The Unsung Heroes of the Fidalgo Island Orchard
A local farmer fights back against hunters, arguing that quail are essential allies against cutworms and pests.
The story, cleaned up
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A prominent Fidalgo island farmer says that quail are very valuable acquisitions on the farm, as they destroy all harmful insects, such as cutworms, snails, grasshoppers, etc. He says that until three years ago quail were very plentiful on his place, but hunters with their dogs have them now nearly all killed off. When they were plentiful his garden and orchard were free from all injurious insects, but now the cutworms are in his cabbages and eating his strawberry roots. The snails crawl up his young fruit trees in the spring and early summer, when the tender leaves first come out, and eat them all off, seriously injuring them. He proposes now to post his farm against hunters and to prosecute them to the full extent of the law if he catches them trespassing on his grounds. It seems as though this is a matter worthy the attention of all farmers who have to contend with these formidable insect foes.
“When they were plentiful his garden and orchard were free from all injurious insects.”
This 1892 editorial captures the early local push for wildlife conservation and sustainable farming practices. It resonates with contemporary efforts in the Pacific Northwest to integrate biodiversity into food production to reduce chemical dependency.
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