UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
March 23, 1907, 
Mr. Wm, Brewster, 
145 Brattle Street, 
Cambridge, Mass. 
Bear Mr. Brewster: 
I am thinking of a circular to be distributed freely among 
the farmers and other residents of the New England and Middle 
States asking for cooperation to increase the numbers of swallows, 
which birds we believe to be particularly valuable in the warfare 
against the boll weevil. During the fall migration particularly 
they have been found to destroy great numbers of the weevil. 
In connection with this subject you will recall telling me of 
an attempt to transport a box full of martins and their young either 
from one part of a state to another, or from one state to another. 
If I remember rightly that experiment was made last year and hence 
it is too early to learn whether the transported colony returned to 
their new surroundings. If the matter has been published upon, 
will you kindly refer me to the place, and, if not, will you please 
refresh your memory with any notes that you may have on the subject 
so that when you visit Washington next month you can give me all 
necessary details, as it seems to me the experiment might well be 
introduced in my circular as a sort of object lesson. By the time 
you arrive I will have the circular so far in shape that we can 
go over it together, and you can furnish me with further details. 
Very truly your^ 
