1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
107 
A lar^e pin with tlie head cut off, or a piece of wire, ia 
fixed in at one end, while the otticc end is split at ri^'ht 
angles, to receive tue folded paper, as shown in figure 2 
The paper, a square piece of writing paper, id folded lu 
halves in two directions, then turned over and folded 
from corner to corner, as shown by the black and dotted 
lines in figure 2. A single trial will show that it is very 
easy. The folded paper is placed iu ihe slits, and the 
Fig. 3.— MAKING A WOODEN CHAIN. 
dart is ready. If yon throw it, paper end down, as hard 
as yon please, yon will find that the pin will alwayc stick' 
in the floor, and if you throw it ai a board set up as a 
mark, whether yon start it eidewise or endwise, it will 
reach it pointed end first. By setting up a target, yon 
can soon learn to hit the bull's eye every time Caution— 
with this, as with arrows, and everything of The kind, take 
the greatest care against accidents. The mark should 
always be where there can he no danger, and never where 
a person may come upon it unexpectedly. If yon learn 
to observe proper care iu using ench things as these, 
it will not be so difficult should you ever have a gun. 
A Wooden Chain, many, after trying to find where the 
links were joined together, have been surprised when 
toki that the chain, with its links within one another, 
has been wittled from a single solid piece of wood. If 
you examine the chain, with its links all moving freely, 
it looks as if the cutting were a verydiflienlt matter, 
while really, one with a sharp knife, and a moderate 
amount of skill in the Yankee accomplishment of whit- 
tling, can succeed in making a simple chain, especially 
ifhehasthe engraving, fig. 3, to help him. Any easily 
cut wood will answer, and a piece IJ^ or IX inch square, 
and 6 to 12 inches long, is the best size to begin with. 
The position of the links is shown In the engraving, and 
yon can see from that what wood will have to be cut 
away in order to set them free. A considerable cutting 
may be saved by the u^e of a fine saw. Let us suppose 
Tliat the links of the chain are to be two inches long. 
You measure off two-inch spaces on one side of the stick, 
and with a fine saw cut the stick a little more than one- 
qnarter of the way through ; you then turn the stick and 
make other cuts exactly opposite to these, leaving an un- 
cut portion in the center as wide as the links of the chain 
are to be thick. The sides m;iy also be sawed in a simi- 
lar manner, with cuts just half way between, and ^t right 
angles with these. When you have cut a link, you will 
see just where the saw can be of use. Sailors, p.isoners, 
and others who have much leisure lime, sometimes cut 
chains with very elaborate things at the ends. Select 
clear-grained, quite soft, rather tough wood, have a 
very sharp knife, find always (kink befm^e you cut, as 
a mistake, once made, can not be easily repaired. 
Feeding the Birds. 
[This note comes from "J. H. P.," of Franklin, New 
Jersey, who, I judge, is by no means a boy, but as he 
tails v/hat boys and girls will like to know, we welcome 
him to our columns, and hope he will come again. Wish- 
ing to kno\/ in what part of the Slate J. H. P. lived, I 
looked in Ihe latest Gazetteer, and found that there are 
no less than six Franklins, in as many different counties 
in K. tT. The good people who named these towns must 
have been great i.dmirers of Franklin, or they must have 
lad c. small stock of names on hand.— The Doctor.] 
Perhaps the T>..ctor Is not aware, and probably few of 
his young readers know, that jmmpkin seeds are the most 
acccptabh feed for Chickadees during the winter. They 
prefer Ihcm even to meat. Tor a number of years I have 
fed my. lonr Chickadees on mmpkin seeds, of which I 
:.h/r.y5 sr.vc several quarts expressly for them. I pat the 
c^cds, r, small handful at lirac, in a half-pint tin cup, 
and ret the cup o:*. the TTlndow-sill. In the morning, as 
toon r.r dr.y-break, a Chickadao alights upon lUe cdgo of 
the cup, nttors his " tcct-tcct' o* th.mks, looks in at the 
v/indov; .-. uomcut, .-uid JumpL down Into the cup ; he 
t V-;c;: :. ':ood, hops oat, and files to the nearest tree to cat 
J 's brcaliJ'ant. Another Ulvd immediately takes his place, 
iMitil all four have had thei- brcakfacts. Thu,, alnost 
every hour iv. t.hc day, from December to 7\o.y, and svxc- 
times to Jimc, the Chickadees delight us with their 
prcsouco. Thoy oecomc very t.''iiK*, so much so to 
peck at one's finger held against the ;'lass. Onco I put 
out n*^ nand and rubbed ono on the broast aevcral limes 
before it took \'*ing. If ynwr young readers would feed 
the Chickadees pumpkin seeds and meat on tiic v, in'.ow- 
sill, it would furnish them .". great deal of amn. .;r.icnt. 
