1880 .] 
4,79 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
TRANSPOSITIONS. 
(Pill the blanks in each sentence with the same letters 
transposed— e. g. The-began to-very strangely — 
Ans. The cat began to act very strangely.) 
1 . She said she could not sew the carpet because there 
was such a-of-. 
2 . I heard the lamb-under the-. 
3. From the fruit store she brought home-—-and——. 
4. You had better buy articles at-with great-. 
5. -is just the opposite of-. 
6 . Do not go into the-if there is any-of your tak¬ 
ing cold. Tne old-is out there. 
7 . 1 would not-them from earning their-, 
TRANSPOSED FLOWER GARDEN. 
1. Chay hint. 
2. Fun cat tyd. 
3. Gon ten time. 
4. Haste Tym. 
5. Limar dog. 
6 . Mobin luce. 
7. Tin place. 
8 . Peat ewes. 
9. Tom fret gone. 
10. Viper Suricy. Isola. 
CHARADE. 
No. 1. My first denotes one,' 
My next weighs a ton, 
Third—vowel and semivowel, 
Fourth—where millions dwell : 
Now join these things and find the name, 
Of dignitary, high in fame, 
Judge, lordship, majesty or sage, 
Perhaps philosopher of the age. Galaxy. 
DECAPITATIONS. 
1 . Behead what we find in almost every house, and leave 
a woman’s “ crown of glorybehead the latter, and leave 
a daily need. 
2. Behead one fish and leave two others. 
3. Behead a character known in music, and leave the 
instrument upon which it might be played. 
4. Behead a bird and leave a suitor. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE SEPTEMBER NUMBER. 
Cross-word.— Hebdomadal. 
Anagrams.— 1. Biographical. 3. Bricklayers. 3. Dia¬ 
monds. 4. Archdeacon. 5. Vouchsafed. 6. Enumerate. 7. 
Imperialist. 8. Benignant. 9. Undertaking. 10. Unanswer¬ 
able 
Transitions.— 1. June: dune, done, dole, doll, dull, duly, 
July. 2. Two: too, ton, son, sin, six. 3. Came: cane, wane, 
want, went. 4. Mine : fine, find, fond, bond. 5. Pool: poll, 
toll, tall, tale, take, lake. 6. Book: hook, hoot, soot, slot, 
slat, slay, play. 
Positives and Comparatives.— 1. Halve, Havre. 2. Tape, 
taper. 3. Ye, year. 4. Bap, wrapper. 5. Pill, pillar. 6. Great, 
grater 
Decapitations.— Gone, one. 2. Gasp, asp. 8. Meat, eat. 
Numerical Enigma.— Consider well, then decide posi¬ 
tively. 
Double Acrostic. 
Charades.—1. Castanet. 2. 
Ivanhoe—Marmion. 
I- dio - M 
V— est —A 
A— ste —R 
N- y -M 
H— ayt —I 
O- li -O 
E—nsig —N 
Subordinate. 
Pictoria Anagram Prov¬ 
erb.—" Two of a trade can 
never agree." Items: One, 
tea, rat, grave, deer, fan, and 
cow. 
The Doctor’s Correspondence. 
"A CANARY BIRD CHANGED INTO A SNAKE.” 
A correspondent, “G. W. R.,” writes under the above 
startling heading that: “A few days ago, a family in 
Nicholas County, Ky., returned to their house after some 
hours absence, found a snake in the cage where they had 
left a canary. It had crept into the cage, dined on canary 
'an naturel,’ and was unable to retreat between the 
wires. This individual could not lay claim to the com¬ 
mon wisdom of serpents. It was called a house snake. 
That fine meal was its last.” 
INSECT EAT INSECT. 
Yesterday’s mail brought us a little wooden box, in 
which there was the remains of a large,green “worm” 
(Tomato-worm), having what looked to be a lot of small 
white eggs all over its back. It was these “eggs,” doubt¬ 
less, that led the boy, large or small (men are boys of a 
larger growth) to send the worm. It is not the first 
time that this same kind of worm and its “ eggs ” has 
been brought to my notice. Recently a man came to me 
out of his tomato patch with one in his hand, and a ques¬ 
tion as to the “ eggs.” The last time I called at the fhmily 
drug store, the clerk showed me “a great curiosity.” It 
Illustrated Rebus No. 480.—A piece of good 
news to many, concerning a character in the Bible. 
was a “great, green worm, with its eggs all over its back.” 
The man of pills and powders had gone farther than some 
of the others, in stating that the white, oval bodies, 
which stood on end over the upper surface of the Tomato- 
worm were the eggs of the worm that was bearing them. 
