Pebiiiai7 n, 1R74. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



127 



finalJy disappeared. He was very tame, and would allow me 

 to come withiu a few yards of him. 



Up to the middle of the month we had been been unusually 

 free from blackbirds ; we bad only our own home-brod birds 

 about, and we did not much object to their helping themselves 

 to fruit. There was plenty for us all ; but one morning, about 

 the middle of the month, when I went out, I saw the Rasp- 

 berry bushes in a state of agitation. They were shaking about 

 without any apparent cause, but on going nearer to see what 

 was the matter, about twenty blackbirds fled out of them, 

 and as many more from an adjoining plantation of Red 

 Currants. The case was evident enough : my neighbours' 

 blackbu'ds, having finished the fruit at home, had come and 

 quartered themselves on me. Others came to join them, till 

 the garden was full of them. We shot at them, we tried to 

 drive them away with dogs, by shouting, by throwing stones, 

 but to no purpose ; at last they would not even rise, but 

 sat there, hiding themselves in the foliage, twittering and 

 laughing at us. They finished the Raspberries and Currants ; 

 then all the Gooseberries which were not covered ; then the 

 early Pears ; then they set to work at the Plums, preferring 

 the Victorias to all others, but when they were finished, taking 

 any that were left, ripe or unripe — all was the same to them ; 

 then they finished the Mahonia berries. Then they disap- 

 peared for a time, returning about the middle of October, to 

 eat the windfalls from some perry Pears. This done, they left 

 us for the winter, and returned to their own homes. They 

 were assisted by a pair of missel thrushes and a few song 

 thrushes ; but these last are by no means so bold or so 

 voracious as their kinsmen. 



In Sejiti'mbi'i- and October, beyond the raids of blackbirds 

 mentioned above, I have little to chronicle. We had a passing 

 visit from blackcaps and tomtits, which took a few of the 

 tender-shelled nuts — Cosford I think they are called. The 

 birds always take these nuts. The tomtits, too, stocked a few 

 of the Pears, but did far less damage than in some previous 

 years. About the end of the month the Apple and Pear crop 

 was gathered and stowed away, and, as I vainly hoped, was 

 safe against the incursions of enemies ; but in this I was mis- 

 taken. On going to look at my fruit one day, I found large 

 slices taken out of the best specimens of Pears, and on ex- 

 amining the fruit there could be no mistake about the per- 

 petrators. The rats had got to them. These voracious brutes 

 seem to swarm in every part of the country to an extent which 

 never was known before. I expect that the destruction of 

 stoats and weasels by game-keepers has much to do with then' 

 increase ; I believe, even from their own point of view, keepers 

 would be gainers if they preserved the weasels, at any rate for 

 some years to come, for the rats are great destroyers of eggs 

 as well as of young rabbits, and are very difficult to catch, as 

 I can testify. They have scaled the walls of the house by 

 means of the Ivy, got into the root in some way we cannot 

 discover, and have destroyed the best of the fruit which was 

 stored there. 'We can hear them at night, knocking down the 

 Apples with a bump from the shelves on which they were 

 placed, and then rolling them along the floor to some part 

 where thej' stow them away. We dare not poison them, for in 

 this case they prove greater nuisances in their deaths than in 

 their lives. We have tried traps of all varieties, but though 

 we have caught a few, we cannot get rid of them altogether. 

 I have discovered, however, that they can be driven from any 

 particular run which they frequent by pouring gas tar into it, 

 for rats, though living in and upon every kind of filth, are very 

 particular about their personal cleanliness. 



In December the only stray birds which I noticed were a 

 family of bottle tits, which, as usual, made but a passing visit ; 

 and a few solitary cock bullfinches. Our birds are now re- 

 duced to about the original stock with which we began the 

 year, with the exception of the starlings, which left us in the 

 summer, and probably were killed in some of their plundering 

 expeditions. We have a few blackbirds and thrushes, robins, 

 hedge sparrows, chaffinches, wrens, house sparrows, and yellow- 

 hammers. 



I may venture, however, to say a word or two on the Wild 

 Birds' Protection Act, which prohibits the Idlling of certain 

 birds during the breeding season — from the l">th March to the 

 1st August, yearly. The list of protected birds seems to have 

 been drawn up with gi-eat care and knowlrdge of their habits. 

 The only names I could wish to see added to the list are the 

 chaffinch and the linnet, but I suppose many gardeners would 

 object, as they are undoubtedly troublesome in devouring 

 the newly-sown seeds ; but I think all the omissions of the 



Bill are judicious. The starling, for instance, is one of the 

 greatest thieves we have for certain kuids of fruit. It is par- 

 ticularly fond of Cherries, and your readers may imagine what 

 chance a grower of Cherries would have of a crop, when I 

 mention that in one large orchard in this county I am in- 

 formed that more than one thousand starlings were killed. 

