothe him to repose. 
What can be sweeter than that first trill of 
the red-breast at dawn 1 The first note is 
scarce audible, as if the poor bird were afraid 
of the lingering shadows, and were asking 
leave of his slumbering lord to sing. The 
dawn increases, and with it the boldness of 
his song. The sun himself at length comes 
forth like a bridegroom, and the robin pours 
forth his whole soul in tumultuous joy. We 
pity the poor souls that live in a wilderness 
of brick and mortar, and have no tree orches¬ 
tra in the shadow of their dwellings on these 
bright May mornings. 
But those who live in the country, often 
have no music in their souls, and have no 
eye to see what labor-saving machines the 
birds are—saying nothing of their capacities 
as artists. So the sportsman is suffered to 
prowl about the orchard and fruit-yard, and 
the red-breast, oriole, bluebird, sparrow and 
wren become food for powder. When the 
robin claims his tribute of currants and cher- 
riss for the insects he has devoured, he is 
mercilessly shot, as if he were a vagabond 
and a thief. Whether such a merciless, un¬ 
musical soul be “ fit for treason, stratagems 
and spoils ” or not, it is pretty certain that 
his trees will fall into that category, and will 
soon be despoiled of fruit and foliage. 
A single bird’s nest in your orchard is 
worth dollars. What a multitude of grubs 
and worms a single pair of robins and their 
young will destroy in a season ! Watch 
their busy flight by day, and every visit to 
their birdlings bringing destruction to a num¬ 
ber of grubs. It has been estimated by a 
cautious observer of the habits of birds, that 
a single pair of jays with their young will 
devour two hundred insects in a day. This, 
in a season of three months, amounts to 
twenty thousand. It has been estimated 
that a single purple martin will destroy near¬ 
ly five thousand moths and butterflies in a 
week. The moth, that does so much mis¬ 
chief in our wardrobes, is a small insect that 
might escape the sight of most other birds. 
A little hive of swallows close by one’s dwel¬ 
ling-house, would probably be an effectual 
exterminator of these insects, which would 
be seized and devoured before they entered 
our windows. If we take into account the 
innumerable caterpillars, and grubs that 
would spring from the eggs of all these dif¬ 
ferent insects, we can but regard the martin 
as one of the most serviceable of all crea¬ 
tures. The lively twittering of these birds 
is one of the most agreeable accompani¬ 
ments of the rural melodies of morn, and is 
associated with many delightful incidents in 
English poetry. Whoever has visited Bur¬ 
lington, Vt., has noticed in their fruit gar¬ 
dens a long, substantia] pole, mounted with 
a martin-box. Their labors are highly ap¬ 
preciated by the fruit-growers there, and 
their example is worthy of imitation. 
It is but little trouble to any one of com¬ 
mon ingenuity to build a few bird-houses, 
and put them in various parts of the prem¬ 
ises. Small boxes may be put in the cherry 
trees and upon the fence near the currants 
and raspberries, for the wrens. They will 
almost certainly be occupied, and this little 
bird lives upon the insects that crawl upon 
the fences, and lurk in the bark of trees, and 
in the crevices of buildings. On account of 
its fondness for spiders the wren has in 
some places received the appellation of 
spider-bird. The immense number of in¬ 
sects which he removes from our gardens 
and dwellings ought to endear him to every 
cultivator, even if he had nothing else to re¬ 
commend him. He is the appropriate guar¬ 
dian of our small fruits, and no robin or 
fruit-eating bird will venture near the home 
of this pugnacious little bird. It is amusing 
to see the reckless desperation with which 
they will pitch into a bird many times their 
size, driving all before them. 
Cultivate, then, the society of birds. The 
robin needs no box, but if you let him alone 
he will put up his dwelling in the apple tree, 
or in a corner of the fence, and be much 
obliged to you for the privilege of killing 
caterpillars for you all summer long. The 
boy that comes nigh with gun, warn off from 
your premises ; and if he does not heed the 
warning, put the law in force ; and if there 
be no law, call in the aid of Judge Lynch. 
