and forth from their homes. Our federation forestry com- 

 mittee has broadened into an up-to-date conservation depart- 

 ment with several divisions and Miss Shelland is at the head 

 of our committee on parks and highways. They introduced 

 resolutions at our midwinter meeting, February 21, that 

 "through each available channel we work toward the beauti- 

 fying of state parks and established state highways" (car- 

 ried), also that "we heartily endorse the use of convict labor 

 in road making as being a healthful occupation for the con- 

 victs and making them of use in the state's great work." 

 This latter resolution was referred to committee on social 

 and Industrial conditions and will be considered at our an- 

 nual m.eeting in October. This plan has worked so success- 

 fully in gome states it seems worth our serious considera- 

 tion. This committee also passed a resolution that "the state 

 and United States government be urged to take every pos- 

 sible step to build roads on their own lands and that such 

 roads be built as far as possible before the lands are open 

 to settlement." 



The conservation of our birds is of course a subject which 

 appeals to our heart and our head. I hope I am safe in de- 

 c'aring you will see no clubwoman bedecked with plumage 

 of cruelly slaughtered birds, certainly no loyal clubwoman. 

 The building of bird houses in our manual training depart- 

 ments has received a gratifying recognition from many quar- 

 ters. Mr. Bok, of the Ladies' Home Journal, has purchased 

 a number of them and several other public-spirited gentle- 

 men have made purchases from the St. Cloud manual training 

 school. This work has several commendable features. 



The charm of this beautiful world lies chiefly in its woods, 

 its streams and its birds. They make an appeal not alone 

 to the eye but to our sense of value. Of all plants the tree 

 is the most useful. When we recall Cuba, foremost in our 

 picture stands the royal palms, majestic in their beauty and 

 most valuable in furnishing a continuous pasture for cattle. 

 What, would Florida be without her sombre moss-draped live 

 caks, the South without its long-leaved pine forests? Wash- 

 ington has its fir, California its big trees, Colorado its spruce, 

 the Ohio valley its chestnuts, some the maple, others the 



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