WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. 



thunder-shower ? All my life long, no one has 

 been able to answer me that question. Why, 

 after a heavy shower, and in the midst of it, do 

 such multitudes of toads, especially little ones, 

 hop about on the gravel-walks ? For many 

 years, I believed that they rained down ; and I 

 suppose many people think so still. They are 

 so small, and they come in such numbers only 

 in the shower, that the supposition is not a vio 

 lent one. &quot; Thick as toads after a shower,&quot; is 

 one of our best proverbs. I asked an explana 

 tion of this of a thoughtful woman, indeed, a 

 leader in the great movement to have all the 

 toads hop in any direction, without any distinc 

 tion of sex or religion. Her reply was, that the 

 toads come out during the shower to get water. 

 This, however, is not the fact. I have discovered 

 that they come out not to get water. I deluged 

 a dry flower-bed, the other night, with pailful 

 after pailful of water. Instantly the toads came 



