1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
107 
■BOYS k WLll'L^ wMtwottifs, 
X Curious Fan. 
Recently we examined a Japanese Dm which is calcu- 
lated do aflbrd some amusement. At first look, nothing 
,,„, ol the common waj wasseen. [t was opened and closed 
like any othj c lau, when spread from left i" righl ; baton 
spreading it the other way, from right to left, it seemed 
(o have suddenly lallen to pieces, as shown in the accom- 
panying engraving. We will try to describe the ar- 
rangement so that our ingenious young renders may make 
one to puzzle their friends with. First make the splint* 
or sticks for the name in the ordinary manner. Cat pa- 
per or -ilk for the covering in strips two or three inches 
uide at the top. according as the size of the fau is to be 
rgc "i' small. The cover strips should be tapered, so 
that iheymayflt smoothly when the fan i- spread out. 
Tin' right taper can be learned by laying the splints upon 
the -ilk at the top. and bringing their ends together. 
\ext lay one splint ill >qmi the right hand edge or the 
-ilk. and another -pliut (S) under the opposite edge of the 
silk, and fasten them there with gnm or paste. Slake 10 
pairs in this way. one pair of splints in each, and 
number the splints. 1, -3, S, 1, etc. For the outside parts 
have one wide and one narrow splint (1. 8). Mala' a 
hole in the lower end of the splints, through which a 
n Ire i- to be passed to hold them in place. Tut the wire 
through ih" splints, in the following order: through No. 
8,6. I. X 6, 9, 8, 11, 10, 18, 12, 15, 14, 17, 16, 19, 18, 30. 
Fasten the wire by riveting it at the '-mis. to prevent 
the -i. lints slipping off. and the fan is complete. 
1 Vtwr Popgun. 
The hoy- in New York and vicinity arc amusing them- 
selves with a new toy, sold at the shops, which is easily 
rlth a jack-knife and a gimlet. Bore a hole length- 
wise throngha straight pine stick, say eix inch.'- long.and 
whittle ii into the form of a small cannon, as shown in 
the engraving. Fasten a small peg on each side of the 
i and make a rod io tit the [aside of the bore, 
bnl in, ,ii ,i, in ii i r; leave a knob on the end 
of this stick. Tie each end of a strip of India rub- 
tei lo the pegs, and stretch the middle part of the strip 
around the end of thi knol the rod, as shown in the 
illustration. Dropn pea into the mouth of the cannon ; 
draw the rod back, take good aim and lei fly; the India 
robber spring will force the rod forward, and send the 
n I nnl with considerable force. 
Mil j Ho We <'nlliv:il< 
Man<s? 
There arc two kinds of life— animal life and plan! life.— 
and yel In many wars these are nol so different as the; 
-■ am. Almost every thing that lives and grows, whether 
plant or animal, most have light, air, and satiable food, 
though months and stomachs may differ. The leaves of 
plants absorb llghl and air, as the pores of our -kin do : 
If thoy are kept in the dark they b • white and 
-lender, just as children grow pale and weak who do 
not exercise much in tl pen air. 
'I'll.- real mouths of plants, howevor, are In their toots. 
• these tl- j take in food from the earth, tint of 
all the various substances which make up the soil, each 
plant must have the fond thai i- best for it, to '.tow well, 
as a horse needs hay and grain, and a dog, meat. For 
this reason it often happens that some land i- better for 
certain crop- titan for others, and a good farmer or gar- 
dener will not only find out what to plant in hi- 
bnt will learn what manure will give to the soil in- 
food needed for the grain or vegetables lie wishes to grow. 
Children who have plenty of suitable, well-prepared 
(bod, grow to be stronL' anil healthy ; horses and cows, to 
work well ami give rich milk, must be abundantly fed ; 
and so the gardener is obliged to provide well for his fruit 
trees, vegetables, and flowers, if he expects to make 
anything of them.— lie must keep the earth loose by 
hoeing, so that the tender roots can run through it easily 
in search of food, and also that air and moisture may he 
supplied. ITe must give water and new nourishment, 
when the soil needs them, and seek to know what is 
the best food, and he must keep away weeds which 
would appropriate the food in the earth. 
