"I'll have to award the ten dollar gold prize
then, but it will be some little time yet. Things are not all done
growing, though they have done their best. From now on we will not have to
worry so much about weeds, bugs and worms."
"Do they die, too, like the potato vines?" asked Mab.
"Yes, though many weeds will not be killed until a hard frost nips them.
But the garden plants have gotten their full growth, and are not babies
any more, so the weeds can not do them so much harm. Most of the bugs and
worms, too, have died or been eaten by the birds. The birds are the
gardener's best friend, for they eat many worms and bugs that could not be
killed in any other way. So the more insect-eating birds you have around
your garden the better. Even though the robins may take a few cherries
they don't get paid half enough that way for the good work they do."
"How am I going to harvest my beans?" asked Mab. "There aren't many more
green ones left to boil, for Mother canned a lot of them."
"What are left of your beans we will save dried, to make into baked beans
this Winter," said her father.
"And what about my corn?" Hal wanted to know.
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