304 



FARM AND SCHOOL PROBLEMS. 



Web-Footed (Anseres) 

 Pelican. 

 Petrel. 

 Cormorant. 

 Albatross. 

 Swan. 



Goose (wild and tame) 

 Duck (wild and tame). 



Economic Value of Birds. 



There is a practical as well as an artistic side to the study 

 of birds. The true lover of nature who has the poetic and ar- 

 tistic temperament, and the practical agriculturist may look at 

 bird study from different points of view. It is our aim in school 



agriculture to introduce bird 

 study for a two-fold purpose; 

 to cultivate a love of the beau- 

 tiful in this most interesting 

 division of the animal king- 

 dom, and to also teach the 

 economic value of these in- 

 teresting inhabitants of the 

 orchard, field and forest. 



The material prosperity 

 of this nation depends largely 

 upon the agricultural inter- 

 ests of the country, and any 

 agency that serves to increase 



and insure crop production, is of direct interest and importance 

 to our whole population. It has been thoroughly demonstrated 

 that birds are one of the most potent factors that contribute to 

 our success in farming. 



It has been estimated by entomologists that the loss to our 

 agricultural interests, caused by insect pests, is upwards of $900,- 

 000,000 annually. Ornithologists have determined by a scientific 

 study of birds that if it were not for our birds that this loss would 

 be much greater, and that if we had given .better protection to our 

 Jbird friends this loss would have been much smaller. There are 



FIG. 2. A Pair of White-Breasted 

 Nuthatches. 



