te
is but small, even its most friendly advocate cannot deny that there are
cases where it has been extremely troublesome to the individual
cultivator, especially if he be an amateur.

There are many hard men of business, who are obliged to spend the
greater part of the day in their London offices, and who find their best
relaxation in amateur gardening; those who grow vegetables, regarding
their peas, beans, potatoes, and celery with as much affection as is
felt by floriculturists for their roses or tulips.

Nothing is more annoying to such men than to find, when the toils of
business are over, and they have settled themselves comfortably into
their gardening suits, that some marauder has carried off the very
vegetables on which they had prided themselves.

The water-vole has been detected in the act of climbing up a ladder
which had been left standing against a plum tree, and attacking the
fruit. Bunches of grapes on outdoor vines are sometimes nipped off the
branches by the teeth of the water-vole, and the animal has been seen to
climb beans and peas, split the pods, and devour the contents.

Although not a hibernating animal, it lays up a store of food in the
autumn. Mr. Groom Napier has the following description of the contents
of a water-rat's storehouse:--

"Early in the spring of 1855, I dug out the burrow of a water-vole, and
was surprised to find at the further extremity a cavity of about a foot
in diameter, containing a quantity of fragments of carrots and potatoes,
sufficient to fill a peck measure. This was undoubtedly a part of its
winter store of provisions. This food had been gathered from a large
potato and carrot bed in the vicinity.

"On pointing out my discovery to the owner of the garden, he said that
his losses had been very serious that winter owing to the ravages of
these animals, and said that he had brought both dogs and cats down to
the stream to hunt for them; but they were too wary to be often caught."

I do not think that the owner of the garden knew very much about the
characters either of the cat or water-vole.

Every one who is practically acquainted with cats knows that it is next
to impossible to point out an object to a cat as we can to a dog. She
looks at your finger, but can never direct her gaze to the object at
which you are pointing. In fact, I believe that pussy's eyes are not
made for detecting objects at a distance.

If we throw a piece of biscuit to a dog, and he do