152 FRUIT FARMING 



BIRDS. The worst enemy among this tribe is the 

 Bullfinch ; his attention to the buds of Greengages and 

 other good Plums, Apples, Pears and Gooseberries are 

 to be guarded against. It is to be deplored that such 

 beautiful birds must be shot, but that is the only way 

 of checking their depredations, as they are bold to a 

 degree. It has been suggested that they should be 

 trapped, as they are very silly birds, and could be taken 

 readily in a trap cage ; they soon make tame pets, 

 and a market can be found for them alive at about 

 3d. each ; probably the bird stuffers would take them 

 dead. He is also, with the Sparrow, a constant visitor 

 to both Currant and Gooseberry bushes ; and although 

 lime and soot applied to the bushes when they are 

 damp will check both, still the gun is to be used 

 with care, as a bad shot will do more harm in a 

 minute than the birds do in a week. As a rule the 

 soft-billed summer birds The Cuckoo, and especially 

 Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Warblers, with our home- 

 dwelling Hedge Sparrows, Tomtits, Thrushes, and Black- 

 birds do a great deal of good, and should not be 

 annihilated, though their numbers have largely increased 

 of late, because of the mild winters experienced, but all 

 growers' men are seldom without a gun to keep them in 

 bounds. It is very annoying to have fruit spoilt by 

 Tits, or by larger birds, yet on the whole they do a 

 vast amount of good, and were they destroyed entirely 

 we should soon see an enormous growth of caterpillars 

 and similar pests, as frequently reported from the 

 Continent. It is a good plan to plant common Sun- 

 flowers in fruit gardens ; many birds are then attracted 

 from the fruit, as they richly enjoy the oily seeds. The 

 Sparrow is troublesome at all times, and must be 



