| Show our part in feeding the nation special information information servilia servI IIA united states department of agriculture MANY COMMON BIROS BIRDS USEFUL TO FARMERS 3 A 4 W X X the little girl think the bluebird could ever do anybody any harm an MANY M BIRDS ARE USEFUL ON oil FARI FARM what it eats decides whether feathered songster Is beneficial or injurious s mw MANY FRIENDS OF FARMERS department of agriculture offers to tell agriculturist whether inhabitants of fields are doing more good than harm whether a bird Is beneficial or injurious to growing crops depends almost entirely upon what it eats if it consumes harmful inserts the bird Is an ally of the farmer it if it feeds largely on growing crops it may be an enemy not all birds are beneficial but the useful kinds far outnumber the injurious and so great Is their value ns As insect destroyers in the united states that to them the united states department of 0 agriculture gives credit of being one of the greatest con trolling factors in limiting the development of insect pests and in preventing many disastrous outbreaks in the case of species which are abundant or w i aich feed to some extent on crops the question of their average diet becomes one of supreme lm por tanca and only by stomach examinations can it be satisfactorily solved field observations have havo pro proved ed to be inconclusive birds are often accused of eating this or that product of cul ti when nhen an examination of the stomachs shows the accusation to be false aid offered to farmers the biological survey of the united states department of agriculture has conducted in the past few years a systematic investigation of the food of the species most common about farms and gardens and offers to supply inter matlon to any farmer in doubt as to whether his birds are an asset or a liability within certain limits birds eat the kind of food that is most accessible especially when their natural food Is scarce or wanting manting thus they some times injure the crops of the farmer who has unintentionally destroyed their natural food in his improvement of swamp or pasture much of the damage done by birds and complained of by farmers and fruit growers arises from this very cause the berry bear ing shrubs and seed bearing weeds have been cleared away and the birds have no recourse but to attack the cul grain or fruit which has replaced their natural food supply destroy many insects the great majority of land birds subsist upon insects during the period of nesting and molting bolting mol ting and also feed j their young upon them during the first few weeks many species live almost entirely upon insects taking vegetable food only when other subsistence tence falls it Is thus evident that in the course of a year birds destroy an incalculable number oi of insects and it Is difficult to value of their services in restraining the great ta tda of insect life in winter in the northern part of the country insects become scarce or entirely disappear many species of birds ho however vever remain during luring the cold season and fere are able to maintain life by eating enting vegetable food as the seeds of weeds here again is another useful function of birds in destroying these weed seeds and thereby lessening the groin growth th of the next year farms way to success on farm demonstration work and the careful study and practice of the best farm methods Is to what a former store clerk in texas bases his big claim to I 1 success this man tiring of indoor life got tn in touch with the stale state eatn slon service and started in to farm all the money he lie had was but there was no lack of energy and ambition in his makeup and that goes a long anay ay in farming that hard earned money too wa wai the firby payment on acres and a very poor horse and one cow comprised the initial live stock minerve erve and integrity though answered as security for another horse and careful management and good financial judgment produced results sufficient to enable this hard working demonstrator to make the second pay dhent on his place in the fall this was largely from receipts aroi from butter chickens and eggs this Is the account of the rest of the achievements told by the county agent the second year he bought a better team and was enabled to cultivate his crop in the better way as he expressed it the second year he met his third payment and had some surplus funds left and was wag in a position to go on a cash basis the next year the fourth payment on his farm was met promptly and with a larger surplus of money than before besides be he had a number of good cows hogs and horses and a flock of chickens and turkeys from this years work mork he had sold 1 1650 worth of 0 cotton and seed marketed worth of feed besides having enough on hand for farm use next year sold old 40 worth of poultry and now has over hens on the farm he ile has sufficient bogs hogs for his meat and will offer for sale about worth besides lie he has on the farm worth of horse stock has some good much cows and has 1250 on deposit to his credit in the local bank he ile Is erecting a little house and says that the farm and its hippy associations are good enough for him the vital point of this story of this farmer farmers s operations during the past pact tour four years Is that he has paid for his farm Is free from debt and has placed himself upon a cash basis and has accumulated a surplus while a neighbor on an adjoining farm 0 of f acres Is barely making a living some birds generally useful it Is in their relation to insect and other enemies to crops that I 1 birds are most directly assacl abed with the welfare of man it Is not possible to give a n hard and fast rule applicable to the whole country as to whether any tain bird Is beneficial or injure ous to farmers fan ners but in the united states department of agrical tures farmers bulletin I 1 some common birds useful to the farmer more than 50 species of birds common to farming sections are discussed the birds treated in the bulletin are bluebird robin titmouse wren brown thrasher catbird swallow towhee sparrow house finch grackle brewer breuer blackbird baltimore oriole Bulloc bullocks kIs oriole meadowlark red airi ged blackbird bobolink crow blue jay pacific coast jay phoebe kingbird night baul woodpecker cuckoo and bobwhite |
