Vol. LXXIV. No. 4301. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 10, 1015. 
WEEKLY $1.00 TER YEAR. 
ENCOURAGE THE GOOD BIRDS. 
They Are the Farmer’s Friends ! 
HE LAW OF BALANCE.—Many fruit grow¬ 
ers and farmers do not know the real value 
of birds as insect destroyers, weed-seed eaters 
and fairies of song, even though they are so closely 
associated with them every day of the year. Some 
even have the erroneous idea that the birds are their 
enemies, because they see them eating cherries or 
other fruit. Now I feel safe in saying that for 
every cherry or other fruit that birds may eat 
doublefold is repaid in insects destroyed. Birds are 
natural enemies of insects. In fact insects are pre- 
duction. Many caterpillars consume twice their 
weight in leaves per day, which corresponds to a 
horse eating daily a ton of hay. The development of 
young birds is so rapid, and the demand upon the 
vitality of older ones so great that an enormous 
amount of food is necessary to sustain the vital 
processes. Digestion is very rapid in birds and they 
feed for the most part during the day. especially 
when rearing young. The number of insects daily 
passed into the insatiable maws of the nestlings 
during this period almost exceeds belief. But the 
most valuable services of the adult bird are rendered 
when it is feeding in Winter or early Spring, for 
then it destroys countless numbers of insects in the 
birds we should also lose our forests.” Call the 
bird in the orchard an evil if you will. But it is a 
necessary evil, and every farmer and fruit grower 
should make up his mind to pay the good bird its 
wages even though at times they may seem ex¬ 
orbitant. 
THE SOCIABLE WREN.—The wren is one of tin* 
first sweet singers of the year, a very friendly little 
bird, and lives I believe exclusively on insects. 1 
have two berry sheds, and each shed is every year 
made cheerful with one or two families of the wren. 
One year they started to build in a bucket of nails 
that was hanging up in one end of the shed, which 
was there for the purpose of having nails handy 
TWO YOUNG ALFALFA EXPERTS STUDYING THE CROP. Fig. 193. 
pared bird food. In nature there is a law, and a 
deep one it is, for it underlies the whole universe, 
the great law of balance. One force holds in check 
another force. And if this nicely adjusted rela¬ 
tion is broken, then one of the forces becomes over¬ 
powering and destructive. Thus by destroying the 
birds we allow the insects to increase, and they 
in turn devour our fruit and other crops. Fruit 
growers and farmers suffer to perhaps a billion 
dollars yearly by the appetites of insects. 
INSECT DAMAGE.—The number of insect species 
,s greater by far than that of the species of all 
other living creatures combined. The voracity of 
insect life is as astonishing as its power of repro¬ 
embryo state, and thus prevents myriads of depre¬ 
dators from coming forth. Grave and far-reaching 
results invariably follow the suppression of this 
perennial regulative influence which is exerted by 
birds individually everywhere as a check on insect 
life. 
RELATION OF BIRDS TO TREES.—Trees have 
their natural insect foes to which they give food and 
shelter and these insects in turn have their natural 
enemies among the birds to which the tree also 
gives food and shelter. Birds are not only essen¬ 
tial to the well-being of the tree but the tree is 
necessary to the life of the bird. Thus it can be 
clearly demonstrated that “if we should lose our 
for nailing lids on berry cases. They were not dis¬ 
turbed, but a new bucket of nails was secured, and 
the happiness of that dear little pair of birds was 
not molested. One of the best ways to encourage 
the wren is to tack tin cans up around the place in 
sheds and under porches, but after doing this watch 
closely that the detestable English sparrow does 
not take advantage of these favorite nesting places. 
FAVORITE BIRDS.—The peewee is one of the 
first that appears on the farm in the Spring, and 
although not to be called a sweet singer its first ut¬ 
terance is very pleasant to hear, being a harbinger 
of the most inspiring season of the year. I,ike the 
wren, it likes to build under shelter and lives en- 
