Roseburg review. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 1885-1920, 1885-05-29
TRUTHFUL WILLIAM.
DIR. Nye Becomes interested in Agricustnr
and Detai1eth the Result Of His Experi

and Detafleth the Result 0f His Experi-
ments.
During the past season I have been
considerably interested in agr cut ire.
| have met with some success. but 1ot
enough to madden me with o.. II
takes a good deal of success to unscrew
my reason and make it tot er on its
throne. I've had trouble with my liver,
and various other abnormal condit ons
OF the vital organs, but old reason sits
there on his or her throne. as the case
may be. through it all
Agriculture has charm about ii
which can not adequately describe.
Every product of the farm is furnished
by nature with something that loves it,
so that it will never be neglected. The
grain crop is loved b. the weevil the
Hessian fly and the chinch bug; the
watermelon, the squash and the cueum-
ber are loved by the squash bug; the
potato is loYed by the potato bug; the
sweet corn is loved by the ant. thou
siuggard; the tomato is loved by the
cut-worm; the plum is loved by the cur
culio, and SO forth, and so forth, so
that no plant that grows need be a
wall-fiower. Early blooming and ex-
tremely dwarf joke for the table. Plant
as soon as there is no danger of frosts,
in dr.lls four inches apart. When ripe,
pull it, and eat raw with vinegar. The
red ants may be added to taste.
Well, began early to spade up my
angle-wor1ns and other pets to see II
they had withstood the severe winter
| found they had. They were UNI
usually bright and cheerful. The po-
tato-bugs were a little sluggish at
first, but as the spring opened and the
ground warmed up they pitched right
in, and did first rate. Every one of my
bugs in May looked splendidly. was
most worried about my cut-worms.
Away along in April had not seen a
cut-worm, and | began to fear they had
sutfexed, and perhaps per shed in the
extreme cold of the previous winter.
One morning late in the month,
however, | saw a cut-worm come Out
from behind cabbage stump and take
off h ear muf. He was little stiff in
the joints, but he had not lost hope.
| saw at once that now was the me to
assist him if had spark of humanity
left. | searched every work [ could
find on agr culture to find what it was
that farmers fed the blamed cut
worms, but all scientists seemed to be
silent. | read the agricultural reports,
the dictlonery, and the encyclopaedia,
but they didn't throw any light on the
subject. | got wild. feared that /
had brought but one cut-worm through
the win.er, and | was liable to lose b m
ualess could find out what to feed
h m. | asked some of my ne ghbors,
but they spoke jeeringly and sar-
castlcally. | know now why it was.
All their cut worms had frozen down
last winter, and they couldn't bear to
see me get ahead.
All at once, an idea struck me.
hayen't t recove: ed from the conclusion
yet. 1t was th S: the worm had win
| tered under a cabbage stalk; no doubt
he was fond OF the beverage. ] acted
upon this thought and bought h M two
dozen red cabbage plants, at fifty cents
| dozen. | had hit it the first pop. He
was pass onately fond of these plants,
and would eat three in one night. He
also had several matinees and sour
1rout lawn festivals for his fir ends,
and in a week | bought three dozen
more cabbage plants. By this tine
had collected large group of common
| scrub cut-worms, early Swedish cut
worms. dwarf Hubbard cut-worms and
short-horn cut-worms. all dong we'll,
but st Il, | thought, Little hide-bound
and bil Gus. They acted langu.d and
listless. As my squash bugs. curranl
worms, potato bugs, ETC., were all do
ing well without care, [ devoted my.
self almost exclusively to my cut
worms. They were all strong and
well. but they seemed melancholy with
nothing to eat. day after DAY, but cab
bages.
| therefore bought five dozen tomato
| plants that were tender and large
| These fed to the cut-worms at the
rate of eight to ten in one night. In q
week the cut-Worms had thrown of
that air of ennui and languor that
had formerly noticed. and were gay
and light-hearted. l got them some
more tomato plants. and then some
more cabbage for change. On tht
whole was dis proud as any young
! farmer could be who has made sue
i cess OF any thing.
/ One morning | noticed that cab
5age plantwas eftstanding unchanged
The next day it was still tne.e. I wa:
thunderstrack. / dug in the ground
My cut-worms were gone. | spadst
up the whole patch, but their wasn'
one. just as / had become attached q
them. and they had learned to look for
ward each day to my coming, wher
they would almost come up and eat
tomato-plant out of my hand, some on,
had robbed me of them. | was almos
wild tn despair and gr eff. Suldenl,
something tumbled over my foot. I
was mostly stomach, but it had feet OIL
each corner. A neghbor said it was
warty toad. He had eaten up my sum
mer's work! He had swallowed m,
cunning title cut worms. l tell you
gentle reader. unless some way is pro
vided, whereby this warty scourge cal
be wiped out, | for one shall eltnquisl
the Joys of ,,agr cultural pursuits
When q common toad, W tn sallov
complexion and no intellect, can swal
low up my summers work. it IS time t,