The engraving here given shows the worm with its 
curious load. In the first place: Can the white “eggs” 
be those of the “ worm ?” The 
story of the changes through, 
which many insects pass in 
their growth has been fre¬ 
quently told, but it will bear a 
brief statement here. In the 
growth of the Tomato-worm, 
for example, there is the egg 
which hatches into the larva, or 
“ worm ” state. From the larva 
state the insect passes into 
the pupa, where, unlike the 
“worm,” it is inactive, and does 
not eat. Out of the pupa, the 
mature, or perfect insect de¬ 
velops, and in the case of the 
Tomato-worm it is a beautiful 
moth. It is the perfect insect, 
or last stage from the egg, that 
lays the eggs, and the circle is 
completed. It is thus plain that 
the green “ worm ” did not lay 
the “ eggs ” which it carries on 
its back. But where did they 
come from? All insects do not live on plants ; some, yes, 
many live on animals, and some make their home within 
the bodies of other insects. Our enemy, the Tomato- 
worm, has its insect enemies. A minute, fly-like insect, 
with a sharp probe, pushes a nnmher of its eggs into the 
caterpillar’s body when it is quite young. These eggs 
hatch, and the larvce from them feed upon the substance 
of the Tomato-worm. This may be one reason why the 
THE TOMATO-WORM—WITH “ EGGS. : 
Tomato-worm ate so much of the Tomato vines, he hav¬ 
ing so many mouths to feed. When these little “ worms ” 
of the fly were ready to go into their pupa, or resting 
state, they made their way to the surface and spun, each 
for itself, a pretty white oval cocoon, which was fastened 
by one end to the back of the Tomato-worm. Doubtless, 
in many cases, the infesting worms kill the large green 
ones upon which they feed, and are thus beneficial, our 
friends—because enemies to one of our enemies. 
Alligators anti Their Ways. 
Worcester’s Dictionary says: “ The Alligator of North 
America is a formidable and ferocious creature, prodigi¬ 
ously strong, and sometimes attaining the length of 
eighteen feet.” What a list of long words to tell us 
what the Alligator is 1 But as long words are in order, 
let us give the scientific name of this formidable, fero¬ 
cious and prodigious animal, which is, Alligator Missis- 
sippiensis. (The name has i’s (eyes) enough for three alli¬ 
gators). From the long tail end of the name it might be 
supposed that this animal had something to do with the 
Mississippi River, and such is the case; its muddy banks 
and sluggish waters are its native haunts. One of the 
leading features of the alligator is its mouth, it being 
very large, extending far behind the eyes, and furnished 
in each jaw with a single row of teeth, all of different 
sizes, standing apart from each other. The mouth is 
evidently made for taking food, and that in large pieces. 
The alligator has long enjoyed the reputation of having 
a good appetite, and, when full grown and pretty hungry, 
will not object to a man for a meal. Some one has re¬ 
marked that the alligator has a very “ open counte¬ 
nance,” and from what we have seen of them we are of the 
same opinion. After the head comes the long tail— 
with a body on four short legs between—and is the part 
which is the most used when swimming. For travelling 
on land, the heavy tail is of little or no use, and had bet¬ 
ter be off; but then, it is handy as a weapon of defence 
in times of danger. Alligators take no food in the 
winter, and this may account in part for their great appe¬ 
tite during summer. While going without food they bury 
themselves in the mud ot the river. In the spring the 
alligator lays fifty to sixty eggs, about the size of those 
of the goose, which they cover with sand, and leave to 
hatch by the heat of the sun, though the mother does not 
go far away. When the young alligators come from the 
shell they are about six inches long; and, like ducks, 
take at once to the water. Little alligators are frequently 
caught and kept as pets. The engraving above was made 
from a photograph of one thus employed. He stood very 
well to have his picture taken. Persons who go South to 
spend the winter frequently bring a young alligator with 
them on their return in the spring, and it is not an un¬ 
common thing to find one or more, from two to three 
feet in length, sporting in the water tank of a gentle¬ 
man’s plant house, or even basking on the sunny slope of 
a pond in the garden. While young they are harmless. 
and covered as they are with shiny plates or scales, are 
interesting animals ; perhaps doubly so, when one knows 
the hideous aspect, disgusting habits, abominable smell, 
etc., of the full grown ones in the wild state. There are 
instances on record where these “ pets” have escaped from 
their confinement and turned up in places least looked 
for, and at times when they were not expected ; in fact, 
have done harm by biting infants and children. An alli¬ 
gator that has reached any great age is not to be trusted. 
A safe alligator is a dead one, and we do not care much 
for them even then. It is told for a truth that in some 
parts of the South, in the home of the alligator, they 
hunt them, using yonng negroes for bait. The colored 
lad is sent into the water, and when the “ formidable, 
ferocious creature, prodigionsly strong,” takes after him, 
he (the alligator, not the hoy) is shot in the eye by a bul¬ 
let, by a marksman concealed in the bushes on the hank. 
For our part we do not envy the iad—attractive as he 
may he to the alligators upon his track. 
A Strange Way to Set ©nt an ©r. 
chard. 
The boys and girls are constantly asking me to answer 
all sorts of questions. The last one is that which relates 
to the strange way in which the trees were set in an 
orchard. I do not know whether they were apple, or 
pear, or cherry trees, as far as that goes it does not make 
any difference. The story runs something like this : An 
old country Squire planted a number of trees when his 
son was born, and on the twenty-seventh birth-day of the 
young man, there was a tree for every year, and yet these 
twenty-seven trees were standing in ten rows—with six 
trees in each row, or six times ten, which makes sixty— 
the age of the father. The great question with the 
children is: How did he set the trees ? It is certain that 
each tree must count in more than one row, and must be 
so placed that the rows always contain six trees, no more 
and no less. I have found out the way and can best ex¬ 
plain it by the diagram which is here given. The trees 
are set in a triangular-shaped orchard, and very irregu¬ 
larly as regards the distance between them. The dotted 
lines show the rows, five of which run out from A, and 
the same number in like manner from the corner B. No 
further explanation is needed than that which the dia¬ 
gram gives. It can not be recommended as an econom¬ 
ical method of setting an orchard ; but if, like the Squire, 
yon have only twenty-seven trees, and want ten rows, 
with six in a row, there is no other way to set them, as 
ar as I know to make the strange orehard. U. H. 
