THE BLACK CORN-WEEVIL 59 



this pest was becoming more destructive every year 

 and that it was necessary to have something done 

 to save the corn. 



Joe Henderson, the bank president, had listened 

 to these complaints about the weevils. Mr. Hen- 

 derson was a successful banker and farmer ; he was 

 more than that, for he was a fine business man who 

 was big enough to have the interest of his community 

 at heart. Everybody knew this, and whenever he 

 spoke, the people listened. One day they had a 

 meeting to discuss ways for getting rid of the weevils. 



Mr. Henderson said, " Gentlemen, corn is a great 

 crop and must be saved. Every other crop must be 

 saved, and the business men of Flanders will help 

 you. This is a farming section, and the success of 

 this town and its business men depends on the crops 

 made by the farmers of the surrounding country. 

 Without the backing of the farms this town could 

 not be here, and now the people of this town must 

 help the farmers to find some way of getting rid of 

 this pest. The step for us to take right now is to get 

 an entomologist down here to study this black weevil, 

 and maybe he can find out how to kill the thief." 



"An entomologist.?" asked Bob Griggs. "What 

 is that?" 



"It treats of the structure of words, Bob," ex- 

 claimed Ben Gray, anxious to show what he knew. 



Several who knew better laughed outright, and 



