346 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



than when I came there. The sparrows seem to drive the other 

 birds away. 



Mr. StockweH : I think the most important agency for l>ring- 

 ing this matter to tlie attention of yoimg children is through the 

 schools. We have got to reach the children through the teachers. 

 It seems to me we could do a very practical thing this afternoon by 

 appointing a committee to attend the meeting of the Educational As- 

 sociation and to forcibly bring this matter to the attention of the 

 teaching forces of the state. If it is in order I would like to move 

 the appointment of a committee, of which Mrs. Hudson is to be 

 chairman, to bring this matter before the Minnesota Educational 

 Association. 



Mrs. Hudson : There are so many in the state that know a great 

 deal more about this work than I do that I really think it would be 

 better to name some one else. 



The President : I think the suggestion is a very good one, but 

 I am almost afraid if we put Mrs. Hudson on that committee she 

 would be too modest to appear before the association. 



Mr. StockweH : We want the committee to present this matter 

 immediately to the teachers. 



Mr. Brackett : There was a little boy five or six years old who 

 met some rather bad boys on the street and learned to swear a little. 

 His father learned of it, and one day he said, "Johnny, I understand 

 you have been swearing." Johnny asked, "Who told you that, 

 papa?" The father replied, "A little bird told me." "Well," re- 

 plied Johnny, "it must have been one of those d d sparrows." 



So you see the sparrow is held responsible for a good many sins. 

 (Laughter.) 



Mr. Philips : I want to say a word about this bird question. 

 One of the men I admire most today is Geo. T. Angell, of Boston ; 

 I think he is doing a world of good with his paper. I believe, as 

 Mrs. Thompson, of Duluth, does, that we cannot go into our schools 

 and tell the boys it is wrong to rob a bluejay or a robin's nest and 

 then tell them it is right to rob a niother sparrow's nest. I built 

 a new barn and put on a cupola. The sparrows would come there 

 and eat with our ducks. When I built the barn and put up that 

 cupola in I had some slats put in, and they got in there and built 

 their nests. They acted just as though they thought that was built 

 for their special convenience, and I never saw a happier lot of birds, 

 but they spoiled a lot of hay. I saw I could not stand that, so I 

 sent the boys up there with some screening and had them put in 

 over the slats, and I want to say that it would have made anybody 

 feel sorry to hear those little fellows begging to go in there. I did 

 not want to disappoint them too much, so I fixed up a place behind 

 the barn for them to go in. You cannot tell a boy it is right to kill 

 one bird and protect another. 



Bush Fruits. — Not one farmer in a hundred raises all the small fruit his 

 family can use. The fruit garden should be on good land and near the house. 

 The land should be well drained. A good fruit garden may mean a few less 

 bushels of oats and corn, but the farm is made more homelike and is sup- 

 plied with the comforts and luxuries of the table. 



