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About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1897)
1 i ' t- A BIRDS AND THE JTAltilEK. Why Thoy Should Bo tho Bost oJ Priouds. Vory IlelntloiiM of Fcutlicrcil Iimect Hntcrn to Agriculture Hlncujineil by I'rof. Hunt, of the niolotfl- cul Survey. Special Washington Letter. Assistant Ornithologist Beul, of the biological survey, has prepared a bul letin for the department of agriculture about common birds and their relation to agriculture. It Is a very Interesting ofilclal document. I'rof. Beul says: "It has long been known that birds play au important part in relation to KINGBIRD. agriculture, but there seems to be a tendency to dwell on the harm they do, rather than on the good. Whether a bird is injurious or helpful depends al most entirely upon what it eats; and in thi case of unusually abundant species of birds the character of the food be comes a very practical question." Farmers of experience have long since concluded that the big flocks of blackbirds, woodpeckers and other com mon birds are not present to commit depredations, but to help the farmer by destroying noxious insects. Nearly all land birds subsist principally on In sects, and during the breeding season they rear their young exclusively on this sort of food. When farmers dis cover an unusually large Hock of birds they may well be assured that there is au unusually large crop of insects They are luscious, and whoever believes that common birds are not epicures has not studied birds. They not only eat insects, but some of them are very choice of their selections. Tho com mon birds discover the presence of in sects when human eyes would never even suspect their presence. Attention is called by Prof. Deal to the fact that during the recent plague of locusts in the western states they were eaten by every common bird in that section, and they formed the prin cipal food of the birds during that en tire season. Before the locusts came from the Rocky mountains and de scended upon tho prairies the farmers complained of the unusual numbers of common birds. By prophetic instinct the birds knew that the locusts were coming, and they were there to receive them. The birds were, in some occult manner, advised of the immediate fu ture, while the farmers were wholly unaware of the plague which was tc come. Thus it appears that Provi dence is all-wise and all-seeing; or as the old hymn hath it: "He moves in a mysterious way Ills wonders to per form." Insectivorous birds feed upon that food which is most accessible and which is most palatable. Some birds pass by certain kinds of insects. They will not touch them, unless the birds are on short rations and ready to take any sort of food which will -ward off the pangs of hunger. But the insects which are disdained by some birds are sought by other common birds as their chiefest dainties. It is explained by the professor that ground-feeding birds will seek for in sects in grass and dead leaves, or about the trunks of trees. Those insects are the most easily accessible; and the birds are like men, in that they are looking always for the easiest method of making a living. They will not fly as longastheycanwalkorwaddle. No wise turd will make any effort to secure prey in the mountnin tops when he can live like a prince in the valley. These com mon birds toil not, nor do they spin. They just take life as it comes, and live in clover if they can. Thqy take no thought of the morrow, believing that BUilicient unto the day is the evil there of. The common birds are wise fellows. The fly-catching birds have an easy time of it. They do not live in hotels, and order their meals sent to their rooms. On the contrary, they simply sit and wait for their opportunities. They know that there are lota of flies in the world; millions of them; nnd that flies constantly fly. They know that by sitting on their limbs, and pa tiently waiting the course of events, there will be enough flics every day com ing their way to meet the requirements of their appetites. They simply open their little bills, give a peck at the passing fly, and swallow him. If it is a common fly, well and good. If it is a fat horse fly, so much the better. The birds know their business. After reading the professor's story about birds, the writer is convinced that there are plenty of men who have much less sense, and who might well study the common birds and their methods of getting on in the world. In the scientillc study of common birds there