ANNUAL MEETING AT LEXINGTON. 321 



Miss Gordon Curainings writes up one case in which a horticultur- 

 ist was foraged upon by these nuisances to the extent of a ton and a 

 half of grapes and the entire product of five fig trees, and this assess- 

 ment was levied and collected in the brief period often days. 



Kev. J. G. Wood says : " Poison and traps have been tried in 

 vain, as the sparrow finds fruits quite good enough for him without 

 eating poison, and is much too clever to be enticed into a trap." 



An Australian journal says: " The sparrow in Australia has con- 

 ceived a new and broader scheme of life than that with which he was 

 satisfied in the old country. Nothing is safe from his devastating bill. 

 His appetite for grapes is insatiable, in figs is his delight. In peaches, 

 nectarines, apricots, pears and plums he makes such sad havoc as to 

 cause a famine in those fruits, abundantly as they grow in the kindly 

 soil of Australia. The agriculturist has found in him a foe more terri- 

 ble than the blight or the caterpillar. Wheat, barley and peas are de- 

 voured in the ear and in the pod, when fruits are not in season. AYhen 

 neither fruits nor grain are to be got, then tender flower buds and suc- 

 culent young vegetable shoots are laid under contribution," 



For years in some parts of the continent he has been an out-law 

 upon whose head a price was set. Yet his increase is steady. 



The fecundity of the bird is astonishing. I have known a pair to 

 raise to flight three broods of from four to six birds each in a single 

 season — from twelve to eighteed birds increase from a single pair. We 

 may safely put the increase at ten fold per annum, which will cover the 

 Ameicau continent more rapidly than did the Europeans. 



Finally the English sparrow was a stranger and we took him in, 

 and, verily, he promises at a far too early day to return the compli- 

 ment. 



Mr. Lionherger — I would like to ask whether the frog is considered 

 beneficial or injurious ? 



Mr. Goodman. — The toad is one of our best friends. A good big 

 one is worth ten dollars. The frog is our friend also. 



Mr. President. — The toad is beneficial to the agriculturist. I do 

 not know that the frog is. 



Mr. Patterson. — One 'frog caught in a pond was opened and found 

 to contain five large grasshoppers. It was not a toad. 



H. K 21 



