Poverty Bay Standard. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY, THURSDAY AND SATURDAY MORNINGS. GISBORNE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1883.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1363, 2 October 1883, Page 2

Poverty Bay Standard. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY, THURSDAY AND SATURDAY MORNINGS. GISBORNE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1883.

In our last issue we called attenuo ll to the complaints which are coniiuu- ( ally being made to us about the ravages which the small birds were 1 making on the newly sown seeds, t There can be no doubt but what small birds have increased here to such an I extent as to render some measures ' necessary to protect the newly sown , grain. But whilst acknowledging this ( much we feel constrained to ask why this so-called pest is not utilised in such a manner as to turn it into a blessing. Brom numerous experiments and long experience of many well-known scientists, and also of thoughtful and intelligent farmers and gardiners all «ver Europe, aud especially in England, it has been undeniably demonstrated and proved i hat where sparrows and other small birds exist in reasonable numbers and where proper means are taken to “scare” them from the newly sown feed, the cro'.s are uot alone much more productive, but are also invariably safe from the ravages of slugs,

caterpillars, &c. which atta> k the young fibrous roots and fresh green shoots of the crops. But we need not go so far afield for proof of the benefits arising from a proper and judicious use of the small birds if we accept the testimony of a writer to the ‘New Zealand Herald,’ who, referring to a time prior to the acclimatisation ot small birds, says “In those days the settlers were unanimous in outcries on the subject of caterpillars, as to the extent of which evil there could uot be the smallest doubt. Many times 1 have ridden along the road when the horses footmarks were left in a moving mass crossing from one side of the road to the other, while I have just as often seen whole fields of maize and other produce entirely deva taied.” i here is little doubt out wliat small birds have increased to such an extent here as to become a curse instead of a blessing. At the same time we do not think that reasonable pains are taken to protect the newly-sown seeds for a short time until they begin to germinate, when the birds will no longer attack them but, on the other hand, protect young shoots from the ravages of the caterpillars, snails, slugs &c, of which they are the avowed enemies. At home a farmer thinks it worth his while, during seed time, to send a boy constantly round his newly-sown field with a clapper and gun to frighten the birds away, as they

would otherwise gather from far and near to partake of the rich banquet so invitingly spread out before them ; but here, in this matter, no less than in many others, things are left to work themselves out the best way they may, and are thus allowed to become a post, whereas they might by judicious arrangement and proper precautions, be converted into a bless ing.