EVIDENCE. FROM AUSTRALIAN PUBLICATIONS. 349 



(2) That the responses of sufferers within the foregoing area cry for relief from 

 Sparrow depredations as if from a pest, and with what reason, the following state- 

 ments, as examples, may show : From Mr. John Chambers, of South Richmond : " In 

 the short space of ten clays the Sparrows took a ton and a half of grapes. They 

 stripped all the figs of five trees. They kept low 15 acres of lucerne during the sum- 

 mer." From Mr. Finden, of Salisbury : "This season they (the Sparrows) took £30 

 worth of fruit." Mr. Wilcox, of Lower Mitcham : "Has three times this season sown 

 peas, and they have each time been destroyed by Sparrows." 



(3) That the species of Sparrow domiciling in South Australia damages or consumes 

 fruits, cereals, and vegetables. Its fecundity is astonishing. A few to-day are thou- 

 sands next season. Its work is done on a magnitude despairing to the cultivator, and 

 under conditions he can not control; for the seed is taken out of the ground, the 

 fruit-bud off the tree, the sprouting vegetable as fast as it grows, and the fruit ere it 

 is ripe, and therefore before it can be housed and saved. 



(4) That the cultivations attacked by Sparrows are as follows: Of fruits: Apri- 

 cots, cherries, figs, apples, grapes, peaches, plums, pears, nectarines, loquats, and 

 olives. Of cereals: Wheat and barley. Of Vegetables: Peas, cabbages, cauliflowers, 

 and garden seeds generally. 



(5) That the means of defense tried against the Sparrow depredations have been 

 scare-crows, traps, netting, shooting, poison of phosphorous, arsenic, and strychnine, 

 applied through grain, bread, bran, and sugar. The results are generally stated as 

 having been insufficient, which may be due to the modes of administration rather 

 than to defects in the materials employed. 



(6) To the above expedients the following are suggested by our correspondents, 

 namely: The tender of rewards for Sparrows' eggs and heads, the removal of gun 

 licenses for the season, poisoned water in summer, sulphur fumes under roosts at^ight, 

 and plaster of Paris mixed with oatmeal and flour. It is further declared that the 

 united action of all property holders, including the government, in infested districts 

 is essential to effective results. 



II. Without reference to ulterior measures, which may be influenced by inquiries 

 the commission have on foot, their object in tendering this progress report is to 

 submit for the approval of your excellency the propriety of at once setting to work 

 one useful means applicable to the breeding season now commencing, namely : A 

 system of rewards for Sparrows' eggs and heads, through responsible agents readily 

 accessible in the various Sparrow districts; and we suggest, as a trial, that the rate 

 of payment should be 6d. per dozen for Sparrows' heads delivered, and 2s. 6d. per one 

 hundred for Sparrows' eggs delivered ; each class to be supplemented by a bonus of 



to any one who delivered in one season eggs or Sparrows. 



III. Your committee have not received any evidence in defence of the Sparrow 

 counterbalancing the damage he does. They have sought proof of his insectivorous 

 habits, but with little result. 



[The following are fair samples of the evidence collected and published by the com- 

 mission. These reports all come from points, within a hundred miles of the city of 

 Adelaide, South Australia. ] 



[Joseph. Barnes, Richmond.] 



Sparrows very numerous ; great damage done to fruits— apricots, grapes, figs, and 

 plums. Has heard that wheat steeped in turpentine will kill them, and intends to 

 try it. 



[John James Beverly, Chairman Woodville District Council.] 



Sparrows are in his neighborhood to the number of tens of thousands, and they de- 

 stroy buds of fruit trees xo an enormous extent. Has used Pitt's wheat, but it is not 

 successful after the first day or two. Thinks every householder should be compelled 

 to adopt the means recommended by the commission to destroy them, 



