June 22, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



811 



ounces each in two thicknesses of brown paper, that is 

 one for each jar of water and sulphuric acid. 



To determine the amount of sjjace contained in the 

 liouse ascertain the number of superficial feet tliere are 

 in the gable end of the house and multiply this by its 

 length which will give tlio cul)ic amount. In making 

 the gas use an earthen jar (never metal) large enough 

 to contain all the liquid without slopping over. A 

 gallon jar is a convenient size. Pour the water into 

 the jar, add the acid slowly, and when all is ready start 

 at one end of the house and jiassing each jar drop in 

 the package of cyanide, and when the last one is 

 dropped get out as quickly as possible, lock the door and 

 allow it to remain thus over night. This precaution is 

 necessary, and it cannot be kept too firmly in mind that 

 hydrocyanic acid gas is very poisonous and might prove 

 fatal to anyone entering the house during treatment. 



Stop the Bird Slaughter 



The manner in which the equipoise of nature has 

 been broken into through forest devastation, and indis- 

 criminate slaughter in the bird and animal kingdom, 

 the disturbing eflects already apparent, together with 

 the more serious conditions sure to follow, unless proper 

 action is taken, was referred to by an editorial in a 

 recent number of this paper. That it struck a note 

 which vibrated among those who occupy an observant 

 and progressive position in horticulture is evidenced by 

 a communication which appeared in a following issue. 

 In an article which came under the writer's notice, a 

 statement taken from a bulletin sent out by the Forest 

 Service was quoted, that this country was consuming 

 between three and four times more wood each year than 

 the combined forests of the Ignited States produce in 

 the meantime. The same paper spoke of an appalling 

 array of figures .-bowing the extent of the sacrifice of 

 bird life for millinery purposes alone. 



Mr. Wheeler in his communication calls attention to 

 the extent to which Italian laborers in suburban and 

 outlying districts draw upon bird life for a food supply. 

 That the resources of our country, though vast, are not 

 unlimited is a fact that must be faced in all its bear- 

 ings, and it is apparent that the time has fully come 

 when future prosperity will depend upon the wisdom of 

 present action. 



Legislation and organization are doubtless pertinent 

 means through which desired results may be obtained 

 but the people are not generally awake to the situation. 

 Horticulture, true to its mission as a foremost expo- 

 nent of all matters bearing upon horticultural interests, 

 has placed itself in the forefront of activity in a move- 

 ment to bring out the different aspects of this question. 

 The problem is a large one, the issue a vital one. An 

 effort to arouse the trade and people generally to a 

 proper consideration of this matter and to bring forth 

 the possibilities of a proper adjustment of the same, is 

 certainly worthy of hearty support. 







Our Winged Friends 



Editor HoRTicuLTUEE : — In your issue of Hay 25 

 Mr. Wilfrid Wheeler has touched on a subject of vital 

 importance to all lovers of animated nature, senti- 

 mentally or, as in this particular, practically. He has 

 thus been aroused to his practical and sensible com- 

 munication by your editorial in May 18th issue for 

 which now two at least of your readers feel grateful. 

 It especially should appeal to observant and thinking 

 people subjected to the destructive inroads of the pes- 

 tiferous insects which have abounded in sections of our 

 State for many years. When we think of the magnan- 

 imous liberality with which our State has undertaken 

 the suppression of those destructive insects, and the 

 meagre final result, one cannot but sigh with Mr. 

 Wheeler over the wanton destruction of the birds of the 

 forest and field as carried on by irresponsible and 

 thoughtless persons. Compare the cumbersome and 

 crude methods of insect control as at present practised 

 by man, with the swift-pinioned bird having a taste for 

 insect life, and the contrast is apparent. 



Two important provisions are essential to induce a 

 larger number of various birds to stay with us all the 

 year round. First, shelter; secondly, forage ground. 

 To provide the first, is to enhance the beauty of the 

 landscape, not to mention the moderating effects on 

 bleak, wdnd swept regions, and the conceded water-con- 

 serving influence, by clothing every available bare hill 

 and knoll in the State with evergreen plantations, such 

 as hemlock, spruce, firs and pine. 



Forage ground. This can be provided by private 

 estates as well as public means, by planting largely of 

 fruit-bearing trees and shrubs which, in many cases, are 

 also among the most beautiful flowering shrubs. Haw- 

 thorns, viburnums, roses, privets, are a few examples. 



I was never before impressed to the same extent as 

 I was this last erratic "old-fashioned" winter, with the 

 necessity of looking to the welfare of our much-too-few 

 songbirds. I had a delightful three weeks' visit on my 

 section of the Boston park system in the severest and 

 most dreary part of the winter from a flock of one 

 hundred and fifty to two hundred Alaskan pine gross- 

 beaks, strangers evidently to this latitude except pos- 

 sibly on rare occasions. This is a portly bird of beau- 

 tiful outline and so tame as to indicate that the potr 

 hunter has not yet reached its accustomed haunts. They 

 first paid attention to the haws on the thorns, then they 

 took to the ash seed of which there was an abundance, 

 but not a single seed escaped their keen eyes; then they 

 took to the virburnum and privet seeds, etc. On occa- 

 sions when newly fallen snow was heavy and no litter of 

 any kind was in sight, the self-accommodating and 

 voracious sparrow was also to be seen feeding on privet 

 seeds. This to my mind points eloquently towards, at 

 least, one or two directions in which we may profitably 

 espouse the well-being of our feathered friends. 



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