Estimating with these figures as we did before, an area somewhat less than our state would have a bird population of 12,096,000, or nearly four times as large as that of Wisconsin, and yet the vicinity of Ithaca must have been under cultivation a full half century before the first settlers came to Jefferson.

Much may be done, I believe to increase our bird population and with great advantage to agriculture in general. In the first place I would urge that as few cats and dogs as possible be tolerated about the premises. Their tendency is to prevent birds from breeding about dwellings and in orchards.

The blue birds and house wren are two birds which never molest fruits or grains and are exceedingly destructive to insects. They gladly occupy the few houses which are provided for them and it is purely a lack of suitable breeding places which prevents them from becoming far more abundant than they now are, and I would urge upon you the desirability of putting up cheap houses for them, not about the dwellings simply, but at many places along the fences in the fields. The wren will do the best service in the garden and orchard and the blue bird is best adapted to the fields in general.

Every town has its annual brood of tyros who must learn to shoot on the wing and no bird is a better target than the meadow lark. The result is, thousands of these birds are destroyed every year. You should prohibit the whole of this bird shooting and nest robbing which is done for pastime. I believe that every meadow lark reared in a meadow is worth more than a ton of hay. You tolerate this trespassing upon your rights rather than offend your friends, but it is a bad practice morally as well as financially.

Again, those lone trees which are standing in the fields should not be cut down. The king bird needs them and will more than pay for whatever damage the tree may do. I believe it would pay, not only to leave some of these native trees standing which are growing along the line fences, but to plant trees there for the express purpose of furnishing shelter and nesting places for birds. They should be hardy, deep-rooting trees, and some of them should be black cherry

trees, if not the better varieties. Improvements of this kind are greatly needed in prairie sections of the state. Barns should be constructed with a view to letting those swallows in rather than shutting them out, and I would recommend that the brackets which are put up under the eaves of barns for ornament, should be planned so as to serve for bird houses as well. This may be easily done.

The larger species of snakes should be destroyed. They are very destructive to birds and to frogs, and toads as well, which are as servicable as any bird can be. Once during my collecting, I left some birds which I had examined lying on the groung at camp. On returning I found a large striped snake there with the tail feathers of a woodpecker just protruding from its mouth, and, if you will believe it, the snake had already swallowed a cat-bird with the feathers all on. A snake which can capture and swallow a frog will certainly have no difficulty in disposing of almost any young bird which is reared upon the ground.

The little red squirrel and the flying squirrel are two terrible enemies of our birds. Both are extremely fond of their eggs and the little red squirrel eats the young birds also. I suspect this habit is possessed by all of the squirrels, though I do not know from my own observation in regard to others. I should be very glad to know how the squirrels here in the park influence the breeding of birds in the trees and on the grounds. The encouragement which the squirrels receive here, furnishes an excellent opportunity to decide the question of the influence of the fox squirrel upon our birds.

Crows, the blue jay and the shrikes are other terrible enemies of birds much more useful than they can possibly be, and for this reason these birds should be held in scanty abundance.

It remains for me to thank you for the privilege of appearing before you in behalf of some of your best and strongest allies in the struggle for existence and progress, while at the same time I express the regret that as their case is so large it is impossible to do them even approximate justice in thirty minutes.

Mr. Plumb

DISCUSSION.

What is your opinion of the English sparrow? Prof. King — The English sparrow in my opinion has no business in America. It ought to be got rid of.

Mr. Plumb What will you do with it?

Prof. King-Kill him. In their native country where the cities are fully populated by them they are crowded out into the country. In our country where there is plenty of room, their preference is for the cities and they generally remain there.

Rev. G. E. Gordon, of Milwaukee - Have you ever examined the crops of the English sparrow?

Prof. King-No sir.

