THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 

 a great value to the country from the standpoint of 

 dollars and cents. 



Destrudiveness of Insects. — If we go back a few 

 years and examine certain widely read publications 

 issued by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, we can understand more fully why our legisla- 

 tive bodies have regarded so seriously the subject of 

 bird protection. In one of the Year Books of the 

 Department we read that the annual loss to the cot- 

 ton crop of the United States by insects amounts to 

 sixty million dollars. We learn, too, that grasshop- 

 pers and other insects annually destroy fifty-three 

 million dollars' worth of hay and that two million 

 dollars' worth of cereals are each year eaten by our 

 insect population. In fact, we are told that one- 

 tenth of all the cereals, hay, cotton, tobacco, forests, 

 and general farm products is the yearly tax which in- 

 sects levy and collect. In some parts of the country 

 market-gardening and fruit-growing are the chief 

 industries of the people. Now, when a vegetable 

 raiser or fruit grower starts to count up the cost of 

 [ 102] 



