MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 61 



how smooth it is. He is constantly 

 mining, and ridging it up. I am not 

 sure but he could be counter-mined. I 

 have half a mind to put powder in here 

 and there, and blow the whole thing 

 into the air. Some folks set traps for 

 the mole ; but my moles never seem to 

 go twice in the same place. I am not 

 sure but it would bother them to sow 

 the lawn with interlacing snake-grass 

 (the botanical name of which, somebody 

 writes me, is devil-grass : the first 

 time I have heard that the Devil has a 

 botanical name), which would worry 

 them, if it is as difficult for them to get 

 through it as it is for me. 



I do not speak of this mole in any 

 tone of complaint. He is only a part of 

 the untiring resources which Nature 

 brings against the humble gardener. I 

 desire to write nothing against him 

 which I should wish to recall at the last, 



