VERMIN (Lat..vertnie, a worm), a term commonly applied to small noxious animals, particularly to those which, unless their increase is checked, are apt to become exces sively numerous. Of some of the applications of this term, as to parasitic insects, it is unnecessary to say anything; but it seems proper to notice the use made of it by farmers and gardeners, with reference to quadrupeds and birds injurious to their crops, and by gamekeepers with reference to those which are destructive to game. In the estimation of the gamekeeper all those animals are vermin which are known ever to prey upon any kind of game, or to rob the nests of game-birds. He therefore wages unceasing war against foxes, polecats, weasels, stoats, hedgehogs, hawks, falcons, ravens, carrion crows, magpies, and even owls. The results are not agreeable to the farmer, as, the balance of nature being thus interfered with, animals destructive to his crops multiply without restraint, particularly rats, mice, and voles. The farmer is apt to regard some . kind of game themselves as vermin, especially hares (and rabbits), which, when numer ous, cause him great loss. As to these, probably, there might be ready enough means found of reducing their numbers, if it were permitted, even although an undiminished assiduity should be maintained in keeping down all animals of prey. It is otherwi re, however, as to the smaller quadrupeds already named, and the destruction of their natural enemies is followed by their excessive multiplication. Beasts and birds of prey have their use in the economy of nature. The larger beasts, which are dangerous to man hiniself, or destructive of the animals valued by him as his property, are no longer of use in thickly-peopled and extensively cultivated countries; their extirpation is there fore to be desired, and they rapidly disappear before advancing civilization; but their use in a different state of things may be seen, if we reflect on the vast multitudes of antelopes and other herbivorous animals in the wilds of Africa, which would soon cease to find sustenance for themselves but for these destroyers. Kites, kestrels, owls, wea sels, and hedgehogs are particularly useful to the British farmer, as preying upon the mice and voles, which are often extremely destructive to his crops, eating whole rows of seed-wheat and beans, proceeding from one end of the row to the other; and all the injury done to Lim by game, or at least by feathered game, is generally little in com parison with that which results from the continual shooting and trapping of them by gamekeepers. No expedient is known so likely to rid the fields of mice and other such
pests, as to put a stop to the destruction of the quadrupeds and birds which prey upon them. The farmer himself, however, sometimes falls into the error of seeking to inter fere unduly with the balance of nature—complaining of rooks as a mere nuisance, and demanding the destruction of rookeries. The money which he expends in guarding his tields•from rooks at certain seasons, when they are apt to injure his crops, is more than repaid by their services at other times in the destruction of grubs. Wood-pigeons, which have of late become extremely numerous in some parts of Britain, do more harm to the farmer than any other vermin, as they feed chiefly on grains, seeds, young clover, etc., and are very voracious; their ravages are becoming a serious consideration to farmer and landlord alike, and they are therefore justly regarded in the light of true farm-pests. Small birds, such as feed both ou insects and seeds, are, like rooks, not to be regarded as vermin. They consume, it is true, a certain portion of the grain, but they are of incalculable use in devouring those insects which are the worst of all destroyers of crops. The consequences which have ensued from the great reduction of the numbers of small birds in France, where they are eagerly sought for the table, should act as a warning to the farmers of all other countries. The most intelligent agriculturists of France are now extremely anxious for the increase of the numbers of small birds, as their only protection against caterpillars and grubs of many kinds. To give a premium for the destruction of sparrows, as is sometimes done in England, is bad policy, unless peculiar local cir cumstances have led to their extraordinary multiplication.