The Nuthatch, and the smr.ll Kcd-hcaded Woodpecker, 
are less tame. For these I hang up half-picked bones, 
by uicons of a string, to a limb of a tree, a few feet horn 
the window. The Chickadee manages a pumpkin seed, 
which you know is quite a large seed, in one of two 
ways : he either grasps each end of the seed with his 
claws, and a small twig at the same time, and pecks 
upon the middle of the seed uutil he has made a hole 
through the shell, or he thrusts the seed, point first, into 
a crack of a board, or under the rough bark of a tree, 
hammering it down well to make it secure, and then pro- 
ceeds to break up the rim of the seed. Sometimes, when 
too liberally led, the Chickadees get mischievous and 
throw out every seed iu the cup, eating only the plumpest 
ones. The rest, however, are not wasted, as they pick 
them up afterwards. It is amusing to see them stand on 
the window-sill and watch the people within, as they are 
ai their various occupations. In May or June, they gen- 
erally leave for the woods, but return, occasionally, dur- 
ing the summer and search through all the trees in the 
door-yard for "■ worms " oi caterpillars. 
AiBUt 8ue's Cltats. 
Mattie —You must mean a cavd'TacJc. I can give you 
the '■ pattern of one," which you can vary to suit your- 
self. Cut two pieces of perforated cardboard of the shape 
of figure 3, and one of figure 2. The small dots put at 
the sides of the square edges indicate the number of 
holes in the cardboard at the places designated. Work 
the pattern given with any colored worsted you please, 
Fig. 1. — THE OARD-BACK COMPLETE. 
and stick some pretty little picture in the center of figure 
2, when finished. Work the two pieces (fig. 3) only in 
the squares surrounded by a thick line. Figure 3 is to be 
made exactly the same size as figure 2, with the addition 
of the piece at the base. The small dots on figure 3 show 
where a few sly stitches are to fasten the pieces together, 
as in figure 1. Ornament with email tassels, and attach 
cord and Uissels to the top by whi<?h to hang it. 
B. F. T.— The Baltimore Oriole inhabits North America 
from Canada to Mexico, and is not especially "a native 
of Maryland." According to Catesby, it takes its name 
from its colors, black and orange, being those of the arms 
or livery of Lord Baltimore, formerly proprietary and 
one of the first settlers of Maryland. 
E. L. R.— It is ol no use trying to make those '* little 
rolls," unless you have a brick oven. If you have the 
latter, then mrke very light dough, pat your rolls into 
the shape requircil, and make a deep indentation down 
the center with thi' back of a knife, put them on sheets 
ol tin and bake quickly. You can get patterns for tidies 
to be worked on " Java canvas" at almost any worsted- 
store. You will find a tidy made of rao-i'ooeitfs described 
in the AmeHcan AgricuUumt for April, 187C. 
M. A. C— I never attempt to "make house-plants 
blossom in tlio winter." I am satisfied if I can kot-p 
them alive. So I sent y(»ur letter to " The Doctor," and 
ho writes as follows; "If I WL-re to ask Miss Minnie, 
'what is good in case of sickness? ' she would at once 
ttsk ' what sickucsa? '— So, before I can answer our young 
friend, I must know what plants. It is quite generally 
supposed that it is the business of plants to bloom all the 
time, while there are some plant? which only bloom once, 
and are done with it for the year, there are others which 
Fig. 2.— PORTION OP CABB-EACK. 
will bloom ofteuer, if they have arrest between whiles. 
It depends so much upou the kind of plant, and vhat it 
has been doing heretofore, that it is impossible to give 
any but the most general directions. Let Miss Minnie 
shower her plants, at least once a week, setting them in 
a sink or bath-tub, and giving a good sprinkling. Water 
only when the soil seems a little dry, and never keep the 
earth soaking wet; give them a plenty of sun-light, and 
air on mild days, by opening another window, so that 
cold winds will not come directly on the plants, and she 
will do all that can be done to 'make' them bloom. 
Some can't be made to flower, and ought not to be." 
Mary L. B. says " will you please help us to a solution 
of the accompanying riddle, said to be by Oliver W. 
Holmes, as we can't, any of us, make it out f " 
'* I'm going to blank," with failing breath. 
The falling gladiator said ; 
Unconquered, he " consents to death ; " 
One gasp — the hero-soul has fled. 
" I'm going to blank," the schoolboy cried ; 
Two sugared sweets his hands display — 
Like snow-flakes in Ihe ocean tide 
They vanish, melted both awiiy. 
Tell with one verb, or I'll tell yon, 
What each was just about to do. 
I presume that the falling gladiator was going to 
succumb, and the schoolboy, too, was going to suck "etn. 
Will the person who sent me the (NapoK-on) "natural 
curiosity," please send me her address, that I may reluru 
the picture, as requested 7 
K. D. E.— Thanks for your budget of puzzles. Certain- 
ly, you " may send anagrams." I •' do not give prizes 
now," because the plan evoked a great deal of grumbling 
from many who failed to win them, and because I con- 
rluded that the best motives for studying the puzzles^ 
was the pleasure and instruction to be gained therefrom. 
Tbe Story of Tlaree Little Boys and 
Xlieit- JUs Snow Ball. 
Mlustraicd by our Sptcial Artist. 
There were three of the boys, names Joe, BID, and 
Jack ; they lived in a house set a little way back IVom 
the main country road, which in winter, you know, is 
apt to be preity well covered with snow. These three 
litUe boys of course made it a rule, to set off betimes on 
their way to the school. The echool-honse, it litood, 06 
Hg. 3.— POKTION OP CAKD-KACK. 
some echi>ol-honses will, u long distance ofl' on the top ot 
a hill. One bright winter's day, I've forgotten the date, 
each boy started olT with his book and hist-late; each 
had Id his pocket an apple to munch, along % ith a dough- 
