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Show Need For Elimination of English Sparrows Told 15y B. GI.EN SMITH The subject of sparrows was brought up in a recent issue of the News. I am a lover of birds, and I am interested in gardening as a hobby. I can forgive the sins of most birds, for they do considerable con-siderable more help than they do harm; but the English sparrow, so-called, is not in this group. If the English sparrow continues to propagate at the rate it is at present, it will le a matter of but a few years until small scale gardening will be out of the question in St. George. I am not exaggerating when I state that this bird has destroyed 75 of the small vegetables I have planted plant-ed and replanted this spring. They have even attacked garden peas. The present cleanup of weeds is a movement we are all back of, and we shall be proud of the improved looks of our city when the campaign is completed. Why not include a cleanup of the English Sparrow? The flock could be greatly reduced re-duced if a bounty could be placed on the head of this destructive creature. This has been done in other places and has worked effectively. ef-fectively. Care must be taken, of course. Those killing this bird must be taught to recognize it and not kill helpful birds that resemble it. The use of poison bait at this season seems impractical, im-practical, but it should not be forgotten next spring. In connection with the use of poison bait there is only one practical solution. It must be done on at least a community wide basis under the expert advise of our county agent. He has advised ad-vised early in the spring to use good wheat as a lure and then poison wheat as a cleanup process. But everybody must do this at the same time. Let's try it on the community basis next spring. In the meantime, for the sparrow spar-row is still attacking the gardens, who can offer a bounty? |