 They came in large flocks — two or three hundred at a time, 

 and settled on the trees, and would soon have stripped them of 

 all their fruit if they had been uniuolested. Blackbirds and 

 missel thrushes are also rightly omitted, for they are om- 

 nivorous as far as fruit is concerned, and are so bold, and 

 have such enormous appetites, that it is necessary to wage war 

 agamst them ; but I must confess to a weakness for the sing- 

 ing thrush, and could wish to see his name inserted in the pro- 

 tected list. The bullfinch again is most properly omitted, as 

 he is most destructive to the tender buds, and, as I mentioned 

 in my last notice, he lives on them, and not on any grubs they 

 may be supposed by charitable people to contain. The house 

 sparrow, too, though at times he is very useful, is at other 

 times so destructive that he is fairly exempted from protection. 

 The same may be said of the magpie and jay, and even of the 

 rook, which, though most valuable in the spring, requires to bo 

 kept at a distance in the fruit season, as he, too, has a parti- 

 cular weakness for Cherries and for Walnuts. On the whole, 

 I think the Bill has been most carefully drawn. The insect- 

 eating birds, as a rule, are protected, while the fruit and grain 

 devourers are very properly left to take care of themselves. — 

 William Lea, St. Peter's, Droitwich. 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBUEBAN GARDENING. 



When the weather is not very inviting forout-door operations, 

 advantage should be taken of it to regulate the greeuhouse and 

 frame plants previously to commencing their spring growth. 

 That the health of plants as well as of animals is materially 

 influenced by cleanliness is evident from the difference between 

 the growth of the same species in the country and in the smoky 

 atmosphere of large towns. In the coiintry plants grow with 

 vigour, whereas in the town, although enjoying the same ad- 

 vantages as to soil and water, they only drflg out a miserable 

 existence. This is caused by the respiratory organs becoming 

 choked by the accumulation of dust on the foliage ; and as the 

 plant is thus unable to breathe, some derangement of the system 

 must be the result. In the constitueut parts of the atmosphere 

 the most delicate analysis has failed to detect any material 

 difference between that of densely populated towus and open 

 places, but that it is less transparent is obvious to those who 

 have ever observed it from a distant eminence. There is no 

 doubt, therefore, that the want of light and the dirty state of 

 the foliage are the principal reasons why plants do not thrive 

 in towns; but the success that has attended their cultivation in 

 Ward's cases proves that they can be grown in such situations, 

 provided they are kept clean, have all the light that can be pro- 

 cured, and are not parched-up by a dry atmosphere, for it is 

 to keeping plants free from dirt and to supplying them with an 

 atmosphere containing moisture proportionate with the tempe- 

 rature of their liabitations, that we may attribute their success- 

 ful cultivation in glazed cases. From the above observations 

 the window gardener will see the necessity of keeping his plants 

 clean, especially in dull weather, and the possessors of frames 

 and greenhouses the propriety of washing the glass frequently. 

 In regulating the plants it will be well to wash the foliage of 

 Oranges, Camellias, and other smooth-leaved plants with a 

 sponge and clean water, and the dust may be removed from 

 Pelargoniums aud other woolly-leaved plants by brushing them 

 lightly with a soft brush. After the plants are cleaned the pots 

 should he washed, and the surface in each replaced with fresh 

 soil, and if they require it they should be neatly tied to fresh 

 stakes. It is not an uncommon occurrence to see a stick as 

 thick as a man's thumb supporting the delicate stem of a Cal- ' 

 ceolaria, or forming part of a trellis for a fragile and elegant 

 climber. This is bad taste ; and it should be recollected that as 

 a support of this kind is only a necessary evil, the more slender 

 the sticks are the better. 



Carnations, Picotees, Auriculas, and Polyanthuses in frames 

 should have all the air possible in mild weather, but they must 

 be protected from wet. It is a good plan to have the frames 

 raised upon a brick placed beneath each corner, with moveable 

 boards to fit round it, so that thej' may be let down in mild 

 weather to admit a current of air among the plants, and be 

 replaced in case of frost. Eemove all decaying matter, so aa to 

 keep the atmosphere within as pure as possible, and prevent 

 the attack of mildew on the plants. 



Where the first sowing of Peas is coming through the grounds 

 it will be advisable to draw a little earth to the plants. In case 

 of mice attacking them, I know of no better plan than trapping 

 them; that called the figure-of-4 trap, a number of which can 



