So he went to the dump-heap back of the woodshed and picked out a number of old cans. He nailed them to long flat sticks and then brought them back to the house to give to the girls who had offered their services to save Natalie’s potatoes.
They had equipped themselves with sticks to use as removers of the beetles, and when they were ready to start for the garden, Janet said: “But where is the kerosene oil, Sam?”
Sam looked up at his aunt and said: “Where is the ile?”
“I ain’t got no ile, son. I doesn’t use ile for ennyt’ng nohow. You’se will have to get some at Fo’h Cornehs.”
But that would take as long to get back to the house as the powder was taking, so the girls placed their novel beetle removers under the steps of the stoop to use at some future time.
It was almost supper time when Natalie returned with the Paris Green and instructions from Mr. Tompkins of how to use it. She also had procured a sprayer to use when the Paris Green was prepared for use.
Before retiring that night Natalie warned Rachel that she was not to allow her to oversleep in the morning. “I want to get up at dawn, Rachie, because the bugs will eat more poison in the early morning than later in the day. And I must clean off my darling little potato vines, you see.”
“Yeh, I see, honey I’ll git up and he’p you some,” promised Rachel as she went upstairs.
Janet was telling about the eggs her hens were now laying, so Rachel chuckled to herself as she left Natalie. When the latter went back to join her friends, Mrs. James was explaining why hens seldom laid as many eggs in rainy weather. She said it was accounted for by some scientists because the earth was damp and the hens could not scratch readily in it.
“That’s why I scattered broken clam-shells in the yard to make the scratching better,” said Janet.