THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



121 



the ^'igour in tlie plants that are constantly 

 forced. In this way a good niaincrop is as- 

 sured to succeed the forced crop, besides hav- 

 ing a portion for forcing, viz., that which 

 was planted two yeai'^ previously. The 

 ground for this crop should be trenched and 

 well manured, placing leaf^soil, old mortar 

 rubbish, or 'burnt garden refuse around the 

 stools. Champagne is a very early variety, 

 of splendid colour w^hen cooked, and finely 

 flavoured. The Sutton and Dawes' Champion 

 are two excellent varieties for succession. 



8PINACH. — To prevent a shortage in the 

 supply that is sat times felt during the next 

 few weeks when cold weather is generally 

 experienced, a sowing can be made with ad- 

 vantage on a hotbed, which can be succeeded 

 by marrows from pots. Tlie outride spinach 

 should have every encouragement to hasten 

 itK growth; use the Dutch hoe freely, and 

 give sprinklings of soot. Evergreen houghs 

 placed on the cold sides of the bedfi will help 



materially to maintain a regular growth. 

 Tlie same system applies to lettuce, early 



cabbage, etc., and a small plot of each should 

 always be planted on a sheltered .site for 

 early supplies. — G. Ellwood, Swanmore Park 

 Gardens, 



THE VALUE OF BIRDS TO 



MAN. 



(Concluded from page 86.) 



Birds Among: the Fruits. 



Birds are charged, as though the case were 

 one of theft, with feeding to a greater or loss 

 extent on the fruit which they help to pro- 

 duce. In Nature, such services as the bird 

 renders in direct protection of the tree is 

 placed to its credit, and it receives its re- 

 ward. Does man expect it, for his isake, to 

 deviate from those habits which it has con- 

 tracted under natural conditions? In other 

 words, does he expect the bird to assist him 

 in producing an unnatural surplus of fruit? 



Call the bird in the orchard an evil — if you 

 will. But it is a necessary evil, and the 

 fruit-grower must make up his mind to pay 

 the bird its wages, even though at tinier 

 they may .seem exorbitant. 



What would happen to this poorer class of 

 fruit-growers if they were deprived of the 

 services of the bird is best seen in what 

 happened to Frederick the Great. This 

 wortliy, in a fit of passion, because a flock of 

 >parrows had pecked at some of his cherries, 

 ordered every small bird that could be 

 searched out to be instantly killed. Within 

 two years his cherry trees,*' though bare of 

 fruit, were weighed down with a splendid 

 crop of insects. 



The Services of the Bird in the 



Garden. 



The garden is the insect's paradise. It 

 lares suinptuou<=ily everv dav on the most 

 succulent of vegetable foods; Every oppo- 

 tunity IS thus offered for its increase, 

 greatest insect enemy of tlie garden is a 

 ■■^^5^11, dull-coloured, hairless ^ caterpillar, 

 J-iiown as the cut-worm, which is the larva 

 '►t a \octuid moth. This chief of the brigand 

 'anri of garden pests usually hides during 

 yn^ dav beneath matted grass, or under the 



forH ^''i^^/^^,"? ^1^^ I'o^vs of plants. .It comes 

 J rth at dusk to feed. The bird is abroad at 



wnvi. • ^^^^ finds the robber- 



oim m the morning before it has retreated 



^ concealment. 



wli 1? by the way, is the worm 



tl rull 'i.'''^''^'''^^"'^ "^''^^^ ^^^'ly bird in 



uell-known proverb. 



ffardeV^T.^'^"^ •l''^ "^^^ stealthilv to tlie 

 moi fi.. visits are regarded bv man with 

 Tll^a^^:" ^"^Pieion and it is fortunate if 



^na^ ^n^^^ consequence, it 



"aps up a caterpillar and is off aAin leav- 



-'^VTto^^^ ^'r^^ '"'^'^^ eatfii "if'^u;- 

 Oc asi/>n ni "^y^^/^on^ the vegetables. 

 ^Hlowr n ■'■ . ""^^^^ than its 



g places. Nature never having be- 



Tlie 



grudged it the reward of its toil, the bird 

 takes a few peas before leaving. 



The gardener notices the damage done to 

 his peas, and next morning Ls up betimes. 

 He sees the early bird running along the rows 

 of peas, stopping frequently to peck at .some- 

 thing. There is a loud explosion, followed 

 by a pufE of smoke. The c^inoke cslowly drifts 

 away, to disclose a bird lying dead. 



