299 
PARK AND CEMETERY . 
thousands whose daily toil must be 
on and along these waterways and 
harbors we are to make, that same 
considered beauty will be again most 
thoroughly worth while. We emulate, 
but we do not equal, the achievement 
of the Greeks of the golden age. when 
the beaut}' of the hills and the water- 
ways of God's creation were fitly seen 
in connection with the noblest efforts 
of man’s genius in sculpture and 
architecture. We need the Grecian 
sense of beauty; we need an Athens 
and a Parthenon in our national life. 
To have waterway beauty means no 
vastly increased expenditure. Indeed, 
it frequently means security and sta- 
bility in the canals whose banks are 
tree-lined and grass-held, as in Hol- 
land and Sweden. The wear and tear 
on locks of enduring and sightly con- 
crete will be less by far than on 
wasteful metal constructions. The 
harbor improvements that may match 
the best conditions abroad will be eco- 
nomically permanent, as well as stim- 
ulating to local and national pride. 
Bridges crossing streams may add 
great!}' to the scenic effect — or they 
may ruin it. Trees need not be ruth- 
lessly slaughtered, as they have been; 
the rock surfaces must not be made 
horrid with painted sign monstrosi- 
ties. 
Buildings about \Vaterways can be 
as sightly in America as in England, 
France, Denmark and all Europe; we 
are not permanently committed to 
scrap-heap architecture and a volcanic 
sky-line. Hydraulic development can 
be made to introduce sightly archi- 
tecture and not to mean a tearing out 
of the very heart of water beauty. 
All that is needed in recognition of 
the value of beauty, and an orderly 
consideration for it in the great works 
to be done. We have been stupidly 
neglectful of our natural beauties, and 
we can extend that stupidity by hav- 
ing the thousands of miles of coming 
waterways engineered into wasteful 
and uneconomic ugliness. We can 
continue our chasing to Europe of 
more than three hundred millions of 
annual beauty travel, by failing to 
conserve and create the beauty which 
belongs to America. Will we be so 
foolish, so neglectful, so wasteful? 
Indeed, there seems so far to be lit- 
tle recognition of the necessity for 
the conservation of beauty in connec- 
tion with the great movement now 
taking form. The conservation pro- 
gram takes no official account of co- 
ordinating and preserving the beauty 
that pertains to the forests, the land 
and the waterways that are to be con- 
served. Are we to conserve our min- 
erals, forests, water and soil regard- 
less of the natural beauty that was 
once one of the noblest of our coun- 
try’s resources, but which we have 
wasted even more carelessly than the 
coal and iron and soil? 
Let us conserve all the foundations 
of our prosperity, not omitting 
thought of the scenery which is God’s 
message of heaven to us. Let us 
build the structures, dig the canals 
and dredge the harbors of a waterway 
system unparalleled as well in the 
beauty that makes glad the heart as 
in the economy that rejoices the 
pocketbook. 
HOW TO ABATE THE ENGLISH SPARROW NUISANCE 
In response to frequent inquiries 
for means of abating the English 
sparrow nuisance, the Government 
Biological Survey describes a few ap- 
proved methods in Farmers' Bulletin 
38;i recently issued by the Department 
of Agriculture, 
Sparrows frequently give annoy- 
ance by roo.sting in ornamental vines 
and in crevices about buildings. If 
driven out late at night, several 
nights in succession, they will usually 
desert the roost. A jet of water from 
a garden hose is a potent disturber, 
particularly on frosty nights. Where 
water is not available, small Roman 
candles may be employed. 
Though sparrows may be driven 
from a given neighborhood, the relief 
thus obtained is only temporary, and 
has the further objection that the 
nuisance is simply transferred else- 
where. More drastic action is there- 
fore preferable. 
The most effective method of pre- 
\'cnting the increase of sparrows in 
a locality is to destroy their nests at 
intervals of ten or twelve days 
throughout the breeding season. Oc- 
casionally they build large covered 
nests in trees, but as a rule they build 
open nests in bird houses, electric- 
light hoods, cornices, waterspouts and 
similar places. While it is often diffi- 
cult to reach nests with the hand, 
they can usually be torn down by 
means of a long pole having an iron 
hook at the tip. By a concerted and 
continued movement to destroy every 
nest after the eggs are laid, English 
siiarrows in any locality may be grad- 
ually reduced without resorting to 
shot or poison. 
The sparrow's habit of nesting in 
cavities can be turned to account 
against it. By providing one-room 
bird houses, or even packing boxes 
or tin cans, and putting them in trees 
or on poles or buildings at a height 
of about 10 feet, the birds may be 
captured after dark with the aid of a 
long-handled net. This net should 
have a deep bag and a small hoop 
made to fit the front of the boxes 
closely. After the net has been 
quietly placed over the entrance, a 
few raps on the box will send the 
tenant into it. Dilapidated buildings 
may sometimes be fitted up for catch- 
ing sparrows in this way, as well as 
for destroying their nests and eg.gs. 
An ordinary wooden box may be 
nailed to the inside of the building 
over a hole made to admit the spar- 
rows. The box should be arranged 
so that the top or upper part of the 
back can be lifted to gain access to 
the inside. 
A small bird box may be hung on a 
building or a tree. Its floor should 
be about 6 inches square and its height 
at the eaves about S inches. The roof 
should be hinged at the top for re- 
moving the eggs or young. Such 
boxes may be built of rough boards 
at slight cost. By distributing a num- 
ber of them about orchards, shade 
trees, and outbuildings, and catching 
the sparrows that occupy them, or 
by destroying eggs, the work of ex- 
termination may be carried on at a 
season when other methods are least 
effective. 
Preliminary to the following de- 
structive measures, sparrows should 
be baited until they are attached to 
the spot selected for their execution. 
Seeds, grain, or waste from the table, 
if supplied regularly, will soon estab- 
lish a feeding place. If a general 
campaign is to be undertaken, enough 
such feeding places should be main- 
tained to attract to them practically 
all the English sparrows in the neigh- 
borhood. This can easily be done in 
winter when food is scarce. After 
thus baiting the sparrows they may 
be trapped, shot or poisoned. 
Traps alone are inadequate to ex- 
terminate sparrows, but a reduction 
of numbers can be effected by using 
a shallow box not less than 4 feet 
square, open on one side and cov- 
ered with woven wire on the other. 
One side of this trap rests on the 
ground, while the opposite side is 
supported by a stick 18 inches long. 
Near the upper end of this stick is 
