1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
179 
for fruits and leaf-buds (the last observation is an 
original one of the “ Nuttall Club ”), renders them 
decidedly a pest to horticulturists.” As this state¬ 
ment, if true, would be alarming for horticulturists, 
I should be very glad if the above quoted contra¬ 
dictory observations of Bechstein and Gloger would 
find a place in some prominent paper or magaziue 
devoted to the interests of horticulturists. But I 
can give them some farther cousolation. It is, 
perhaps, not commonly known to what an extent 
the horticulturists here find it profitable to depend 
upon German horticulturists. In 1867, wishing to 
send home a set of flower seeds, I went to the most 
prominent dealers, stated my purpose, and got the 
answer : “ We import all our seeds from Germany.” 
In 1874, I was asked by a friend to send the seeds 
of the American native Pine-trees. After going 
around in Boston, without success, I wrote to New 
York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis, and had from all 
the same answer. Now, when American dealers 
find it profitable to import seeds from Germany, 
and German dealers find it profitable to export 
them, it is rather obvious that the Sparrows, so ex¬ 
ceedingly common in Germany nursery gardens, can 
not be a pest there, and consequently will not he a 
pest here. A book commending the persecution of 
Sparrows would at this day be considered by intel¬ 
ligent German horticulturists as a curiosity. The 
argument suggested in the report of the “ Club,” 
that the help of the Sparrows is not needed for the 
suppression of the Canker-worm, because various 
effective devices exist for the protection of fruit 
and shade-trees, decidedly loses its value, when 
summer after summer we have seen those devices 
applied with care, and in spite of these the foliage 
was destroyed—except w’here Sparrows were pres¬ 
ent in sufficient number to check it. Prominence 
has always been given to the alleged fact, that the 
Sparrows drive oil indigenous birds. According to 
my personal observation in Cambridge, and other 
suburbs of Boston, this is not true. When I arrived 
here in 1867 I was surprised by the scarcity of birds 
in such a large number of beautiful gardens and 
splendid grounds. The following spring, I was 
able to understand why birds were so rare here, as 
I saw and heard, morning and afternoon,around and 
very near to the Museum, aDd elsewhere, the shoot¬ 
ing of every kind of bird I saw boys plundering 
the nests of the most valuable insect-eaters, Robins 
mot excepted, and I also saw target-shooting in the 
open field; the target fastened to large trees, upon 
which were birds-nests. During recent years the 
protection of Sparrows has surely saved the native 
birds, and I have never seen in Cambridge more 
native birds, and never heard more beautiful song 
birds than in the summer of 1877. Concerning the 
•diminished number of native birds in the Smith¬ 
sonian grounds in Washington, recorded in the re¬ 
port of the Club, I am assured that one of the fore¬ 
most American Ornithologists denies it to be the 
fact. After all, it should not be forgotten that by 
the rapid increase of 'the cities (Cambridge has 
more than twice as many inhabitants now as it had 
in 1867), and with the incessant disappearance of 
trees and shrubs, some kinds of birds may prefer 
to go to more secluded places. 
The argument that Sparrows drive other birds 
out of the bird-boxes, is a rather funny one, when 
It will be remembered that all those bird-boxes 
were placed only for the Sparrow. I think every 
bird will fight for its home, nevertheless I observed, 
in 1877, Sparrows driven out of the box which they 
had used the year before by Swallows, which raised 
their young safely among a dozen of boxes near by 
used by Sparrows. In a box in the garden at the cor¬ 
ner of Broadway and Harvard St., a pair of Spar¬ 
rows and one of Swallows settled last year together. 
The box had only one entrance, through which both 
had to pass, and as there were two glass windows 
in the box, both nests could be observed, and the 
young of both were safely raised. If, as it seems 
to be the case, that native birds prefernow to breed 
in bird-boxes, which they did not and could not do 
here in former years, it would be simply reasonable 
to place more boxes everywhere, and as is done in 
Europe, different sizes for different kinds of birds. 
Nobody has ever contended that the Sparrow is 
a beauty or a charming singer. Indeed, he is only 
an indefatigable business man, minding first his 
own affairs, as is not uncommon among business 
men. But he is admirably adapted for his business 
—which is to destroy insects ; he is very enduring, 
staying through the winter, when few other insect¬ 
eating birds are here ; he begins to breed much 
earlier, and breeds much oftener, than other birds, 
and is, therefore, more able to give an effective help 
in the destruction of insects and weeds. But it is 
true that he should be supported, as Mr. Allen re¬ 
marks judiciously in the report, through enforcing, 
by statutary enactments, the protection of the fruit 
and shade trees by all available means. 
As no naturalist would pretend, that a bird, by 
importation into a foreign, but similar, climate, 
could entirely change its character in a few years, 
the Sparrow question will probably here go through 
the same, though briefer, stages of opinion as in 
Europe. I consider the Sparrow to be a valuable 
addition to the native birds, and most certainly 
beneficial for both horticulturists and farmers. 
A Wisconsin Barn. 
