Sentence:  At twilight in the summer...the mice come out. They...eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkly, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, <WSD>sprinkling</WSD> crumbs lavishly...on the floor. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).