206 
JOURNAL 
[ September 5, 1339- 
OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
whole all suffered seriously from the hurricane that swept the flowers 
away at the time of fertilisation. The heaviest crops generally were 
among bush fruits and Strawberries ; in fact the crop of Gooseberries 
still is enormous, and after a month’s gathering every day the best of 
Elton Pine was collected to-day among the Strawberries. Figs do well 
outdoors. All the older varieties of Strawberries bore full crops ; they 
were heavily mulched, but many of them are to be discarded for 
Laxton’s Noble, Pioneer, King of the Earlies, and A. F. Barron. I can 
only ask space to name the collections of Primulas, Cinerarias, Liliums, 
Gladioli, Tuberous Begonias ; or the three remarkable hedges of 
Lavender, Clematis (twenty varieties), and Sweet Pea, each 50 yards 
long, worth going a long distance to see. 
The Early and Late Vineries. —In the former the Black Hamburghs 
and Raisin de Calabre are advancing and colouring rapidly. Though 
young ones they bear heavy crops. Very seldom, too seldom, is the 
second named seen, though the bunches and berries are generally very 
large. No bunch here will be under 12 lbs. In the later house 
the Muscats are all that could be desired, and though free from 
insects or disease, Mr. Crawford would not recommend under any cir¬ 
cumstances they should be planted outdoors as here. He thinks they 
should be inside and wholly under control. 
The Stove and Forcing Plant Pits.— Here are many of the large 
specimen plants that have won the first prizes wherever shown, such as 
Palms, Dracaenas, Crotons, large Adiantum farleyense, A. concinnum, 
A. cuneatum, and the Gold Fern, none less than 3 feet high, and more 
across. I cannot hope for space to name the several varieties of 
Acalyphas, Marantas, Sonerilas, Dieffenbachias, Eranthemums, tad 
Pandanus, Aralias, Dicksonias, Seaforthias, Gleichenias, Davallias, and a 
select collection of Orchids. The roof is covered by Stephanotises, 
Kennedyas, Passifloras, and Bignonias. Bather curious, where all are 
so well done, the fine Eucharis Lily, after repeated experiments, should 
fail, notwithstanding being repotted, cleaned, and washed in petroleum. 
I have recommended Mr. Crawford to try a higher temperature. 
The Greenhouses and Cool Range. —After the length to which these 
notes have extended I shall confine myself to merely naming a few 
striking good things. Here for the first time I found Bougainvillea 
glabra flowering profusely in a house without any artificial heat for 
months past. Many of the finer kinds of Liliums are now blooming 
profusely, and a specialty very telling was the use made of such 
foliage plants as Acacia lophantha, Grevilleas, small Palms, Aralias, 
Ferns, and hardy Dracsenas and Cordvlines among such flowering 
plants as the better kinds of Cannell’s round-flowered Pelargoniums 
and Tuberous Begonias, Abutilons, Fuchsias, Gloxinias, Olivias, Poly¬ 
galas, Salvias, Sparmannias, and a host of the customary greenhouse 
plants. The custom is to neglect the greenhouse at this time, there 
is so much to attract outdoors, but here is an effective method of 
decoration. 
The Chrysanthemums. —From here in many former years came the 
first prize winning stands at Dublin, Clonmel, Waterford, and elsewhere. 
It is painful to think that for some reason or reasons not satisfactorily 
explained, at the final potting from the 6 to the 10-inch pots, the 
400 plants grown—then all in splendid condition—sustained a check, 
resulting in the loss of lower leaves, roots, &c., and from which it is 
hopeless to think they can now recover, for show purposes. Permit me 
in conclusion, on behalf of myself and friends, to warmly thank Mr. 
and Mrs. Crawford for the courteous and hospitable attentions we 
received.—W. J. Murphy, Clonmel. 
ABOUT SPARROWS. 
In the first place, I cannot understand why it is this particular bird 
is so continually held as useful to the farmer and gardener, in compari¬ 
son to the injury it does. For more than fifty years I have had the 
sparrows under observation, either in town or country ; and I have 
come to the conclusion that in the country I would very much rather be 
without them ; and I only wish that those epicures, so-called, who 
delight in lark puddings and stews, would, instead of these delightful 
songsters, substitute the sparrow, which is really deliciously appetising. 
I never, at civic or other feasts, partake of larks, on principle. 
It is said that at the breeding season the sparrow feeds its young 
entirely on caterpillars and other insects. From long and continued 
notice of the habits of the bird, I must deny this. In many instances, 
when the insects have been scarcer, the sparrow has taken the bloom 
buds out of my Gooseberry bushes, Plum trees, and even the White 
Thorn. I know very well the so-called sparrows’ friend will argue there 
was an insect in the bud. This I proved again and again to be not the 
case, for when I put nets to keep the sparrows off over some, as a test, I 
found the bushes healthy and fruitful. They picked off my Crocus' 
blooms by the hundred, my Polyanthus, my Primroses, and some Hya¬ 
cinths in their wantonness, for I have again and again seen them hopping 
round the plants, picking them and tossing them down. When I fed 
my birds they drove away the hedge sparrows, the tits, wagtails, and 
other insect-eating birds; they attacked and drove out of the nest-boxes 
my starlings, and are the worst enemies in this way that martins and 
swallows have. In these ways they did me infinite harm during the 
vaunted breeding season. But I am bound in all justice to say that 
when aphides were about they were most industrious in searching them 
out; but then, this same work would have been well done by other and 
soft-billed birds they had driven away, such as I have mentioned ; also 
whitethroats, robins, wrens, &c., which birds do not feed on corn and 
seeds of large size. The sparrows pecked off the Peas as soon as they 
appeared above ground, spoiling row after row. They ate the new-sown 
seeds of the Radishes, and the young plants as soon as they appeared - T 
and so with Lettuce, besides much other damage ; and all this in the 
spring. 
