OUR MOUNTAIN GARDEN 



of her most inscrutable mysteries is how, 

 and by what wonderful gift of orientation, 

 these little insect entities discover the 

 advent of their several vegetable affinities 

 in a garden. 



It was, naturally, those useful and in- 

 structive elders which first introduced to me 

 the hostile forces at work amongst my 

 plants. For no sooner had they reached an 

 edible size than a really handsome worm, 

 clad in Nile-green velvet trimmed with 

 white, arrived, and with sharp teeth and 

 an apparently unbounded stomach went to 

 work to absorb within his own proper 

 person as much of my bushes as his time 

 limit would allow. He brought his wife 

 and a large and energetic family of children. 

 I do not know to what size this creature 

 is capable of growing, if left to himself, but 

 as the summer went on, each member of 

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