14 JANUARY 1949, Page 18

Routed.. Sparrows

We all know that spraying produces many other effects than those directly intended. One spray may, for example, lull bees and another first damage and then benefit the orchard grass. A more unexpected effect than these has been discovered_ in Canada. It is plausibly alleged that if you spray a stable or any other building with D.D.T. the sparrows will at -once quit, the place and never return. They will leave at once even in the midst of the breeding season. It is sometimes said (quite falsely as it seems to me) that many birds, including poultry, have -little or no sense of smell. How do the sparrows detect the D.D.T.