MY BUTTERNUT
Reading edition
The butternut crop is always sure And raised at easy cost, There is nothing it will not endure, It is never harmed by frost. The hopper and the cabbage worm Care not to chew its leaves, Comes weather hot or wet or cold, This sturdy tree ne'er grieves. It has no fear of 'tater bugs, Or cultivation's errors, The measly scale from San Jose, And Green bug bring no terrors. No squash bug races o'er its frame, Nor caterpillar weaving, It is never doped with Paris Green, Yet never found a grieving. It has no use for bumblebees, No nodules on its feet, But when the frost is on the pumpkin Oft has the hay crop beat. If you wish a crop that always comes Without an "if" or "but," The surest thing in all the list, Just plant a butternut. JAMES H. HELMICK Columbus Junction, Iowa
Grand-pa come out to the butter nut tree, And crack some nuts for Nicodemus and me.
