18 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPKR. 



agca t ) [Tt. LVi.1 i-cr iortuno i::l:j cinjcli-j 

 and sucli i;_L_;_,y aud i';iii away ^vjlh it al't- 

 er tlicy I:;.d ])oon married p^nior.th. Ho 

 jun3i;ed off i\ l:';an in a tunnel and got oiY 

 unhiirt. 



"He was: a ropo dancer and gocd at 

 .lumping, or he'd never have done it, and 

 he's liviii^r now with some bird of liie 

 same fer.ther in Europe. She don't knov,- 

 it or don't boiieve it, poor old lady! Her 

 wits ain't right, and siie thinks satan car- 

 ried him off. Goodby, madam. The old 

 lady is in a hurry, and I must go to her. ' ' 

 — Boston Herald. 



PLANT MIMICRY. 



Some of tl>.e Strange Tricks Played by 

 St-eds For I'ropagation. 



Dr. Luntistrom has recently described 

 some cases of alleged plant jnimicry. The 

 cultivated i)lant known as calendula may 

 in diffcri^nr conditions produce at least 

 three different kinds of fruit. Some have 

 sails and are suited for transportation by 

 the wind, while otliers have hooks and 

 catch hold of passing animals, but the 

 third kind exliibits a more desperate 

 dodge, f(jr it l)ecomes like a caterpillar! 

 Not that the fruit knows anything about 

 it, but if it be suffici(^ntly like a caterpil- 

 lar a bird may eat it by mistake, the in- 

 digestible seeds will be subsequently sown, 

 and so the trick succeeds. 



The next case is more marvelous. There 

 is a more graceful wild plant, with beauti- 

 ful, delicate flowers, known to many as 

 the cow wheat. Ants are fond of visiting 

 the cow wheat to feast on a sweet banquet 

 spread out upon the leaves. Dr. Lund- 

 strom lias (jhserved one of these ants and 

 was surprised to see it making off with 

 one of the seeds from an open fruit. Tlie 

 ant took the seed home with it. On ex- 

 ploring some fVnt nests the explorer saw 

 that this was not the first cow wheat seed 

 which liad l)een similarly treated. Many 

 seeds were found in t!i(^ ant nurseries. 



The ants did not eat them or destroy 

 them. In fact, when the nest was dis- 

 turbed the ani s saved the seeds along with 

 their brood, for in size, form, color and 

 weight, even in minute particulars, the 

 seeds in question resemble ant cocoons. 

 Once placed aviiong the cocoons it requires 

 a better eye than an aiit has to distinguish 

 the tares from the wheat. In the excite- 

 ment of flifiing, when the nest is disturb- 

 ed, the mistake is repeated, and the seeds 

 are also saved. The trick is found out 

 some day, for the seeds, like the cocoons, 

 awake out of sleep. The awakening dis- 

 plays the fraud. The seeds are thus sup- 

 posed to be scattered. They germinate and 

 seem to tlu-ive in the ant nests. — Pitts- 

 burg Despatch. 



AFTER A YEAH, 



The fthncu-r lilies nod their heads 



Oh elMif-r side the garden way, 

 An-. ..A all)" •: the flower beds 



Tall fox-.loves str.nd in fair arraj^ 

 The throHtl;\ in th'j pear tree neai 



Still carols, as v.'hen first we came, 

 The sa:ac old song he sang last year, 



And we, we are no more the same. 



How strong the lilies smell I How neat 



The ordered rosebudy, row on row ! 

 It's still the scene that seemed so sweet 



A year ago— a year ago. 

 We noticed how that apple hough 



Stood out so green against the sity. 

 It's just as fair as ever now, 



But we are. altered, you and I. 



The days have come between us two 



And moved us ever more apart, 

 We cannot, as we used to do, 



Tell to each other all our heart, 

 Only a year since last we met. 



But in that year what things have been I 

 We walk, we talk together, yet 



We cannot bridge the gulf between. 



All looks unchanged save us alone, 



We've drifted into other ways. 

 Time turns the page, the past is gone. 



And navight restores the vanished days. 

 The fij'ing hours new scenes reveal. 



We never fancied, you and I, 

 They would come when we should feel 



No longer sad to say goodby. 



—Longman's Magazine. 



SEPARATION. 



"It is u.suai, I believe, "he said, "be- 

 fo».-o dissolving partnership to take ac- 

 count.s. Let us see what we each brought 

 into the firm. " 



"You begin," she answered. 



"I brought fair ability, energy, am- 

 bition, a decent position, means of com- 

 fortable life, an unblemished name. Ev- 

 ery one said I wasn't 'a bad sort,' and, 

 more than all, I brought deep, true, 

 passionate love. " 



Said the woman, "I brought beauty" 

 — hei statement was splendidly true — 

 "youth, physical purity — to which you 

 do not lay claim. " He bowed. "Per- 

 haps little else, for it was generous of 

 yoii t(j marry the daughter of an undis- 

 charged bankrupt." 



"What have we got out of our mar- 

 riage':"' continued the husband. "Let me 

 speak. Of course the honeymoon was a 

 failure. Poets and novelists" — he spoke 

 bitterly — "tell wicked, ridiculous lies 

 about honeymoons. They never are 

 wholly happy, unless, perhaps, when 



