MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 95 



den ; being fond of almost all the vege 

 tables, except the cucumber, a dietetic 

 hint to man. I believe it is also said 

 that the pig will not eat tobacco. These 

 are important facts. It is singular, how 

 ever, that those who hold up the pigs as 

 models to us never hold us up as models 

 to the pigs. 



I wish I knew as much about natural 

 history and the habits of animals as 

 Calvin does. He is the closest observer 

 I ever saw ; and there are few species of 

 animals on the place that he has not 

 analyzed. I think that he has, to use a 

 euphemism very applicable to him, got 

 outside of every one of them, except 

 the toad. To the toad he is entirely 

 indifferent; but I presume he knows 

 that the toad is the most useful animal 

 in the garden. I think the Agricultural 

 Society ought to offer a prize for the 

 finest toad. When Polly comes to sit in 



