1877.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
147 
PRIZE EN7GMA. 
I am composed of 52 letters : 
My 31, 43, 6, 28, 20. 25, 4, 29, is a fop. 
My 24, 41, 9, 39, 20, 5, 49, 36, 3, means— fitness. 
My4S. 11, 1. 45, ol, 34— chief. 
My 2. 18, 27, is a pacificator. 
My 22, 37, 17 — distance. 
jry 32, 16, 42, 20, 52, 44, 2— adroitness. 
My 26, 14, a5, 51— to soil. 
My 50. 12, 47, 38. 21, 10, 8, is a musical instrument. 
My 26, 40, 23, 33, 34, 30, is an animal. 
My 46, 19, 23, 0, 52, is a carnivcrous animal. 
My 13, 7, 15, 20, is squirrel -fnr. 
My whole is very excellent advice. 
(In defining most of the items of the enigma, I have 
chosen one word from the definitions given to the item 
in "Worcester's TJnabrid^'ed Dictionary. They arc all fair 
words, except perhaps the "fop," and I should have 
thought his title somewhat slangy, hut that TTorccster 
give? the name in good faith without any '^loccW'' or 
'■'■ obsolete'''' wherewitb. to qualify it.) 
I have made the enigma comparatively easy by using 
the figures 51, 27, 26, 34, 23, and G, more than once, and 
figure 20 several times. 
And now I will give yon an easy enigma to practise 
upon, not for a prize, hut for the fun of doing it. 
SIMPLE ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 20 letters ; 
My 8, \S, 13, 14, is a period of time. 
My 14, 13, 2, 10, is a Icind of wreck. 
My 3. 12, 15, 17, 4, yon could not sing without. 
My 3, 20, 9, 1. is worn by the ladies. 
My 5, 8. G, 7, 20, is what snow is when it first falls ; but 
It does not remain so, long, in New York. 
My 2, 17. 20, furnishes amusement in winter and re- 
freshment in summer. 
My 18, 16, 4, is a number. 
My 19, 11, is a possessive pronoun. 
Try and accomplish my whole. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE FEBRUARY NUMBER. 
r>. P:iir. 
U. Lair. 
Key - 
Rhymes.— 1. Fair. 2. Hair. 3. Ware. 4. liear. 
6. Riire. 7. .Mare. 8. Scare. 9. Stair. 10. Tear. 
12. Pear, 13. F:ire. 14. Dsire. lu Care. 16. Spare. 
Alphabetical Abitumetio. — 307)052894(2120. 
" Burnt child." 
Pi.— Humanity is the peculiar characteristic of great minds. 
CnARAPK.- N is:hti n^ale. 
Numerical Enioma. — Nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation ; neither shall they learn war any more. 
Anagrams,— 1. Babyhood, 'i. Sufferer. 3. Landscape. 4. 
American. 5. Pleasure. G. Mistake. 7. Annoyances. 8. 
Uniforms. 9. Thoroughfare. 10. Misunderstand. 
Concealed Square Word. 
li I N G 
IDEA 
JJ E A T 
GATE 
POSITIYES AND COMPABA- 
TITES.— 1. Weiglit, waiter, 'i. 
Cent, centre. 3. Pond, ponder. 
4. Gna, newer. 5. Sleigh, 
slayer. R. Scow, scour. 
Cross "Word.— Diamond. 
Thanks for puzzles, letters, etc., to Howard S. (allhoncrh 
puzzles upon the names of the writers, or on those of their 
personal friends, are not acceptable). Louie (I have nothing 
to do with the business affairs of the y]m(^*icrt7i ^lj7rfc»?- 
tiirist. but I see that they offer to send any back number for 
the price named), Pontiac, Melville and Jim, Belle, Ala, 
M. L. E.. and Annie. 
Several contributions have gone to that bourne whence 
no puzzles return, because they were sent to 2J"j Broadway, 
Instead of being addressed to "Aunt Sue, Box 111, P. O., 
Brooklyn, N. T." I warn you, children, that you may 
"never sec your darlings any more,' If you send them to 
the oIHce of tlie Amerlctm Agricnlttiff'ifit. They are too busy 
over there to attend 'to such small tilings as puzzles. Tlic 
Doeior gets pretty nearly all the polnfers (j:F~) that the 
prhiter has wherewith to point at my address, and then 
scolds heeanse von don't seciii to notiee it. 
mwmmmwm 
Send commvnicalion.'n ifikuded for A itnt Sue, (o Box 111 . 
P. (?., Brooklyriy y. Y., and 7iot to 245 Broadway. 
llircl-flIoBDSC!4 fllESit any 
Itoy can 
We arc triad that a number of youn;; people write ns 
about bird-houj'ep, not only because it shows a love for 
birds and a wish to have them about the house, but be- 
cause they are at the same time doing good to tht-mselvea 
and their neighbors, by Increasing the nntnber of insect- 
eaters. We have, in former years, given a number of < n- 
irravings of bird-houses of various kinds, some very 
simple and others ornamental. It is a mistake to have 
the iiirtl-honsos too ^^howy and too much exposed. Most 
birds naturally choose a retired place for their ne:-t. and 
slip into it quietly, so that no enemy can find out whore 
they live. All that is needed in a bird-house is, a hiding 
place, with an opening just largo enough for the bird, 
and a water-tight roof, and there are so many ways in 
which these may be provided, that any boy can contrive 
to make all the bird-houses that mnv be needed. A cor- 
respondent once wrote us that he had seen an old hat. with 
a hole for a door, lacked by the rim against a shed, as in 
figure 1, and occupied by 
birds sooner than a showy 
bird-house. Several years ago 
a friend told us that an old 
tin oil-feeder (such as is used 
in filling lamps), which had 
been hung upon a fence 
picket, had beLii occupied by 
birds, who reared a brood in 
it. European sparrows and 
martins do not seem to care 
how much they are exposed, 
or how many neighbors 
they have, hence large bird- 
honses upon poles, with sev- 
eral tenements in them, will 
answer for these, while 
otliers prefer a more retired 
place. Gourd shells, fruit- 
cans, and boxes of various 
kinds, may he securely fastened In the trees and at other 
places near the house, where Ihey will soon be found by 
Fig. 1. — OLD HAT. 
