THE GARDENING WORLD. 
549 
April 29, 1899. 
" Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refieshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
tfjif Ip# 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , APRIL 29th, 1899. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS 
Monday, May ist.—International Horticultural Exhibition at 
Mont St. Amand, Ghent, Belgium, continued to May gth. 
Tuesday, May 2nd.—R.H.S.Show at Drill Hall, Westminster, 
S.W., with Committee Meetings at 12 noon, and Lecture 
on “British and Swiss Alpines” at 3.0 p.m.; Monthly 
Meeting in Edinburgh of the Scottish Horticultural Asso¬ 
ciation. with paper on “ Clydesdale Orchards ” by Mr. 
R. W. Wilson. 
'Thursday, May 4th.—Meeting of the Linnean Society. 
jFriday, May 5th.—R.B.S. Meeting and Lecture at Regent’s 
Park, N.W. 
%he House Sparrow.* —Some two years 
ago a pamphlet dealing with the spar¬ 
row was prepared by Miss Eleanor A. 
Ormerod and Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, and 
circulated gratuitously at the expense of 
the former to the extent of 36,000 copies. 
One would have thought that such a 
crusade would have been sufficient to exter¬ 
minate any British bird, but according to 
all accounts the avian rat, so-called, is as 
numerous and destructive as ever ; and 
applications for further information relating 
to the sparrow and how to destroy it con¬ 
tinue to be addressed to the authors, so that 
the book under notice is the response to 
the requests of the correspondents. 
It would appear that the several crusades 
against the bird in America have resulted in 
the destruction of several other small and 
harmless .birds, not sparrows at all. The 
author commences by laying down the dis¬ 
tinctions between the house sparrow and its 
cousin the tree sparrow, a smaller bird and 
never very numerous nor harmful. The so- 
called hedge sparrow is an insectivorous 
bird, and not a sparrow at all, while it is 
highly beneficial as an insect destroyer, and 
should be protected. Every schoolboy 
knows the hedge sparrow, so that no one 
need wantonly molest it. On the contrary, 
the house sparrow is described as a parasite 
dependent on man for a livelihood, and not 
subsisting anywhere in uninhabited 
regions. Not even during the nesting 
period does it seek the solitudes, and never 
builds a nest a quarter of a mile from a 
human habitation. The so-called balance 
of nature does not apply to the house spar¬ 
row, inasmuch as it does not lead a natural 
and independent life, but subsists on the 
industry of man. The nature of the food 
of the sparrow was investigated some 
twelve years ago by Mr. J. H. Gurney 
and Col. Russell, by an examination of the 
contents of the stomach of some 694 spar¬ 
rows, old and young, up to the time of leav¬ 
ing the nest. A summary of this was that 
75 per cent, of the food of the adult con¬ 
sisted of corn of different kinds. The rest 
consisted of seeds of weeds, 10 per cent.; 
green peas, 4 per cent.; beetles, 3 per cent.; 
caterpillars, 2 per cent.; insects which fly, 
1 per cent. ; and other things, 5 per cent. 
The food of young sparrows consisted of 
40 per cent, corn ; 40 per cent, caterpillars ; 
and 10 per cent, of small beetles. It has 
* The House Sparrow. —By W. B. Tegetmeier, 
F.Z.S. London; Vinton & Co., g, New Bridge 
Street, E.C. 1899. Price is. 
been calculated that the house sparrow 
destroys property to the value of some 
millions annually, and that one bird will 
consume its own weight of corn per day, 
besides what it destroys by knocking to the 
ground and destroying the stems of corn. 
Much of this relates to field crops, but see¬ 
ing that the sparrow never leaves human 
habitations, it is never outside the garden 
while anything can be got there to eat or 
destroy. 
We have abundant evidence in Mr. 
Tegetmeier’s book, even if we had not had 
abundant ocular demonstration in gardens 
in various widely separated parts of the 
country, of the sparrow as a garden 
marauder. The birds devour seeds of many 
kinds that are sown, as well as the seedlings 
when just emerging from the soil, many 
being pulled up and left. Primroses, 
Polyanthuses and Crocuses are torn to 
pieces wholesale before they open. We 
take exception to the statement, however, 
that they attack Crocuses for the large 
amount of honey they contain. Honey we 
have never been able to discover, and can¬ 
not credit sparrows for that find. Even 
the intelligent hive bee has to be content 
with the pollen which is freely produced in 
the anthers. Peas suffer from the depreda¬ 
tions of sparrows from the time they ger¬ 
minate till harvested, but particularly when 
they are just fit for table use. The owner 
of a garden at Brighton mentions Prim¬ 
roses, Crocuses, and Violets of different 
colours that had been destroyed, the 
plunderers tearing out the young crowns of 
the plants, in some cases after destroying 
the flowers. Lobelias were the next to 
suffer, followed by Red Currant? and green 
Peas. The flowers of the Pear tree and 
even grass are nibbled off by the pest. 
Lord Lilford considers that each sparrow 
that is killed represents the saving at least 
of a bushel of corn. In Heligoland the 
sparrow pulls off the flowers of Gooseberries 
and Currants apparently for mere pastime. 
