The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1906-10-15

believe that he will appear much in
the country unless where it is thick
ly settled. He will help you to pro-
tect your orchard against insects, in
Guiding the codling moth, as he is very
fond of meat. Of course he will taste
your cherries, like any other watch
man of your orchard. The blue jay,
woodpecker and many other kinds OF
birds will eat your apples, pears,
prunes and berries, but the sparrow
never will as far as l know, and we
had millions of them in and around
our orchard in Germany. For all these
reasons l believe that the sparrow is
more of help to the orchardist than
harmful. The sparrow likes seeds and
grain, and especially wheat. He is
Jealous of other birds and, being a
courageous fighter, drives them away
but will not trouble them it they keep
at a respectable distance. In Europe
he exists by the billions, but there he
is not much disliked or regarded as
pest; rather the contrary is the case.
A young sparrow-and even an old
one. if roasted or boiled soft-is very
good and delicious eating. A great
many of them are nicely prepared and
sold in the most heightened restaur-
ants and hotels in the great city OF
LEIPZIG, Germany, as young larks.
They bring very high prices and are
eaten by rich epicures. When l was
a boy l used to catch and eat them
whenever l could"
We shall have to dub our good friend
Floss as the friend of the English spar
row. Certainly, he is not likely to get
many to agree with him in his kindly
feelings toward this ostraclsed bird.
Friend A. T. Richardson has some
thing more to say about this bird
and we must hear him, for what would
a discussion be worth if we did not
give both sides? Under date OF Aug.
26. friend Richardson writes me prl-
vately but his letter is so instructive
that | take the liberty to give 1t TO
our readers. He writes as follows:
81 hate this bird personally, but my
knowledge of him is limited to the
same extent that you say yours is.
All have seen him do is to pick the
ewes out of bluebirds back east. Since
| came here have enjoyed continually
the thought that had left him behind;
therefore, a statement in local paper
that he was present in the town and
apparently increasing sent me on the
war path and l have been looking up
his record. If you have access to the
repOrt for 1886 of the commissioner
of agriculture and will refer to pages
235 to 246, you will find charges
brought against this bird, particular
Nv as a menace to all kinds OF fruit,
that we are interested in here, that
seem to make my comparison to the
cooling moth not inappropriate. me
question is whether these charges are
exaggerated, or whether the further
experience of twenty years has dis
proved any of them. If they still stand
as made. think there is no question
but that we ought to take steps TO
have the towns and railway stations
watched vigilantly for sparroWs and
every possible effort made to prevent
their introduction and spread. NOT
knowing where else to look for IN
formation | wrote the department at
Washington for the latest word regard
ing sparrows as fruit pest. l have
a reply from some individual, in
charge of economic investigations,
who says that you and your neighbors
should do all in your power to exter-
inmate the English sparrow before
it secures a foothold in the Yakima
valley and proceeds to give direc-
lions for doing so as follows: You