has been many a murder committed. Field observation Is not sufllcient for man, because he cannot discern the details of the workings of the birds. In order to obtain accurate and reliable information, man loads his shot gun, goes out into the field and shoots down a number of these Innocent cannibals. For what purpose? Simply to take each dead bird and examine his stomach. The scientist can then learn what food the birds subsist upou, and hence cau determine whether or not they are friends or foes of the husband man. It Is generally discovered that tho common birds are the friends of tho farmers, and are destroying his insec tivorous enemies. This discovery hav ing been made in each case, the fanners are informed of the result of the inves tigation, and thereafter the shotgun Is dispensed with. So the killing of a few ibirds results In saving the lives of thousands of others. The professor says that cuckoos are much given to eating caterpillars, and do not object to their hair, as many birds do. On the contrary cuckoos eat su many hairy caterpillars that the hnlrs pierce the inner linings of their stomachs; and when they are opened and turned inside out, the cuckoo stom achs seem to be lined with a thin coat ing of fur, which appears to be a part of the stomach itself. Nature provides for continued digestion, just the same. While tho scientific slaughter of cuckoos was going on, 10 of the birds were examined, and tiic result shows that they had all been diligently en gaged In helping the farmers of their neighborhood. The 10 stomachs showed the remains of 328 caterpillars, 11 beetles, 15 grasshoppers, G3 saw flies, four spiders, and three stink bugs. Those were industrious birds, and they were doing their best for their farmer friends, when they were ruthlessly shot down for scientific Investigation. Just think of itl There were 32S caterpillars, many of them in the larva stage. But foi those cuckoos all of those caterpil lars would have been working on the leaves of trees; nnd they prefer apple trees. Of the 03 saw flies, GO were In the larva stage. Investigation demonstrates that farmers should do their best to culti vate woodpeckers. They leave no mark- on healthy trees. On the contrary they unerringly trail down the wood-boring larva, and dislodge and devour them. The official bulletin has a good word also for the red-headed woodpecker. It is admitted that this bird is guilty of tapping trees and drinking the sap, It has been discovered, however, that very few trees are seriously injured; although some have died within a year or two, after being sapped by these red-headed fellows. The professor jays, however, that "the bird captures millions of insects which are attracted by the sweet sap, and the tree tapping HAIRY WOODPECKER. is kirgely for the purpose of catching insects. It is probable that the red head fully compensates for the damage done by sapsuckiug, in consuming so many insects." Tho kingbird comes in for a word of praise, lie Is distinctly a fly catcher and takes a large portion of his food on the wing. The kingbird also watches tho trees closely, and gathers In all sorts of insects. This bird has been suspected of catching honey bees; but an Iowa farmer says that he shot a dozen kingbirds near his hives, and found not a single bee in any one of their stomachs. Therefore he con cludes that the kingbird is guiltless of this charge; modified by the fact that In various parts of the country 14 king birds were killed, nnd 40 dromi bees were found in their stomachs. Isn't that wonderful? How in tho realm of Intelligence could those birds know that the drones were proper prey, while the working bees and queens must be spared? Tho meadow lark is complimented because of the fact that it feeds al most wholly upou insects. In 238 stcmachs examined, it was discovered that 73 per cent, of the food of the birds consisted of insects alone. It nests on the ground, and walks about with dainty step, knowing that it is a wel come visitor and therefore not In fear of human nssault. The meadow lark ia wholly beneficial, and Is not guilty of the common charge of pulling sprout ing grain. It loves fat bugs and beetles, and takes grasshoppers and caterpil lars also, whenever they can be found. Even when the ground is covered witn snow, this bird finds insects somehow, and does not seek the granaries. It is a very skillful insect catcher. SMITH D. FRY. THE FARMING WORLD. FATTENING FOWLS. They Should lie Scpiirnteil mi it Put by TIioiiihoIvcr, Place six or eight