86 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



he is awake. And what is the first thing that 

 catches his eye as he pokes out his horns? 

 Seedlings. 



There are still people who believe that the whole 

 universe has been arranged to serve the purposes 

 of man. The snail can hardly doubt that it has 

 been arranged to serve the purpose of snails, and 

 in the spring circumstances point very definitely 

 to the truth of this doctrine. In the first place, 

 a wise and ancient mollusc (and snails, barring 

 accidents, are long livers) might point out to the 

 juveniles of the breed, that when the snail awakes 

 with a delicate and fastidious stomach after a long 

 fast, he finds that by a providential arrangement 

 the most delicate kinds of young plants are laid 

 out in rows to tempt him. It is not much he wants 

 in March, but it is an unusual season if he does 

 not find ready for him a row of early vegetables 

 tender shoots which may be browsed without the 

 trouble of climbing. After a feast or two of 

 seedlings the inevitable touch of sour, surly 

 weather will send him back to his bed. Probably 

 his next awakening will be in April, and then 

 what a time is his ! 



Probably the British snail dates the beginning 

 of the millennium from the time when the sale 

 of flower seeds became an organized business. 

 Prior to that the amateur's garden, at any rate, was 

 a very so-so affair. The amateur himself dealt 

 largely in roots (mostly begged or borrowed), 

 which means hardy perennials. Now hardy peren- 

 nials have the vice of coming up strong from the 

 very start, and though a snail can do with a four- 



