270 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JULT, 
number of women, who sit at a table properly arranged, 
as in fig. 5, so that they can push the largest grains into 
one bin, the smaller into another, and the poorer etufl" 
into a third— each grain is thus handled by these women, 
who sit all day long at the work. After all this it is put 
into bags, and goes to various parts of the world. I sup- 
pose you know what happens to the cotfee after il gets 
to us. And then what quantities of coflee come to 
these United StJites ! Here is something that our fore- 
fathers who first settled the country had probably never 
seen, if they had even heard of it, and now we import 
about three hundred millions of pounds of it ; to be more 
exact, in 187'2 there came into the country 4n8,805,!t46 
pounds of coffee ! 
Aniit Sue's Chats. 
Allie wants to know if 1 will tell her "how to clean 
hair switches nicely." It is a little out of ray line, but I 
like to oblige. Put a small tea-spoonful of bi-carbonatc 
of soda, (cooking soda), into your wash-basin ; pour over 
it four or five pints of water, and wash the switcli thor- 
oughly. Then rinse it more thoroughly in clear water. 
Wipe it as dry as possible, and hang it in the air. When 
nearly dry, smooth it a good white with the hand — I 
don't like the use of hair-grease, lor I think if the scalp 
is kept well washed, and the hair thoroughly brushed, it 
will be glossy enough ; but if hair-grease mud be used, I 
do " know " a very nice preparation, which I will give 
for the benefit of whom it may concern. 
Secqye for Pomatum.— White wit^, 1 oz. ; spermaceti, 
1 o2. ; sweet oil, 6 oz. (i^i cupful) ; rose-water, 2 oz. (1 
wine-glassful). Melt the wax, spermaceti, and sweet oil 
together. To do this, place the jar, or whatever you use, 
in a sauce-pau of water, putting a chip or something else 
under it, to keep it from touching the bottom of the 
sauce-pan. Set the whole over the fire, and when the 
materials are completely melted, take it oft' and beat and 
Btir tlie mixtnre while cooling, adding the rose-water a 
little at a time, until it becomes white and creamy. If 
you wish any other perfume than that of the rose-water, 
you can stir in a very little of whatever vent may fancy. 
This is the lend 'jremy ijreme, the girls tell me, that tliey 
ever used, as it does not soil the ribbons on their hair. 
George E. Mills. — "Aunt Sue's Puzzle Box"' is 
simply the name given to the puzzle department. 
Mary J. W. says she doesn't know how to make paper- 
windmills, and wishes I would describe thorn to her. 
Well, perhaps there are two more people in the world 
who do not know how to make them, and as they ought 
Fig. 1. — THE PAPEK MASKED. 
to be taught, I do hereby give them the benefit of in- 
struction. Cut a piece of writing-paper exactly square. 
Crease it across the middle, diagonally, both ways. Cut 
it in the creases to within an inch or so of the center. 
Now get a pin and stick it through the dots ; first 1, then 
a, 3, 4, and finally through dot 5 into a small stick, (or 
Fig. 3. — THE ■WINDMILL MADE. 
even into a match, if you are sure there is no jjliosphorus 
left). Hold it in front of you and walk quickly across the 
room ; nr if you are in the open air, hold it towards the 
wind, and then see the delight of the baby, for whom 
you made it, as tlie windmill whisks around "like a 
thing of life." 
Mrs. E.milv B. — Your favor, concerning crosses, is re- 
ceived. I do not know the kind to which you refer, nn- 
lesB you mean those m.ade with stars composed of four 
doubled strips of paper. K very ju-ell^- and simple cross 
ORNAMENTED BABK-CEOSS. 
m.ay be made of two pieces of bark, fastened across the 
center, with wire or nails, and tastefully decorated with 
pressed vines, leaves, berries, moss. etc. A square piece 
of wood for the base, covered with moss, etc. Or it may 
be made without a base, and fastened against the wall. 
Little vines made of wax leaves and berries look very 
pretty twisted around the cross. If bark is difficult to 
obtain, a substitute may be made with card-board, taste- 
fully covered with moss and lichens, sewed or glued on. 
AusT^'ers to Correspomleuts. 
BY THE DOCTOR. 
I wish you would understand and try to remember ihat 
Aunt Sue and I arc very different persons, and though 
we arc very good friends, we neither of us care to get 
letters which should be sent to the other. Please do not 
ask Aunt Sue to lell The Doctor, or tell The Doctor t> 
ask Auut Sue this or that ; we do not meet oftener than 
once a year, and such messages have to be sent by mail, 
and you can do that yourselves. 
What is a Fice ?— " A School Boy," writes from Salt 
Lake City— how these boys are scattered !~thut one boy 
at school began his composition with " My little dog is 
a,/?cf." The teacher and all hands were puzzled to know 
what a fice was, and the boy finding it in no dictionary 
applies to me. All I know about the word is, that I have 
heard it used a few times by people from the southern 
states, as I thought, to express contempt. I once went 
to school with a boy from Georgia, and I recollect hearing 
him tell another that he " acted like a fice," and he was 
surprised when I did not know that it meant some kind 
of a dog. Our Utah friend is right, it is not in the dic- 
tionaries, and I hope that some of my boys who live 
where the word is in use, will let us know what partic- 
ular kind of a dog is called v^fice. 
Anchor Ice.— In my answer to "L. B.,'' in May last, 
I should have stated that the reason given for finding ice 
at the bottom of a stream was only one explanation, and 
that others accounted for it in a different manner. No\v 
I have letters from some old folks who think that the 
explanation then given does not meet the whole case. 
The subject is too diflicult tor the Boys and Girls' Col- 
umns, and I shall have to attend to them as soon as I 
can, in another part of the paper. 