together in n close coop without a roost, and just sufficient ly largo to allow their moving about without crowding each other. Tho front of the coop or box only needs to bo lathed open work, and should be ar ranged so as to make it nearly dark as soon as they are done feeding, since dur ing the balance of their existence the more quietly they can be kept the more they will improve. They need no ex ercise. It must be borne in mind that fat only is added by this process, the lean or flesh must be made before, and unless the fowl has attained the proper standard in this respect it is almost use less to try to fatten it. Now give them plenty of fresh water and all they will cat for two or three weeks in this kind of coop, and nt the end of that period they will be better fit for the butcher than they will ever be nf ter that period. The manner of feeding and keeping the fowls in this confinement is a very sim ple affair, and wo have found it etfi caclous as well ns feasible. Cooked food, and all they will devour morning and night, with cracked corn and wheat at noon, will fatten healthy poultry In less time than any other feed that we have ever ex perimented with. The mash should be composed of good corn meal two parts and boihMl potatoes one part. Into a pailful of this meal and vegetable food, well mixed, while hot, drop one pound of lard, tallow or pork scraps, and mix this fat substance through the mass. Feed this while warm, and give only what the fowls will eat up clean at a meal. Western Plowman. HANDY ARRANGEMENT. Description of ii Combined Chicken Cooi nml l'cii. The coop and pen illustrated below have been in use on my farm several years. The coop is made perfectly tight except at one end. The lower two-thirds of this end is slatted and contains a slat door. This coop is intended for the hen nnd her brood nt night or during wot days. A pen which will allow the hen considerable exercise and sunshine on pleasant days is shown adjoining the coop. The three pieces running hori zontally are three feet long and two CHICKEN COOP AND PEN. inches square. It is slatted with com mon lath placed far enough npart to al low the chicks to get out of the pen. Only one end of the pen is closed, the other being placed over tho door of the larger coop. The pen and coop are fastened together by menus of small chains. Set the coop upon wide boards and have it so situated that the pen will cover a nice grass plot. A number of these pens will be found handy, as they cau be joined to almost any small coop. Marie A. Bigg, in Farm and Homo. How to EnrduniKu tin; IloyH. Every boy on the fnrm should be given a young aniinul to raise for him self, he to attend to it and be induced to take an interest in its progress. He will tints early become fond of animals and of farming, nnd will be more recon ciled to farm life when he is grown. The boy who leaves tho farm for the city is the one who has never had any opportunities and looks upon farming as drudgery. Labor becomes a pleasure when there is something to strive for, and the early education of the boy on the farm should be by giving him an in terest in something. All children love young stock and pet them. The Fmicy Furnior'M .MIhnIoii. "Fancy fanners," or the owners of "fancy" stock, are frequently ridiculed, but it is due to their willingness to im prove stock and their persistency in ad hering to their belief in something bet ter than scrubs that the farmer is bene fited. The man of capital goes on with his improvement of stock and may suffer Ioks at first, but after awhile he begins to make profits, the farmers be ing lifted up with him, as the farm on which improved breeds are specialties becomes a fountain source from which superior animals are distributed in all directions. I'kc Only Level UoiikIn, The old-time step-ladder roost, with one round four or fho feet from the floor and the others lower until the low est is near the floor, takes up a large share of space in the poultry-house, and is unserviceable, as the hens will in stinctively go upon the high roosts in preference to the lower ones, some of the fowls being forced down while oth ers ore injured by jumping oil' in the morning. It is to high roosts that bumble-foot and lameness may be at tributed, and it is cheaper to have low roosts, all on the same level, than to doctor fowls for lameness. Farm and Fireside. Keeping fowls on a hard floor will frequently cuuse swollen feet and legs. CLEAN FEED FOR HOGS. An Ailjtintiihlc Uncle Which Aeoin IiIIrIicn II 