238 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[June, 
1©YS <k ©DMMTOo 
The l>octoi*’s Talks. 
Having bnill our kite, the next thing is to get it up. 
Before tindertaking to fly a kite, be sure that your string 
is so wound that flt will run ofl' without any trouble or 
hitches; there is always danget of this with a ball of 
twine, therefore it i9 always best to have it wound upon 
a stick, and every boy knows how to do that. Having 
the tail so wound that it will not get tangled, we go 
to an open place, where there are no trees, telegraph 
wires, or anything else in the way. and we are ready 
TO FLY THE KITE. 
Some boys make a great fnss about throwing up the 
kite, and think that success depends upon throwing it 
^ just at the right time. 
T j 1 don’t know how it 
maybewithotherkit.es, 
but the bow-kite, the 
only one that I know 
much about, does not 
need to be thrown up 
Spread out the tail in 
front of the kite, which 
has its point on the 
ground, letting one hold 
it upright. The string 
being securely tied to the belly-band, let off several yards 
o( twine, and start and run against the wind, letting off 
string as yon go. With a good kite and a fair breeze, it 
should go up without any fnss. Then the rest of the 
twine can be played out. If you run. holding the string 
from the kite, it will rise higher. If you go towards the 
kite, thus slackening the string, it will begin to fall. 
WBAT MAKES THE KITE GO UP? 
We have seen how it goes up, and now wish to know 
what laws of motion are concerned. Here we must state 
a law that has not been given in these “Talks.” It is 
this • When a body is acted upon by two equal forces, 
tending to carry it in different directions, it will hike a 
course intermediate between the two. For example : if 
a ball was struck by two different forces, as shown by the 
arrows, fig 1. one tending to carry it from a to b, and the 
other from a to c, it would move from a to d, in a di¬ 
agonal of a parallelogram, of which o, b, and a , c, are two 
sides. Now to apply this principle to the kite. In the 
first place, what forces are concerned in kite-flying 1 The 
wind yon may think is the only force. But what happens 
when yon go towards the kite ? It falls, you know. It 
is plain that in this case the string is a force. We have 
then the wind, which tends to carry off the kite in one 
direction and the string that tends to hold it in another, 
and between the two forces the kite rises. In the dia¬ 
gram, figure 2, a kite is shown edgewise. The direction 
of the wind is indicated by the arrow, W, and the re¬ 
straining force of the string by S. The result of the 
two forces is in the direction of R. Thus we may see that 
THE KITE RISES IN THE AIR, 
as the result of two forces acting upon it, the wind and 
the string. The motion resulting from two different 
forces is made useful in various ways, as is in some 
kinds ot feiries, one ol which is shown in figure 3. Here 
the boat is anchored by means of a long rope. If the 
boat stood square across the stream, it would remain at 
rest, but the rope is so attached that it turns obliquely to 
the stream, the force of which tending in one direction 
and the rope in the other, the boat takes a direction be¬ 
tween the two, and is carried to the other side. I once 
crossed a ferry in Texas which operated on the same 
principle. A stout cable was stretched across the river 
from bank to bank. On this cable ran two pullies, to 
which smaller ropes were attached, one of these ropes 
being hitched to the front and the other to the rear end 
of a large flat-boat. The rope at the rear end being let 
out, to place the boat obliquely to the cable, the boat 
was, by the force of the current, slowly carried over to 
Fig. 4.— ROPE AND FLAT-BOAT FERRY. 
the other side. The working of such a ferry is shown in 
figure 4. The cable or strong wire, a, stretches between 
the two banks, the flat-boat or scow, b, is fastened by ropes 
to the pulleys, c, andd, which run along upon the cable. 
If the rope at one end is let out, so as to allow the boat 
to stand obliquely across the stream, the force of the cur¬ 
rent will carry it across. To return, the rear rope has 
only to be shortened and the other let out, to reverse the 
position, and the boat will go across in the other direction. 
Tlte Baby Eleplmnt. 