, 2. — EEG HOUSE. 
1 / " 
Fig. 3.— LAEGE HOUSE. 
the birds The neat little kegs in which ov«*er« are sent 
to inland cities are rapital i 1 1 i le bitd bonuses need- 
Fig. 4.— HOUSE OF SPLIT STICKS. 
ingonly to be washed out, and placed so that the openiiig 
in one head will answer for the door. Figin-e 2 shows 
Fiff. 5.— HOUSE WITH BIRCH BABK. 
how six of these keirs may be put together to go upon a 
pole. The kegs are fastened to the boards by screws put 
in from beneath. Figure 3 shows how a two-storied 
house may be made from two shallow boxes, each di- 
vided inside into four tenements; each box hasabot- 
Fig. 6.— HOUSE WITH ROUGH BABK. 
torn board, projecting two inches all around, to answer 
as a landing place ; the roof should be tight, and the 
whole so strongly nailed that it will not wai-p, and it 
should be painted. The remaining engravings show how 
small boxes, of difl'ercnt kinds, such as may be found at 
auy»store, may be turned into bird-boxes. These are 
much better to be fastened to sheds and out-buildings 
and to the branches and trunks of trees, than to stand 
out upon poles. In figure 4, the covering is of thin strips 
of chestnut or other easy splitting wood ; figure 5 is cov- 
ered with the bark of the Paper or Canoe Birch, which is 
not rare in nortiiern woods, and ornamented with Laurel 
or other crooked twigs. In the absence of Birch, any 
other bark ■will answer, no matter how rough, as seen in 
figure 6. In putting up bird-houses, keep two things in 
mind: place them where cats cannot catch the birds as 
they pass in and out, and be sure to fasten them so secure- 
ly that no wind, or shaking of the trees will throw them 
down, and thus break up the family. 
Ansit Sne^s Cliats. 
J. JI. Elaitvelt sends a 8um, which, he says, "was 
given at a Teaclier^s Institute in our county some years 
rtgo by a School Commissioner, and out of fourteen pupils 
only two worked it alike." When I first glanced at it, I 
thought it was as "plain as a pike-stafF," and tried it my- 
self, but I became terribly "mixed" in the debit and 
credit account. It has fnrnishcdmueh amusement in onr 
own family-circle, and I give it to the readers of the 
American Aqrictdlm'ht with much pleasure. Here it is: 
A liquor-agent of a Kew England town (where spirits 
were only sold by an agent appointed ftn* the purpose) 
held the ofilce for one year; at the expiration of that 
lime he gave the following statement of his account, viz. ; 
Amount of cnsh received on assuming office $ 3'2.17 
Value of liquor received at same Time. 
/^- .1. .. I.. .-1 r — 1 .1.,..:...^ 4-1..-. ^.^n 
57.64 
J02.97 , 
59.91 
SJ.OO 
31.37 
Cii^h received from sales durinc: the year 
Amonnt paid fur liquor during the year 
Amoiint of asent's sal:iry. '. 
Value of liquor on liaiul at, llie end of tlio year... 
Docs the town owe the agent, or the agent owe the 
town f And how much ? 
I shall be glad to receive solntions to the ahove from 
ereriihody. 
S. (Peel Co., Canada).— Thanks for puzzles, etc. We 
leave aTulnerahlepoiiit in the alph.ihctic.al arithmetic, 
pnrpo.sely; il would scarcely pay to waste lime upon It 
else. IshaUlookforyour solution to the "liquor account." 
IToraceM.E.— Tour qnestious were a little too scientific 
for my department, so I turned them over to the DocTon. 
Florence.— I can scarcely give you any suggestions 
for home-made fi'auies large enough for the pictures yon 
describe; slill, if I wanted to malco some clieaii ones, I 
should contrive someJhingor other. Let's lulk it over, 
now would it do to cut ft frame out of card-hoanl, like 
fl-urc 1. (Sew a hut ton-mould on each corner), bnish It 
over with a coat of ghie, 
and, while damp with the 
glue, scatter s.andovcritf 
Then fasten it to four 
pieces of lath at the hack 
(cut toflt the picture, .and 
joined at the corners) by a 
brass-headed nail, driven 
through the button-mould 
at each corner. If you do 
not like the sand, scatter 
raw-rico and mustard-seed 
over the glue, and when 
perfectly dry. give it one 
or two coals of red sealing- 
wax varnisb (made by dis- ^ 
solving red sealing-wax in ' "" 
alcohol : or shell.ac in alcohol, and adding vermilion to 
color it1. Or cover the canl-board with bronn paper (er 
stain il brown), and fasten on to it pressed leaves, acorns. 
