290 Wild Bird Guests 



the methods. This club also conducts debates 

 on such subjects as, "Resolved, that the insect- 

 eating birds are more beneficial than the seed- 

 eating birds," and "Resolved, that the birds 

 of prey are more beneficial than the insect- 

 eating birds/' and " Resolved, that the seed- 

 eating birds are more beneficial than the birds 

 of prey." The debating of these and similar 

 subjects is of the greatest importance to the 

 cause of bird protection. 



I know of no better or stronger way to present 

 the facts to the farmers, than to have these 

 interesting and vital questions debated in the 

 schools and academies where the farmers may 

 come to hear. There are thousands of people 

 who may not care to read a pile of government 

 reports who will gladly sit for an hour and wit- 

 ness a live contest between young people whom 

 they know, and who have the gist of those 

 reports at their fingers' ends and can present 

 it in a concise, interesting, and effective manner. 

 It is the writer's opinion that the debating of 

 these subjects should be encouraged in every 

 grammar school, high school, academy, and 

 private school in the country, and that if in- 

 terscholastic debates could be brought about, so 

 much the better. No end of material for such 

 debates has been collected in recent years, and is 