Caterpillars are not gifted with a voice. If 

 they were, they would scarce forbear to 

 cheer. 



Tlie bird is dead. Mark the sequel. One 

 fine morning the gardener issues proudly 

 forth to cut his mammoth cabbage — the one 

 with which he intends to put to utter con- 

 fusion all other competitors at the local 

 fruit and flower «how. Alas for human hopes, 

 and the depredations of caterpillars. llie 

 cabbage Ls riddled like a colander. 



Tlie gardener, wlien he tshot the bird, for- 

 got, if, indeed, he ever knew, that the an- 

 cient law forbade a muzzle to the ox that 

 threshed out the corn. 



Utility of Birds in the Meadow. 



Each sea.son^ until hay-making commences, 

 the grass offers cover and shelter for the nests 

 of such birds as breed on the ground. Tlie 

 fields also provide food for lu'rds. and for the 

 insects on which l)irds Thi!.> Ihcro ii- 



cstahli>hcd a natural inter-rt'hit ion and inter- 

 dependence between the bird and it.s food and 

 shelter — that i.s to say, the insects and the 

 grass. This simulates the condition of the 

 earth before man made discord in the grand 

 harmony of Nature's laws. 



Where the birdrs of the field are undis- 

 turbed they tend to hold the grasN insects in 

 check. On the other hand, when the num- 

 bers of birds in the field are, for any reason, 

 insuflicient, the injects increase. 



Here is an instance of this. Some years 

 ago in Bridgewater, Mas.sachusetts, a great 

 battue was held by the iqii(M ;int townspeople 

 in the spring of the yeai . and ,<o many field 

 birds were killed that tlieir bodies were 

 ploughed into the land for manure. The fol- 

 lowing summer whole fields of grass w^ithercd 

 away and died. This wa.s due solely to the 

 fact that the number of field birds had been 

 reduced, and, in cnseqiience, the prchsu]*' 

 which Nature demands the field bird shall 

 exert upon the field in.-cct had Vie-n rclca>c:l. 



Again. At one time, in New Zealand, it 

 was no uncommon thing to ^ee English grat-i^ 

 wither up in large patches, as thougli 

 scorched by fire. This was due to the work 

 of .a crane-fly and click-beetle, the larv^ of 

 both of which were addicted to the habit of 

 eating the roots of the grass, just under the 

 surface. English grass was then compara- 

 tively limited in the up-country districts, 

 and, as there are large tracts of land in 

 New Zealand destitute of native grasses, the 

 depredations of these insects became a serious 

 matter to those .settlers who had stock to 

 feed, and who were relying on the English 

 grass to feed them. It wa8 all the more 

 serious because the insects were without 

 any natural check, the native birds which 

 had kept their numbers down before the ad- 

 vent of the wdiite man bavins: been .scared 

 from the vicinity of the homesteads. So the 

 beetles continued to make merry, to marry, 

 and to multiply. In a corresponding ratio 

 the grass continued to fade, to wither, and 

 to die. 



Then came the English starling; and so 

 voraciously did it feed on the larvae that soon 

 all was green again. 



Without birds, provided insects were pre- 

 sent, grass could not be grown. The grub 

 of a single species of beetle, if unchecked, 

 could destroy all the grass roots of our 

 meadows, or any one of the several specicvs 

 of the cut-worms might he sufficient to de- 

 stroy all the verdure above ground. 



HORTICULTURAL SHOW ADVERTISE- 

 MENTS are inserted in this column at bix- 

 pence per line, the minimum charge being two Shi3- 

 lings and Sixpence. OfficeiS, 148 and 149 Aldersrate 

 Street, London, E.C. 



••CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND HOW TO GKOW 

 THEM FOR EXHIBITION/' by J. B. Wroe.-Full 

 details on timing and stopping for Northern, 

 Sou t h e rn , and Midland growers, eelec t ion s of t he 

 best varieties, illustrated instructions on taking tJie 

 buds, cuttings, staging, etc. Prices Is. net. by post 

 Is. 2d.; cloth, le. 6d., by post le. 8d., from W. H. 

 and L. Collingrid^e, 148 and 149, Aldersgate Street, 

 London. 



EXHIBITIONS AND 



MEETINGS. 



Royal Horticultural Society. 



