INSECTS AND HIRDS 



loosely covered with straw or old carpet, according to the 

 climate. 



If bees are carefully handled, there is money in them. 

 But one must not neglect them, nor allow diseases, like 

 the foul brood, to enter the hive. Few farmers, however, 

 engage in beekeeping except as a side issue, and for this 

 reason they are likely to neglect the hives except at odd 

 moments. 



257. Birds, too, help the farmer to save his crop, beside 

 adding beauty to his life. Longfellow's " Birds of Killing- 



V 



f\ 



BIRD BOXES. 



worth " contains the following graphic picture of a bird- 

 less neighborhood, where the farmers had slain all the 

 birds: 



" The summer came, and all the birds were dead, 

 The days were like hot coals ; the very ground 

 Was burnt to ashes ; in the orchard fed 

 Myriads of caterpillars, and around 



