320 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Now listen to Bryant's apostrophe to a water-fowl : 



All day thy wing8 have fanned, 



At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, 

 Yet etoop not, weary, to the welcome land, 



Though the dark night is near. 



And soon that toil shall end; 



Soon shalt thou find a summer home and rest. 

 And scream among thy fellows ; reeds shall bend 



boon o'er thy sheltered nest. 



Thou'rt gone : the abyss of heaven 

 Hath swallowed up thy form ; yet on my heart 



Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, 

 And shall not soon depart. 



He who, from zone to zone. 



Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 

 In the long way that I must tread alone. 



Will lead my steps aright. 



Then, to be practical, birds are a helpmate to man in a way appre- 

 ciated by the horticulturist: that is, their continual warfare against 

 bugs, worms etc. "And the servant is worthy of his hire ;" so 

 who can begrudge them a few cherries, or their portion of what they 

 so industriously work to protect from the ravages of insects? Thou- 

 sands of these innocents are offered up yearly to the Goddess of Fashion. 

 Is it not time that members of the Horticultural Society plead with 

 fashion's votaries to spare their faithful allies ? 



And let us teach our boys to have a tender feeling for all of God's 

 living creatures, and stop the ruthless killing of our feathered mis- 

 sionaries. 



Allow me to repeat some Hues once before read in your Association. 



I USED TO KILL BIRDS. 



BY M. C. EDWARDS. 



I used to kill birds in my boyhood, 



Blue-birds and.robins and wrens ; 

 1 hunted them up in the mountains, 



I hunted them down in the glens. 



I never thought it was sinful, 



I did it only for fun ; 

 And 1 had rare sport in the forest. 



With the wee little birds and my gun , 



But one clear day in the spring-time 



I spied a brown bird in a tree, 

 Merrily singing and chirping. 



As happy as bird could be; 



