, 1885-02-08

BILL NYE WRITES OF THE CHARMS
OF AGRICULTURE


RultNA tN| INrN A10 q NV A|A@
siderably interested in agriculture. have
mt with aoms SUCCESS, but not enough U
madden ma with joy. 1t takes 4 good deal
OF success to nnscrew my reason and make it
tottsr Ga its throne. I've had trouble with
my liver, and various other abnormal condi-
tions OF tho vital Organs. but old reason sits
there on his on her throne, as the case may
be, though it all
Agriculture has a charm about 1t which l
can not adequately describe. Every product
Of the farrtkf fnrnished by nature with
something that loves 1t. SO that 1t will never
30 neglected. rns grain crop Il 4 ovsd b.
the weegil, tho hessian fly, and the chinch
bug; the watermelon, the squash, and
the cucumbsr are loved by the squash bug;
tho potato Is loved by the potato bug; the
sweet corn Is loved by the ant. thou slug
gard: the tomato Is loved by the cut worm;
tho plumb il loved by tho curculio, and SO
forth, and so forth. so that no plant that
grow nesi bs a wail-hower. fEariy bloom
ing and extremely dwarf joke for the table.
Plant as soon as there is no danger OF frosts.
in drills four inches apart When ripe, pull
it, AMI cat raw with vinegar. The rsi ants
may be added TO taste.
Well. / began early to spade up my angle
worms AMI other pets, 10 see IL they had
with tool the severe winter. l founi they
had. They were unusually bright and
cheerful The potato-bugs were a littls
sluggish ut first, but as the spring opsnd
and the ground warmed up they pitche I
right In, and did first Eycry one-of
my bugs in May lookel splendidly. l was
most worried about my cut-worms. Away
along in April 1 had not seen a cut-worm,
and l began to fear thsy had suffered, AMI
perhaps persisted, In the extreme cold OF the
previous winter.
One morning late In the month, however,
1 saw a cut-worm come out from behind a
cabbage stump and take of his ear muff.
He was a little stiff In the joints, but he hal
not lost hope. 1 saw at once now was tho
time 10 assist him il l had a spark OF human
ity left searched every work ! could find
on agriculture to find ont what it was that
farmers fed their blamed cut-worms, but all
scientists seemed to be silent read tho
agricultural reports, the dictionary. and the
encyclopedia, but they didn't throw any
light on the subject ! got wild 1 feared
that l had brought bat one cut-worm
through the winter. and I was liable to lose
him unless 1 could find out what to feed
him asked some Of my ~neighbors, but
they spoke jeeringly and sarcasticaily. /
know now why It was. All their cut-worms
had frozen dow last winter, and they
couldn't bear TO see me get ahead.
All at once, an idea struck me-. 1 haven't
wv ~ AtAA NAA4 kkAA@ q IA
this: the worm had wintered under a cab
bage stalk; no doubt he was fond Of the bev-
erage- l acted upon this thought and
brought him two dozen red cabbage plants,
at so cents a dozen. l had hit it the first
pop. He was passionately fond Of these
plants, and would eat three In one night
He also had several matinees and sour krout
lawn festivals for his friends, and in a week
l bought three dozen more cabbage plants.
Il u 4 A. - ILL.,
OF common scrub cut worms, early Swedish
cut-worms, dwarf Hubbard cut-worms, and
short-horn cut worms, all doing well, but
still. / Thought. a little hide-bound and bilious.
They acted languid and l~istless. As my
squash bugs, currant worms, potato bugs.
etc, were all doing well without care, l de-
voted myself almost exclusively TO my cut
worms They were all strong and well, but
they seemed melancholy with nothing to eat,
day after day, but cabbageN
I therefore bought 1--WE dozen tomato
plants that were tender and large. These l
fed to the cut-worms at the rate of eight 10
ten in one night. In a week tho cut-worms
had thrown off that air Of ennui and languor
that l had formerly noticed, and were gay
and light-hearted. / got them some more
tomato plants, and then some more cabbage
for change. On the whole / was as proud as
any young farmer could be who has mado a
success Of anything.
One morning ! noticed that a cabbage
plant was left standing unchanged. Tho
next day It was still there. I was thunder
struck. | dug into the ground My cut
worms were gone. / spaded up the whole
patch, but there wasn't one. Just as / had
become attached TO them, and they had
learned to look forward each day 10 my com
ing. when they would almost come up and
eat a tomato-plant out Of my hand, some
one had robbed mo of them. | was almost
wild with despair and grief. Suddenly
something tumbled over my foot 1t was
mostly stomach, but it had feet on each cor
ner. A neighbor said 1t was a warty toad.
He had eaten up my summers work. He
had swallowed up my cunning little cut
worms 1 tell you, gontle reader, unless
some way is provided, whereby this wnrty
scourge can be wiped out, l for one shall re-
linquish the Joys Of agricultural pursuits.
When a common toad. with a sallow COM
plexion, and no intellect, can swallow up my
summers work, 1t is time to pause.