Daily British Whig (1850), 25 Apr 1914, p. 8

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PAGE EIGHT A little out of the way but it will pay you to. walk Let us have your Spring Suit Order Monday The Last Day of Our Special Price SuitSale $28.00 and $30.00 Worst- eds and Scotch Tweed Suitings, also Black and Blues, Made to Your Mea- | sure for $25. 00. | See our windows. | LIVINGSTON'S BROCK STREET | | I | | Special Offerings For Men Tonight! AT WALDRON'S| Men's Blue and White Striped . English Duck Shirts with collar attached, guar- anteed fast colors: a good big shirt in all sizes up to 18, Regular 60 : C. price $1.00. On sale to-night Men's Grey Fl: wnnel Shirts, extra well made with revérsible collar and pockets, war- ranted unshrinkable, all This shirt would be good galue at $1.50. On sale Roi es 98c¢. S170, Overalls and Smocks, black and navy, made from best quality Duck and De nim, full assortment of sizes. Regular 89 : C. price $1.25. On sale to-night Grey Sweater Coats, a good, useful gar- ment for spring wear, Reg. $l. 23 and $1.50. On sale to-fight -. ~89c¢. CROW AND HIS ARE FRIENDS OF FARMERS Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Believes That the Safety of the Crops Depends Prim- i arily Upon These Birds and Animals. Animal Friends and Unfriends-- From the time that the first crow gouged into Farmer John's prize jcorn pateh that melancholy bird has | been regarded as the natural enemy | of the farmer, and death has been | the penalty whenever he has not sue- i ceeded in flying to the woods, there | to give a derisive croak and an- { pounce his escape. Had the farmer (who yearns for the life of the crow, | but known that in reality the crow (was a friend rather than an enemy, 'he would have noticed reproach as {well as derision in the excited bird talk that greeted his ears from the | safe depths of the woods or the far corner of the field. For, according to Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the department of agriculture, ithe crow and his cousins, Mr. Jay {and Mr. Raven, as well as skunks, owls, coyotes and even the weasel and the fox, instead eof being des- { tructive enemies of the farmer, are in reality among the best friends he has. The scientist, than whom perhaps there is no greater author- ity on bird life in the United States, | believes that the safety of our grain | fruit and vegetable crops depends i primarily on thése birds and ani- {mals, and that but for their con- stant warfare on worms and insects most farmers would be bankrapt year after year. In the case of the maligned and misunderstood crows, ravens: and jays, Mr. Fisher contends that they do effective work in destroying pests But it is with them as it is with all | | animals and human beings, simply a matter of supply and demand. If they find enough insect and plant life in the woods and open stretches to | meet their réquirements they do not | bother the man with the hoe. When, however, they have assembled in numbers so great as to overtax their natural dominion they must brave the forbidding and flapping scarecrow and expose themselves to salvos of shotgun artillery too big | for pests and vermin on the farmer's | land. When this supply is exhausted | they turn perforce to the succulent ear of corn and are finally driven by the pangs of hunger to eat chick en eggs. But even in this extremity they turn first to the nest of wild birds in the woods. So it may come to pass that our agriculturists might not be so well off as they imagine if thre time ever comes when all the | crows and jays are dead and the last raven quoths "Nevermore." It is well known that the crop damage every year by insect and mammal pes lions of dollars in this country, . Fur- ther, the total is steadily increasing | partly because of the inroads of new | bugs and rodenth, but principally, it may be, because of the wholesale manner in which sovereign man deals out death and destruction . to his natural allies in the constant warfare on the real erop destroying pests Predacious birds and animals hs a great economic value and the au- thority previously mentioned says that before man interfered with the intricate relations of wild creatures and disturbed the balance of nature, the carniverous animals served well and diligently to prevent undue in- crease of the hordes of smaller ani- mals that fed on herbage, fruits and other vegetables. fectly was the balance regulated that a temporary increase or de