Workers without Wage. By Edith Carrington. (Griffitla, Farran, and Co.)—It
was a happy idea to call the small creatures, about whose good or bad offices in agriculture we are undecided, "workers without wage." We give but scant thanks to toads, worms, spiders, beetles, wasps, ants, flies, and moles, for the immense help they afford the farmer in cleaning his land. The reason is that they or their operations are too small to be noticed till they appear in excessive numbers, and the balance of nature is destroyed. Hence we see the harm they do en masse, but never saw what they did individually. Toleration is now widespread, with a few lamentable exceptions, chiefly with regard to the hawks. Our author has a good word both for moles and wire- worms ; and though moles are most useful, particularly in draining ground, they are extremely inconvenient and dangerous too, as history teaches us. We should like to see a farmer's face when we suggested that wireworms "prune the ground." It la true, perhaps, but he might be forgiven for laughing at us. A great deal of interesting and instructive matter is given in Workers without Wage, and it appears to be carefully prepared as
to facts, and therefore of real value to young people undecided which way to vote.
Previous page
