484 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 15, 1893. 
for my bread, I regret that I once had prejudices similar to those that 
your correspondent now possesses, but which, after much thought and 
close observation, have now entirely disappeared. And certainly my 
esperience is practical. I have been favoured by an all-round experience, 
and since a very severe frost some fifteen years ago, having given special 
attention to the good and—yes, evil properties of sparrows and others 
of the hard-billed birds, and also to the unadulterated good of the 
more continuous insect-eaters, my position now is that of one not only 
experienced, but firmly grounded in the conviction that, with sparrows 
include 1 in particular, birds grouped are good to mankind. To ignore 
that hither and thither there are not found those who have just reason 
to complain of vexatious depredations would be an injustice that fact 
does not justify. 
Eather than sim ply describing the sparrow as “a feeder of seeds and vege¬ 
tables,” it would be more correct, in populous towns especially, to describe 
him as a scavenger, and a bird that by its practically continuous atten¬ 
tion to the ashpit and gutters purifies our atmosphere by clearing away 
unconsumed portions of flesh and filth, of which much accumulates 
near human habitations. But have your readers never observed how 
•closely the sparrow copies man’s ways 1 He loves his home, he loves for 
food a good mixed dish, and he even delights in and takes his few weeks’ 
holiday, but, wise bird! just at the time when the new corn is in the 
milch state, a pleasant change to the palate, is desirable for his 
health’s sake. So it was, I suppose, that the cottager (page 445) was 
left with but the valueless straw to winter on. The grower had 
neglected to protect, as some easy people do their Apples from boys; 
and the sparrows, which cleared off the bloom of “ W. K. Eaillem’s ” 
Apple tree, would, I suppose, also hold equally high festival. 
But I suppose I must now proceed to give more tangent reasons for 
the faith that possesses me. Having nailed my colours to the mast I 
must justify how even a fruit grower can delight in birds. It is admitted 
of both birds and animals that they possess wonderous instinct. It is 
the same truth—man’s brain, with kingly pride, reigns over and sub¬ 
dues. Man as he marches on to futurity is a gatherer by the way ; he 
probes deeper and still deeper, and so grows in wisdom. “ W. E. Eaillem ” 
must tack his Apple tree to mine, and we must divide the average crops. 
If necessary he must even uproot it, as our noble army of engineers 
supersedes faulty vessels. He must look upon his pillaged Apple tree 
as the engineer looks upon the too-frail storm-tossed barque, not neglect¬ 
ing to recognise that these are simply difficulties destined to be over¬ 
come. In looking into Nature’s laws we find it more deeply engraved 
than man possibly can engrave that we must labour and cultivate, 
difficulties being the forerunner of knowledge, they making cultivation 
a necessity ; and troubles, whether arising from the untamable elements, 
from the lowly sparrow or from any other cause, we must not risk 
ignorantly, but make sure only by wisdom’s ways to overcome them. 
The sparrow’s nature is this. Near populous places where table 
sweepings are plentiful he will, whilst neglecting caterpillars, eat more 
or less green food as the nature of the more solid food secured neces¬ 
sitates. On the contrary, if encouraged to breed in the open country, 
where the kitchenmaid’s delicacies are scarce, then he will during the 
blooming period greedily devour caterpillars, as my home - bred 
sparrows have now done for years, and without, except when the ground 
is wrapt in snow, so far as I can discover, ever even touching leaf or 
bud. Save the holiday period spoken of, they go poking about among 
the trees all the rest of the year, and so it is that, though I could do 
with a few extra hands during May and June, they succeed in protecting 
my crops from harm. But to expect such protection near large towns 
or near vicinity stackyards is folly, as the harder the food the more is 
greenstuff a necessity to birds. In such places, feather as pre¬ 
ponderating over foliage, so we have a sample of these disasters out of 
which man’s desirable robustness grows. 
As to the soft-billed, or more especially insect-eating birds, in the 
north we have them in too few numbers, and far too little with us, 
and but for the sparrows fruit crops would be a failure. I certainly 
would consent to replace that unneighbourly specimen that copied 
man so far as to attempt to take the martin’s house and goods, but as I 
do not breed such bad characters I have no reason to do so. As to 
getting^ worse, that, too, I hold as not satisfaetorily proven, and attribute 
such charges rather to the cheaper press of these recent times, to 
greater faeility in reporting such asserted retrogression. Sparrows, too, 
are quickeners of gardeners, not parasites on them ; and did they in all 
cases succeed in moving gardeners’ brains to greater activity as they 
have frequently moved mine, so much the better would it be for 
gardeners and the commendable trade to which they are already so 
much credit.— Joseph Witherspoon. 
When at home much of that which I term my restful time is spent 
cither in my gardens or in my little wood. It amounts to some hours 
a week, and this is for the observation of bird life and natural objects. 
