20 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



KENNETH. Most always you clean all the rubbish off 

 every evening, too. 



ANT. We keep our house just as clean as our yard. I 

 guess we are the most cleanly and most orderly insects in 

 the world. 



FLORENCE. How do you keep your eggs, your babies 

 and yourselves so free from dirt? 



ANT. We shampoo (lick) them and each other. We 

 also brush ourselves and each other. Generally an ant 

 attends to her own toilet, but dust is hard to get off. Still, 

 we often help each other when it isn't necessary. 



KENNETH. When I throw dirt on your ants, they just 

 wipe off their feelers and then go on. Work first and 

 clean up when they get time, eh? One day, after I had 

 sprinkled dust on several ants, they hunted for me for 

 fifteen minutes and then all went to work. But first one of 

 them stood upright while three others removed the dirt. 



FLORENCE. I used to think your ants were always so 

 clean, but now when I see a shiny one in the morning I 

 suspect she is a slacker. 



ANT. Yes. Our workers often look like your men that 

 labor in the machine shop. Dusty mining, dusty weeds, 

 dusty trails, dusty air. Of course, we can't always be clean. 



FLORENCE. How can you tell when you are clean? 



ANT. We can feel dirt and smell it, too. 



FLORENCE. How do you stand while cleaning up? 



ANT. Often with four feet on the ground, like a dog's, 

 or with body upright, like yours. Then we use our fore- 

 legs much as you do your arms and hands. 



FLORENCE. Sometimes you get so dusty all over you 

 couldn't get it all off yourself. Describe just how one ant 

 would give another a good bath. 



CECIL. Let me read : "It begins on one side of the 



