'^ MORALS OF ELMS, WORMS 111 



of bean plants, half of which will have to be 

 pulled out. The worms have taken only one — 

 just like them, though they love beans. No, 

 the best thing to do with these fellows is to 

 exterminate them. One way of making them 

 harmless is illustrated in my sweet-pea row. 

 On both sides of this I planted radish seeds 

 thickly; these always come up in a few days 

 and provide cheap food for the worm. I have 

 lost only one sweet pea this year, and most of 

 the radishes are left for our table. 



Gophers are another variety of lower-world 

 denizens that keep the gardener guessing where 

 they'll turn up next. They create a tortuous 

 upheaval somewhat resembling that of an earth- 

 quake, and a row of your favorite flower or 

 vegetables is liable to be suddenly severed from 

 its base and left with a tunnel underneath. 

 Fortunately, we are seldom bothered by these 

 burrowers; but my friend Luther Burbank was 

 at one time so harassed by them that he aban- 

 doned his gladiolus colony for some years. 



Have you seen the Burbank brand of gladioli? 

 If not, you have something to live for. In one 

 respect the gophers are like cutworms. As 

 Burbank remarks, **the animals took special 

 delight in attacking the choicest plants." He 

 suffered a loss from these pests of "certainly not 

 less than a thousand dollars year after year." 

 All the usual traps were tried in vain, but finally 

 the gopher gun was invented. It consists of a 



