Introductory . 1 1 



And now surely the farmer may put in his seed and 

 feel that if only seasonable weather be granted him he 

 may be quite independent of further help from his humble 

 fellow-laborers. The "if," to be sure, is rather a great 

 and important **if, " and altogether beyond his own con- 

 trol; but granted the weather, may he not go on and 

 prosper? 



Not unless he is prepared to pay a whole army of 

 boys to keep off marauders; and even then he would 

 probably find himself worsted in the battle with slugs, and 

 snails, and grubs, for these creatures have an especial 

 fondness for seedlings, wild and cultivated. We are told, 

 for instance, by the Rev. F. Morris, that out of five hun- 

 dred and four grains of rape planted as an experiment, 

 two hundred were eaten or injured. And how many even 

 of these would have escaped if "nature's mihtia," the 

 army of birds, had withdrawn their services.'* Very few, 

 probably, for the farmer has not yet invented any satis- 

 factory substitute, and if he be wise he will certainly wel- 

 come them in his fields, and be glad that they do not limit 

 their care to the wild crops of the farm. 



But when the crop has escaped these serious perils and 

 dangers, what then.? Even then the farmer will not in 

 many cases have any harvest, unless nature again comes to 

 his help and lends him a fresh set of workers different from 

 any hitherto employed in his service. This is especially 

 true of the fruit-farmer and the market-gardener. The 

 orchards and gardens may be a mass of blossom, but if 

 they are left to themselves at this critical time there will 

 be few apples, strawberries, or raspberries, and absolutely 

 no melons or cucumbers, no matter how favorable the 

 weather may be. And the same holds good with regard 