HoNET Dew.— "A Parmer's Boy" writing from Ster- 
ling. 111., says he finds that during summer nights a very 
B\^■eet liquid ctdlects on the leaves of trees, called honev- 
dew, and he wants to know what it is and what causes 
it.— It is merely sugar and water, but there is as much 
dlB'eronce of opinion as to the cause as there is about 
the cause of anchor ice. It is well known that plant lice, 
(Aphides), which arc found npon most plants and trees, 
have the power of giving oft'a sweet liquid : these insects 
have two little tubes at their tail-ends, from which they 
force out miinite drops of this liquid, of which ants and 
other insects are very fond. .\s the ants go among the 
plant-lice and tickle them to make them "give down" 
this liquid, the lice have been called the ants' cows ; bees 
too are very fond of it. and collect all they can find. It is 
claimed by some that honey dew always comts from 
these little insects, and that wherever this is found plant 
lice may also be found. On the other hand, some very 
learned men say that honey dew comes from the tree 
itself. The Bap of trees contains sugar, and they say 
that under some circumstances this syrup is exuded 
through the pores vS the leaves. It is not yet settled 
which is right, or if botli are not right. Here is a case in 
which this " Farmer's Boy " and other farmers' boys and 
other hoys can help. All the most learned scientific men 
do is to use their eyes and see what is before them : only 
they are very careful to be sure that they see correctly. 
Now let us have some observations. When you next find 
honey dew, note if it is on the leaves only on one side or on 
both sides; if on the upper side, examine the leaves 
above those uiion which it is found, and see if there is 
any plant lice which could have dropped it. Look sharp, 
as they are small, and often green like the leaf. If on 
the underside, look for the lice there. Also look npon 
the plants, slones, or ^vhatevcr may be under the tree, 
and s<:e if there is any there. Also, what kind of trees 
have honey dew on them.- Have not space to answer 
your other question this time. 
'riic 4tii. 
Yes, of course we believe in celebrating, especially 
tliis very -Ith, which, if not the centennial, is within one 
of it. We wonder how many who work hard every year, 
and get so tired at celebrating, that at night they are 
glad that the illh comes but once a year, ever think what 
it is all about. The next 41h of July after this, (1S76), wc 
all expect will be a rouser, l)ocause you know that it is 
the centennial. They are going to celebrate tremendously 
at Philadelphia, and everywhere more than ever before— 
because it is the centennial. You all know that the cen- 
tennial has some reference to 100 years, and lliis being 
the year before, is 9i) years sii:ee somethiiig. Wliy do we 
celebrate the 4th of July at all ? Why celebrate the 4lli any 
more than the ISIli, which was the birth-day of Julius 
Caesar ? Let's have all the fun we can, for we do not 
h.ave so many holidays as they do in some countries, but 
before wo try so hard to be happy, that we get very 
tired, why not stop to think what it is all about. Wq 
know that the bells ring, the camion boom, and that 
crackers crack by day, and rockets go skyward by night. 
No one Morks, and every one gets very hot in doing 
sometliing out of flic usual way. Now what is it all 
about ? Did you ever think what it was that you are 
celebrating > If not, let us hint what we think would be 
a good thing to do. Instead of buying crackers and 
powder, and other noisy tinngs, and making it very dis- 
.agreeablo, look up the " Declaration of Independence," 
aiul read it. Get the boys together, and let the best rea- 
der of the lot read it aloud to the rest. Then talk it over 
and sec how nnich any of you can tell what it all means. 
Why was that Declaration made, and what did it lead to ? 
What was the government of the country before that, 
and what has it been since. This is a kind of celebration 
that the girls can join in too, and it would not be strange 
if some of them could tell all about it quite as well as 
the boys. This will be a capital preparation for the cen- 
tennial which comes next year. Just think, a hundred 
years since tlIRt Declaration was written, and you may 
see what no boy or girl ever saw before, the 100th birth- 
day of the nation. The older ones among you should, 
before another 4lli, read carefully, so that you can inuler- 
stand it, the Constitulion of the LTiijtcd States, and know 
what i)eoplc mean when they say such a thing is not con- 
stitutional.— But wouldn't we advise you to liave any fun 
on the 4tli ? Certainly. Ilave all the games and frolic 
you can, but as we want all hands to be present at the 
great celebration next year, we would advise you to let 
pistols, guns, and powder alone. Do you know that in 
cities tlie 5tli of -July is a sad day? One takes up the 
paper and sees sncli a long list of accidents from powder, 
and sadly looks over it to see if any friend has lost life or 
limb by careless use of fireai'ms, in his own or another's 
hands. — Let us try just this y9th celebration without 
powder, and see if wc don't feel quite as happy and sat- 
isfied ^vhen bed time comes. 
Aunt Sue 4a«es to a Spelling' ]VIatcli. 
Ellie M. S., wanis to know "all about spelling 
nnitclies." — '\^'eli, Ellie dear, "all about" is somewhat 
comprehensive; but lean tell you about one I attended 
at the Academy of Music, in Brooklyn ; and I suppose 
they are " all " conducted on "about " the same princi- 
ples. First thirty or forty girls, aged from 12 to 20,1 
should think, filed in, and were arranged on llie long set- 
tees, which were placed in a semi-circle on the siage ; 
then the lads entered and sat on the benches behind the 
girls; after them came the grown-up Reporters. The 
latter sat at the ri'.;lil of the slage, the school-children on 
the left. The Maycu- of Brooklyn was iirescnl, and three 
or four other gentlemen. One of them announced that 
only English words would be given out ; that if a word 
was spelled wrong by one person, others should spell it 
until it was spelled correctly. This rule gave great 
advantage to those who succeeded the first incorrect spel- 
ler. Then Mr. II. S. took his position where audience and 
