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 codperation 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 ] 
