FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



mule carts travelling in from the country to market. When I 

 reached the farm (or plantation) I found no mansion, but simply 

 an overseer's house, and the overseer himself was a plain, un- 

 educated man, who at once took me out to the infested fields. 

 The scene was extraordinary. Over many acres there was hardly 

 a stem that did not bear one or more of the voracious caterpillars. 

 In those days there was little that could be done except to stop 

 the march of the army by ditching or something of the sort. 

 But the first caterpillar that I examined had some white eggs 

 on its back, and these I at once identified as the eggs of a 

 tachina fly. This was encouraging, and I examined other cater- 

 pillars. In fact, I spent four hours in the field trying to find a 

 caterpillar that did not bear the parasite eggs, but without success. 

 Thus I was able to assure the overseer that although there was 

 no help for the bad damage that had been done, it would not 

 continue, and that probably no more army worms would be 

 seen in that vicinity for some years to come. 



All this had been done in the morning, and we returned to 

 the overseer's litde house, where the trap was waiting to take 

 me back to Portsmouth. The overseer suggested that perhaps I 

 would like something to eat. Not wishing to put his household 

 to any trouble, I suggested that I might like a sandwich. 



"A sangwich?" he said. "Do you know that I saw one of them 

 things once. I had a big trip to New York, and went down to 

 Coney Island, and there I saw one of them things. I cayn't git 

 you a sangwich, but I kin rusde up some corn pone." 



And then I made my first acquaintance with the Southern 

 corn pone and hog. It seemed to me very disagreeable, soggy and 

 unappetizing, but I was hungry and I ate it. I have since learned 

 to like corn pone as it should be cooked, but this was the first 

 experience with it, and it did not taste good to the boy from 

 Central New York. 



[34] 



