1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



395 



A TEIT MILE ABMT OF ANTS, 

 AND THEIK EXPLOITS. 



We take the following description of the 

 "Bashikouay" — or reddish-brown African ant — 

 from Du Chaillu's account of his African travels : 



It is their habit to march through the forest in 

 a long and regular line, about two inches broad 

 and often ten miles in length. All along this 

 line are larger ants, who act as officers, stand 

 outside the ranks, and keep this singular army in 

 order. If they come to a place where there are 

 no trees to shelter them from the sun, whose heat 

 they cannot bear, they immediately build under- 

 ground tunnels, through which the whole army 

 passes in columns to the forest beyond. These 

 tunnels are four or five feet under ground, and 

 are used only in the heat of the day or during a 

 storm. 



When they get hungry, the long file spreads it- 

 self through the forest in a front line, and devours 

 all it comes to with a fury which is quite irresis- 

 tible. The elephant and gorilla fly before this 

 attack. The black men run for their lives. Every 

 animal that lives in their line of march is chased. 

 They seem to understand and act upon the tactics 

 of Napoleon, and concentrate with great speed 

 their heaviest forces upon the point of attack. In 

 an incretjibly short space of time the mouse, or 

 dog, or leopard, or deer, is overwhelmed, killed, 

 eaten, and the bare skeleton only remains. 



They seem to travel night and day. Many a 

 time have I been awakened out of a sleep, and 

 obliged to rush from the hut and into the water 

 to save my life, and after all suffered intolerable 

 agony from the bites of the advance guard, who 

 had got into my clothes. When they enter a 

 house they clear it of all living things. Roaches 

 are devoured in an instant, Rats and mice spring 

 round the room in vain. An overwhelming force 

 of ants kill a strong rat in less than a minute, in 

 spite of the most frantic struggles, and in less 

 than another minute its bones are stripped. 

 Every living thing in the house is devoured. 

 They will not touch vegetable matter. Thus they 

 are in reality very useful (as well as dangerous) 

 to the negroes, who have their huts cleaned of all 

 the abounding vermin, such as immense roaches 

 and centipedes, at least several times a year. 



When on their march, the insect world flies be- 

 fore them, and I have often had the approach of a 

 bashikouay army heralded to me by this means. 

 Wherever they go they make a clean sweep, even 

 ascending to the tops of the highest trees in pur- 

 suit of their prey. Their manner of attack is an 

 impetuous leap. Instantly the strong pincers are 

 fastened, and they only let go when the piece 

 gives away. At such times this little animal 

 seems animated by a kind of fury, which causes 

 it to disregard entirely its own safety, and to seek 

 only the conquest of its prey. The bite is very 

 painful. 



The negroes relate that criminals were in form- 

 er times exposed in the path of the bashikouay 

 ants, as the most cruel manner of putting to 

 death. 



Two very remarkable practices of theirs remain 

 to be related. When, on their line of march, 

 they must cross a stream, they throw themselves 

 across and form a tunnel — a living tunnel — con- 



necting two trees or high bushes on opposite 

 sides of the little stream. This is done with great 

 speed, and is efi'ected by a great number of ants, 

 each of which clings with its fore claws to its 

 next neighbor's body or hind claws. Thus they 

 form a high, safe tubular bridge, through which 

 the whole vast regiment marches in regular order. 

 If disturbed, or if the arch is broken by the vio- 

 lence of some animal, they instantly attack the 

 off'ender with the greatest animosity. 



The bashikouay have the sense of smell finely 

 developed, as indeed have all the ants I know of, 

 and they are guided very much by it. They are 

 larger than any ant we have in America, being at 

 least half an inch long, and are armed with very 

 powerful fore legs and sharp jaws, with which 

 they bite. They are red or dark brown in color. 

 Their numbers are so great that one does not like 

 to enter into calculations ; but I have seen one 

 continual line passing at good speed a particular 

 place for twelve hours. The reader may imagine 

 for himself how many millions on millions there 

 may have been contained here. 



THE BAROMETER. 



Too much is usually expected from every thing 

 new. The barometer has been much lauded of 

 late, as a sure indicater of the state of the weath- 

 er ; but the farmer who places implicit reliance on 

 its indications will surely be disappointed. To 

 the farmer who is able to have one, I would say, 

 buy it. It will prove a valuable aid to you in 

 judging of the state of the weather. For several 

 years I have watched its results with reference to 

 the farmer, but my conclusions are somewhat 

 different from those of published accounts. The 

 following are a few of them. 



If I see the barometer falling and the sky is 

 overcast I do not expect good hay weather. Al- 

 though it may not rain, it rarely clears away un- 

 der such circumstances. If I see the barometer 

 falling rapidly, I expect to see rain, or wind, or 

 both. I saved a couple of tons of hay the last 

 summer from a smart shower by a forewarning of 

 this kind, besides notifying my nearest neighbor 

 of the same thing. 



When I see the barometer rising rapidly, no 

 matter what the appearance of the sky may be, I 

 am quite sure there will be no rain, and I can 

 safely go to mowing in the shade of a thick cloud 

 while my neighbors are in doubt. This I regard 

 as the most valuable practical point to the far- 

 mer. On a lowering day the farmer knows that 

 if he should mow down several tons of hay, he 

 might lose many dollars by the operation But if 

 it should clear away, his several tons of grass al- 

 ready mown will be in fine condition for the barn 

 before another rain. 



I have noticed showers when the barometer 

 was high, without any change whatever. The far- 

 mer cannot expect a plow, however well construct- 

 ed, to go without a team, nor must he expect too 

 much from the barometer. — Dr. True's Address. 



Drainage. — The true principle of drainage is 



to get rid of stagnant water in the land at an ex- 

 pense consistent with the value of the land and 

 the profits of husbandry. 



