184 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



ANT. Ants that can't sting you might sting small 

 enemies. 



KENNETH. I should think that all you can do in plow- 

 ing and enriching the soil wouldn't amount to much. 



ANT. But suppose there were thousands of large col- 

 onies at work around here. Why, some places the ground 

 is covered with ant hills as far as you can see in fact, you 

 can see nothing else. Some mounds are higher than a 

 man's head and the apartment rooms run down several 

 feet. 



CECIL. And this has been going on for thousands; yes, 

 millions of years. 



The Carpenter Ant. 



FLORENCE. Plenty of the big Carpenters have been 

 around here all fall and we're still hunting for the nests. 

 Of course, we are passing right by their doors every day, 

 and don't know it. 



ANT. That ant slips out of the nest at dark, or when 

 you are not watching. You can't drive it home, for it 

 won't go home when you are after it, but runs and hides. 



KENNETH. Runs away from home like the mother 

 partridge, and kildeer, eh? And for the same reason. 



ALBERT. It is easily scared. Sometimes it runs, at 

 other times it hides under something, and I have seen it 

 play 'possum. You seldom run. Generally you fight back. 



ANT. You say that ant isn't much trouble to man, but 

 you'll find an objection to it if you keep watching. 



ALBERT. If I should put several Carpenters in a small 

 box they would poison themselves to death, if they were 

 teased. 



ANT. Yes, but on the other hand, a Carpenter was 

 known to live forty-one days after its head was cut off, 



