187 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
227 
1©YS <fe ilfi&iLS' ©©JLOTHSc 
TIic Picture Prizes, 
Well, children, the first of May was the day named, 
on which all the prize stories must be in. So on that 
day we took an account of stock, and how many do 
you suppose there were ? Seven hundred — lacking 
ten ! Yes, just six hundred and ninety letters to be 
opened and assorted, and afterwards read. These are 
divided up as follows: Boys twelve and over, 244 ; boys 
Kndcr twelve, 81 ; girls twelve and over, 240 ; girls under 
twelve, 103. Besides these there were 22 letters, which 
were either without addresses, or of which the writers 
failed to state their ages, which of course don't count. 
As it is quite impossible to read through all these letters 
in time to announce the successful ones on this page, you 
will have to turn to the "Basket " columns for the infor- 
mation, as that part of the paper goes to press a week 
later than this. 
As there arc but twelve prizes, of course there will be 
C7S of my youngsters who will not succeed this time, but 
we shall by and by have some other offers, at which they 
can try again. I have on!}' read a portion of the letters, 
and am glad to see so many say that they write for the 
sake of the exercise. I was quite amused in looking over 
the letters that came with the maps, some time ago, to 
see that some insisted that Aunt Sue and myself must be 
the same person. This being denied, now several wish 
to know if lam not Uncle Tim, who writes in Hearth arid 
Home. To this I must answer, no. Uncle Tim attends 
to his boys and girls in Hearth and Home, and I to mine 
in the Agricultmist^ and neither of us ever " change 
works," or write in the department of the other. It is 
very odd to be obliged to insist that I am not some one 
else, and I hope that the youngsters will be satisfied with 
the declaration that I am tL The Doctor," and do not ap- 
pear under any other name. 
Six hundred and ninety letters of all sizes of paper 
and envelopes, and written in every variety of hand, from 
the printing hand of the little one first using the pen, 
to the handsome script of the young master or miss, who 
evidently uses the pen with case and grace. What an ex- 
hibition these letters would make 1 It would quite beat 
the patching and darning exhibition, in interest to young 
people at least. Then, if we could have all the six hun- 
dred and ninety boys and girls together, to see it, 
what a gathering it would be ! The National Conventions 
would he as nothing to it. I can not hope to see such a 
meeting of my youngsters, but must content myself with 
going to them separately through the medium of the Ag- 
riculturist. The Doctor. 
Insect Friends and Enemies. 
If people knew more about the ways of insects, they 
would not work bo blindly when they try to get rid of 
them. Every one knows that insects do much damage to 
plants, but every one docs not know that all insects are 
not injurious. There are many insects that do not feed 
upon plants at all, but eat other insects. This being so, 
the farmer or gardener who kills all the insects he sees, 
really docs himself a wrong. Children should watch 
insects and learn to know one from another. You can 
learn much about the habits of insects without books, 
and when you become interested in the subject you will 
wish to become better acquainted with them, and perhaps 
will like to take up Entomology, as the study of insects is 
called. The artist who drew the picture which we have 
called '"The Defender of the nerd" has taken some 
well-known facts of insect life as the foundation of 
Ins picture, and then used a little imagination to make it 
more striking. You have doubtless all of you seen plant- 
Hce, or aphides, as they are sometimes called. Yon will 
not havo to go far to find them ; probably the first rose- 
bush will have altogether too many upon it. They arc 
not confinod to rose-bushes, but are found now and then 
upon almost every common plant, and the young shoots 
of fruit-trees are often completely covered with them. 
They are usually green, but are sometimes dark-brown 
or blackish. These little fellows are shown in the picture 
very much enlarged. They lead a very curious life ; each 
one has a long, sharp bill or proboscis, which it thrusts 
into the tender leaf or stem, and sucks away at its juices. 
Once anchored in this way it seldom moves, and as they 
are frequently as thick as they can stand, you may be sure 
that the plant suffers. Each one of these plant-lice has 
two tubes at its rear end, from which it gives off a sweet 
juice, which often drops upon the leaves of the plant 
and upon the ground, and is called homy-dew. The ants 
arc very fond of honey-dew, and not only eat that which 
the plant-lice let fall, but they go among them and secure 
the drop before it leaves the insect. It is said that the 
ants will even tickle the plant-lice with their feelers, t'> 
make them "give down" the desired drop. We never 
saw the ants do this, but we have seen them very busy 
among the Aphides, and if you watch them carefully, you 
may be able to find out whether those who have made 
this statement are correct. At any rate, the Aphides have 
been called the "Ants 1 Cows," and the ants are con- 
sidered their friends. But the Aphides have their ene- 
mies, which cause much havoc among them. The larva 
or grub of the well-known Lady-bird or Lady-bug is 
one of these, and the larvae of several other insects feed 
upon the plant-lice. Of course, you know the different 
forms which most insects go through. When hatched 
from the egg wc have the larva^ 
commonly known as cater- 
pillar or grub. After this has 
reached the proper age, it 
rolls itself up, often spinning 
a web or cocoon, but fre- 
quently taking on only a hard 
skin, and remains in this 
chrysalis or pupa state, some 
insects for months and others 
for days only, and finally 
comes out as butterfly, moth, 
beetle, etc. Well, one of the 
enemies of the plant-lice is 
the larva state of the pretty 
red and black Lady-bugs. 
