Litchfield enquirer., 1874-07-23

mumIy, snail labor, If she must labor, the equal partner of man, not his slave and drudge.
 What the sparrows Have Done for
 Boston.
 Let us do justice to our pert and famiI- far newcomers, tho European sparrows. whose chattering is now heard in all our cltles. We have let those who dislike hlm have their ''shy" at him; now let us hear Dr. Thomas M. Brewer, the skillful zoologlst, who testifies as follows to the valuable work of these sparrows in Bos- ton:-
 elf you will turn to your Harriss In- sects Injurious to Vegetation led, D. 356- 570), you will see there given in full the dangerous character of the moth known as O7.gyi0 lencostigm0. It is in the lar vac form pretty nearly Omnivorous, de- Vourlng alike the smaller shrub and the stately elm. Tho larvee arc very vOra- cious. In 1928 great injury was done by them to the apple trees about Boston. In the summer of 1948-49 and 50, these in- sects were very numerous in Boston, both ln private yards and on the common, where the horse chestnuts, and many oth- CT trees which wholly escape the ravages of insects, where entirely stripped of their leaves. Every possible effort was made to destroy these insects that human inge- nulty could devise, and for a while with partial success. But their peculiar habits make them very difficult foe to contend against. They spin their cocoons on the
 branches, trunks and larger limbs of the trees on which they have been feeding, and often Ill inaccessible places. There, If they are undisturbed, the insects come forth Ill their adult state The female is Wlnglcss and lays her eggs on the top of the cocoons, protecting them with GOV erlng of frothy matter which dries into Whlto and brittle shield; successive broods ot these devastating insects are produced through the summer from May to Sep tember, and where they swarm in great numbers two seasons arc enough to des- troy forever the beauty, vigor and life even of our largest trees. This insect can not be attacked to advantage in our large elms, and there are always so many that cannot be reached.
 "This was our condition in Boston in 1867 and 1868. This insect was in full possession of our shade trees everywhere Ill the city and vicinity, and the case seemed well nigh hopeless. In 1869 hun dreds of dollars were expended by our city government in reducing thelr num- Ders on the common and public garden. Our first importation of sparrows nearly failed, and there were so few surviving that we did not put much faith in their ability to help us, and all hope of saving our noble elms was by many given up as impossible.
 "But we were better off than we SUD- posed. The few sparrows that escaped had thrlven wonderfully, and, increased by others privately imported, numbered in 1869 and 1870 about seventy pairs. These were attracted to our deer-park both for food and shelter, and there they spent the winter in tho very centre of the infected district. soon noticed that they were busy among the trees, and was re- joiced to find that they were searching out and devouring the cocoons and the eggs of the lencOstigDa0, and it was a cu- r1ous sight to witness how readily the sparroWs could adopt all the habits, pastures and performances of the creepers and woodpeckers. They climbed about tho trunks hung themselves head and back downward from the branches, and once having got a good taste of cocoons and eggs, they did not desist from their destruction until they had made pretty clean work of them. A few moths escaped so far as to be hatch ed out, but it only postponed their fate In single season about one hundred and fifty sparrows did work which all Bos- ton could not have done by any expendi- ture of money. These pests were about annlhllated. l do not believe you can find Tn Boston, except in 0 cabinet, with pin through it, single specimen of this moth. Our gardens are exempt from their ravages. Our shade trees everywhere are green from May to October. And we owe all this to those interesting little strangers. We'll may Boston make much of the sparrows, build, them houses for shelter and tie nesting, and feed them through our indictment winters, They have richly earned it all. And let us place fairly on the record, while it Is fresh ill our memories, this great benefecnce they have done our city, and let it never be forgotten. The time may come when their increasing numbers will swarm into our rural places, where they may be tempted to partake of our oats and other grain, and where, too, they will be very likely to exterminate the canker worms and the curculios as they have already done the measure worms of New York and Philadelphia and the caterpillers of Bos- ton. Let us bear with their rivial mis- deeds and not forget their great benefac- tions.
 "Already the carping penny-a-liners of our newspapers, for want of better oc- cupation, are railing against our sparrows with false charges. 'They never says one touch hair caterpilIer.' Sup pose it be true-and very much doubt it-what does iH prove? Does not this Solomon know that hairy caterpillar has four forms, and if the sparrow devours the insect in three of these forms ought we not be satisfied? The sparrows eat the eggs, the cocoons and the image, both of the measure worm and of the orgvia. I have seen them do it, and I very much doubt if very many of the latter escaped In the larvae form to test the capacity of sparrows in this direction, in Boston. But then the sparrows drives away our own birds!- Does it? would very much like to know when, where and how. Will some ono please produce the evidence, and till he can do it stop this idle story, which utterly discredit? It is certainly not SO with us. Each year shows an increasing number of birds, apparently drawn to our public gardens by the presence of these birds. The little chipping sparrows seeks out the company of these foreigners, joins their focks and feeds with them unmOlest- ed and mutual good will. Other birds, such as the king bird, the Maryland yell low-birds and several other species never seen here before, may now be seen in our public gardens. Instead of driving away other species I maintain that they attract them" .
 The New York World is excited about the Democrats of Maine. It says sadly and solemnly in double-leaded type: ''God grant them speedy victory" Where to another Democratic editor responds in the following unfeeiing strain: ''Now, our opinion is that God is not going to bother much with this Falls campaign in Maine, and that the victory is in the hands of Jim Blaine.