TRANSACTIONS OF NORTHERN ILL. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 311 



ment step in, and mankind will pass from the cannibal period to that of 

 a more refined and intelligent state of existence. 



Fruit should not be considered a luxury only for company. It should 

 be used as food, and children taught to aj)i)reciate it as such, so that when 

 they take our places, they will feel the necessity of it and extend its use. 



Very large quantities of fruit are annually consumed in jellies, cat- 

 sups, etc. In our table caster is to be tbund the grape catsup, which we 

 cannot dispense with ; the currant comes next in lavor, either of which is 

 highly palatable and much more healthful than such condiments as pep- 

 per sauce, Worcestershire sauce and the like, which are no more digestible 

 than sawdust, and not half as harmless. 



The manufacture of cider and cider vinegar is not carried on here in 

 the West to the extent it should be, and thousands of bushels of fall apples 

 were lost in 1872 on this account. Probably not one-tenth of our vinegar 

 is made from cider that is called cider vinegar. A very strong prejudice 

 exists in some minds against the use of cider ; and I have one man in my 

 mind now who would not have a grape-vine grow on his place, because it 

 might lead to the making of wine, and he might become a drunkard ! 

 A few years later that man's orchard got too large for his own use, and 

 he built a cider mill, he said, "to save his poor, wormy fruit;" and he 

 will drink a full goblet of old wine at my house as quick as any one. 

 Query — What shall we do with such men ? 



The following resolution was read and adopted, viz : 



Resolved, That the Committee on Publication be authorized to condense any reports 

 or papers handed them for our published transactions, so far as they deem necessary. 



Dr. Wm. Le Baron, State Entomologist, read the following paper: 



THE BIRD (QUESTION. 



In the course of the discussions which have taken place at our horti- 

 cultural meetings, a number of topics, more or less intimately connected 

 with my own department of practical entomology, have sprung up, and 

 have elicited a good deal of interest, but have generally been very partially 

 and imperfectly treated. 



One of these subjects is that which is commonly referred to as the 

 bird question. It has appeared to me that it might be interesting and 

 useful to take a more comprehensive view of this subject than has been 

 ordinarily done, for the purpose of determining what is the true relation 

 which birds bear to horticultural and agricultural interests. 



We are liable to fornn erroneous opinions of things from the imper- 

 fection of our knowledge concerning them, and fully as often. i>erhaps, 

 from taking a partial or one-sided view of them, as they may happen to 

 affect our own personal interests. And .so it is with the bird question. 

 One man, with refined tastes and a strong affectional nature, and who, 

 we will suppose, has never been miu h annoyed by these creatures, regards 

 birds as one of the chief ornaments of his grounds, and one of the delights 

 of his life. If his birds should leave him or l)e destroyed, he would feel 



