Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-04-14
A PLEA EOR THE ENGLISH SPAR
ROW.

GNCu Tic hfuu ucdktru QUINN Dui
roughs has given a reluctant assent
to the popular verdict against the
English Sparrow. Bnt popular
outcry is not altcays well founded.
The hoisy, pugnacioas, often greedy
little bird has such hosts Of enc.
mics that it is only manly to see il
popular prejudice is not going too
far, and whether or not the English
Sparrow il wholly bad bird.
Some years ago lived in a town
in Western New York, not far from
Rochester. In my garden WAS a
| fine peach tree. full of blossoms. As
I lived in the outskirts Of the town,
a sparrow at that time, seldom had
been seen IN the garden.
One day a neighbor not two blocks
away said to me: "The English
Sparrows are destroying all the
peach. blossoms! Smith and his
boys are shooting all that come in
bis yard. But | won't fight the
birds. AS l can afford it, prefer
to buy my peaches"
"Smith and his boys" saved the
blossoms but got barely fifty peaches
from a dozen trees and those were
mostly too wormy to be used. My
tree, untouched by the "blossom
destroyers," had less than a dozen
peaches, and they were wormy
while the friend who allowed the
English Sparrow to work their own
sweet will had about half-bushel
of fair checked, fullsized, beautiful
peaches.
At the time when the blossoms
we're covering the trees, l had a
newspaper controversy Through a
Geneva journaD with a Rochester
fruit grower on this same subject
for / had examined hundreds Of
blossoms and found the germ oil
some insect in most of them. | in
sisted then, and do still insist, that
the sparrows destroyed only such
blossoms as not only would have
destroyed the fruit for that year
but for many subsequent years
There are portions of Illinois in
which farmers are unable to raise
wheat on account of the insect
known as weevil. But a great out
cry is made that the English Spar.
row destroys wheat! How many
have made any examination OF
aohat was being destroyed in order
to tell positively whether the wheat
was sound or not Now sons OF
farmers, you may help settle the
question. 1t is not an unkindly
deed to defend the character of an
unpopular bird.
Put down in a clear space one
peck of sound wheat; then ten feet
away put down one peck of wheat
that is tull of weeviI; then stand
back and just notice what the spar
rows do.
/ believe that you will find invar.
iably the diseased VIII eat will he
eaten first. II the birds are very
hungry they will afterwards take
the good wheat. But even boys eat
as long as they are hungry.
For centuries the crow, too, has
been shot at, destroyed and abused
by men and today how few know
or will believe the good that
crows do in agriculture. Irefuse to
let any one disturb crows when they
settle on my newly planted corn.
fields, and my Deighbors, here IN
Southern Maryland, have to replant
far more than l do. l do not dis
pute that the crows take some toll
for destroying the cut-worms; but
think them entitled to as mnch as
they take.
took neighbOr through his OWL
corn field and offered him a dollar
for every ear of corn mot yet full,
ripe) which had been partially eaten
by the crows but which did moi
show traces OF the corn worm. Hi
could not find one from whic,, the
crew had not taken the worm. II
no case could a sound ear be foun(
that had been disturbed by the
crows. Still the same man continne.
| to shoot the crows
4 Entomology and ORTHODOXY, il
their practical application, ar
branches of agriculture, and Their.
is need of much post graduate stud,
in the garden aud fieltis. The sci
ences cannot be fully learned in til,
schools.-L. G.. At,cater in Apri
Wide Atcake.