This is all apart from the immense damage they do the farmer in 
the autumn in what they eat and spoil of his corn ; and yet I am told 
to uphold the sparrow, and to try and persuade people of its “ all goodi- 
ness.” I cannot do it conscientiously, so I will not attempt it. I have 
said the sparrow is a pest, and I maintain that it is. A writer is 
quoted in these words:—“ We see them every minute of the day in 
continual progress, flying from the nest for a supply, and returning 
on rapid wing with gnat or caterpillar.” I do not value this evidence 
in the least degree. I have had sparrow’s’ nests under close observation 
during the time of feeding the young, and I have never seen them bring 
a gnat. It is not their class of insect food. This is a slovenly way of 
writing; gnats come out during evening, when martins and swallows- 
take them. People generally are not alive to the fact, and 1 find many 
naturalists the same—that because some birds feed on insects they will 
eat all kinds. Each variety has its particular food, and a locality may 
be swarming with one particular kind of insect, and yet some varieties 
of birds would be dying of hunger in their midst. This is so. Yet 
people are continually writing about the good birds do, without the 
requisite knowledge of which, how, when, and where, and in what way. 
I am asked often how to get rid of slugs from the garden. I answer,, 
‘ Put a duck or two in.” “ Oh, hut,” say they, “ we have lots of birds.’’ 
But no birds but ducks eat white slugs, and so they “ leave it to the 
birds,” and the slugs reign supreme. 
It is quite immaterial to me whether others like to have their gardens 
and fields denuded of produce by the sparrow. If they prefer it, be it 
so. I have only stated what I personally know to be facts.— HARRISON 
Weir, Sevenoahs. 
CARNATION EXHIBITIONS. 
In Mr. E. Dean’s article on “Carnation Exhibitions” in your last 
issue he says it is matter for wonder that we do not see better flowers 
staged at country shows. Well, I think one great reason is the poor 
prizes which are given compared with those which are offered for Boses, 
Dahlias, and other florists’ flowers. For instance, at the Liverpool Show 
the first prize for eighteen Roses is 30s. ; for eighteen Carnations and' 
Picotees it is 10s. Then at the Shrewsbury Show the first prize for 
twelve Carnations is 7s. Gd., at Burton it is 10s., and at Salisbury 10s. 
In fact, there is only one general show I know where good prizes ar& 
offered for Carnations and Picotees, and that is Leicester. There they 
always have fine flowers, finer in fact than are seen at some so-called 
national shows. That clearly proves that where prizes are offered which 
will pay expenses they will secure good exhibitors and vice versa , and I 
think if show committees were to offer better prizes there would soon be 
an improvement in the quality of the flowers staged. There is one 
other particular, which other flower shows might copy from Leicester, 
and that is to fix a time for staging, and keep to it. At too many shows 
you find a time—say 11.30—fixed, and instead it is nearer 1.30 when 
the exhibits are all staged. Then the judges have to hurry over their 
work, and it is often only half done in consequence.— Arthur IB 
Brown, Handsworth, Birmingham, 
THE PARIS EXHIBITION. 
THE JAPANESE GARDEN AT THE TR0CADE30. 
Visitors who, on entering the Exhibition by the Jena gate, follow 
the avenue of Chestnut trees, regard with curiosity a space enclosed by 
a palisade of Bamboo, at one of the corners of which, supported by a. 
high pole, floats an enormous white flag with a large brown disk. There, 
is the spot set apart for Japanese horticulture, worthily represented by 
Mr. Kasawara, horticulturist at Tokio, who has converted this corner 
into one of the most curious, as it is also one of the most frequented 
parts of the gardens. The ground being on a somewhat inclined slope 
the enclosure is approached by a rustic flight of steps, the stakes and 
the trunks of trees forming the steps, being placed vertically. For 
that the heavy trunks have been cut into rounds, 20 centimetres* in 
thickness, and the small ones are simply driven into the earth as stakes. 
The landscape park is arranged to give an idea of the taste which 
presides at the making of gardens in Japan, descriptions of which have 
been brought back by travellers. We find a small sheet of water 
with a zigzag outline, and an island 2 square metres in area. In order 
to retain the water they have placed, touching each other, posts of 
different heights and sizes. On the borders of this sheet of water, 
which is surrounded by a narrow belt of grass, are scattered some Pinuses, 
Thuiopsis, Biotas, Cycas revoluta, Chamaerops, &c. On the right is a 
slight construction in Bamboo (this is the only wood employed) covered 
with mats made of reeds and open on both sides. Exquisite tea is 
served here, and they sell also certain Japanese products, Japan vases, 
baskets, &c. We notice also certain kinds of suspensions formed of one 
or several rings decorated with moss, on which are affixed rhizomes of 
Davallia builata. The fronds growing on the surface of these con¬ 
trivances produce a very original effect. 
The second portion of the ground devoted to the culture of various 
plants is divided into two parts separated by a slope of 1 metre necessi- 
* About 8 inches; a metre is equal to 89 37 English inches. 
