JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  31,  1904. 
■in 
British  Birds. 
(Continvcd  from  itage  228.) 
Thk  ItKDiiRKAST  OR  RoBix  ( Ervtliaciis  nibecnla)  lia.s  earned 
for  it-self  R;o!(le!i  opinioii.s  hv  its  fearless  conduct  from  all  kinds 
of  men.  I  wonder  if  they  have  experience  of  its  depredatio  ns 
in  a  house  of  ripe  Gi'apes,  of  its  love  of  Cun-ants  and  Chei-ries? 
“Bakes  in  the  wood”  stories  go  a  very  little  way  then  as  -i'- 
gards  its  protection.  Its  food,  however,  consists  princii)ally  ot 
worms,  ground  insects  oi-  their  larvm,  small  slugs,  and  other 
mollusca,  so  that  it  well  deservc's  the  crumbs  so  plenteously 
be.stowed  in  winter  time. 
The  Blce  TixMorsE  (Pams  crernhuis)  is  so  resistive  when 
captured  as  to  have  ac.juired  the  name  of  “  Jlilly  biter.”  It  is 
common  and  well  known  to  subsist  chiefly  upon  insects,  espe¬ 
cially  small  caterpillars  and  grubs,  moths,  aphides,  &:c.  Indeed, 
it  is  veiy  ton  I  of  fat,  bits  ot  meat  being  greedily  eaten  in  winter 
vhen  it  also  feeds  n])on  eggs  and  pupa*  of  insects,  clearing 
Apple  trees  of  mu.ssel  scale  in  some  instances.  For  nine  months 
of  the  year  it  profits  cultivators  bv  destroying  insects,  and  as 
the  brood  is  fed,  fj  om  eight  to  fourteen,  an  enormous  number  of 
cateipillars  and  grubs  is  re{]uir?d  in  rearing  the  young,  the 
parent  birds  having  been  observed  to  feed  the  young  170  times 
in  one  day. 
In  oiH'  instance  only  have  I  noticc-d  the  young  fed  on 
Peas  taken  from  the  pods,  the  nest  being  in  a  wall  near  by.  It 
is  veiy  foiid  of  Sunflower  seed,  which  it  takes  from  the  heads, 
also  qt  d'histle  and  Beech  nuts.  The  gi'eatest  mischief  is  done 
by  this  bird  to  Pears  and  Apples,  it  pecking  holes  in  the  fruit  at 
the  stalk  end,  and  the  injui-cd  fruit  speedily  decays.  Oidy 
protection  by  means  of  wire  gauze  contrivance  can  prevent  such 
injury. 
The  Gi!e.4t  Titmouse  (Pams  majoi-)  is  not  nearly  so  common 
as  the  “  lihie,”  hut  frerpients  gardens,  orchaids,  copses,  and 
woods  in  ta,ir  number,  doing  an  immen.se  amount  of  good  by 
destroying  j)ests,  and  is  not  .so  jirone  to  pock  Pears  and  Aiiples 
as  the  blue  titmouse.  It,  however,  mav  take  a  fanev  to  Peas  in 
the  pod,  and  then  the  cpiantity  a  pair  carry  off  to  feed  their 
young  IS  enormous.  In  the  v  inter  it  'vai'ics  its  feeding  on  eggs 
and  pup;e  ot  insects  with  tit-bits  from  neai-  dwellings,  and  seeds 
of  various  kinds.  It  is  also  fond  of  hive  bees. 
d  HE  Ni-thatch  (Sitta  cassia  or  enropa'a)  livals  the  creeper  and 
woodpeckei-  in  its  activity  In  running  up  and  down  the  trunks 
ol  tre-'s  searching  for  and  feeding  upon  insects,  hence  a  very 
desiiable  and  fearless  biid.  In  due  season  it  takes  to  cracking 
nuts.  It  is  also  tond  of  acorns  and  beechmast. 
The  Bullfixch  (Pyi-rhuia  enropa''a  or  i-ubicilla)  frecpients 
Iiedges,  copses,  and  woods  more  than  pleasure  grounds  and  gai'- 
deiis.  It  builds  in  hedges  and  cojrses,  and  though  some  insects 
mav  be  ap|n-o[)riated  in  breeding  time,  the  food  consists  of  buds 
and  seeds.  In  the  months  of  Pebruary,  March,  and  Aju'il  the 
bullfinches  leave  their  sylvan  retreats,  usually  in  pairs,  in  the 
daytime  tor  feeding  purposes,  attacking  the  flower  buds  of 
■species  ot  Pruiiiis  and  Pvnis,  especially  Siberian  and  other 
C'rab.s,  ami  in  gardens  and  fruit  plantations  plavs  havee  with 
the  blossom  buds  of  Plum  trees,  Gooseberrv,'  and  Currant 
Inisiies,  and  occasionally  those  of  Pears  and  Apples. 
