Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — Progress in the science of 
horticulture is marked by an increasing appreciation of the value of what is com¬ 
mon. and at first sight trivial and unimportant. We are sure to remember the 
long drouth, the severe storm or the deep snow. A destructive flood will be talked of 
generations to come. But the gentle showers are soon forgotten, while it is only by 
investigations of science that we are made aware of the moisture that is ever present 
in the surrounding air. Yet the flood is usually of little material interest, a few 
weeks and all trace of it has disappeared; but the atmospheric moisture cannot be 
spared for a single day if vegetation is to exist on the earth. It is by slow degrees 
and patient labor that we are learning to appreciate the forces that are ceaselessly at 
work around us, the intricacy of the great machine, the nicety of its balances and 
adjustments. Only when it temporarily acts to our loss or inconvenience—a consum¬ 
mation not infrequently brought about by our own ignorance or foil}'—do we realize 
the mighty influences that are constantly and silently ministering to our good. 
Among the many plagues which poor humanity has endured history records 
the losses caused by flights of birds; and in our own day we hear complaints from 
the growers of corn or fruit of injury to their crops. Indeed there are a few of us 
who have not noticed the oriole pecking grapes or the robin stealing cherries, and we 
are sure to remember the day when the hawk visited our hen-yard. We notice these 
events as we would the flood or storm; but how little we think of the birds’ actions 
from day to day, and how rarely do we ask the questions;—have the birds a distinct 
place in nature’s economy; are they, too, a part of this great machine, and perhaps 
as essential to our welfare even as the rain or sunshine? 
We must therefore endeavor to determine if the birds, by reason of their 
numbers and activities are able to produce a marked effect on other forms of life, 
animal or vegetable; and, secondly, if this influence is for the benefit of horticulture 
or otherwise. 
Our state supports a really dense bird population. Even in the depths of winter 
birds are not rare; the hawk sails overhead and crows flap across the dreary land¬ 
scape; woodpeckers and chickadees haunt the orchard and wherever a clump of 
weeds shows above the. snow, are flocks of snow-birds and winter-sparrows. But by 
February, if the weather be mild, new voices are heard, and in any case March will 
not be far advanced before every field, wood and garden is filled with the music of 
the birds; soon the rivers fill up with ducks and the marshes with snipe; each week 
brings new species of finches, sparrows, thrushes, who as they pass must glean a liv¬ 
ing from the farms where spring work is now in progress. When the leaves burst 
forth, cover is afforded for a host of warblers, vireos and fly catchers. May is nearly 
over before the great spring migration is past. Most of these birds have spent only 
a few weeks or days within our state; but while a great host has gone to spread over 
the lands to the north, many remain to build their nests and rear their young in our 
midst. These summer residents are to be with us for some months and we have thus 