I have read with attention the correspondence that has lately appeared 
in the Journal about sparrows. To me it is a very curious fact that 
there are some who deem the bird entirely a saint, while others aver 
that he is “ an awful sinner.” Surely there must be “ sparrows and 
sparrows ”—sparrows good and sparrows bad; sparrows possessed of an 
evil spirit, besides those whose “ways” are all that can be desired. I 
am sorry to say that I have never had the good fortune to have a colony 
of the latter about my premises. We are told by one writer that the 
reasoii the sparrow is so very naughty is because he wants water ; if he 
P'lt for him he will not peck out the fruit buds. Now it 
60 happens that I feed my birds well every day, and there are three 
pans of water put for them, which is “refreshed” two or three times 
a day. One would think so good a bird as the sparrow is represented 
to be by some that he would have some feeling akin to gratitude for 
“ past favours but if so he has a decidedly queer way of showing it 
unless he mistakes my desires, for he annoys me beyond endurance by 
pecking off all my Primrose flowers, my Crocus, and many other things 
he does that are equally wicked. In fact, I have a horror and a detes¬ 
tation of him, and would gladly be without him, in spite of all the good 
that he is said to do. 
In my garden he is most troublesome and quarrelsome. He drives 
away my whitethroats, my blackcaps, and fights my thrushes. Some 
half wild Barbary doves came into my wood, when directly they settled 
the sparrows “ went at them ” and drove them away. I wish that the 
sparrows and the bullfinches would gratify those who see so much good 
in them by never leaving their orehards and gardens. I am fully aware 
of how the sparrows feed their young when they can get it—that is, on 
insect life ; but this is only the first week of the nestling. After then 
they begin to give them grain, buds, or anything that they think suit¬ 
able, “ W. T. B.” (page 463) says he never saw them pick Croci. I 
have, and watched them patiently, and seen them tear off the blooms 
and throw them down by the dozen ; and so with Primroses. As to 
their stopping water pipes, I stop that by putting wire netting over the 
tops. “ W. T. B.” says the “ hedges were swarming with various cater¬ 
pillars,” and his sparrows cleared them. All I can say is that his colony 
are the “saintly” sparrows. I never knew any bird that would eat 
“ various ” kinds of caterpillars. Most birds have their particular kind 
of food, and will not starve in what be a land of plenty to others. 
“ W, T. B.” seems to think that sparrows are more destructive than 
formerly. One reason is that there are more of them. Fifty to sixty 
years ago here in Kent there were numbers of sparrow clubs for 
the purpose of destroying these “ pests.” At this time barns were 
thatched, and I have seen the carter and his lad go round the buildings 
with a ladder and take hundreds of eggs of the sparrow in a few 
evenings, and also some time was spent in clearing them out of the 
martins’ nests. At that time I know, and which is contrary to the 
statement of “ W. T. B.,” that they spoilt many rows of Gooseberry 
and Currant bushes. Lately, while watching some up in an Oak tree 
nearly over my head, I saw them time after time break off young twigs 
and throw them down. I examined several of these, and could not find 
a trace of an insect, and the twig was broken off at the woody, not the 
green part. This sort of thing still goes on, though they come to the 
water pans, and not only drink but wash in them. Be sure it never 
was called “ the mischievous sparrow ” for nothing, but it is so called, 
and I can vouch that in that way it not only has no equal, but by a long 
way it is unapproached.— Harrison Weir. 
THE DAHLIA. 
[A paper read before the members of the Sheffield Floral and Horticultural Society by 
Mr. M. H. WILLFOBD.] 
In the introductory notes of this paper I have taken a few extracts 
from G. Glenny’s book on “ Florists’ Flowers,” relating to the intro¬ 
duction of the Dahlia shows, and the rules laid down as to what should 
constitute a perfect flower. 
The Dahlia was introduced to this country by the Marchioness of 
Bute, who brought the first species from Spain in 1789; but this plant 
was soon afterwards lost, other species found their way here, and they 
were bloomed in due course. During the next ten or fifteen years the 
Dahlia was taken in hand by the florists of Holland, France, and Great 
Britain, and they produced flowers far surpassing in beauty those from 
which they were raised. 
At the period when the varieties were first becoming numerous there 
was every conceivable shape, size, and colour (excepting blue). There 
never was a plant so likely to be destroyed in value by the eagerness to 
multiply the sorts on sale, and the enthusiasm of the public to cultivate 
the largest collection. There was not at this time any notion about 
beauty ; singularity was the first object, and brilliancy of colour went a 
long way towards making a flower singular. 
The leading florists in England thought that a check might be put 
to the wholesale raising and putting on the market of so much objec¬ 
tionable stuff, which would be sure to disgust the public with the flow'er, 
so they established a show at Billingsgate, when a 5-guinea cup was 
given as a first prize, and the money paid for entranee was divided into 
second and third. These were given for the best twelve double flowers. 
The next show under the same auspices was at Hammersmith, when the 
first medals were issued in the name of the Metropolitan Society, not 
then fully organised. The result of this was the public abandonment 
of all but the proper double flowers. The publication of the “ Proper¬ 
ties of the Dahlia” in the Horticultural Journal banished all others 
from the garden as well as from the shows. 
The following is an outline of the properties laid down for the 
perfection of the Dahlia :— 
1st, The flower should be a perfeet circle when viewed in front. 
The petals should be broad at the ends, smooth at the edges, thick in 
