148 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
[COPYRIGHT SECURED.] 
THE APRIL SHOWE R. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
patience; some seeds will "break the ground in four 
days, ajid others in a fortnight after they are sown. 
Wait; for you have committed the seeds to the care of 
mother Earth, and she will not be hurried. By and by 
the flowers come, and then the seeds— seeds, little dark 
or black things, dry, seemingly dead, and so unlike the 
flowers from which they came! Yet you feel sure that 
next year these dry grains will give beautiful flowers, 
and you have been taught a lesson of faith. So let us 
have the little gardens ; the flowers will please the senses 
of all, and to the more thoughtful they will bring lessons 
of kindness, patience, faith, and love. 
An Icicle Prize Article. 
BY RILEIGH T. SCOTT, YELLOW STONE, WIS. 
The air must be at a certain temperature to form icicles 
well. If too warm, the water runs away without any 
forming; if too cold, there is no water to run. From 
what I have noticed, icicles form mostly on the north 
side of a building, and while the weather is steadily 
mild, for winter. If you will notice the eaves of a house, 
or any other place that water drips from, you will see 
that it drips off in pretty regular places. These places 
are where icicles are formed. At times the rain or snow- 
water begius to drop slowly, but steadily, from the roof; 
and as the air gets colder, a small drop of water that has 
collected on the eaves becomes chilled, and, before an- 
other comes, is frozen into ice. This is the foundation of 
an icicle. The particles of water are gathering and mov- 
ing down all the while; soon they arc gathered in the 
form of another drop and hang from the first, are chilled 
by the cold winds, and frozen. A dozen drops or more 
may go through the same change, making the icicle half 
an inch or more long. The water, when it comes to the 
ice of which the little icicle is composed, wets it all 
around in its descent to the lower end, and this thin film 
or wetting is frozen to it, thereby increasing its diameter. 
So the process goes on, adding drops to the lower end, 
and thin sheets of ice to the sides of the icicle, until the 
flow of water is stopped by Jack Frost. I have seen 
forked icicles. They are caused by a drop of water start- 
ing down the main icicle, and, being chilled by the ice 
and wind before it gets many inches, is frozen to the 
side; the particles of water gather another drop to this 
frozen one, which is frozen likewise. In this way a fork 
is formed, perhaps half, or maybe equal in length to the 
main icicle. Icicles are sometimes caused to slant at 
many degrees from a perpendicular, by the steady blow- 
ing of wind. It seems to me that icicles are more fre- 
quent on kitchen roofs than any other, because kitchens 
are generally built only one story high, which brings the 
roof closer to the stove, causing the snow to melt very 
slowly, thereby making icicles ; while on a two-story 
building the snow lays until a fine day, when the suu 
takes it off as " slick as a whistle." 
The April Shower. 
The pets of the poultry-yard were out for a promenade. 
The bright sun of the fine April day made the plumage 
of the beautifully-marked Bantams more brilliant than 
ever. How they enjoyed the walk— especially the newly- 
arrived Japanese Bantam rooster, who appeared to feci 
as if he was the Tycoon himself ( He strutted to such an 
extent that his tail-feathers nearly touched his comb. 
Some ducks had joined themselves to the party, and were 
not altogether in favor with the Bantams. They did not 
strut at all, but only waddled— and such feet 1 The aris- 
tocratic Bantams felt scandalized at being seen in such 
company, and tried to get rid of them. " My dear," said 
Mrs. Seebright Bantam to the mother duck, "yon had 
better not go with us ; the grass is likely to be damp, 
and your little ducklings will get their feet wet." "Just 
see that Rouen drake," said the Japanese dandy ; " he 
puts on airs because he has some bright feathers ; his 
voice shows him to be a coward, who would run at the 
first sign of danger." Just then, with but slight warning 
of gathering clouds, down came one of those showers 
such as only come in April. Such a dashing of large 
drops! At the first sprinkle away went the Bantams in 
search of shelter, their proud bearing and airs of superi- 
ority quite forsaking them, their only thought being to 
save their well-dressed plumage from a wetting. At last 
they succeeded in finding a friendly vine, which served 
as shelter, and, when fairly assured of their own safety, 
they looked out to see what a ludicrous sight the ducks 
must make in hurrying to get under cover. Much to their 
surprise the ducks made no effort to get out of the rain ; 
and the little ducklings, about which Mrs. Bantam was 
so much concerned, were actually swimming in one of 
the little pools formed by the rain. The artist has made a 
beautiful picture, which Bhows the state of affairs just at 
this point; and we might add that the little story 
teaches a bit of a moral, only we prefer to let our 
youug friends find out the lesson by themselves. 