1'iti'pitNi'. The old notion that n hog prefers to wallow in the mire is u great mistake. The hog prefers clean water nnd food the same as any nnimnl, but his style of getting it is at fault. This dlfllculty is easily remedied by some such plan as illustrated below, where an adjustable rack can bo llxed for nny si.ed pig or hog so it cannot get into the feed trough. The trough is made of two inch plank, one plank seven inches the other nine inches, nnd instead of being nulled nt right angles they arol ineh- v ADJUSTAHLE HOC- TROUGH. cs or so off tho square. At each end, after the main ends of the trough are nailed in place, another piece of plank, a, is nailed to it with a slot, cut In It for a 3x4-lnch scantling, c, or a round straight pole four inches through. This pole or scantling should have a hole bored in each end so a phi may slide through it nnd the upright plank, a, to keep the pole, c, in place. The polo can then be raised or lowered to suit the size of a hog. In the polo live-eighths-inch holes should bo bored 7, Si,, JO and liyu inches apart, in which is placed a oue-half-iuch iron rod (d), two feet long, pointed and driven slightly in the plank on the front sido of tho trough. These rods never become loose in my trough, but when they are to be shift ed, as tho hog's size requires, two or three slight taps with a hammer loosen them and they can be driven into the next width of place. My trough is 10 feet long. About 30 inches of one end ia partitioned off and kept filled witli wa ter, but has the rods In front so the hogs cannot get into it in hot weather. The rods are driven into the trough about one inch from tho edge as at o and are pointed from iyt Inches back. The front edge of the trough, f, is rounded so that It will not chafe the hogs. Marsdeu Smith, in Farm and Home. RATIONS FOR HORSES. Stnrvntloii AMvnyn .Spoil the Shnnc of u Groivluu: Aniinul. We talk about the loss of the horso business from one cause or another, but the most mischief comes from the want of proper food, says au exchange. This means loss to the horse and greater loss to the farmer. A good per cent, of the horses seen on the streets of nny town show insufficient or un balanced food supply. Horses that have been ill-fed when young are al most invariably small, long-legged, light-carcassed and nnrrow-chested. Some of them have a great deal of energy, but all are soon exhausted, un fit for protracted exertion. Grown-up horses, when much reduced by defi cient nourishment, require more food to put them into working order than would have kept them for two or three months la the condition they require to possess when going into work. When a horse is starved, besides losing strength and flesh, his bowels get full of worms nnd his skin covered with lice. Very often he takes mnnge, and sometimes he does not moult, or tho hair falls out suddenly nnd entirely oft. leaving the skin nearly bald for a long time. The skin of an ill-fed horse is always rigid, sticking to the ribs, nnd their hair dull, staring, soft, dead like. If not famished to death thoy re cover strength and animation with good and sufllcient feeding, but star vation always spoils the shape of a growing horse. POINTS FOR STOCKMEN. Don't keep more horses than you need. The offspring from a mature sow ia stronger than from a young one. Swine need bulk in their feed. Don't feed on concentrated foods alone. Pork is one of the very best of meats If swine are properly fed and cared for. The selection and steady use of tho best of even common scrub stock will lead to improvement. Sows eat their pigs because their sys tems are out of condition, the result of improper feeding and bad management. It is dangerous to inbreed swine. If there are family defects they will ap pear in the oll'spring in an exaggerated form. On the whole, tho horses would bo bettor off, and so would tho owner, if the whip-making industry were abol iEl.ed. There is too much talk and not enough action in the matter of reviving in terest in the Morgan horse. The Mor gan will revive itself if given half a chance. Sell half the scrub herd, if necessary, and buy a thoroughbred bull. If cattle must rough it take the Hereford, Polled Angus or (Jalloway. If well cared for the .shorthorn Is a prize. Wustcru Plowman. HUMOROUS. Hicks "Have n good time out rid ing this cuMiing?" Wicks (neophyte) "Not so good n time us the people who were watching me." Boston Tran script. "lie Is one of the leading lawyers of the town." "(lets pretty big fees, eh?" "I should