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Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 296, 13 September 1927, Page 3

Some little time ago an item appeared in £ -the Christchurch “Press stating that blackbirds were attacking turnips in the Staveley district. Letters then appeared stating that the “new pest” was probably the old one of blackbirds picking for wireworms. There was also a letter confirming the original report and stating that whatever started the blackbirds eating the turnips, they had, at least, acquired the taste for them. The letters were shown to the farmer who at first mentioned the matter. He did not know anything about wireworms, but he showed examples of turnips almost completely eaten away, by the birds. He thought that possibly a. misconception was caused by stating that the birds attacked the "root instead of the “bulb,” the birds making a start tn the upper part of the bulb, not unlike the manner in which they eat an apple. They seem to attacK the crops in late autumn, he said, rather than at present, for all of the turnips so attacked seemed to be in a decayed state as a result of the winter rains and frosts. Ihe .farmer pointed out the manner In which the birds attacked turnips, their methods differing from those adopted by animals. The sharp teeth marks can bs seen in the case of the hare, while the rabbit always appears to leave fragments of the bulb lying round The blackbird, on the other hand, pecks in the turnip a hole into which, in manv cases, a hen egg could be inserted, and in other cases only a shell of the turnip is left. Other Staveley farmers to whom the matter was mentioned agreed that blackbirds, were eating turnips in large quantities. Revaluation is in place in one case only—where the soldier settler was offered land at a price which has since been proved to be an uneconomical one But if everyone who makes a bad investment in land is to ask for “revaluation” from the Government, we shall soon find the demand extending from the fanner to the shopkeeper and the businessman. We think that the farmer should leave these nostrums alone. He should take stock of his position, and if it is possible to pull through, settle down to it with what energy be possesses. The Government certainly cannot dry-nurse the whole population.—"Hawke’s Bay Herald.”