In sj)ito of tho l)ad weather, thoro was a 

 bright display in tho Royal Horticultural 

 Hall on Tuesday, Fobruary 6. F'orced 

 .slirul)8. carnations, camellias', and orchidts 

 provided the clii<?f attractions. Novelties 

 were few. There was a capital attendance in 

 the afternoon. 



FLORAL COMMITTEE, 



• A delightful group of forced fiowcring- 

 trtM\s and shrubts from Mc^m^. I!, and 

 CuthlxM't. Southgate, wa.s a prominent fea- 

 ture of tlie meeting, and an especially bright 

 and interesting one, as it horvcd <uu*e more 

 to demonstrate the value ol tln ^e Mil* jocti* for 

 coucervatory decoration. Maunnjiiis' figured 

 lai\nf<'ly in ihv (flit II' ^noiip, and stan- 



dard wi-tiiia- \vr[-<' delioiitiii], were the 

 tall lilacts, Ja>niinuni ]in nui 1 i n inn . Pyru8 

 malu.s fioribunda. mollis a/alca^, Mioisya ter- 

 nata, Forsythia.^, and other lovidy things 

 associated with ])alms and ferns. 



Peqietual carnations were very much in 

 evidenee on this occasion. Mr. H. lJurnett 

 brought over home charming flowers from 

 Guern.sey, and staged these in capital style, 

 setting up fine va.ses of R. F. Felton, White 

 Knchantre.ss. Mandarin. Mrs. H. Huniett, 

 White Perfection, the bold Mainiitm. MonfiK'. 

 Orjdieus. and Majara. the laltcr hnMn^- a good 

 while. 



Mosrs. W. Wells an:l Co., ;M st liaui . con- 

 tributed a small collection of ptM])c1ual car- 

 nations, and <lit^]jos<d the flower- among 

 A-jiara^us Sprengeri, the leadin-r varieties 

 1 .MHO- Wiiite House, May Day, :\Iarmion, and 

 Mika do. 



Ml-. L. R. Russell, Richmond, contributed 

 a batch of Debregae-sia velutina, with its 

 yellowish green fruits, a grouji ot Prunus 

 triloba, and some Ijerried aucuua-. 



Messrs. T. S. \Vare, Lim.. Fcltliain. {(ui- 

 trihuU'd a cniicction of alpine plant.-, in pan^, 

 and thon^jh iew oi tliCM' were in l)loom, they 

 proved intcre.^t'ng and attractive. 



Hnnt lu s of tlie golden S<'ncci{) grandifolius 

 Wi'i- M'nl by Mr. Kem]),-]ia!l. gardener to 

 Maiy ( nunli'N^ of Ilchester. Alihotsbury, Dor- 

 clic-I;T. and wcMc Vi^iv eflcctive. 



.Mc--i [5an ai::l >iki>. ( 'ovcnt Garden, 

 had a In ij^Iit little <\\hii»it ot earlv narcissi, 

 snowdro]).s, lachenalias, and squills. 



The cyclamens frrtm Mcssis. S. Low and 

 Co., Enfield, were exhi!)it<M] in l;:t o<' j)anci of 

 a variety, and in this wav tlu'v were verv 

 eiTect i vc. <'-pi'ciaily >^alnniii Kinii;-. and the 

 fringi'd Mir-. ]iuck>ton. W ith tlie cyclamens 

 were >1h»\v}i -nine hyacinths. Mc-si s. Stuart 

 Lnw and Cn. a!>o d vplaycd ];erpL'tuaI carna- 

 tions in quantity, and made a specially good 

 show of Lady Alington, BaroneFt^de Brieneu, 

 Royal Pur])]e, Beacon, and Fire Glow. 



4 



The question lo-(.lay is mil " Shall we Spray," as e\ ery 

 gardener knows he must ^pr^\y, l.ut " Witat machine 

 or svrinee >ha!I 1 spray with r " All tlie world answers 



U.on.v .eua..e.es.d 



which have won 30 

 Gold Silver Medals, 

 many in open competi- 

 li m with other makes. 

 The mat hine iliusirated 

 is the Kour Oaks Gold 

 Medal Kna])sack Spray- 

 er, 4*5 No ruU}>er 

 valves. Complfte Caia- 

 loi^iu* of Spraying and 

 Liint^vasliing Marh'nes 

 \ erv de*-! lintion Tee on application lo 

 the Sole M.iiui'actiirers-THE FOUR OAKS SPRAYING 



MACHINE CO., No. 3 G , SUTTON COLDFIELD. 



ail! ; 