say so. Why, it is almost as cheap to buy the grand jury ns to hire him." Truth. "Are you one of the striking min ers?" asked the woman nt the door. "Yes, mum. I'm what dey call a pion eer. I struck 30 years ago and I've never give In yet." Detroit Free Press. Not Spiritual Methods. "Even a fly can do good by gettlngn man nwnko in time to attend church." "Yes, but It doesn't put him in the proper frame of mind to go there." Chicago Record. "They say people in this country spend more money on bicycles than on bread." "That's queer; bloyclcsean'tbe eaten." "I know; but then people can't show oft with a loaf of bread." Chica go Record. A Consistent Woman. Mrs. OI1 foyle "Mrs. Bargain Hunter is a thor oughly consistent woman." Mrs. KIN dutT "Is she?" Mrs. Oilfoyle "Ycb; she is. She hn marked her five o'clock teas down to 4:67." Puck. "Do you always say your prayers nt bedtime, Mary?" asked the Sunday school teacher affectionately. "No, miss, not regular, I don't," wiir the re ply. "Why, Mary, are you not nfraid to go to sleep at night without nsking a blessing?" "Not when I sleep in the middle I ain't, miss." Household Words. CONVICT'S SELF-DENIAL. Snvcil Tohiicco He Hccc lvcil In 1'rlMon to Sell for IIIn Family. Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue llyun had a queer caller the other day. He was a middle-aged man nnd carried n heavy valise. He said the valine con tained tobacco, which he was anxious to sell, so he could give the money to his family. He was afraid he might be breaking the law and asked Mr. Ryan for advice. The latter asked his caller where ho got the tobacco, and tho man 3iiid: "For several years I have been a con vict in the penitentiary at Michigan City. I was sent up from Indianapolis, and my wife and children still live here. My wife poor woman is in poverty, u ml my children are not big enough to do for themselves. I have been looking DUt for overu year to this trip home, t knew that my family had no money and that they were sulTorin', so I just thought of a plan to help them out when got home. You know that every con vict is allowed tobacco at regular times. If I do say it myself and it has caused me an awful lot of suirerln' I havo denied myself my tobacco and hid away the plugs as they came into me, so that 1 could sell them when I got out to re lieve my wife and little ones. The to bacco that I have been saving so long is in that valise. There is not a plug in there thut Isn't, as good as tho day I got It. I have wrapped them up In tin foil, so they have kept moist and pre served their flavor. Now, I want to ben law-abiding man from this day on, and want to know how I can sell this to bacco without violatln' the law, just for the benefit of my wife and children, who need it so bad, the Lord knows, after these years of neglect." There were tears in the man's eyes when he had concluded his story, and there was a suspicious moisture about the deputy's eyes. "Before you can sell this tobacco," said the deputy, "you will have to givo a bond with acceptable Hiirety for $2,000, and you will have to put a six-cent gov ernment stamp on each plug." The man's head dropped and ho looked sick at heart. Thut would mean the failure of his merciful enterprise. "Ordinarily that would be the case," said Mr. Ilynu, "but I tell you, my man, I don't think that the government would get after you if you would dis pose of this to your friends." A great weight seemed lifted off of tho man's mind as he dried his eyes, lifted his valise and trudged oft with it down the stuirs into the street. Indianapolis News. Not lit Oooil Form. A couple of styllshry-lressed young women met on Market street yester day, shook hands, kissed, inquired after each other's health and proceeded to gossip. Suddenly one paused, and, staring at tho other in surprise, asked: "What in the world makes you loolc so thin?" "Thin? Why, I weigh more than I ever did." "But you look as slim as a rail." The slender girl reflected a moment, then blushed furiously. "Oh, lot me get off the street. Imust be a fright," she exclaimed. "I left my hips at home on a chair." San Francis co Post. .Vntiirnl AilviliittiiffM. Teacher What kind of a bird did Noah send out of the ark? Small Boy A dove. "I am surprised to find that the smallest boy in the class is the only one to know." "Please, teacher, his father keeps n bird store." N. Y. World. Home AkiiIii. flavin Hello! Back from the sea shore so soon? I Bailey Yes, T want to pet a little rest before returning to work-Up-to-Date.