Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 October 1883 — An Editor’s Invention. [ARTICLE]

An Editor’s Invention.

In commenting on the various methods for keeping birds away from fruitbearing trees proposed by California papers, a Nevada paper winds up by suggesting the following plan for ridding the trees of the troublesome little pests: “Let the ranchmen send east to the manufacturers of toy balloons and get them to manufacture a lot of artificial hawks, the bodies of which may be inflated with gas. One or two of these let up into the air 200 or 300 feet, by means of a small cord, will protect whole acres of ground against birds. If there is anything that causes loss of appetite to a small bird it is to have a large and able hawk plunging about over his head. When the rubber manufacturers take out a patent for this invention of ours, either as a toy or a scarecrow, we shall claim a royalty.” —Chicago Times.