We remember the first elephant we ever saw. Though 
we were but a boy of seven years, the day that we saw 
thi3 great animal is fresh in the memory, and like the 
same event in the early life of thousands of children, -it 
will never grow dim. There is something about an 
elephant that is impressive, and when yon add to that 
the fact that a man sat on the elephant’s tusks and pnt 
his head right into its mouth, the sight becomes so 
terribly new, that one does not forget it. But all great, 
big, strong elephants were once small—if elephants can 
be said to be small—and have their days of helpless in¬ 
fancy. Such a little baby elephant has recently been 
born in Philadelphia, and it is the first one that is 
known to have been born in the United States. This is 
not the native home of the elephant, and when brought 
here it is only for the purpose of helping to make up a 
show of wild animals. In the wilds of Africa, baby ele¬ 
phants are common : and they are usually taken from 
their wild state while quite young. The little new comer 
is the offspring of “Mandrie,” the father elephant, who 
is 26 years old and weighs 8,000 pounds, and “Hebe,” the 
mother. 23 years old and weighing 7,020 pounds. The 
calf at birth weighed 213>4 pounds, and stood about three 
feet high. The birth of the elephant babe was the occa¬ 
sion of great excitement among the other animals of the 
menagerie, and the mother became so alarmed at the 
roaring of the lions and the noise of the tigers, etc., that 
she rolled over violently on the ground and did all in her 
power to protect her calf from supposed danger. She is 
so fond of her little one that she is extremely jealous of 
strangers, and will not allow her old pet dogs to come 
near her. The little elephant is very friendly to visitors, 
poking its slender trunk into pockets and up sleeves, to 
the delight of all. The other elephants of the herd caress 
it fondly, which flatters the proud mother of the first 
genuine baby elephant of the United States. 
Farming,' in Connecticut. 
BY G. H. “AND THREE OTHER BOYS.” 
The great number of run-down or half-worked farms 
in old Connecticut now offered for sale would make it an 
inducement for any person who cares for some indepen¬ 
dence to try to become the owner of one, as many of 
them can be bought for less than the buildings on them 
are worth. Knowing this, we concluded to have a little 
actual experience in the matter. We have now been on 
this farm one year. We came from the City, and were 
rather obliged to come, so as to get something to live on, 
as we were out of business and about out of money. 
The man of whom we got the farm did but little on it, 
and many of the lots were full of weeds and briers. He 
had less than two acres planted, so the farm had not been 
made poor by plowing. Most of the .and was in good 
condition, but needed working and seeding. We have 
tried a variety of crops. We plowed four acres once, but 
plowed it well, then harrowed and sowed it with buck¬ 
wheat, harrowing in the seed, and we had fifty bushels, 
though we used no manure. 
When we first commenced to plow in the spring for 
corn, we had a pair of horses that went so fast that we 
could hardly keep up with them, and so we plowed wide 
furrows to finish as soon as we could, and we had a big 
job m hoeing, but we dug and worked and got a good 
crop of corn. We use oxen now, as we like them better 
in this heavy soil than the horses, which are mostly used 
here. We raised some potatoes, enough to eat and for 
seed, and they are good ones. We planted in the furrow, 
as most of the farmers do here, that is, turn over the 
land, harrow, furrow out, drop in the furrow, and cover 
with the plow. We had the best potatoes on turf land 
used in that way. This year we are going to ridge up 
some corn land, and try some potatoes in that way. We 
planted some peas, and had an abundance of fresh sweet 
ones to eat, not much like those had in the city. This 
winter we have got out a big lot of pea-brush, and are 
going to put in several bushels, as the boys intend to 
sell some (we mean three boys and one man). Before 
