On the Gaultheria Shallon. 
179 
municate it to the public, well knowing, that in many instances, the loss 
occasioned by tliese birds is more than equal to the tythe of the cro}), 
and I think t' at most practical men who have made observations on the 
corn fields ■ the time of harvest, will be of the same ojiinion. If the 
whole of a parish were to put the above plan into operation, in the 
month of June, I make no doubt that almost every bird might be 
destroyed. And when we take into consideration, the great suras 
])aid annually, in some parishes, to persons who undertake to desti’oy 
these birds, 1 think the method here explained, will be found not only 
the best, but likewise the cheapest. 
Small as these birds appear, their consumption of grain in the fields, 
both in seed time and harvest, is very gi’eat; they, very often, taking 
almost every grain ail round the field, to the breadth of eight or ten 
feet, and frequently to as many yards: and their destruction of the 
roofs of thatched buildings, is perceptible to every one. 
It is no trifling loss to a corn-grower, to lose the quantity of grain 
these birds consume in the corn-stacks and farm yard;—I am of opi¬ 
nion that each bird will eat as much as its own weight, of corn, daily. 
Now, I have known as many as 3000, caught in a single day on one 
farm, with a net;—suppose we allow two ounces for the average 
weight of each bird, the consumption daily, would be about ten 
bushels of corn. It may be said, that if these birds did not eat the 
loose corn, it would in a great measure be lost, but this could not be 
the case if a suflicient quantity of fowls were kept. 
As this, will probably fall into the hands of many persons who may 
have experienced as much of their mischievous effects on garden crops, 
&c. as I have done, I hope to hear of the practice I now recommend, 
being well tried, jointly in each parish. 
I remain. Gentlemen, 
Yours, respectfully, 
Willersley, August 22nd, 1831.' George Stafford. 
Artcle III.— Oil the Gaultheria Shallon, as a valuable food 
for Bees. By Dr. Bevan, Author of the ‘‘Treatise on 
the Honey Bee.” 
Gentlemen, 
In your number, now before me, of the Horticultural 
Register, 1 observe a notice of the Gaultheria vShallon. As a 
correspondent of Mr. Knight, the President of the Horticultural Society, 
1 have several times received comniimications from him, resp{fcting that 
