THE SMALL BIRD PEST.

Motueka Star, Volume IV, Issue 182, 19 May 1903, Page 4

THE SMALL BIRD PEST.

POISONING EXPERIMENTS.

Mr B. C. Aston, Chemist to the Department of Agriculture, has for some time been experimenting in the Ashburton district with poisons for small birds, \vith'' ; -a • view to ascertaining the most effective and satisfactory mode of dealing with the "nuisance, and he has now made a report to the Secretary for Agriculture on the result of his experiments as far as they have gone. The pest which it is desired to cope with is the.hard-billed, grain eating finch family, chief amongst which is the sparrow. The poisoning by wet methods was not at all successful, beyond proving the great superiority of strychnine over arsenic or potassium cyanide, Phosphorus (as phosphorised fat, phosphorised pollard or a mixtuie of both) could not be tried owing to the danger of dogs or stock eating it. Wheat was the grain used, with one exception, when hempseed was tried. The Tatter was, however, too hard to absorb the poison into the kernel, and the result was fruitless. The reason that the wet method gave such comparatively poor results Mr Aston attributes to the art'ficial and distorted condition of the wheat after treatment, causing suspicion to the overalert sparrow. By the dry method, on the other hand, the grain presents no perceptible abnormality, and the birds take it readily. This method was brought under Mr Aston's notice by Mr J. Grigg. of Longbeach, on whose station it has been used with great success, as many as two thousand birds being killed in a morning. The principle of this method is that the grain is, superficially coated with particles of strychnine, which are made to adhere by damping the grain with a little fresh milk. The Government property surrounding the Burnham Industrial School presents unequalled facilities for carrying on experiments ot this nature and the grounds surrounding that institution were accordingly the site of the latest 'experiments. The result of these experiments vves-to demonstrate indisputably that strychnine preparations, mixeddry, were so much more efficient that: others that Mr Aston has no hesitation in advising the abandonment of other methods of mixing at present practised in the poisoning of birds, in favour of the following: —Ten pounds of good sound wheat is thoroughly damped with fresh milk, so that the whole grain is wet, but not dripping with moisture. Five-sixths ot an ounce (avoirdupois) ol powdered strychnine, not too fine, is then gradually shaken on to the grain, the whole being kept constantly stirred. When all the strychnine is mixed in, the.grain may be immediately laid. This is best done by laying a good train of chaff, without any oats to attract attention. The poisoned grain is then very lightly sprinkled on the chaff.

The best results were obtained by-laying the poisoned grain on roadways near trees. These precautions are necessary in using

the dry method : (i.) The grain must be spread as soon after mixing as possible. (2) It must not be spread too thickly. it is claimed that one grain ol" wheat, treated by the dry method is sufficient to kill three birds. This is not an unreasonable statement, though difficult to verily. The strychnine is coated over the grain in I'airly large particles, and the same grain may be picked up and dropped by two or three sparrows in succession. It- sparrows are susceptible to strychnine onlv in the same ratio as are fowls—the probability is that they are far more so —the five-sixths of an ounce of the poison contained in the iolb of wheat would be sufficient to poison 233,330 sparrows. It has been asserted that larks will not take poisoned grain ; but in these experiments numbers of dead larks were found soon after laying the grain. Green linnets were also found in great numbers, and a few blackbirds, thrushes, and chaffinches, though the bird killed in the greatest numbers was of course the sparrow. The hydrocnloride of strychnine has been tried instead of the pure base, using the dry method, but the results given were not so favourable as with the latter ; the former being so much more soluble in water, and therefore more readily tasted, perhaps accounts for this fact.

Local bodies, farmers' clubs, etc., should at once order a supply of strychnine so as to obtain it in time for the winter months, when it is the intention of the Government to enforce the Birds Nuisance Act, 1902. Probably on inquiry of European firms it will be found that a considerable saving will be effected by importing a lower grade of strychnine, which will :;ive practically the same results as the purest. In the area devoted to strychnine poisoning (dry method) at Burnham, altogether 420 birds were picked up within a week, with the expenditure of about half a crown's worth of strychnine. When you cannot sleep for coughing, it is hardh' necessary that any one should tell you that you need a few doses of Chamberlain's Cough Remedy to allay the irritation of the throat, and make sleep possible. It always cures and cures quickly. A. Manoy sells it There was rather an amusing inci- \ dy.it in the S.M. Court, Wellington, on m-* Friday. A Chinaman was summoned f >;• having in his possession unstamped ... -i 1: ...v ». .. - .1 . hi, . ~, , rk.i»M ....AjjUto. i.nu v.uoo \*«.s i.emaoded till Monday in order to secure the services of an interpreter. "1 got TIO uiUitS UeX ALoinniy, t>riid tut. uoivsudant, "can't come down heah." "All right, John," remarked Dr McArthur, tin-. r-i--«-TTcf-«» 4 -'x "v--.'ll ..-.-.0-.-l-l.- ~ \ip and try the case at your shop." Milking ninety cows, night and

morning, fot three weeks is tlm record put up recently by two Wainnrte adies and their brother. An 1 the from this farm usually arrived first at the factory, too. For Bronchial Cough, take Woods Great Peppermint- Cure, Is Gd and 2s 6d everywhere.

The importance of the hog breeding industry in some parts of the North Island in now becoming quite pronounced. Besides supplying the curing establishments of this island, several breeders have lately been sending large consignments of fat and forward stores to the South Island. Five hundred baconers were sent down to the order of four Christchurch curers, and a similar number went down' to another single firm. Gisborne farmers have shipped a great number of Berkshires, which have beeu pronounced in the south as of excellent quality. According to the X,ondoa "Daily Mail," Loid Onslow has been offered by the British Government the position of President of the Board of Agriculture, rendered vacant by the death the other .lrty of Mt R. W. Hanbury. Lord Onslow succeeded Sir William Jervois as Governor of New Zealand in May, 1889, -etiring in February, 1892. He had previously held the positions of Under-Secretary for the Colonies, and- Parliamentary" Secretary to the Board of Ttade. He was Under-Secretary for India from 1895 to 1 900, when he was re-appointed to lis old position in the Colonial Office. Lo'-d Onslow was hot n in 1853.