Peach and Vine culture is seriously 
threatened in America. In 1898, during the 
month of January the sparrows cleared off 
all the flower buds of Gooseberries in the 
gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
Chiswick. This they followed up by 
attacking the Plums in February. To the 
above may be added Lettuces, Sweet Peas, 
Carnations, Violas, Pansies, and all of the 
Brassica tribe, Beans, Beet, and Maize, 
which suffer more or less extensively at 
different periods of the year, both in summer 
and winter. 
Against this sweeping indictment we 
have a variety of evidence of the beneficial 
influence of the sparrow, mostly by writers 
who are town dwellers, and by others who 
generally have no gardens to protect, and 
whose scanty means of exact observation 
make their statements unreliable. In many 
cases their statements are prompted by 
mere sentiment. Some of the statements 
are that sparrows feed upon cockchafers till 
they are unable to fly. Both the grub and 
the winged state of these beetles are said to 
be devoured, but the natural history of 
these bugs does not corroborate the story. 
Sparrows are also said to frequent the filthy 
precincts of stables for the eggs of cock¬ 
roaches, notwithstanding the fact that the 
female cockroach carries her eggs about 
with her in a case. Other instances might 
be cited, but Mr. Tegetmeier practically 
states that the case for the defence is taken 
up by persons who have no knowledge of 
the subject, or by those writers of books 
who cater to please the popular taste. 
The use of sparrows as food is advocated 
by the author, who states that large 
numbers of them are killed in America and 
sold under the name of “ rice-birds.” The 
flavour is said to be like that of reed-birds, 
and greatly superior to that of quail. On 
the Continent various small birds are put 
on the poultry markets for use as food ; but 
with the exception of larks few of the small 
birds are eaten in Britain. Mr. Tegetmeier 
recommends sparrows as a substitute for 
larks as “ concomitants of kidneys in a 
rump steak pudding.” We know, however, 
that sparrow pie was made in a rural district 
where sparrows abounded and Gooseberries 
for that reason were rare. One chapter of 
the book is devoted to diminishing the 
sparrow plague and another to sparrow 
clubs. Traps of various kinds for catching 
the birds are here illustrated and recom¬ 
mended. On the whole a considerable 
amount of information concerning the 
sparrow has been got together in readable 
form so that those interested in the bird 
hereby proscribed can learn what its 
enemies have said against it, and also how 
to lessen its numbers by individual effort. 
The book is well printed and in handy form 
for reference. 
>i« - 
Bosnian Plums, according to a record, are only 
worth £5 per ton. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit and 
flower show of the Royal Horticultural Society, will 
be held on Tuesday, May 2nd, in the Drill Hall, 
James Street, Westminster, 1—5 p.m. A lecture on 
"the British and Swiss Alpine Floras ” will be given 
by Mr. E A. N. Arber, at 3 o’clock. 
Gardening Appointment.—Mr. David Watt, head 
gardener at the Chief Secretary’s Lodge, Phoenix 
Park, Dublin, has secured the head gardenership at 
Viceregal Gardens, Phoenix Park. Mr. Watt has a 
high reputation as an able gardener, and is well liked 
for his unassuming manner and genial courtesy. He 
is to be congratulated on his successful application. 
Gardeners’ Bravery.—Some time ago a visitor at 
Kew Gardens attempted to commit suicide in the 
ornamental pond, opposite the Palm house. Mr. 
Fishlock jumped into about 4 ft. of water and 
gallantly brought him to shore. Being unconscious, 
the would-be suicide was resuscitated by Mr. Gird- 
ham. On Thursday 6th inst., Sir William Thiselton 
Dyer, the director of the Kew Gardens, presented 
certificates to Messrs. Fishlock and Girdham on be¬ 
half of the Royal Humane Society. The presenta¬ 
tion was made before the whole staff.— R. G. K. 
Thistle Seed from Bannockburn.—Some time ago a 
Scot, resident on the Clutha River, New Zealand, 
and who owns a farm there, wrote to a friend in 
Stirling to send him a souvenir of the field of 
Bannockburn in the shape of a few wild flowers. 
His relation, says the Evening News, London, thought 
the most appropriate flowers to send would be those 
of the national emblem ; so the Thistle heads were 
sent, received, and the seeds in due course sown. 
Now the relative has received a letter of bitter com¬ 
plaint from his kinsman at the Antipodes, for on his 
farm there is now a veritable plague of Thistles. 
Destruction of Charlock by Spraying.—A field de¬ 
monstration took place at Chelmsford, Essex, on 
Tuesday, the 25th inst, to make a fresh trial of the 
new process for the eradication of Charlock in 
field crops, by spraying with a 2 per cent, solution 
of sulphate of copper. The experiment took place 
on Rosling’s College Farm, Chelmsford. Mr. R. 
W. Christy and Mr. T. S. Dymond, of the County 
Technical Laboratory, Chelmsford, were present to 
illustrate the method and its effect upon the weed. 
The spraying machines devised by Mr. G. F. 
Strawson were exhibited by him. Farmers and 
others interested in the subject were cordially 
invited to attend. The directions for spraying are 
to dissolve 5 lbs. of ground sulphate of copper (blue 
stone or blue vitriol) in twenty-five gallons of water. 
By means of a spraying machine, this solution 
should be distributed in the form of a fine spray over 
the crop. It applied while the Charlock is still 
young, on a still day and in fine weather, this 
quantity should be sufficient for one acre. 
