Now is the Time.

Southland Times, Issue 19098, 14 July 1903, Page 3

Now is the Time.

To tho Editor

Sir —The ground Is covered with snojv, and now is the time to g>it at the amall birds • but 1 would like to know how many ' farmers are bestirring themselves in this direction. I would like to mft t? known my experience in small bird poisoning. About a fortnight ago 1 tried the -strychnine and mil* plan, and found it an utter failure. On Saturday there was 11 inches of snow on the ground, so I immediately set to work and prepared some phosphorised grain according to tbe following formula :— l'our some hot water into a copper, empty it o»i again/ pour in about a gallon more, throw in one stick of phosphorus stu till Mielted, then stir in 3 gallo.-s .broke;. wheat stir for 5 minutes aoiri then put it in a sock for the surplus water to drain off. • This makes a full kerosene t™ of poison. I put a horse in the swing plough nnd proceeded to tho stubble, where were a number of stnuv stacks and two stacks of oaten sheaves. J hese latter were the centre of attraction tor the birds, and there were clouds ot them 'Hying arcund. We went all round the paddock, circling round the -itacss. Tho ploughman bated the ground without turning any soil, antt 1 scattered the poison behind. There was enough to lny a:=furrow three miles long. By the afternoon numbers of ground larks wer« lying dead in the furrow. Yesterday no birds were to be sesn alive, but numbers of dead finches and. sparrows were sticking in the bulbs of the sheaves of the stack, and dead birds can "be pia;od up all over .the' place, in fact, .-! believe the whole generation* - of ■ ; : them> is.-.dead.. dead. Larks, finches, sparrows^ 'goldfinches, thrushes. and -numbers of starlings have been picked up. This" is all very satisfactory, but where is the use of one man doing .it. and perhaps -no one else within ie i "lailesT I consider that a farmer who lets Slip tho opportunity of 1 oisonmg rirtring snow deserves to lose his crop. The poison was eaten up clean. Her e and there a little bran could be s«?e:>, but that was all. ' "me sole ingi-«dien> s of the "■poison were phosphorus, wheat, and water>— l am, &c. v

. ' A. CHRIST! K, Junr Dipton, 13th July.