Ill  copses  and  woods  it  fcerls  in  sjn-ingtime  upon  the  buds 
of  tiu'  Blackthorn,  Birdcherry,  Ci'ah,  Hawthorn,  and  some¬ 
times  Inirch  and  Beech.  The  riunaining  nine  months  of  the 
year  it  sulisists  chiefly  n])on  weed  seeds,  such  as  Docks,  Knap¬ 
weed,  thistle.  Arc.,  practically  ivithoiit  offence  to  foresters, 
tanners,  and  gardeners. 
A  jiair  only  of  the.se  birds  do  immense  mischief,  and  I  have 
known  all  the  trees  and  hushes  in  a  large  garden  and  orchard 
rendered  jiractically  tniitless  through  bullfinches  taking  the 
"^I’i  n  Ti’^i  is  readily  caught  in  a  trap  cage  with  a 
call  bird  in  tlie  autumn  and  early  winter,  or  it  may  be 
.secured  'vith  birdlime.  Captured  in  either  of  these  ways,  the 
beaiititul  plumage  of  the  bii'ds  assures  tor  them  a  ready  sale. 
Shooting  the  Ihrds  is  a  bad  pi-actice,  especially  on  the  liushes 
oi  tiees,  as  the  shot  does  serious  injury  to  twigs  and  branches, 
iiotectiiig  the  buds  is  much  preterable.  Fruit  cao'es — wire¬ 
netting- are  very  efficient  for  iireventiiig  birds  taking  the  buds 
in  winter  and  spring,  and  the  fruit  in  sninmer. 
Another  good  plan  is  to  run  lines  of  black  thi-ead  lengthwise 
-and  cross wi.se  of  the  bushes,  forming  large,  irregular  meshes  bv 
winding  tlie  thrtmd  round  the  tips  of  the  branches,  this  .so 
annoying  the  birds  as  to  ward  off  their  attacks.  This  can  be 
done  inth  great  celerity  by  the  “  Garden  AVebber  ”  (Stott  Com- 
pany  Manchester).  A  better  inode  of  .scaring  is  to  paint  .some 
small  blanches,  such  as  peasticks  or  .s'mall  Bamboo  canes,  with 
a  sticky  substance,  such  as  a  composition  formed  of  a  mixture 
ot  two  parts  resin  and  one  part  sweet  oil,  melted  together  bv 
heat  and  .stirred  until  cold;  or,  better,  eipial  jiarts  of  birdlime 
and  linseed  oil  melted  together  hv  heat  and  stirred  until  cold 
the  .sticks,  or  canes,  well  painted,  should  be  placed  obli(,neiv 
rmd  somewhat  iiroiecting  in  tlu'  bushes  or  trees. 
A  bullfinch  or  sparrow  alighting  on  the  smeared  stick  or  cane 
is  so  scared  in  freeing  itself  that  it  will  not  come  near  the  place 
again  for  a  long  time.  Tims  the  biids  are  preserved,  and  the 
birds  live  on  for  good  or  evil.  Better  than  all  is  placing  freshly 
burned  light  lumps  of  lime  in  water,  and  forming  a  thin  white¬ 
wash,  straining  and  applying,  freshly  made,  to  the  bushes  by 
means  of  a  syringe,  coating  them  thoroughly.  The  dressing, 
made  betimes,  preserves  the  buds,  and  also  frees  them  of  lichen 
and  moss,  whilst  the  lime  itself  benefits  the  ground. 
The  Chaffixch  (Fringilla  cmlebe.s)  is  very  fond  of  iilucking 
up  sprouting  seed  or  seedlings  of  Radish,  Turniii,  and  Brassicas 
generally,  also  Lettuce  and  other  plants.  This  is  the  measure 
of  its  depredations.  Its  merits  are  destroying  weed  seeds, 
such  as  Gi'oundsel,  Chickweed,  Plantain,  Arc.,  and  feeding  the 
young  largely  on  small  cateipillars  and  aphides.  To  keep  the 
chaffinch  and  other  birds  from  pulling  up  sprouting  .seeds  and 
seedlings,  the  seed  should  be  moistened  with  water  and  coated 
with  red  lead  before  sowing.  This  I  have  found  an  infallible 
r e  ve  n  t  i  y e .  —  George  Abbey. 
(To  be  continued.) 
- - 
Progressive  Business  Houses. 
An  account  of  the  clerical  methods  in  vogue  at  a  large  seed 
emporium  cannot  but  be  interesting  to  readers,  especially  at 
this  tinie  of  the  year  when  everyone  who  has  land  or  a  garden 
to  cultivate  is  busy  sowing  the  .seeds  which  are  later  on  to  pro¬ 
duce  grasses,  vegetables,  and  ffowers  in  abundance,  and  it  is 
with  more  than  ordinary  confidence  that  I  pen  the.se  remarks 
about  Me.ssrs.  Sutton  and  Sons,  of  Reading,  the  largest  firm  of 
retail  seed  merchants  in  the  world. 
