1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



413 



vates it. Th» soil should be removed for a space 

 of about 20 feet in circumference around the tree, 

 the leached ashes laid down therein to a depth of 

 four inches and the soil then spread over this. 



Of recent years worms and catewnllars have 

 become more numerous and therefore more des- 

 tructive all over the thickly settled part of the 

 country. They injure our fruit-bearing shrubs 

 and trees in a most serious manner, and this evil 

 appears to increase in magnitude every year. It 

 is my opinion that this is in a great measure due 

 to the very general destruction of small birds, by 

 men and boys who proceed from cities on holidays, 

 and shoot harmless birds to obtain what they call 

 sport. IMost of these birds feed on insects and 

 their larva?, and they are therefore, the friends of 

 man, keeping down insectoria. The destruction 

 of the little birds should be prohibited by law. I 

 recommend every man Avho has a garden, to put 

 up bird houses and cultivate the society of Avrens, j 

 blue birds, &c. These "warblers of the grove," 

 feed upon moths that prey upon bee hives, and 

 they are also enemies to the grape-vine caterpillar 

 and many like pests of vegetation. — Scientific 

 American. 



LITTLE KINDWESSES. 



BY KOWLAND BROWN. 



Little drops of dew 



Give life to fainting flowers ; 

 Little moments beating true 



Ifake up this life of ours. 

 From the tiny acorn springs 



Proudest of majestic trees ; 

 And from little fluttering wings 



Fall the sweetest melodies. 

 And as little golden seeds 



Glorious harvests may impart, 

 So will little kindly deeds 



Make a Heaven of the heart. 



Dost thou sometimes doubt thy strength .' 



Dost thou weak and trembling feel .' 

 See ! the little trickling stream 



Turns at last the giant wheel. 

 See the beauteous coral isle, 



Mark those grottoes of the wave ; 

 They should make thee wear a smile. 



And thy heart grow bold and brave ! 

 For, like daisies from the sod 



To the winter-weary heart, 

 So, the weakest child ot God 



May Bome thrill of joy impart. 



THE D-WELLING OP ANTS. 



Ants, in the exotic regions, construct habita- 

 tions of considei'able size, and form large commu- 

 nities, consisting of a king and queen, soldiers and 

 laborers. Such especially are the white ants, 

 whose nests, formed entirely of clay, about twelve 

 feet high, and broad in proportion, soon become 

 clothed with grass, and when a cluster of them 

 are placed together, they may be taken for an In- 

 dian village, and are in fact occasionally larger 

 than the dwellings of the natives. These dome- 

 like buildings are sufficiently strong and capacious 

 to inclose and shelter the interior from all change 

 of weather, and the inhabitants from the attacks 

 of natural or accidental enemies. They are divid- 

 ed into a number of apartments, for the residence 

 of the king and queen, and the nursing of their 



numerous progeny ; as also for magazines or gra- 

 naries, where provisions of various kinds are kept 

 stored. The royal chamber occupies the centre oi 

 the building ; and on all sides, above and below, 

 are arranged a kind of ante-rooms, containing 

 both soldiers and laborers, who wait there either 

 to guard or serve their common parents, on whose 

 safety depends the well-being of the whole com- 

 munit}'. 



HABITS OP THE SHAD. 



The habits of our fish have been very little at- 

 tended to in this country. Our scientific men, it 

 is true, have been very precise in their accurate 

 classification, and in the use of their ponderous no- 

 menclature ; they have described our fishes even 

 to the shape of a scale, or the number of thorns in 

 the dorsal fin, but they have not condescended to 

 note their habits, their food, their length of life, 

 with all such particulars as would interest common 

 readers, and be of use to mankind. 



No fish is more valued, or more valuable than 

 the shad ; yet but few of its habits of life ai'e 

 known. Tlie books are silent, and angling gives 

 no information. It was for a long time a common- 

 ly received opinion that the shad spent the win- 

 ters in the Gulf of Mexico, and then as spring ad- 

 vanced, and the snow ceased running, came along 

 the coast, and entered the rivers in succession. If 

 this were true, tliere would be no uniformity, year 

 after year, in the run of shad in each river. The 

 very distinct varieties would all become intermin 

 gled. But each river has its own variety. Those 

 of Connecticut river have long been known as 

 possessing superior size and flavor to any others. 

 The variety that seeks the Hudson as a spawning- 

 ground is easily distinguished from ours. The 

 fact of the distinctness of the varieties in each riv- 

 er tends to tlie belief that shad go no farther than 

 the mouth of the stream in which they are hatched. 



The habits of the shad are unlike those of other 

 fish. As soon as the snow-water has ceased run- 

 ning, they press up the river as far as they can 

 reach, in order to deposit their spawn. In follow- 

 ing this instinct, they never stop for refreshment, 

 or food. Whoever found anything in the maw or 

 stomach of a shad that would indicate the nature 

 of its food ? Whoever knew them to bite a baited 

 hook ? They do not feed from the time they en- 

 ter the stream until they sink down, thin and ex- 

 hausted, into the deep places at the mouth. For 

 this purpose of nature the shad has been prepar- 

 ing itself during the quiet luxuries of a winter, 

 and has become fattened for the use of man, or, if 

 it escape the net, for the reproduction of its spe- 

 cies. The shad lives but a single year. It is 

 hatched in the early summer ; descends the 

 streams as soon as large enough ; feeds and fat- 

 tens in the winter at the mouth of the stream ; as- 

 cends in the spring to deposit its spawn, and de- 

 scends to die at the bottom of the ocean. This 

 fact accounts for the uniformity in the size of the 

 fish. A Connecticut river shad seldom goes be- 

 yond seven pounds, and the variation in size is 

 comparatively slight. The bass, on the other 

 hand, w-hich is known to live many years, varies 

 from half a pound in weight, to fifty, even in gur 

 own river. It has a longer time to grow, and 

 shows a much greater diversity of size. These 

 considerations have led to the conclusion that one 



