INDIANA IIORTICULTIJRAL SOCIETY. 445 



There is more money made out of strawberries in this State than 

 any other one fruit, and I thinlc I am safe in saying all fruits combined, 

 and any information that will increase the size and beauty of the berry 

 will be appreciated by a large number of growers. There is no other 

 fruit or crop of any kind that can l)e made to pay from $300 to $000 per 

 acre, and yet there are many things to be learned in growing line berries 

 for market. I hope the day is past when anything but the best will be 

 put on the market. 



This subject of fertilizers is an interesting and practical one and 

 should be studied more fully by all growers of fine fruits of all kinds. 

 It is necessary on ail kinds of large fruits as well as small. I have a 

 neighbor farmer who has a small orchard of apple trees which are in good 

 condition, but would not produce any apples. It has been in his possession 

 about eight years and this is the first year that any apples grew on it. 

 Under my instructions he has plowed and manured it and two years ago 

 he gave it a good coat of ashes. He sprayed for the past three years, but 

 no apples, and this year he got discouraged and did not spray, but missed 

 it, as he had a tine crop of apples, except that they were not sprayed. 

 I think it was the cultivating and manure and ashes or potash, that gave 

 him a crop of apples. 



President Stevens: We will now have the next topic, "The Value of 

 Birds to the Horticulturist,'" by Miss Florence A. Howe. 



Miss Howe: The topic which I was asked to discuss was "The Value 

 of Birds to the Horticulturist." 



VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE HORTICULTURIST. 



MISS FLORENCE A. HOWE, IRVINGTON. 



The earliest Anierican ornithologists recognized the fact that birds 

 were of value to man. lint tiio fact was not then emphasized as it has been 

 in the last few decades. Witli changing conditions of living it became ap- 

 parent that birds were not as numerous as they formerly were and that 

 crops of various kinds Avere not what they used to Ik'. (Jradualiy a theory 

 that there was relation between these tAvo facts appeared, and various 

 steps were taken to determine Just what value, if any, the birds were 

 to the men who made their living from the soil. 



There were a variety of interests involved, among them the millinery 

 interest, the sporting interest and the agriculturists who believed that the 

 birds did harm to tjie crops on one side, and on the other the argiculturist 



