The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-10-29
SparrOws.

The mischievous habits Of the English
sparrow are drawing considerable at
tention to it, and the results of our pres
ent experience are much 10 the disad-
vantage OF this imported nuisance. But
what we know of It is quite insignif.
cant compared with the painful knowl-
edge OF English farmers. In England
the sparrow is q considerable element
in the farmers calculations of what
share of the crop reyerts to him after
all the parasites have been satisfied
After the landlord has taken his rent,
the parson has had his 1.-THE, and the
paupers have had their wants supplied,
the sparrow's share has to be deducted
and this is no mean allowance. For on
n large farm, where IL was estimated
that one thousand sparrows had taxed
the wheat crop, :he loss amounted TO
"live quarters, six strikes and one
peck" during the six weeks in which
they levied upon the grain in the field,
the shock. the stack. and while the
thrashing was going on. This quantity
is equal to forty-six bushels and one
peck, and this does not inclade
the serious loss of seed-wheat,
which is also taxed by these
birds and so seriously that one single
sparrow shot on n newly-sown wheat
field, and taken at hazard for examina-
ton, was found to have forty-two grains
of wheat in its crop. And this destruc-
tive pest we have been induced TO take
TO our hearts and homes, as it were, as
friend and an ally in our war against
insects. Naturally the sparrow is q
grain-eating bird. II has hard, horny
bill, well adapted for tearing open the
glumes Of wheat and even the tough
husks Of corn, which it rends to strips
in search of the soft grain under them
1t Is true that the sparrow feeds It's
young with soft insects, including
smooth-bodied caterpillers, flies, and
the small plant lice. but this is only a
part Of the food, for very young nest
lings have been found TO have the crop
partly filed with immature wheat in It's
soft doughy state and with fragments ol
vegetables land fruits, and a grain OF
ripe wheat has been found in the crop
Of q sparrow but one day old--thus
early do they begin their graminivorous
propensities. Not one insect noxious
to the farmers has been found in the
crops Of thousands Of sparrows, except
ing In a few cases soft green cater
pillar "much like the green cabbage
worm" ...
All this is direct evidence, given with
very much more OF the same kind, in q
paper recently read at farmers meet
ing at Norwich, in England. In the
course of the discussion which followed
not voice was raised In mitigation OF
the general hostility TO this wretched
pest; while Mr.. c. S. Read, a member
Of Parliament and leading agricultur-
ist, who has travelled extensively in
America, gave striking picture OF the
way the bird behaves In his adopted
home on this side of the ocean. Mr..
Read said he had seen in q stack yard
in New York State "enormons nocks
of sparrows which positively darkened
the air when they rose. There were
tens Of thousands Of sparrows in those
stack yards, dcvouring all the grain
they could reach" By the easy process
OF multiplication the amount OF damage
to this farmer could be shown (using
the figures above given) to be hun.
dreds Of bushels Of grain. But the
minor robberies, the sneak thievings OF
this pest are by no means small; for Il
telights in robbing tho chickens Of
their food, and we have seen few
days-old chicken brutally murdered by
blow Of the hard beak Of sparrow
which was driving brood from their
food at the front Of coop, in spite Of
the futtering protests Of the hen.
Surely there Is good reason for farmers
to join In q demand upon their Legisla-
lures that the sparrow 20, as nuisance
that Is utterly intelerable. IN Y
Times.