450 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Fish netting is very often largely used for small areas ; boughs 

 with plenty of twigs are sometimes used to protect seed beds. The 

 worst seed -eating birds are the sparrow, greenfinch, rook, chaffinch, lark, 

 wood-pigeon, and brown linnet. 



PEOTECTION OF BUDS. 



It seems possible that spraying trees and bushes with lime-wash will 

 deter birds from eating the buds, but the cost and trouble are con- 

 siderable, as the plants need to be continuously covered with the lime 

 from autumn till spring, which necessitates several sprayings, but is 

 advantageous to the trees and bushes. Lime or soot thrown up into 

 the trees or over bushes when moist with dew, helps in the protection 

 of the buds, checks insects, cleans the trees, and acts as a manure. 

 Gooseberry and currant bushes are in many places cottoned, for which 

 purpose a special tool called "the webber " may be used. My friend 

 Mr. F. Baker, of Meopham, practises and recommends tying the branches 

 of gooseberries closely together, somewhat like a broom, during winter to 

 protect the buds from birds, and releasing them in spring when the danger 

 is over ; he has shown me good results from this method. The worst 

 birds, as regards buds, are the bullfinch, house sparrow, greenfinch, and 

 chaffinch. 



PROTECTION OF FRUIT. 



The most perfect safeguard against birds eating the fruit is to wire 

 in the fruit bushes with wire netting over and at the sides, but this is 

 very expensive ; in gardens string netting is largely used, but is not 

 practicable in orchards or fruit plantations, and some form of scaring is 

 necessary either by clappers, bell, or by the gun. 



With regard to the damage to apples and pears through the blue and 

 great tits pecking them, Mr. Frederick Smith, of Loddington, near 

 Maidstone, tells us in his excellent paper on " The Fruit-grower and the 

 Birds," read before the Maidstone Farmers' Club in 1906, that from his 

 experience in his own plantations he has found that sunflowers planted 

 in his fruit orchards tend to keep these birds away from the fruit, as they 

 are so fond of sunflower seed, and he recommends their growth as a 

 means of protection. 



For persons fond of birds and wishing to know more about them who 

 live near, or come up to London, I would recommend a visit to the South 

 Kensington Natural History Museum to see the superbly mounted cases 

 of British birds in natural surroundings. The Director of the Natural 

 History Museum at South Kensington kindly gave me permission to 

 quote from "The Guide to the Nesting Series of British Birds" if I 

 acknowledged the source. From this useful guide I have quoted most 

 of the numbers of eggs and the number of broods, and in several cases 

 as to the migration of the birds. I beg to tender my sincere thanks for 

 the privilege. I have also to tender my thanks to others who have very 

 kindly assisted me with information, but whose names are too many, I 

 fear, to mention individually. 



