thirteen] securing OUR ALLIES 



many millions of francs through the injury done by 

 insects. Don't kill the birds." 



There is a good lesson in these bulletins, and it 

 was not a bad idea for the government to under- 

 take this sort of instruction. Some one has re- 

 cently discovered that there is no watch dog equal 

 to a peacock as a guardian against thieves and 

 marauders. Perched on the roof of an outbuild- 

 ing or an arbor, this bird will announce in shrill 

 notes, that can be heard half a mile away, the pres- 

 ence of suspicious-looking strangers. Their eyes 

 are always open, and they have the ability to see 

 at almost any angle. I am glad that we can find a 

 good excuse for allowing these beautiful creatures 

 to strut about our lawns — an excuse beyond that 

 of mere ornament. 



This book invites you out of the city, not to a 

 mere home among the trees and flowers, but to a 

 new and higher social order — a cooperation more 

 complete than was ever before possible between 

 men, creatures, and things. The drift toward con- 

 centered life was needful to accumulate capital. 

 The new swing of population is carrying this cap- 

 ital outward, to a more equable distribution. 



[309] 



