SUMMER DAYS 45 
his June fodder but must needs feast upon the 
Japanese irises of July. Fortunately he is big 
enough to handle very conveniently between the 
thumb and forefinger. Pick him thus from the 
rose or iris and drop him into a wide-mouthed 
pickle bottle partly filled with kerosene oil. If you 
object to touching this creature, which has a special 
hankering after white blossoms, poke him into the 
bottle with a little stick; the end, not the means, 
is the important thing. Gather up the rose bugs 
every morning. Once in a while empty the bottle 
on the ground and touch a match to the mixture 
of dead bugs and oil. 
Snipping, of which the summer brings a great 
deal, begins in June—if May has not been a re- 
minder of earlier needs. This is snipping with 
scissors and the objects are two—neatness and pro- 
longation of the blooming period. As soon as a 
flower fades, if no seed is wanted, snip it off, with 
its individual stem. Then the plant retains its 
attractiveness. And it is astonishing how much 
difference this little thing makes, especially with 
such flowers as the rose, iris and peony. The later 
blossoms not only have more room for expansion 
but benefit by strength that otherwise would go 
into the development of seed. 
Pansies planted in a partially shaded place and 
treated in this way will bloom quite freely into 
August and sparsely until winter. Canterbury bells 
and some of the other bellflowers, whose beauty 
is serious marred by the brown of even a few 
