THE* GA RODE N } MEAG AAGZE Ne Ee 
May, 1916 
Mott Entrance Lamps 
Mott’s ENTRANCE LAMPS for town 
and country houses harmoniously combine 
utility and beauty. 
In addition to the wide variety of designs shown in 
our catalogs, we offer the services of our experts in 
planning for special requirements. 
We issue separate catalogs of Display Fountains, 
Drinking Fountains, Bird Fountains, Electroliers, 
Vases, Grills and Gateways, Settees and Chairs, Stat- 
uary, Aquariums, Tree Guards, Sanitary Fittings for 
Stable and Barn. 
Any of these catalogs will gladly be sent on request. 
Address Ornamental Department 
THE J. L. MOTT IRON WORKS 
FIFTH AVENUE AND 17TH STREET NEW YORK 
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01000 Hl 
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Ideal Bird Houses 
For Wrens and Blue birds are the 
most artistic made in this coun- 
try regardless of price. 3 for 
$1.00 free to third zone. 
Write for Circular 
Shipped direct from factory. Low- 
est Prices. 5,000 handsome de- 
signs in stock—already seasoned. 
Ready for immediate use. Blue- 
bird house $5. Houses for Purple 
Martins $8.50. Many others. Just what 
you want! Send today for Free Book- 
let. Buy youx Bird Houses adzvect — 
. | and save money. 
F CHICAGO BIRD HOUSE CO. 
= Successors to 
Edmanson & Co. 
8 Sonth Norton St., 
‘o, Ill. 
Make your bird garden ‘‘different,”’ 
with practical houses designed by A. 
Neely Hall, pioneer in bird house build- 
ing. His homemade houses cost almost 
nothing. Birds like them. You, your 
boy, or your neighbor’s bov can easily build 25 types 
from Hall’s complete instructions and working diagrams. 
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Sent with membership in ‘‘American B rd House League,’’ B tton, Certificate, 
etc., for 25 cents in coin. Also "‘Put-Together Sectional Flower Box’’ Catalog. 
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The Put-Together Handicraft Shop Dept. G, Oak Park, Ill. 
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For the man who wants a summer bungalow in the mountains, 
a cottage at the shore, a garage or poultry house on his lot there 
is a Hodgson Portable House. ; 
Save time by buying Hodgson Houses, instead of building. They 
are ready to ship, and being made in painted sections, they are 
quickly and easily erected by unskilled workmen. Save money, too 
—no middlemen’s profits, no waste. The finest quality of work- 
manship is combined with the best quality of lumber obtainable. 
Hodgson Portable Houses have proved practical 
0 in all seasons and under all weather conditions. 
ya For illustrated catalog address 
| 6 E. F. HODGSON COMPANY, Room 228 
fa 116 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. 
6 East 39th Street, New York, N. Y. 
LA 
—— 56, 
Poultry House 
Dog Kennel 
4 a 
Welcome the Thrushes, Robins 
and Bluebirds 
Re thrushes—the group of birds in which 
is included robins and bluebirds—do a 
great deal of good and very little harm to the 
gardener, is the conclusion reached by investi- 
gators of the United States Department of 
Agriculture. Altogether there are within the 
limits of the United States eleven species of 
thrushes, five of which are commonly known as 
robins and bluebirds. The other six include the 
Townsend solitaire, the wood, the veery, the 
gray-cheek, the olive-back, and the hermit. 
thrushes. 
The robins and bluebirds nest close to houses, 
and even the shyest of the other species are 
content with the seclusion of an acre or two of 
woodland or swamp. For this reason the 
thrushes are among the best known and most. 
carefully protected of native American birds, — 
and at times their numbers become so great 
that it is feared they will do much harm to 
crops and fruit. The recent investigations, 
however, show that there is very little ground 
for this fear, but that, on the other hand, they 
destroy such a vast number of insects each year, 
that it is Prove that without them many 
crops would suffer serious damage. 
The robin is probably the best known. It 
has been frequently accused of destroying fruits. 
and berries, but it has now been ascertained 
that this only occurs in regions that are so 
thickly settled that there is no wild fruit. In 
some years the bird is a great pest in the olive 
orchards of California, but it is probable that 
they are driven to the orchards because of the 
scarcity of native berries at these times. Where 
wild fruit is available, the birds seem to prefer 
this to the cultivated varieties. 
The bluebird, like the robin, is very domestic, 
but unlike the robin, it does not prey upon any 
cultivated product or work any injury what- 
soever to the fruit grower. During the fruit 
season, in fact, five sixths of its food consists 
of insects. Therefore, encourage the bluebird 
to nest near your house by placing a conven- 
ient box in which it may build its home. 
A detailed description of the habits of the 
robins and bluebirds is contained in Bulletin 
No. 171 of the United States Department of 
Agriculture. Bulletin No. 280 takes up the 
habits of the six other species of the thrush 
group, which are not quite so well known. 
These birds also feed principally on insects and 
wild fruit. Domestic fruits are eaten so spar- 
ingly by these species that the damage done is 
quite negligible. 
The bird known as the Townsend solitaire is. 
noted chiefly for its song which is said to be at 
times the finest of any of the thrush family. 
It confines itself almost entirely to the moun- 
tains and gorges of the far West. The wood. 
thrush, distributed over the eastern part of the 
United States, is a frequenter of open groves 
and bushy pastures, and also is noted for its 
sweet song, especially in the early evening. It 
does not nest in gardens or orchards, and is 
seldom seen about farm buildings, so that many 
people, familiar with its song, would not know 
the bird by sight. The wood thrush consumes 
such harmful insects as the Colorado potato 
beetle and white grubs. The fruit which it 
eats it usually picks up from the ground in- 
stead of taking fresh from the tree; there is, 
therefore, no reason why it should not be rig- 
idly protected. ° 
Machinery for Trenching 
OME form of trenching machinery will 
prove a profitable investment, according to: 
engineers in the United States Department of 
Agriculture, if the landowner has more than 
100 rods of tile drain to lay in soil that will 
require picking but which is free from rock. 
Ditching plows that can be purchased for $18. 
to $20 will prove of material assistance in such 
work. If as much as 1,500 rods of tile drain 
are to be laid, the landowner will be justified 
in purchasing a horse-drawn plow at $250 to 
$300, provided the soil is free from rock and 
large roots. The installation of 5,000 rods of 
drain tile will justify the purchase of a power- 
driven trenching machine for $1,500, provided 
the machine can subsequently be sold for one- 
half its original cost. 
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