This care of plants and soil, which we call cultivation, 
has become quite a science, producing wonderful results, 
and no boy has more need of education and reading, 
than one who is to be a farmer or gardener. The wild 
apple is small, hard, and sour, but under cultivation it 
becomes large, tender, and juicy: and moreover, many 
different kinds of apples with different flavors are ob- 
tained. Potatoes, when wild, are only poor little tubers, 
but under cultivation increase in size and furnish food 
for thousands of people. Lettuce carefully grown for 
market is brittle and delicate, while if a few seeds chance 
to scatter and struggle up in the hard path or in a corner 
among weeds, the leaves will be tough and bitter. Culti- 
vation doe* quite as mnch for flowers. They grow larger 
ami more brilliant in color, and many which are single 
as wild (lowers become double. The wild rose has only 
one row of petals, and is full of thorns, but in gardens 
and hot-houses the slender yellow stamens swell into 
broad petals, row npon row ; and there really seems to 
be uo end to the different kinds of roses we now have. 
About Earthquakes. 
The newspapers arc giving accounts of frequent earth- 
quakes receutly occurring in some of the West Indies, 
particularly in the island of St. Thomas. As many as 
five hundred distinct shocks, it is stated, have been felt. 
Some of these were severe enough to throw down houses, 
and destroy much property and many lives. Such visita- 
tions have not been uncommon in that part of the world. 
A most terrible convulsion occurred in the island of Ja- 
maica in 1693. The land on which stood the city of Port 
Royal, extending over 1.(100 acres, or more, suddenly 
sank out of sight, the sea rolling in covered the whole 
area, and ships from (he harbor were driven over the very 
place which a few minutes before was teeming with bnsy 
life. One of the most noted and destructive earthquakes 
ever known occurred in Spain in 1755. A rumbling 
noise was heard, which wa- immediately followed by a 
shock that threw down most of the buildings in the city, 
' overwhelming 60,000 persons in the ruins. A great num- 
ber sought safety by rushing oat npon an extensive mar- 
. ble wharf recently built, where there were no buildings. 
It suddenly sank with them, drawing many vessels and 
boats down the immense whirlpool which was formed, 
and they were seen no more : not a body, or a fragment of 
| the wrecks, returned to tin 1 surface, and after the convul- 
j sion was euded the water was found to be 600 feet deep 
over the place. This shock was felt throughout F.urope 
and extended across tit. ocean to America. The tide 
rose suddenly to the night Of 30 feet along the Bhoresof 
the West Indies; the coast of Massachusetts felt the 
shock, and the waters of Lake Ontario were greatly agi- 
tated. As lately as 1S57 a severe earthquake was expe- 
rienced in Italy in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius, by 
which more than -20,000 persons lost their lives. The 
cilyof Quito, in Ecuador, was nearly destroyed hya simi- 
lar visitation in 1K50. and many thousands perished. 
These great convulsions usually occur in the neighbor- 
hood of volcanoes, although their effects .tic not confined 
i,, those regions, as we have seen in some of the instances 
here noted. Frequently, if not u-nally. the earthquake 
moves lorward like a succession of waves, as though the 
surface of the earth rose and fell upon some heaving fluid 
beneath. Indeed, facts seem to show that this may be the 
case. It is generally believed thai the interior of the earth 
is amass of melted matter; that volcanoes are openings in 
thecrust. through which the fiercely raging tire- find vent 
as through chimneys, Various oaoses might produce 
violent commotion in the vast flery caldron, A portion 
ofthecrusl beneath the ocean giving way and letting its 
waters pour in upon the fc tv tide would produce tremen- 
dous results. Various gases exploding beneath tie- -ur- 
lace would lie followed by great convulsions. We can 
easily believe that if the mighty elements upon ami 
within the earth were permitted to exert all their power, 
the globe itself might be rent into fragments 
probable, however, from the fact- brought lo light bygeol- 
Qgy, that these eouvuision- of nature are of less frequent 
occurrence than daring pasl a_ r es. and that the earth is 
i becoming better and better lilted as a habitation of man. 