Their  methods  of  invoicing,  filing,  and  posting  are  all 
organised  to  ensure  prompt  di.spatch  and  correctnes.s,  and  the 
system  works  with  lemarkable  smoothness.  The  entrance  to 
the  biisine.ss  house,,  although  a  fine  .structure,  affords  no  indica¬ 
tion  of  the  work  accomplished  within.  Still,  there  is  a  dignity 
about  it  which  conveys  the  idea  of  something  above  the  average, 
and  the  gold-laced  portei’s  who  keep  watch  by  the  enormous 
case  of  medals,  which  speak  of  quality,  are  prompt  in  their  atten¬ 
tion  to  visitors.  AAlieu  one  comes  to  think  that  the  orders 
alone,  apart  from  the  corre.spondence  of  this  great  firm,  attain 
a  total  of  over  1,‘200  per  day  during  a  period  of  the  busy  season, 
and  that  many  of  the  orders  include  more  than  200  items,  it 
seems  that  .some  subtle  or  magic  power  mu.st  be  at  work  beliind 
the  scenes,  in  addition  to  the  labours  of  the  numerous  invoice 
clerks,  to  accomplish  so  gigantic  a  task.  It  is  true,  they  have 
a  magic  power.  Each  one  works  a  light-running  Tost  type¬ 
writer,  thoroughly  up  to  date  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  The 
machines  are  placed  on  a  long  bench  extending  from  one  end 
of  an  immense  office  to  the  other.  No  expen.se  has  been  .spared  to 
make  this  bench  and  its  appurtenances  in  every  w  ay  conducive  to 
comfort,  health,  and  excellent  work.  Height  of  chairs,  cup¬ 
boards  at  the  side  for  storage,  and  drawers  for  apparatus  have 
all  received  their  due  share  of  attention,  and  electric  light _ 
with  a  lamp  to  each  operator— leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  In 
Hie  ledger  office  alone  seats  are  provided  for  twenty-.six  opera- 
tois,  including  correspoiulents,  and  when  the  full  coniiileiii'^nt 
are  pegging  away  at  tiieir  work,  each  with  a  pile  of  orders  to' be 
invoiced,  or  letters  to  be  typed,  the  sight  invariably  arre.sts  the 
attention  of  Afessrs.  Snttons’  numerous  visitors. 
1./  K.  IJ 
rhythmical  sound^  and  the  clerks  who  work  at  the  contio-uous 
desks  say  they  have  become  .so  accustomed  to  it  that  alxsolute'^quiet 
would  not  be  preferable.  The  w-ritten  invoice,  however  neativ 
done  looks  but  a  scrawl  by  the  side  of  the  one  which  is  type- 
wiitten,  and  the  amount  of  work  the.se  little  comiiact  niaiVels 
get  tlirongh  in  a  day  is  simply  astonishing.  The  w-riter  a  year 
or  two  ago  w’orked  a  No.  1  on  this  very  bench,  and  he ‘can 
te.stity  to  the  fact  that  during  the  months  of  .January,  Februarv 
and  Alarch  there  is  no  biisine.ss  house  in  the  South’  of  Fnglanci 
where  inacliines  are  more  continuously  worked  than  in  the 
ledger  office  of  Me.ssrs.  Sutton  and  Sons,  at  Reading.  AAhth  the 
exception  of  the  lunch  time,  the  tea  hour,  and  a  few  miniite.s 
toi  casting  the  ca,sh  columns  which  the  machine  has  so  regularlv 
and  truly  made  down  the  page,  the  typewriters  are  in  comstamt 
daili  use  from  about  .January  5  until  nearly  the  end  of  April 
And  even  in  the  .summer  the  tens  of  thomsands  of  envelopes’ 
ciiciilars  and  labels  which  have  to  be  addressed  for  sendimr 
the  various  catalogues  to  the  cii.stomers,  and  which  are  produced 
w  ith  such  ex-actness  on  the  true  platen,  keep  them  going  until 
the  event  of  the  bulb  season  in  September,  wdien  they  .start 
a„ain  until  December  throbbing  away  t^n  “Due  A’an' Tirol” 
luhps  and  other  names  which  .satisfy  tlte  botanist’s  .sense  of 
completion,  e.specially  in  the  Lily  tribe,  where  Liliuni  Thunb-r- 
^lanum  auiantiaciim  multiflorum  rolls  out  fliientlv  and  not  in- 
fr-quentlv._(“  AA  nting  Alachine  News.”)  ‘ 