Rev. Mr. Gordon-I have examined the crops of some thousands of English sparrows at all seasons of the year, and my experience is that they are the best friends that the farmer can have. I remember when it was the fashion to order the death of all the sparrows, and prizes were offered to boys for the number they could kill. Millions of them were killed in England. Then came all the pests, the measuring worm and thousands of the pests. Then the farmers protected the sparrows again, and now they are free from those things which are most destructive to the small fruits and some of the grains. In this country I have examined a great many sparrows. I think sparrows are the most prolific of all birds, raising as many as four and five broods a year. The young sparrows cannot be raised on anything but insect food. When they are not raising young they eat grain and fruit, but during the time they are feeding their young they eat insects alone. I think if our friend, who has given us a most instructive paper, and one of the most useful I think which will be read at this convention, will give a little more attention to the matter of the English sparrow he will come here next year with a different opinion about them. I believe they ought to be encouraged. I do not believe in the protection of all living things, but I think the English sparrow is about the most abused thing in this country.

Prof. King - My objection to the English sparrow is that

it does no work that other birds are not capable of doing. It possesses those traits which enable it to assume an excessive abundance. It eats anything and everything. That being the case, there is no limit to the number of birds which may exist in the country, and when the number of birds becomes excessively great, they must necessarily push out into the cultivated fields and do havoc generally. The blue bird, whose tastes and inclinations limit it to insect food, cannot possibly become so abundant as to molest the crops of fruit or grain, and so in general the birds who feed entirely upon insects are the least likely to do damage and the most likely to do service.

Mr. Ford-Is it not true that the English sparrow is a most pugnacious bird and drives away others?

Prof. King-It is a pugnacious bird.

Mr. Ames- They have taken up their abode with me. I have a young Englishman with me, and I asked him what they were. He said they were English sparrows and that we would get enough of them. He says they are very destructive to grain in England. They feed upon the swallows' nests. They are certainly active and mean to live.

HOW DAIRY INTERESTS GROW.

Hon. JOHN LUCHSINGER, Monroe, Wis.

An instructive and effective way to find out the secret of success and eminence achieved by individuals in any calling or profession, is to review the course pursued from the beginning, to note the history of the efforts made, the success attained, the failures and their causes noted.

The same causes that produce success or failure in individual cases, produce like results where applied to any corporation or other interest.

There are many great prosperous dairy sections in this country, whose present position is regarded with just pride by all interested, and whose evident success has awakened a desire in many other parts of the country to imitate the

systems, and partake of the prosperity attendant upon this branch of farming when rightly managed.

As with individual greatness, the dairy industry has not jumped at one bound into its present eminence, but has worked its way, step by step, upward from small beginnings to its present position. Sometimes partial failures caused a retrograde movement, but in the main the failures have proved to be but the necessary wholesome lessons, necessary to prosecute any business successfully.

If this effort to give a short history of the growth of the cheese interests of Green county shall prove of benefit, and be instructive to those who are seeking to enter upon this branch of agriculture, the main object of this paper will be accomplished.

In common with the rest of the farmers of southern Wisconsin, those of Green county, twenty-five years ago, were generally engaged in wheat growing. Even after it was grown at a certain loss, all available lands continued to be sown with this grain for no apparent reason except from mere force of habit. The ravages of the chinch bug at length made the crop quite impossible, especially spring wheat. Farmers were running hopelessly in debt, and their farms were fast becoming impoverished. Necessity compelled them to change from wheat growing to other branches of farming, and of this necessity was born the cheese industry of this county.

In 1865, there were no cheese factories in the county. There were a few dairies where cheese was made in a small way, mostly for home use, with a very little to spare to sell. This was particularly the case in the northern part of the county, where the Swiss colonists lived. They made cheese after the fashion of the Fatherland, and after adapting the process of making to the difference in climate and herbage, really succeeded in making a fair article of cheese. It was made, however, on a small scale, in dairies of from ten to forty cows. But few farmers were so engaged, and the business was mostly regarded as an auxiliary source of revenue; such as the poultry yard is considered at present. The quality of cheese made, and consequently all the prices,