216 EVERSLEY GARDENS 



trustful folk who imported him and built 

 charming houses for him in the trees in 

 Boston, in order to replace the indigenous 

 birds that civilisation had destroyed ; while 

 in this part of England he is becoming so 

 serious a pest to gardener and farmer alike, 

 that sparrow-clubs are being revived, and I am 

 hard-hearted enough to wish them success. 



But despite all the help that friendly birds 

 can give us, May and June always bring what 

 a small schoolboy now a distinguished states- 

 man described in his lesson on the plagues 

 of Egypt as " cadhoppers and grasserpillars 

 inumerable." For the pest of creeping, crawl- 

 ing, flying things is then upon us ; or unless 

 measures can be taken in good time, the first 

 bloom of our roses is sadly marred. As 

 regards the fat brown grub that burrows into 

 the heart of each tender shoot, and sticks the 

 leaves so firmly together that no insecticide 

 can penetrate his fastness, there is, I believe, 

 no remedy save hand-picking, and sickening 

 work it is ; for he is both soft and lively, and 

 needs careful handling lest one should either 



