Song birds, aside from their brilliant plumage, so pleasing to the observer, and their sweet music, redolent with liquid melody, have a civic value of inestimable intrinsic worth that, if truly known and practically comprehended, would win millions of friends for the thrilling choristers of the fields and forests, who would indignantly halt the crusade of relentless extermination strenuously waged that gives excellent promise of ultimately depopulating all creation of man’s valiant army of feathered coadjutors.

Did you ever hear an inspiring strain of music that failed to thrill the soul with lofty ideals and more exalted aspirations?

All those who dwell in an atmosphere of intellectual refinement yearn for brilliant things in flowers, birds, sunsets, and in their fellow mortals. A heartless boy who recklessly slaughters birds will inevitably develop into a relentless man. If taught to hold the law in high esteem when young in years, he becomes a patriotic man, with a profound reverence for the statutes of his State. The most courageous men, bravest warriors, and the most aggressive leaders are those of gentle natures and of tender hearts. Instill these precepts into the souls of boys, and, existing in such noble environment, it will mold characters that will ornament society and serve to lift mankind from the miasmic swamps of degeneracy to the mountain tops where radiates the splendor of moral grandeur.

To help prevent the spread of the boll weevil, pass stringent laws for the protection of birds! Then let the planters insist that the bird laws be strictly enforced.

Note the following stupendous agricultural interests which are at stake:

Acres in
farms.		Value of farms
excluding
buildings.
North Carolina22,749,356$141,955,840
South Carolina13,985,01499,805,860
Georgia26,392,057138,616,430
Florida4,363,89131,823,016
Alabama20,685,427100,165,571
Mississippi18,240,736114,956,660
Louisiana11,059,127107,730,210
Total117,475,608$733,852,587

Protect the birds—the farmers’ best helpers!