AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. ) 2a© A lUM ? SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL. XVIII—No, 5.] 
NEW-YORK, MAY, 1859. 
[NEW SERIES—No. 148. 
ICg^Of fice at 1 SO Water-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
gpCoiitcnts, Terms, <fcc., on page 1 GO. 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1859, 
hy Oranob Judd, in the Clerk’s Office of the District 
Court of the United States for the Southern District of 
New-York. 
jgp* N. fij.—Every Journal is invited freely to copy 
any and all desirable articles, and no use or advantage 
will be taken of the Copy-Right, wherever each article 
or illustration is duly accredited to the American Agri¬ 
culturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
May 
“ Again the balmy zephyr blows 
Fresh verdure decks the grove, 
Each bird with vernal rapture glows, 
And tunes his notes to love. 
Ye gentle warblers hither fly, 
And shun the noontide heat; 
My shrubs a cooling shade supply, 
My groves a safe retreat.” Graves. 
The wind blows from the sweet south, and the 
time of the singing of birds has come. The blue 
bird announced the coming Spring some weeks 
ago, and has already made provision for his Sum¬ 
mer house. You hear his song every pleasant 
morning in the same apple tree, and see him 
peering hopefully into the hole in the decaying 
trunk. His love is there, busy with her maternal 
cares. The robin red breast sings his song at the 
early dawn, inviting you forth to look upon the 
wondrous beauty of the purpling heavens, and to 
snuff the fragrance of the dewy morning. He is 
repairing the old nest at the corner of the fence, 
and expects a good time coming. The oriole is 
spinning his flaxen home from the fragile limb of 
the lofty elm, and there the expanding leaves will 
soon shield him and his rising family from obser¬ 
vation. The swallows have come and taken pos¬ 
session of the eaves of the barn, and the pheebe 
is building her nest under the shed. The crow¬ 
bill follows the plow boy a field, picking grubs 
from his furrow, and the red wings are making 
the thickets alive with their tumultuous joys. Al¬ 
ready the brown thrasher is perched upon the 
fence by the wood side, inviting the farmer to 
“ plant it, plant it,” and assuring him with what 
exstatic delight she will “ pull it up, pull it up.” 
The chee-wit and cat-bird are dodging about the 
underbrush, and the chick-a-dee-dee, and the 
wood-peckers are rattling their bills against the 
dry wormy limbs, in search of their breakfast. 
Bang! Bang ! There goes poor red breast a 
fluttering heap of agony rolling upon the grass, 
the prey of an idle vagabond, who has nothing 
else to do but to kill these friends and compan¬ 
ions of the husbandman, and thus to spoil more 
happiness than he will ever cause, if he lives to 
the age of Methusaleh. Look at the quivering 
breasls and the rumpled feathers and see the lids 
closing-over that glazing eye, shutting out the 
sight of the beautiful world forever ! No wonder 
the poor children cry, and run to their mother at 
the loss of their favorite songster ! They will hear 
his evening song no more by the garden wall. 
It is a fitting time, on this bright May morning 
to speak a good word for birds, and if we were a 
poet, like Col Morris, we would write a song on 
“ Sportsman spare that bird,” and have it set to 
music, and scattered broad cast over the land, so 
that in all the homes where music is cultivated, 
the sentiment of affection for birds should be in¬ 
culcated, and children should grow up regarding 
them as sacred among God’s sweetest gifts to 
man. Those who court the companionship of 
man are beautiful; they enliven and cheer his 
labors by their songs, and protect his crops against 
their worst enemies. They are the barrier, 
which the benevolent Cieator has set against the 
inordinate multiplication of the insect tribes, and 
they can not be hunted, and driven away from 
our cultivated fields, without destroying the har¬ 
mony of God’s providential arrangements. No 
principle in the economy of cultivating the earth 
is better established than this. Birds are a pro¬ 
tection to our grain fields, our gardens, and or¬ 
chards ; saving by their labors a hundred fold 
more than they destroy. In the newly settled 
States, where the balance of Nature has not been 
destroyed, where the forest affords protection to 
the birds, and idle vagabonds with dog and gun 
are few, they have the finest fruits. The insects 
multiply as the birds decrease, and they spread 
blight over our grain fields, and orchards. 
We, who have our hands upon the plow, can 
not all write songs or educate the young to right 
views of the value of birds, but vve can all do 
something to remedy this evil. We can at least 
educate ourselves and families, to respect the 
rights of birds, and our own interests. Observe 
the blackbirds, the robins, and other birds as they 
follow our footsteps in the furrow. What a mul¬ 
titude of grubs and worms and eggs of insects, 
they devour ! Watch any pair as they feed their 
young in the nest. Almost their only food is in¬ 
sects, moths, millers, caterpillars. Every tiny 
nest about the garden is the sepulcher of myriads 
of these enemies of our fruits and vegetables. 
If we can convince ourselves, that the birds are 
the best friends of our crops, we shall cease to 
kill them, or suffer them to be killed. The bird 
hunter will he regarded as the enemy of the hus¬ 
bandman, and will stand in peril of a warm jack¬ 
et, when he prowls around our premises, dispens¬ 
ing lead and salt petre. The birds soon learn to 
prize their friends, and will come and build their 
nests where they are not disturbed. Let us invite 
them to our farms and gardens, and assure them 
of our protection. 
“ No schoolboy rude, to mischief prone, 
E’er shows his rudely face ; 
Or twangs his bow, or hurls a stone, 
In this sequestered place. 
Hither the vocal thrush repairs, 
Secure the linnet sings. 
The goldfinch dreads no flimsy snares, 
To clog her painted wings.” 
The fruit and ornamental trees, that we need 
for the shelter of our dwellings and to give us 
fruit, will afford a delightful refuge for the birds. 
“ The fir trees are their home,” and all other 
trees that make a thick shade. Plant trees then 
in front of your house, and along the road side as 
far as your farm extends. Enlarge your fruit 
yard, if you have only enough trees for the sup¬ 
ply of your own family, you want some to give 
your neighbors, and a full supply for the birds. 
Do not be stingy in this provision. The laborei 
is worthy of his hire. Remember that every fam¬ 
ily of birds you can induce to locate upon your 
trees, rids you of enemies, and increases your 
wealth. Land is still cheap upon the farm, and 
trees are cheap. Plant more trees, and with youi 
other crops, raise your own music. Encourage 
the boys to build bird boxes, and put them upon 
the buildings and fences. This will amuse them 
quite as much as robbing birds’ nests, and will 
foster within them much better sentiments 
We once visited a large rural village in New- 
England, where they had a fashion of rearing a 
large bird house on the top of a long pole in the 
garden. This pole was a conspicuous object, on 
almost every street. We need not say that they 
had a vigorous horticultural society there, and 
that the place was famous for its apples, pears, 
and plums; its cherries, strawberries, currants, 
and other small fruits. The birds took care of their 
insects, and they will take care of yours if you 
will give them a chance. 
In one of the States we have an excellent law, 
laying a heavy fine upon the sportsman, that kills 
a bird off of his own premises, so that every pro¬ 
prietor is enabled to protect his own grounds 
against bird destroyers. Such legislation is de¬ 
manded in all the older States and it only requires 
a little exertion on the part of our intelligent 
farmers to secure it. 