It is a very lively. lead-color- 
ed grub, with red and yellow 
spots, and is very fond of 
making a breakfast off of the 
ants 1 cows. The artist has 
shown the Aphides and a 
destructive grub making an 
attack, and has represented 
the ant in the act of defend- 
ing his flock. You probably 
will not succeed in seeing ants 
doing just this, but if they 
are intelligent enough to milk their cows, we should not 
be surprised to learn that they defend them from enemies 
in their own way, which may not be the way the artist 
has imagined, but probably one that will answer as well. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
(A very easy one.) 
I am composed of 10 letters. 
My S, 9, 10, is a weight. 
My 7, 5, (J, is a spirit of grain. 
My 1, 2, 3, 4, is to cleanse, 
My 3, 2, 1, is a carpenter's tool. 
My 1, 5, 10, 7, is what birds fly with. 
My whole is a city. E. 
L. C. 
Aunt Sue's Puzzlc>Bo\. 
Now, children, old and young, get your dictionaries, and 
square some word of six letters, without any foreign 
word or proper noun. H. II. Clarke has sent a six-word 
square : who else will do so ? 
RIDDLE. 
Half of me is senseless sound, 
Yet therein my whole is found. 
Rising from off the ocean deep, 
I rouse the sailor from his sleep, 
But soothe the landsman's lisfning ear, 
And mourners 1 saddened thoughts oft cheer. 
Now let me rise from o'er the land. 
The sternest tyrant stays his hand. 
Aye, princes, potentates, and powers 
With trembling watch the laggard hours : 
Reverse my half, (when cut asunder) 
To rostrum and pulpit I furnish thunder ; 
A very fruitful source of ill — 
Riot and noise, though sprung from 1 * Still." 
Bessie, 
anagrams. 
1. Burn near swan least. 6. Send Roe. 
2. O not fired cane. 7. Fine fable. 
3. Real men count. 8. Eat trifles. 
4. Send, in belief. 0. I hate a tub. 
5. Citron instead. 10. I can't hoe. 
MARK 
AGUE 
RUDE 
KEEP 
1. 
ARITHMOREMS. 
900250551501 180250. 
30011716011900. 
50050300500900150. 
75008050016011400500. 
Claude S. Farrihgtok. 
100011900250250150. 
50011 1001 601 ISO. 
40080500900160. Minnie. 
diamond cross-puzzle. 
The center letters, horizontal and perpendicular, are the 
same. 
1. A vowel. 2. A foreign word fur love. 3. Inactive. 
4. A continent. 5. A printer's implement. 6. A luxury. 
7. An article. R. T. Isbester. 
EQUIVOCAL WORDS. 
Find one word which will express the various signifi- 
cations given. Thus : ■' A corner— to fish with a bait." 
A ns.— Angle. 
1. Deportment — dexterity — direction of a letter — a 
speech — to accost. 
2. Vile in man— what he must stand upon — indispen- 
sable to his bouse — a game. 
3. What many do in cities— a thin plank— a sailor's 
duty in close combat. 
4. Part of a stage-coach— profit— advantage— the point 
of discussion in a M swap "—an article of dress. 
5. A lever— a thicket — a plant— a tool. Johnnie. 
DEFENDER OF THE HEKD. 
PI. 
Eb wols ot prisome dan kiquc ot formcrp. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE APRIL NUMBER. 
Puzzle. — Grain, rain, brain, ain, in, ne. 
Anagrams. 
1. Ancestors. 6. Accumulators. 
2. Researches. 7. Enfranchise. 
3. Concentrated. 8. Resplendence. 
4. Intelligence. 9. Flourished. 
5. Centuries. 10. Restricted. 
Cross-word Enigmas.— 1. Orange. 2. Country. 
Square Words. — (I shall tell next month who sent the 
most squares on '"Plow."* 
1. PLOW 2. 
LOVE 
OVEN 
WE N T 
Pi.— Of all studies study your present condition. 
ARITHMOREMS. 
1. Vaccinate. 
2. Variety. 
3. Granite. 
4. Dictator. 
5. Alexis. 
Rebuses. — 424. Depend not upon fortune, but upon 
good conduct. 
425. Vice is infamous though in a prince, and virtue 
honorable though in a peasant. 
426, Cape Ilenlopen. 
A PROBLEM. 
J. Teackle sends us an old puzzle which may be new 
to some of you, and will give amusement to those who 
arc fond of working out problems. I dare say W. P. 
SMiTn will have it all figured out mathematically in no 
time. 
This is the story. Twenty men (ten black and ten 
white) were out at sea when a storm arose, rendering it. 
impossible to carry more than ten meu aboard with safety. 
A council of war was held, and it was determined to 
throw over every fifth man. The white sailors arranged 
them in such order that " every fifth man" should be a 
black man. now did they manage it ? 
Thus they stood : 
—and surely nothing could look less methodical, but by 
that arrangement you will see that every black man is 
doomed. Now I will give you the formula by which they 
were arranged, but you must find out the " why ? " for 
yourselves. "A gray owl did eat a snake." The vowels 
(including y) arc black men, the consonants white men. 
AUNT SUE'S NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Ja-ce-pe-es. — " Twelve brothers and sisters " I Do you 
have to chalk yourselves, to know which is which '! The 
same "Aunt Sue," and glad to be "Dear" to "thou- 
sands." 
Ajas.— I do not remember the location of all my cor- 
respondents, so can not inform you ; don't remember any 
just now. 
Gubtavtjs M.— So your u father will take the Agriad- 
