Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 112, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1912 — SPARROW AS PEST KILLER [ARTICLE]

SPARROW AS PEST KILLER

English Bird May Be Used Against the Alfalfa Weevil In the West Washington, D. C. —The English sparrow, originally Imported into this country to destroy insect pests, but known chiefly in recent yearv as a pest among birds, may come into its own again, according to the officials of the government biological survey. It has been found that the sparrow Is a vigorous enemy of the alfalfa weevil, an evil which threatens to spread throughout the alfalfa farming territory of the west as the cotton boll weevil has spread In the south. So far the weevil has appeared only in Utah and part of Wyoming, but a dozen other states, it is said, will be affected within a few years unless a real enemy of the pest is introduced to fight it. The biological survey is planning to experiment with other birds this summer and will not recommend that the English sparrow be sent into the alfalfa territory unless no other effective enemy of the weevil can be found. The bureau of entomology has received from its agent In Italy a number of parasites which feed on the alfalfa weevil and these will be sent to Utah at once.