654 
August 21, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
A Notable Cherry Crop. —The cherry 
in Fig. 324 represents just one-half of the 
early cherry crop gathered this season on 
the Rural Grounds. It was a belated 
Specimen of Governor Wood variety that 
colored up after the robins, catbirds and 
thrushes had stripped the tree of every 
other fruit. The other half of the crop 
consisted of a solitary Olivet cherry that 
also, by its comparative lateness, es¬ 
caped the prying eyes of the birds, as 
they had ceased visiting the tree before 
it matured. To be sure, cherry pros¬ 
pects were not particularly bright this 
year, and we have only a few trees, eight 
to 12 years planted, of early kinds, but 
there was at least a fair set of the most 
, dependable varieties. As the weather 
was favorable as maturity approached, 
there appeared a possible crop of a 
bushel or so all told, but the birds fell 
on them in such numbers that only the 
two individual cherries above mentioned 
reached the edible stage for humans. The 
late Mazzards on old volunteer trees went 
the same way, only a small fraction of the 
fruits being permitted to ripen enough to 
be edible. Early strawberries were seri¬ 
ously molested, but the main crop and 
HALF A CHERRY CROP. FIG. 324. 
late varieties were saved by diversion of 
the fruit-eating birds to the cherries and 
juneberries. Red raspberries, goose¬ 
berries and dewberries came in for their 
preferred attention as soon as the later 
cherries were cleaned up. "I his is as far 
as we have got on the fruit schedule of 
the present season. Blackberries are now 
ripening, but so are midsummer wild 
cherries and elderberries by the road¬ 
sides, so there is a chance we may gather 
some. For several past years black and 
red grapes have been attacked as soon 
as wild fruits and berries were gone, and 
in one instance the robins remained with 
them until frost, doing, however, less 
harm to the white and very light-colored 
kinds. Though less numerous the cat¬ 
birds are the most energetic and persist¬ 
ent offenders with the early fruits, but 
they have the merit of leaving for their 
southern Winter quarters before most 
grapes ripen. 
Is There a Remedy? —All this is stale 
news to readers of The R. N.-Y. The 
“robin question” was well thrashed out 
four years ago, when the New Jersey 
Legislature refused to pass the excellent 
bill advocated by the State Horticultural 
Society, and by farmers and fruit grow¬ 
ers generally, permitting actual growers 
to defend their products—the most primi¬ 
tive of all rights—by destroying the birds 
that attacked them, while enforcing full 
protection of all desirable birds on other 
occasions. This bill was defeated after 
an extraordinary campaign of misrepre¬ 
sentation in which ignorance, crude sen¬ 
timent and resounding bathos took the 
place of accurate information. Profes¬ 
sors, editors, writers and teachers, with- j 
out the slightest practical knowledge of 
economic ornithology took up the cry of 
“save the robin,” and worked up such a 
hue and cry against the cruel fruit grow¬ 
er who wanted to harvest a portion of 
his crop that the legislators could not see 
their way to pass the measure. The re¬ 
sult is perceptibly to discourage the plant¬ 
ing of some of the most desirable of the 
smaller fruits. The law-abiding market 
grower finds no practical way to defend 
his crop at the moment of fruition, and 
is naturally inclined to withdraw from 
the game, while the amateur who wishes 
to enjoy the products of his personal 
foresight and labor sees his fruits vanish 
in immature condition before his eyes. 
Ilis enjoyment of country life is lessened 
and the value of rural property, to that 
extent is decreased. Nets, bags and 
other forms of covering are of proved 
impracticability, except on the most 
trifling scale. Trap crops of less desira¬ 
ble fruits, such as juneberries or mulber¬ 
ries, might have some merit, if they 
were generally planted, but as protection 
to the individual grower amount to noth¬ 
ing. Fruit-eating birds hereabouts come 
in such numbers that they devour the trap 
crop as merely a side dish to the money 
fruit crop. Scarecrows and frightening 
devices of anv kind that have come to 
our notice are more than useless—the 
birds almost appearing to enjoy their 
presence. We saved a few Early Rich¬ 
mond cherries last year, when there was 
a general abundance of fruit, by fastening 
two huge stuffed hawks in a tree. The 
hawks—worth about 50 times as much as j 
the fruit—were ruined as specimens by 
the exposure, and the bluff entirely failed 
to work this year of cherry scarcity, as 
the birds became accustomed to the mon¬ 
sters before the fruit was fit to eat. So 
impudent have the innumerable catbirds 
and robins become that it is not always 
easy to scare them from the trees or 
bushes without a display of violence. 
The Practical Way. — The “robin 
question” will not down. It is a truism 
that no controversy is settled until it is 
decided on the basis of human right and 
justice. The State bird protective law, 
beneficent as its general provisions and 
workings are, urgently needs revision. 
The right of protecting cultivated crops— 
inconsiderately taken away—should be re¬ 
stored to the farmer and fruit grower. 
The tremendous increase of fruit-eating 
birds under the operation of our present 
law, with its heavy penalties and lack of 
common-sense exceptions, means virtual 
confiscation of the growers’ property 
without redress. What is needed is rea¬ 
sonable reduction of certain species by the 
destruction of the individuals that com¬ 
mit the damage. The condition is not 
an exceptional one. Most State laws have 
exemption clauses in their game laws, al¬ 
lowing cultivators of the soil to kill wild 
birds or animals found destroying val¬ 
uable crops. Massachusetts has been 
forced to modify her deer protective law 
in such manner as to permit farmers to 
protect themselves from trespass. Form¬ 
erly human life and limb could be in 
danger as well as crops, with no source 
of legal redress or protection. As we 
understand it, an amendment now au¬ 
thorizes farmers to kill deer when de¬ 
stroying crops or threatening humans, 
which latter is far from uncommon 
where deer have become unnaturally tame 
in consequence of rigid enforcement of 
protective laws. The Jersey fruit grow¬ 
er is not truculent, and may be relied 
on not to injure unnecessarily birds of 
any kind, but he must and will have re¬ 
stored to him the legal right to deal in 
an effective manner with the growing 
hordes of feathered fruit robbers. 
_ w. v. F. 
She: “I hear your little son has a good 
ear for music, Mr. Twombley?” He: “I 
think he must have. A hopeless expres¬ 
sion comes over his face whenever my 
wife sings.”—Answers. 
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The Deyo Air Cooled 
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No Water Required. Hundreds In Use. 
Write for 
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Catalog 5 
Simple 
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MORE 
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Send for catalogue. 
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HAY JUMPING 
will soon be a thing of the past. 
Hay Baling made rapid and easy by 
SPENCER’S HERCULES LARGE BALE PRESS. 
Guaranteed capacity four tons an hour or no sale. 
No jumping. Every farmer who furnishes Tabling 
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GASOLINE 
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HALF PRICE 
We have a 
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C. H. A. DISINCER A 
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Farmers Take Notice. 
The time will soon be here when you 
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They are reliable and require no 
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BOSTON OFFICE, 
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K. A. SHKPHKUD, Kastern Sales Mg’r. 
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UREKA 
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Keeps a new harness looking new 
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Better and more economical than 
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Lasting,reliable,satisfactory. High¬ 
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MADK BY 
STANDARD OIL COMPANY 
Incorporated 
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Save Your Trees ^ 
Kill San .lose Scale ami other destructive , 
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Origina^^bdcer^JM^^L^IVon^^^PhHadeljjhia^ 
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is a good pump. As 
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we were using common 
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ROOFING RE-MADE 
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per 8<juuru per ; 
Roof-Fix i 
Steel Wheels 
WITH GROOVED TIRES 
4 in. widej The Groove protecta 
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