No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 317 



this afternoon in reference to the quality of the fibre and flavor of 

 the flesh; as to broodiness, they are about the same. 



MR. SEEDS: How do the white leghorns compare with the Ply- 

 mouth Rocks? 



MR. ORR: The white leghorn hen is the queen of New York for 

 egg production, first, because they lay a white egg, and second be- 

 cause of their superior table qualities; the New York people are learn- 

 ing how to supply just what they want. 



The CHAIRMAN: We shall now have the pleasure of listening to 

 a lecture, which will be illustrated, on "The Horse," by Dr. Leonard 

 Pearson, State Veterinarian, of Harrisburg, Pa. 



(Note. — The lecture of Dr. Pearson consisted almost wholly in the 

 exhibition of pictures thrown upon the screen, hence it is difficult to 

 present even a synopsis of the address without the pictures.) 



At the conclusion of Dr. Pearson's lecture, the next number on 

 the program was taken up and the audience had the pleasure of 

 listening to an illustrated lecture on "Birds and Insects," by Prof. 

 H. A. Surface, Economic Zoologist, Harrisburg, Pa. 



The following is a synopsis of the address: 



BIRDS AND INSECTS. 



By H. A. Surface, Economic Zoologist, and Professor of Zoology in the Pennsylvania State College. 



(This address was illustrated by a beautiful series of slides kindly 

 loaned for the occasion by Messrs. Williams, Brown and Earle, of 

 Philadelphia, and by others made by Prof. Surface and colored from 

 life by Mrs. H. A. Surface. The address was given extemporaneously 

 and with the characteristic enthusiasm of the speaker. The audience 

 was intensely interested from beginning to end, and many questions 

 were asked during the course of the address without materially in- 

 terrupting the train of thought which was presented.) 



The speaker illustrated representatives of all of our families of 

 native birds, beginning with the aquatic or lower forms and ending 

 with the thrushes. He spoke of their haunts and habits, and es- 

 pecially of the food, with particular reference to the kinds of in- 

 sects which birds eat. He showed that while the wading birds live 

 in damp places, and the plovers and killdeer in grassy pastures, eat- 

 ing the cutworms and other injurious insects that may occur in such 

 regions, the Quail feeds mostly on the ground in dry regions, and 

 the Meadow Lark feeds in open pastures and near the haunts of man, 



