118 FARM SPIES 



Mr. Sprague was so much pleased that he had 

 learned so much about the winter homes of the 

 chinch-bugs that he would never get through talking 

 about it. When he met one of his neighbors he would 

 say, " Do you expect to be bothered with chinch-bugs 

 next year? " 



"Yes, unless we should have a wet season," the 

 neighbor would reply. 



"Well, let me tell you something/' Mr. Sprague 

 would then say; "we do not give enough attention 

 to the cleaning up of our fields in the fall." 



Of course the neighbor would then ask, "What 

 has that to do with the chinch-bugs next year?" 

 and laugh, thinking that Mr. Sprague had lost 

 track of the subject. 



Mr. Sprague would then explain how the bugs 

 wintered in and about the old rubbish, grass, and 

 refuse of crops left in the field. Nearly every neigh- 

 bor who listened to this story would, after a little 

 thinking, exclaim, "That looks sensible to me be- 

 cause the worst spots in my fields always appear 

 near stumps, stones, trash, and along terraces." 



Mr. Sprague would then call attention to the im- 

 portance of knowing more about this bug, and urge 

 that they all attend the farmers' meeting at Kings- 

 ton. "They will have a train there, showing live- 

 stock, grains, farm-machinery, and bugs ; there 

 will also be speakers," he said. Some would then 



