EVIDENCE. — INJURY TO FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 245 



District of Columbia. — Washington. William Saunders, superintendent of gar- 

 dens and grounds, U. S. Department of Agriculture : Small fruits do not seem to be 

 damaged much here in the city. As the boys prevent auy of our grapes from ripen- 

 ing, I do not know how the Sparrows would affect that fruit. (April 13, 1887.) 



Washington. Michael Durkin, gardener at the Navy Yard : It is very destructive 

 to fruit. This season it took all the cherries from the trees on the grounds, so that 

 not a single one remained. Early grapes, against the wall of the grounds, were at- 

 tacked as soon as they began to ripen, and we obtained none fit for use. It also at- 

 tacked the tops of peas as they came through the ground, as well as the tops of 

 sprouting carrots and beets. (August 22, 1887. Present about fifteen years.) 



Washington. Hawkins Taylor : The cat-bird and other birds eat my cherries and 

 other fruits, greatly to my disgust, but I am sure the Sparrows have never touched a 

 cherry, grape, or berry, and there are swarms of them about all the time, and no 

 other birds ; and if the Sparrows do not eat my grapes and fruits, why do they eat 

 other people's grapes and fruits? (May 18, 1887.) 



Georgia. — Americus. M. B. Council: It is very destructive to all garden seeds. 

 (September 2, 1886. Present about two years.) 



Atlanta. Judge John D. Cunningham, president Georgia Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion : I have heard no complaint of the English Sparrow. (October 18, 1886.) 



Cartersville. William Miluer: We observe that they are very destructive to the 

 grape crop and to all berry crops. (October 4, 1886. Present about three years.) 



Fairburn. George Latham : It eats English peas, young turnips, and nearly all 

 young vegetables. (October 16, 1886. Present three or four years.) 



Lumpkin. A. W. Latimer: It injures garden fruits and vegetables to a limited 

 extent; it destroys cabbage and turnip seed. (September 5, 1886. Present about 

 five years.) 



Macon. Prof. J. E. Willet : It injures garden fruits and vegetables to some ex- 

 tent. It has eaten early lettuce and the leaves of English peas in January, February, 

 and March. It also eats the seeds of lettuce, and I think of the sunflower. (No- 

 vember 2, 1886. Present ten or twelve years.) 



MiUedgeville. Postmaster : There is some complaint by gardeners. When plants 

 are seeding it destroys small seeds to a limited extent. (November 4, 1886. Present 

 about six years.) 



Savannah. J. N. Johnson: It injures fruits and vegetables but little; eating 

 grapes and destroying flower seeds in gardens. On the garden farms in the suburbs 

 it destroys to a limited extent various seeds, but it has not gone into the country 

 generally as yet. (October 7, 1886. Present about eight years.) 



Illinois. — Alton Junction (country). John Koch: It likes peas, and cherries are 

 not safe from it ; but it is not plenty enough here yet to do much damage. (Septem- 

 ber 25, 1886. Present about four years.) 



Bernadotte. Dr. W. S. Strode: Latterly instead of cereals I have found grape 

 pulp in large quantities in the stomachs, and this crop has been fearfully damaged; 

 fully one-half, or even more, of the grapes on the bunch being eaten, probably one- 

 third of the crop being destroyed. The bird operates by inserting his bill and suck- 

 ing out the contents, leaving the empty skins on the vine. (September 7, 1887.) 



The fact that the English Sparrow seems determined to sample everything that 

 the agriculturist can produce from the soil was illustrated here this fall by its pick- 

 ing holes into the sides of turnips, damaging many of them even while on every side 

 there was an abundance of grain and weed seeds. (December 6, 1887. Present two 

 or three years. ) 



CollinsviUe. Henry De Wald : It does not injure fruits or vegetables much ; it eats 

 a few berries and cherries. (October 5, 1886. Present about twelve years.) 



East Wheatland. W. D. Patterson : It injures currants and raspberries, and eats 

 a few strawberries. It also eats peas. (January 1888. Present about three years.) 



Hillsborough. A.J.Edwards: It is a constant visitor to our gardens, but I have 



