30 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
there is an abundance of this crop growing. But, 
however it be, they promptly cut out all grass and 
weeds, and their field is kept so carefully culti¬ 
vated that many a farmer of our race might well 
get some valuable pointers from these little ant 
agriculturists. When harvest time arrives, the 
little creatures go about the job most sensibly. 
The ant never stores awav an unsound seed. 
Each one is carefully weighed and considered and 
only those which pass their rigid tests are carried 
to the granaries underground. If their own fields 
do not fill the bins to bursting, the ants go out 
into the highways and byways to garner grain, 
gathering the seeds of various grasses, and alas! 
some of the grain from the fields of man’s sowing. 
“ Some people claim that the agricultural ants 
also dry and store up meat for winter use, but 
this has not been altogether proven. Sir John 
Lubbock found that in one large colony more 
than 100,000 caterpillars and small insects were 
brought in during a single day. Surely this num¬ 
ber was far beyond the amount needed for im¬ 
mediate consumption! What more probable than 
that these thriftv little creatures had in mind the 
winter’s needs? King Solomon evidently thought 
so; remember his admonishment, 4 Go to the ant, 
thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise,’ 
which having 4 no guide, overseer, or ruler, pro- 
videth her meat in the summer, and gathereth 
