CHAPTER IX 



OVERCOMING THE BUG BUG-A-BOO 



In the beginning 

 I was awfully afraid 

 of bugs! Not that 

 I was squeamish, 

 because as a boy I 

 collected all the 

 "worms and things" 

 I could find in field or woods, and kept my nurse 

 and grandmother on the verge of nervous pros- 

 tration by placing them — the bugs, that is — all 

 over the house in glass tumblers, and shoe boxes 

 with holes punched in the covers. 



When I first began gardening under glass 

 every new bug or worm got on my nerves be- 

 cause I didn't know what to do with it — or rather 

 to or for it — or what it was going to do with my 

 cherished flowers and promising vegetables. I 

 tried about every bug medicine there was on the 

 market — with results good, bad, and indifferent 

 according to the real worth of the preparation 

 and my knowledge of how to use it. 