crease in one direction was followed sooner or later by a corresponding change in another. But that time has passed. Farmers and stockmen have killed them off with such un- thinking ruthlessness that they can no longer do their part. The tiger that eats human beings and the weasel, skunk and hawk that prey with fiendish glee upon poultry are the deep dyed and sin besmirched villians of all bucolic legends. Gather these lurid fabrica tions from every county of our far- flung union. The tiger attacks the strange and hostile being whose smell to the windward he knows by instinct to mean instant death. If the tiger comes. out victor and is hungry he eats the man. If the smaller animals of the forest have evaded him and starvation mocks him as a last resort he takes a des- perate chance and rushes into a clearing or dashes through a cirele of camp fires in search of human food. So it is with the skunk, the weasel and the hawk. When the natural . supply fails them they stalk poultry or sneak fea ly into henhouses to suck eggs, 3 as they do so that they have hot one chance in ten to get away alife. In the wilds man kills for food dnd in the cities he steals it when no other way seems open. Of course, animals are not. pos- sessed of a conscience, so far as we know. The fox, for instance. will take poultry and eggs if left un- guarded. Bui man's caution can make up for the fox"s lack of con- science, by keeping his chickens securely housed and locked at night. The fox hunts ground squirrels, field mice and rabbits and scorn not the May beetle, the cricket and the grass- hopper. The same is true of the coy- ote. Indeed, at times he feeds en- tirely on such large insects as grass- hoppers, May beetles and crickets. | Both animals are far from being unfriends of man, especially when vineyards, gardens and meadows are overrun by fleld mice and rabbits. The great horned owl and the bob- cat are a close second in this re- gard. With the increase of popu- {lation in a given section the rab- bits and the field mice decrease auto- matically, and then each hawk, coy- ote, bobeat and great horned owl is forced to essay the risky role of Capt. Kidd. Under such circum- stances they make crafty pirates and the trap and shotgun seem to be man's only available agents of jus- tice and self-protection. When so 'pressed the coyofe also becomes a menace in sheep raising sections. Nevertheless, farmers and orchard- ums up to many mil-! ,a | OVer the country, and then turn with seeds, | So per- | | noon, and it was nothing less than | | miraculous, that one or more per- | COUSINS = ists are learning by costly experience not to kill off these four species of animals unless necessity dictates It does not seem to be generally known that most flesh-eating animals do not change their ordinary diet if they can help it. Not until the pangs of Hunger gnaw at their vitals do they seek other kinds of food. Take the red-tailed hawk, for example. His favorite food is the meadow mouse. This destructive rodent is at once a titbit and the staff of life to him. When the mice become scarce, mainly because of the vigilance of the hawk, for which man should be thankful, the hawk must seek other and less satisfying sustenance. The little that he anfl other animals take from: the farmer and the fruit raiser is more than counter-balanced hy the previous good they did by eating the crop destroying rodents and insects. The goshawk, the duck hawk and the great horned ow! come under this category, but, as a matter of fact, in thickly-settled parts of the coun-! try a single hawk or owl may not | be sean in an entire season. Some- | times years go by without one pay- ing a visit. However, there are two | kinds of hawks which should be | watched closely whenever they dol come around. They dre the sharp | skinned and the copper breeds They | subsist almost entirely on wild birds | and poultry. The heron eats fish | and raises the farmer's ire, but does that son of toil know that he also devours a number of crop destroying gophers every day? Culls and terns eat grasshoppers and other insects, and down south they kill many al woth, of the cotton hol worm. | Badgers are of great service | making way with gophers, dogs, ground squirrel? and rel burrowing animals. In irrigation! tracts they dig into the dikes and catch these burrowing animals, whose boring proclivities have wrought great destruction fo expen- sive irrigation dikes. . Foolish boys, and sometimes