SMALL BIRDS', NUISANCE,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1843, 1 September 1913, Page 10

SMALL BIRDS', NUISANCE,

It is-reported that tho small bird nuisance.'lias caused considerable dcstnlctioii;.iii the newly-sown oat fields in the Avairarapa districts this season. .One farmer there who used stryclmiuepoisoning got good Tcsults, but he points out that users of strychnine silouid oh no account handle tho mixture.'* The field 011 which it was used foreshadows a iino yield. Tlie poison was sown on tho sod previous to discing. 'Another paddock which was worked under exactly the same conditions as regards cultivation, but which was not B poisoned, has proved a failure. The crop came up well, but has since been rooted out as it grew, and the surfaco Boomed white with tho discarded stalks; the biros cunningly avoiding phosphorised wheat while lecding on green oats. Speaking of phosphorus, which ho says may be safely handled, it is most effective when rown, with the, main .crop, 017: better still, just after harrowing. Strychnine has to be powdered beforo using. It gives off an unpleasant, odoiir, and everything . touching it should be. destroyed. Yet it is marvellously effective in clearing small birds. Koine years ago ho relates having pliosphorised grass-seed, and sowed it with the rest of tlio mixture 011 fern coun'tr.v. and was rewarded by splendid results.