138 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



robin are offered with tlic belief that the statements made 

 are correct so far as my own garden is concerned. A small 

 fruit grower differently situated might consider the robin an 

 enemy. The picture of the robin at the nest shows the 

 eagerness with which the young robins anticipate the coming 

 of their food (Fig. G). 



Next to the robin in usefulness in our garden comes the 

 chipping sparrow. This little bird, which often hops about 

 the dooryard of the farmhouse, picking up crumbs that fall 

 from the doorway, spends much of its time in the garden. 



Fig. 6. — Robin with Wliite Gruli for her Young. 



With us it did no noticeable harm, feeding mainly on insects 

 in the spring and summer, and largely on weed seeds in the 

 fall. It was almost constantly busy along the vegetable 

 rows in early summer. It was especially devoted to the 

 green peas and the beets. Beets are usually more or less 

 infested with a larva which mines the leaf, in some cases 

 destroying many leaves. This insect is not usually a seri- 

 ous pest, as some enemy appears to check its undue increase. 

 Early in the season the beets were attacked by it and were 

 quite seriousl}^ infested, but as time went on the number of 

 worms grew less and less. It was noticed that this scarcity 



