of insects that would either promptly put me out of business, 

 or at least necessitate a great and constant expense to fight 

 them to a standstill as the birds fight them now. 



But, for the fruit grower, spraying has peculiar difficulties- 

 and dangers. All sprays are poisonous, and if that were our 

 only protection against insects we would have to spray often, 

 but nobody would want to eat fruit that had been recently 

 poison-sprayed. Better keep the birds on the job. 



The birds molest the fruit hardly at all; they prefer in- 

 sects, and the small quantity of fruit with which certain kinds 

 of birds sometimes garnish the bugs may well be allowed 

 them for their services. But there is a better way. Set out a 

 few mulberry and wild cherries, trees that should be well 

 represented on every farmstead, anyway. This will save the 

 other fruit, and attract still more birds to your service. Get 

 from the Agricultural Department the bulletin "Plants Useful 

 to Attract Birds and Protect Fruit." 



And the wise farmer will offer his feathered servants good 

 homes near his own, birdhouses built to meet the require- 

 ments of the particular tenants desired. Get Farmers' Bul- 

 letin 609, "-Bird Houses and How to Build Them." 



In one particular the birds need a protection which the 

 farmer, single-handed, cannot give them; protection from 

 marauding boys, and men, especially near villages and small 

 cities, exactly where game is scarest, yet where many boys 

 who have almost no other employment spend a great deal of 

 time "hunting," and will shoot at anything that is a living 

 target. In this way there is a constant destruction of bird 

 life which it is impossible to prevent. Of course these birds 

 are protected by law, but that protection is utterly inadequate. 

 I believe we should have a law requiring a license before any- 

 one would be allowed to hunt anywhere off his own land, the 

 license to be forfeited for any violation of the game law or 

 for hunting on posted land; the mere carrying of a gun to be 

 evidence of hunting. This would almost eliminate the "22" 

 as a menace to the birds, and, incidentally, as a menace to 

 human beings as well. And why not? 



Only one modern saivmill is operated in the territory of Hawaii. 



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