Wild gourd leaves the next big thing?

Ask any McCook middle schooler who Joe Biden is and you might get a blank look in return.

Ask about "Mr. Bill" and you'll get instant recognition.

Candy vendor and sidewalk sage Bill Donze is known for offering bargain treats from his mobile candy stand, parked near the swimming pool during the summer, Norris Park or the schools other seasons or times of the day. He's been known to run a tab for kids who have run out of allowance, or even offer snowcones gratis to pedestrians who look particularly scorched.

Now Mr. Bill would like to help out the county as well.

At this week's meeting of the County Commissioners, Donze revealed what he says is a cheap, effective pesticide.

Long-time gardener, and observer of nature as well as fellow human beings, Donze said he's noticed that "nothing in the bug world" eats the leaves of the wild gourds often found along roads and highways in Southwest Nebraska.

A proponent of rain barrels -- he says he can save 1,100 gallons of water from a 1 inch rain on his tenth of an acre -- Donze wrote to the commissioners that he has kept insect damage to a minimum on his tomato crop by spraying it with a tea made from wild gourd leaves.

Since performing what he called a "double blind study" three years ago, he has used nothing but his homemade bug repellent to prevent insect damage.

"I have raised 500 pounds of tomatoes this year with less than one-half percent of that crop showing damage, though hoppers are all over my plants," he wrote.

So far, he said, he's found no negative results from spraying plants with his gourd tea, and has discovered it's also effective as mosquito control.

Should the county invest in Mr. Bill's wild gourd tea?

Probably not.

But we have to admire his imagination and creativity.

Would it be worth further investigation? We think so.

Who knows, with some scientific analysis and a proper business plan, perhaps Mr. Bill's organic insecticide might be the next big thing.