134 FARM SPIES 



"entomologists have worked on what we believe to 

 be the same kind of aphid for many years. Some 

 get to the cotton by flying, as a certain number of 

 them get wings. Most of them are carried by the 

 little ants that you see so abundantly here on the 

 ground." 



"Carry them there! carry nothing ! " exclaimed 

 old Jack Terrell. 



"Don't carry them there? What makes you say 

 that ? " the entomologist asked. 



"They eat them, and that is just what these 

 ants are good for/ 7 Jack answered. "If it wasn't 

 for those ants these little bugs would not let us 

 grow a single stalk of cotton." 



"Have you ever seen an ant actually eat an aphid, 

 or, have you at any time seen an ant eat an aphid 

 anywhere?" asked the entomologist. 



"No-o-o," Jack replied hesitatingly, as though by 

 reflecting he must recall having seen it; "but," he 

 continued, "I have seen the ants have these lice in 

 their jaws and that is enough, is it not? The ants 

 eat the lice or aphids as you call them, and that is 

 what I say." 



"No doubt you have seen them between the jaws 

 of the ants, but if you had watched them long 

 enough your conclusion would have been an en- 

 tirely different one. Had you watched long enough 

 you would have found the ants, which you believed 