“ E. T C.,” Dane Co., Wis., sends a plan of a 
style of barn which is common in his neighborhood, 
and is found satisfactory to the farmers there. It 
is 60 feet long, 31 feet wide, with 18 feet posts. It 
has four bents, with a granary at one end, and a 
Fig. 1.— PLAN OF BASEMENT. 
stone basement, 8 feet high, under the whole build¬ 
ing, with sliding windows in the basement. Figure 
1 shows the plan of the basement. There are three 
cattle stalls, A, A, A, each 14x32 feet, and having 
10 stanchions ; at B is the horse stable, 18x32 feet, 
□ 
n 
F IS 
A 
B 
E 
A 
I 
1 
bd 
1 
Fig. 2.— PLAN OF SECOND FLOOK. 
for 6 horses ; at C, C, C, are 3 hay shoots, 2 feet 
square, passing from the manger to the floor over 
the granary; at B is a box, 3 feet square, with 
spout from the oat-bin in the granary above. Figure 
2 shows the plan of the second 
floor; at A, A, are 2 hay bays ; 
at B is the rive-way ; at C, C, C, 
are the hay shoots; at D is the 
stair-way ; at E, E, are spaces on 
each side of the drive-way for 
throwing hay down to the cab 
tie; at iffis the granary. Figure 
3 shows the plan of the hay- 
bay over the granary ; C, C, C, 
being the tops of the hay shoots. 
All the doors in the building are 
hung upon rollers. The granary 
is made of matched boards, and 
the walls are lined in the same way between the 
studding and the siding. The basement is floored 
with plank, with a 2-inch drop behind the horses, 
and a 4-inch drop behind the cows. 
E 
E 
E 
Fig. 3. — PLAN OF 
HAT-BAT. 
Health of Cattle. —Here and there we hear of 
cases of lung-fever, “ plcuro-pneumonia,” among 
dairy cows. It is wise to use every precaution to 
avoid this disease. That it seems to originate in 
dairies in sporadic cases, would go to prove that, 
like cholera and other general diseases, it is not “in 
the air,” as is frequently supposed, but that it is 
caused by some conditions, which arise from the 
state of the stables, or the animals themselves. 
Damp, foul air, uncertain and changeful tempera¬ 
ture, and the breathing of fetid emanations from 
filthy stables and manure heaps, all tend to poison 
the blood, and this is a true blood disease, as may 
be proved from the fact that it can be spread by 
inoculation. To prevent disease by observing every 
sanitary precaution, is always possible, and in case 
of this dreaded disease, we have little fear of its 
appearance if these precautions are generally ob¬ 
served. Once started on its course, however, there 
is no doubt of its contagious character. 
-- <m— -- 
Broad Tires to Wheels.' 
The condition of the roads the past winter, has 
done more to commend, broad-tired wheels, than all 
the arguments that have ever been uttered. The 
soft roads have been so cut up with the lf-inch 
wagon-tires, and these have sunk so deeply in the 
mud that, in some places, travel has been impossi¬ 
ble for weeks at a time. Those who have been 
thus mud-bound, are now convinced that it might 
have been better for them had the tires of their 
wagons been 3 or 4 inches wide ; but they are still 
in doubt about the ease of draft of these broad 
wheels. Now, it should be evident that a broad 
wheel, that will not sink into the ground, is of 
much easier draft than a narrow one that cuts iu 
two or three inches. The difference in draft of a 
narrow and a broad wheel upon the hardest, 
smoothest road is inappreciable, and it is a matter 
of doubt if it is in favor of the one or the other. 
Theoretically, there may be a difference, to a small 
extent, in favor of the narrow tire, but-as our roads 
are far from being hard or smooth, the difference of 
draft will be decidedly iu favor of the broad tire. A 
load of manure can be drawn across plowed ground 
in a broad-tired wagon, by a team that could not 
move it in one with narrow tires, and the softer the 
ground, the more apparent will be the difference in 
favor of the broad wheels. It is to be hoped that 
the manufacturers of wagons will make the ex¬ 
periment of offering wheels with broad tires ; we 
believe they would soon become very popular. 
- ■ !> I -■ 
The Light Brahmas —In a pretty large experi¬ 
ence with fowl raising, for the last thirty years, we 
have tried many sorts, new and old, and have set¬ 
tled upon the Light Brahma as the best fowl for 
villagers and farmers. They are a long time in 
coming to maturity, but there is no difficulty in 
getting nice broilers from them, in July and August, 
or iu getting eggs from the early pullets in the fall, 
and that is about all that can be done with the 
earlier varieties. Well fed pullets, beginning to lay 
in November, in warm quarters, will give an abund¬ 
ance of eggs through the winter, when they bring the 
best prices. They are the largest breed with which 
we are acquainted, adult cocks sometimes weighing 
13 to 16 lbs., and hens 10 to 12 lbs. The flesh is of 
good quality, and when one comes to the table, 
there is enough to go round and some to spare. 
They are the most popular of all varieties, tested 
by the demand for breeding fowls and eggs. * 
-— iBi c—-- 
Value of Jersets.— A public sale of a number 
of imported Jersey cows, in the City of New York, 
at an average of over 8400 each, shows that this 
class of stock is not deteriorating in value. An ex¬ 
amination of the cows sold, satisfies us that a lot of 
equal quality could be picked up in almost any 
county, where there is a fair sprinkling of Jerseys, 
at a less price than $400 each. These, however, 
were imported, and it seems to be true, now as 
ever, “ that a prophet is not without honor save in 
his own country, etc.” There are Jerseys now in 
America, and scores, if not hundreds of them, that 
are better than any we see imported, and no other 
milking stock is so rapidly taking hold of the farm¬ 
er’s fancy as grade Jerseys, especially for butter 
dairies. The greatest value of a pure breed is in its 
use for crossing, and the American farmers are fast 
finding out that the grade Jersey (or Alderney, as 
it is often wrongly c ailed) is a very valuable cow. 