we came here a part of the garden bad been mowed, the 
weeds were so big, but we manured it well, plowed deep, 
and planted in rows 3 feet apart, and then we cultivated 
and hoed until we had no weeds, but such a crop of veg¬ 
etables as this old garden never raised before, enough 
for us and the neighbors, and such lettuce, cucumbers, 
tomatoes, beans, beets, sweet corn, parsnips, cabbage, 
etc., etc. 1 We have enlarged the garden, and intend to 
plant some small fruits—strawberries, raspberries, etc., 
as it takes more time to hunt up the poor ones in the lots 
than it will to have them handy when wanted; and then 
the sight of them when growing is about as good as the 
eating. We are also going to set some small fruits in the 
field, and mean to have some to sell, as there are several 
good markets near, and the boys prove to be very good 
peddlers. On some turf land turned over and harrowed, 
we raised several hundred bushels of hard or Swedish 
turnips, some we sold, and we are now feeding the rest 
of them to the cattle, without cutting—it takes them 
longer to eat them, but they never get choked. We 
raised some cabbages and covered them in furrows in the 
field, and they kept well and sell quick, and we shall set 
a large piece of them this year. Our corn we cut up at 
the bottom, and it is fun for the boys to ran it through 
the feed cutter. We started a manure heap after Harris v 
method, aDd have kept up a good heat all winter, and we 
have a big pile of it now for corn and other crops. We 
have sown a piece of winter wheat, and several acres of 
rye, and both look well. We have plowed since March 
came in, and shall try some fertilizers this year. We 
have a good flock of hens, and fresh eggs are very handy 
and good, both to eat and to exchange for groceries, and 
we are going to see if ninety acres of run-down land will 
not support three girls and four boys in old Connecticut. 
Our l*uzzlc>llox. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 29 letters: 
My 24, 9, 18,15, was an eminent Geologist. 
My 6, 17, 21, 2, was an ancient Patriarch. 
My 15, 4. 17, 28, is ope of the heavenly orbs. 
My 25, 16, 9, is a woman’s name. 
My 4, 27. 24, 7, was an ancient city of Asia Minor. 
My 24 , 29, 22, 1. 21, is the name of a Greek letter. 
My 19, 5, 28, existing from eternity. 
My 23, 3, 26, 29, expresses a numeral. 
My 11,10, 13, 1, 7, is a musical instrument. 
My 20. 21,12, is an exclamation denoting surprise or joy. 
My 8 you will find in Joshua. 
My whole is a quotation from Dryden. 
Hera Olea Pharos. 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. Ruin at last. 
2. Shan’t miss tape. 
3. Saul got lace. 
4. O yes 1 grant. 
5. Do rub seven. 
6. Decent shrews. 
7. Give a net. 
8. Second credit. 
9. Need my ax. 
10. Very idle. 
CHANGES. 
(Fill the following blanks with words pronounced 
alike, but of different meanings.— Example. She-the 
child to the store with one-. Sent, cent. 
1. The-was found taking the-. 
2. The-walked back and forth on the-forexercise. 
3. -very often decorates-. 
4. Her-tried to-her. 
6. She-him-the child. 
6. I can-loosen that-. 
TRANSPOSITIONS. 
1. Transpose a fish into a verb. 
2. A woman into a verb. 
3. Some real estate into a verb. 
4. A small animal into a verb. 
5. An article of apparel into a verb. 
6. An insect into a verb. 
(Each of the six is a word of four letters.) 
ALPHABETICAL ARITHMETIC. 
WHN C) SNFD O HIE) WHCCD 
SHOE 
KWC O H 
N E H O D 
N W S C I 
NEHOD 
N I SEE 
N I II I C 
I W I 
ANIMALS ENIGMATICALLY EXPRESSED. 
1. Part of a vessel, an exclamation and a title. 
2. An animal, an article, and a mass of earth. 
3. Part of the body, an nnpleasant sensation, and an 
article. 
4. Part ol the body, a river, a kitchen utensil, an arti¬ 
cle, and a confession. 
5. A vessel, an article, and the head of a river. 
6. A title and an instrument. 
7. A sign and a consonant 
8. A verb and a preposition. 
HALF SQUARE. 
1. A famous valley. 5. A river in Liberia. 
2 Name of three towns in Italy. 6. A river in Europe. 
3. To separate (vide Webster). 7. A preposition. 
4. A city in Portugal. 8. A vowel. Nemo. 