The great mountains which covcrso much of the earth's 
surface appear to have been thrown up by Volcanic action 
in times perhaps before the history of man, as there is 
no record of any such mighty changes having t 
thousands of years past, What rhe future may have in 
store for this planet is known only (o Him who holds all 
its powers subject to His own will, and we may be sure 
that wisdom and love will determine all that occurs. 
Printers' Mistakes. 
Mr. Greeley, who can write a fair hand, but who is 
usually too much in haste to make letters that any ordi- 
nary reader can decipher, one day wrote an article head- 
ed : "William II. Seward." His surprise was great on 
seeing it in print as: "Richard the Third." At another 
time he wrote: "Three men in buckram," but the com- 
positor set it up: " Three men in a back room." An- 
other author wrote: "Is there no balm in Gilead ? " 
which came out thus : " Is there no barn in Guilford \ " 
Of course the printers had to take the blame, but we sym- 
pathized witli them when wc heard one of our own new 
printers, who was trying to make out a puzzling piece of 
copy from "Head Quarters," exclaim : " Whoever writes 
like that ought to be sent to China to mark tea boxes ; •' 
^Jew Pinnies to he Answered. 
No. m\. P'i:J, Pletutv.— The picture shows how fo 
make a picture of a dog's head on the wall. After tr\ ing 
it, endeavor to find out what kind of fish it represents. 
Xo. 30(1. nvw Puzzle.— I am hard, soft, easy, uncom- 
fortable, long, -hort. wide, narrow, round, square, high, 
low, good, bad, of all colors, of all sizes, of all shapes, and 
used by every one. Transpose me, and I am a drink in 
very general use, I am of several colors, and foreign 
birth. Transpose again, and I am one of the most 
important points of a good guide. What is the word \ 
No, 303, TWusfratal Ttebue. -Old proverb in anew dress, 
4»*n <'rs to I'rohloius and Puzzles. 
Th, following are answers to the puzzles in the Feb- 
ruary number, page 07. Xo. 200. Turn the picture bottom 
side up. and the head of the " Old Man of the Woods " 
maybe seen.... No. 297. A flattering lip brings ruin.... 
No. 298, Behemoth t !!■• h- math). The following have 
sent correct auswers to Borne of the puzzles previously 
published. -T. F. 1. o-tcr. P. B. Wilson, L. F. Irwin. 
W. ami W. Belcher, C. V. Bradley. Win. II. Fulton. 
Ebenezei .1. Bridge, Daniel W, Leitzcll, Lodcma C. Boice, 
B. P.Bigelo , Isaac Evans Bbnsall, Joseph M. Dsrr, H. 
F. Swayze. K. Brings. ,lae,,l, I liehl. Samuel X. Stubbs. 
Ruth Morris, Oscar W.Baker, George B. Slocnm, "F. 
M. A.." Mina M. Walker, Hugh Latimer, Jesse Billups, 
Israel Camp. Mary Well-. Urate Eisner. Maggie A. Gray, 
.1 Milton Snyder, Burksville, Ey., George II. Townsley, 
X. I.. Henderson, P. A. Griffln. Byron Wright, Rachel 
DaL'tt". II. M. Keeny. Addie ami Nellie Barnes. 
What is the- difference between a gauze dress and a 
drawn tooth! One is ton thin and the other tooth out. 
The bread of life i- love ; the salt of life is work ; the 
sugar of life, poetry: and the water of life is faith. 