The birds must be saved if you would save 
your fruit. Your tenderness and care for 
the birds will not be without its moral im¬ 
pressions upon the hearts of your children. 
It will teach them many a humane lesson as 
they grow up, and save them from habits of 
cruelty, which often begin in destroying the 
eggs and young of birds. Smooth-barked 
trees, unscathed with the wounds of insects, 
and smooth-skinned fruits, will keep compa¬ 
ny with children of fair characters, unspot¬ 
ted with vice. 
LIME FOR THE CURCULIO. 
The plum trees will soon be in blossom, 
and this is the time to begin the work of 
dusting slaked lime upon the trees to save 
them from the attacks of the curculio and 
other insects. A simple dredging box, with 
a handle at the side for the insertion of a 
pole, may be easily made by a tin-worker, 
and the work of dredging the trees is easily 
accomplished. It can be done with the 
hand, but not so readily or so perfectly. It 
should be done in the morning while the 
dew is on, and should be followed up at in¬ 
tervals until the fruit is out of the way of 
the curculio. The lime should be applied 
after every rain, and, if the interval between 
the rains is long, oftener. We have more 
faith in the lime than in any other remedy, 
except the jarring of the trees and catching 
the insects on sheets. The remedy of Mr. 
Mathews on this subject is not yet public, 
and until he speaks, it will be safe to apply 
lime. _ 
MOTH AND BEETLE HUNTING. 
With the first swelling of the buds upon 
your fruit trees, these enemies of your gar¬ 
den pets make their appearance, to follow up 
their work of destruction, until the frosts of 
Autumn cut off the leaves and end their la¬ 
bors. The practised fruit grower is already 
upon their track. Here among the dwarf 
pears you can reach them with thumb and 
finger, and crush a world of insect life in a 
single moth. There is now in the last half 
of April, and early May, a beetle of blackish 
color, with a square upon his back at the 
insertion of his wings, made up of four little 
squares, two of jet, and two of dull yellow, 
that calls for your attention. You will find 
her at the end of the blossom buds, doubtless 
laying her vampire brood among the young 
fruit. She is about five-eights of an inch 
long, and will fall to the ground or fly off 
unless you approach her cautiously. Take 
a turn among all your young trees every 
morning, and see that they are cleared of 
these depredators. Occasionally, you will 
find a cluster of eggs glued to a limb that 
you overlooked in the fall. See that they 
are removed and burned. Do not think that 
the young dwarf pears set out last fall will 
take care of themselves. The moths and 
beetles have a lein upon them, and if you do 
not improve the property you invested in 
them, the natural proprietors will resume 
their inheritance, and save you the trouble. 
Follow up your attacks upon these insects 
with vigor, remembering that every moth 
mother slain is a colony of insects extermin¬ 
ated. 
Soon the large tribe of the Melolontliians 
will make their appearance and they may be 
caught in multitudes. The May-beetles 
can be exterminated by shaking them from 
the trees they infest upon a cloth, either at 
evening or early in the morning, while the 
dew is on, when they do not fly much. 
Empty your cloth into the fire. 
Another method of destroying these in¬ 
sects in the winged state is by drowning. 
This is best adapted to those whose habits 
arehiocturnal. We place a half hogshead, 
or other large open vessel, in the fruit gar¬ 
den, half full of water. Place a narrow 
strip of board across the top, and at night 
put a lighted lanthorn upon it. The insects 
will be attracted by the light, and in attempt¬ 
ing to alight, “ blind as a beetle ” they will 
meet a watery grave. 
Another good trap for them is glass bot¬ 
tles partly filled with sweetened vinegar and 
water, and hungup 5 in the fruit trees. Mul¬ 
titudes will be tempted to their final undoing 
by these bottled sweets. These insects are 
legitimate game, and fruit growers will find 
much more satisfaction in killing them than 
in shooting the birds, who are their fellow 
helpers in moth hunting. 
To Destroy Grasshoppers. —Those who 
wish for a mode to prevent grasshoppers 
destroying the foliage of young fruit trees, 
vines, &c., may find an easy, safe and sure, 
and at the same time profitable one, by just 
