Proceedixgs of the Farziees' Club. 271 



with stable manure, to which we add fine charcoal and soapy dish- 

 water. "While it acts well as a fertilizer, it is often an offense to our 

 nostrils, the charcoal not proving a complete deodorizer. What will 

 be better? "Will permanganate of potash or copperas answer the 

 purpose, or would they in any way be injurious to plants ? 



Mr. J. B. Lyman — She has not put in charcoal enough. I have 

 tried this plan : to two or three bushels of hen droppings add some 

 matters gleaned from the kitchen, all sorts of trash, the debris of the 

 household ; over this put a little lime, with some rotten chip dirt on 

 top of all, making a leach into which all the refuse slops of the house- 

 hold pass, and from which one can have a tubfull of rich liquid man- 

 ure. If the smell is bad throw a bag of charcoal into the old tub 

 that sets under the leach. If you want an active stimulant there is 

 nothing like this for asparagus or vines, or for the strawberry plant. 



Mr. H. L. Reade — I have adopted the same plan, only I have a 

 barrel — a tight kerosene barrel — that we can keep covered close. It 

 brings, forward plants in a very remarkable manner. I think the bar- 

 rel is a good plan. 



Mr. Daniels — I have tried the leach system with great success. It 

 affords families who have but little ground the best means of enrich- 

 ing them promptly and at the same time disposing of household sew- 

 age. But it will not do to neglect the leach nor allow vile matters to 

 lie uncovered on the top of it. A box of dry chip dirt or of fine dry 

 clay should stand near the leach, and a half peck of it be used daily. 



Is the English Sparrow a Nuisance? 



Mr. D. Augustus Yanderveer, secretary of the Farmers' Club, 

 Freehold, N. J. — At a meeting of the Monmouth County Farmers' 

 Club, held May 11, the question was asked, are the English sparrows 

 a benefit to the farmer and fruit grower ? No one knew much about 

 their habits and food. The Club wished me to write to your Club for 

 information on the subject. We know they are a benefit to the cities, 

 but thought they might be very destructive to seeds and small fruit. 



The Chairman — I cannot say as to the general question relating to 

 the country, but I know what I observed in the lot at the back of my 

 house, where I have some rose bushes, cottage roses, variegated, 

 sometimes white and sometimes red, and for that reason I like them. 

 They are like the XV th Amendment, and every morning there comes 

 over from the lot about seven sparrows. They first go along upon 

 the lattice work, where runs the wisteria, going the whole length of 

 the fence ; and after they have gone through that they come upon my 



