Homesteading 1 



I 

 like dwarf sunflowers, besides roses — crimson, cream, j 



and white; also, in one place, a few tiger-lilies. 



I noticed on passing some pieces of wheat that i 

 it was just coming into ear. I also gathered f 

 quite a quantity of mushrooms to add to our simple i 

 fare, but as evening approached both Mike and I I 

 became unpleasantly aware of one of the greatest 

 plagues of prairie-life. The mosquitoes had ap- 

 peared some weeks before, but were getting worse 

 as the season advanced, and in places we seemed 

 walking through clouds of them. A sweep of 

 the hand over the poor animal's side to brush 

 them off left it covered with blood, but what 

 was the use of destroying a few dozens out of 

 billions ? 



The waving of a willow spray in front of my 

 own face helped a bit, for a time ; even smoking 

 seemed useless, and at last we both trudged on 

 in acute misery. 



A lovely summer evening when the wind has 

 fallen seems the chosen hour for these hateful 

 pests to sally forth in myriads, and their voracious 

 attacks on the belated traveller appear truly 

 diabolic. An immense amount of profanity, bad 

 temper, and even serious accidents with teams, 

 are probably due to this cause. 



Tom met me at the pasture gate with the 

 remark : 



