it may well be asked, 'Is any consumption of insects in summer likely to make amends for it?' Yet it appears to be the deduction of a careful man, made to a very sympathetic audience, who had suffered largely in their district, near Chester.[1]
THE POINT AT ISSUE.
The point at issue—and it is only by discussing it temperately that we shall arrive at the truth, and by entirely putting aside prejudice which has marked many utterances on the subject—is, Would the caterpillars and seeds of weeds, which the sparrows eat, consume, or injure, as much agricultural produce as the sparrows consume? And if the sparrows were all dead, it may be asked, 'Would other birds keep down these seeds and caterpillars as fully as they are kept down now?' Nineteen farmers out of twenty would say at the outset, that there can be no question at all about the matter—that sparrows do so much harm to crops, that it is impossible that any number of caterpillars upon which their young are fed, can be enough to compensate. On the other hand, the friends of the sparrow are equally one-sided. Having settled in their own minds that it is a mistake to destroy any small birds, and forgetful of the warnings which come to us from the United States and New Zealand, and every colony where the sparrow has been introduced, they
- ↑ Active measures appear to have been taken in that neighbourhood for reducing the number of sparrows. The following notices, in large letters, were posted up:—
'Wirral Farmers' Club. Notice.—Sixpence per dozen heads of Sparrows (until the end of March) will be given to anyone producing them to Mr. . Address: .'
I understand that the result was that several thousand sparrows forfeited their lives.
