ing in this, the finest summer country that exists on our 

 planet. 



For the benefit of those who wish to travel on the main 

 canoe routes, the Minnesota Forest Service has cut out and 

 posted signs on nearly all the portages. It has also prepared 

 a canoeists' map of Northern Minnesota, which can be secured 

 upon request from "The Forester," State Capitol, St. Paul, 

 Minn. The rangers are well posted on all matters relating to 

 forest or lake travel in their districts, and will be glad to 

 refer enquiries to responsible parties who can give detailed 

 information to those who desire it. 



DURING almost any lazy Sunday afternoon in spring or 

 summer, I like to watch from a hammock, the ceaseless 

 industry of the birds that have made homes around my 

 louse and barn. A robin will come to its nest with a cut- 

 worm, drop it into a gaping red mouth and instantly take 

 flight, returning in a few minutes with a grasshopper; the 

 lext flight nets a coddling moth perhaps, and so the hunt goes 

 m from morning till night. Several other robins with nests 

 in the farmstead are equally busy, as are phoebes, gold-finches, 

 blue birds, and other varieties. None of the birds seem to fly 

 very far. Nearly their entire "catch" is brought in from within 

 ten or fifteen rods of house or barn, yet the total number of 

 insects destroyed in a single day by just this one squad of 

 'farm help" must be very large, and practically all of it 

 ithered from among my apples, plums, and small fruits. 

 Most of those insects are very destructive and multiply very 

 rapidly. Now, suppose the catch for a single day were to be 

 spared, allowed to multiply, and their progeny left unmolested, 

 what would happen to my fruit? Or suppose all these birds 

 were kept away from my grounds for an entire season, then 

 what? Without any question there would be at once a plague 



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