THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



places. A small hole or an empty can in which 

 rain water has lodged may be the means of in- 

 festing the premises with myriads of the tor- 

 turous pests. The government has been doing 

 heroic work to try and remove the greatest 

 nuisance of our summers, but as the wretched 

 things are faithful to the place of their birth, 

 every individual home should join in the cru- 

 sade. I once read or was told that castor 

 beans, planted near the house, keep away flies 

 and most insects, and as they are gorgeous trop- 

 ical-looking plants, which grow very rapidly, 

 we have for years planted them in all the avail- 

 able places around the kitchen quarters and out- 

 buildings. Whether it is their presence, or the 

 perpetual war we wage on suspected breeding- 

 places, I don't know, but visitors invariably 

 notice how free from flies and such things our 

 place is. 



Barn and Stock. The barn and cow-stables 

 in fact, all the outbuildings are virtually de- 

 serted at this season of the year, for it is very 

 much better to let the cows sleep in the open air 



408 