men, like to go mink hunting. This little beast does feed on fish, mussels and birds, but he also goes after Rueadow mice. In killing mus roel which he is very fond, he is a friend indeed, for. the latter animal has caused countless | costly overflows into the embank- | ments of mill dams, canals and dikes In the softly purring and velvet { pussy cat man has a greater enemy than ny single predacious animal who can get his natural food. The cat is well fed and housed by the farmer and the townsman, bpt she | counts that day lost whose low descending sun sees not one or more birds or chickens fall a lacerated vie- jtim to her claws. Nor she eat a single crop destroying insect. A well known haturalist estimates that in the New England states alone cats kill 1,600,000 birds a year. They do the same wherever possible all prairie | doting care to the chickens | benefactors. DRIVER WAS ARI ARRESTED of their | FOR RECKLESS DRIVING ON THE CITY STREETS. { Came Within An Ace of Running Into Queen Street Slip -- Was | Under Influence of Liquor, A sensational runaway occurred | jon Brock street, late Friday after | 500s were not injured as a result. The driver of the rig, a farmer, was under the influence of liquor, , and was afterwards taken in charge by the police, but on sobering up in the cells, was allowed to proceed to his home, as it was his first ap- pearance in the police court. The farmer drove down street at a terrific rate of speed | Several rigs were on the street at | the time, but it just so happened | that.they were all éleared People! who happened to be on the street at the time stood still on the side- walk, and held their breath, as the farmer made his dash down the street, expecting every moment that there would he a smash. Reaching Ontario street, the driv- er turned to the left and continued at even a faster clip than on Broek street. Upon arrival at Queen street, he turned towards the slip, and just missed going into it by an ace, turning around to _ in, 3 g-- street again and running into Brock laneway. Here the driver rounded up by Constable nl] gama and taken to the lock-up. The out- fit was left in an hotel yard. Queen's University Closing Exercises of Seventy-Third Sexton. Sunday, 2 pm, Convocation Hal, Baccalaureate Sermon, Rev, 8 Harper Grey, Toronto Tuesday, 2 pm Convocation Hall, Students' Day, Valedictories, Address- Ww ednesday, 230 pm, Grant Hall, Convocation. Cards admitting to Convocation may be secured at the Registrar's Office To Contractors Tenders will be received at the office of the undersigned, where plans and wpect tons many be seem, up to 5 @'clock pm, on Wednesday, the 20th TONIGHT, .7.30 to 9.30 WE make it worth your while to come To-Night, as a number g Special Purchases have ar- rived and these you may secure. at prices be- low their value. Turkish Bath Towels In the natural and white stripes. These are full sizes, 42 inches long and 20 inches wide, a fine heavy make thai are worth regularly £3.00.a dozen or 23¢ wach, Yours to-night 150 Umbrellas These are the well known "WATERTITE" good quality English: Umbrellas, sizes tor men or general family use, frame and serviceable handles. Most of those in this lot are worth £1.25. Yours to-night J 100 Embroidered Centre Pieces Round, 20 inches across. White worked with dainty shades of blue or pink in Pere Lustra floss: mostly eyelet designs. Very Special To-night Also 25 only of a larger size, worth 63¢, will be offered at 35¢ each. Kid Gloves " PERRINS real French kid, every pair fully guaranteed, colors white, tans, greys, black and other shades at . ... $1.00 pair "LE PREMIER, " our Fine F Snel Kid Glove, made from se lect- ed skins, a high-class glove in all wanted shade bg, alsoin black. Per pair $1.25 GIRLS' and Children's Kid Gloves, a soft new glove special at 50 BOYS' Kid Gloves, good quality English Cape tan in all wanted STOCKINGS For All the Family Here To-night. inst, for the eral trades works re- yh and rovements to the publie toilet rooms in the Market for the Corporation of the Clty of kk Lowest tender necessar! ht or any not ty WAS SOX, . ons Bagot nel Ya uy .~ Colonials are to be worn this summer d 3 have a splendid. assortment to show. $2.50 to 00 We are a very nice shoe which is a com- hiustion pus Colonial, being furnished with a Ws, also a pair of buckles and bm lonial, We have this shoe in gun met- al and patent, and it retails at $3.50.

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