428 
AMERICA]^ AaRIOULTURIST. 
[OCTOBEfl, 
in new positions. On placing one in a inulberrj' 
tree, it slowly raised itself to look over the edge of 
a branch to the ground, elevated its head apparently 
to examine the hight of the tree, then looked be¬ 
hind, before and beside it, still standing in one 
spot. Ten minutes’ examination seemed to satisfy, 
and then down went its head to eating as fast as 
though determined to make up for lost time. 
“ But of what use are such gluttonous boarders?” 
asks the reader. Well, of what use is your pretty 
silk scarf and ribbons, or your blue silk dress ? 
My boarders at length had eaten enough, and 
went hunting about for places to spin themselves 
little silken nests. Some of them climbed to the 
top of a branch and began there to spin ; others 
crawled into round cells made of pasteboard, and 
two or three were so foolish as to spin from leaf to 
leaf without apparently knowing how to make a 
nest at all. But when the latter were shut up in 
small boxes, they went about their nests, and in 
three days had them all made and were shut up 
inside. In the heads of my boarders are two small 
holes or ducts from which the silk comes out, and 
afterwards unites, making one thread. The worm 
moves its head from left to right, and from right 
to left, until the cocoon is made. It is usually 
from an inch to an inch and a half in length ; not 
so long as the worm inside, because the latter is 
curled up. When the cocoon is yellow, it looks 
like a pea-nut, being depressed in the middle in the 
same manner as that strange underground fruit. 
Were my boarders shut up to die ? I waited to 
see them come out for days and even weeks. 
“ Were they not hungry ?” No, they had no more 
use for mulberry leaves. Early one morning there 
came out a prisoner with crimped, damp wings, 
through one end of a cocoon. It was grayish- 
white in color, with brownish markings across the 
wings, and very pretty. How different from the 
three-inch, fat worms that went in ! I did not 
know my boarder now. It would not eat a bit of 
mulberry. At length other moths came from the 
cocoons to keep it company, and the next day I 
found a whole lot of tiny eggs, looking just like 
those I had received in the little box. 
The moths stood around in a long box, walked 
from side to side of it, and at length died. Can 
you tell me now the name of my former boarders ? 
In order to get the material for your silk dress, a 
great many worms have to die ; for, in coming out 
of the cocoons, the moths break the threads so 
that the silk cannot be reeled, therefore the chrys¬ 
alides within must be smothered. The usual way 
is to place the cocoon in a heated oven or in a bas¬ 
ket covered closely with flannel over boiling water 
for about an hour. We will hope that the prison¬ 
ers are fast asleep, and know nothing of being 
steamed to death. Mrs. C. E. Bamfokd. 
The Doctor’s Talks. 
There are two “shell-fish,” living in salt-water, 
that are known as clams in some localities. These 
are : the so-called round, or hard clam, with a thick 
heavy shell. This is not properly a clam, but a 
quahog. The true clam, distinguished in some 
markets as the “soft,” or “long clam,” is a very 
different animal. It lives in the sand between high 
and low water mark, burying itself to the depth of 
several inches. If you walk along the sand at low 
tide, you will notice little streams of water spurt¬ 
ing up from holes in the sand. This water is dis¬ 
charged from the clams when alarmed. By digging 
at these places you will soon come upon the clam, 
which is shown in figure 1, with one of its shells 
removed. Its shells are quite thin, usually white, 
and of the shape shown in figure 2, which repre¬ 
sents the inside of the shell. Like the fresh-water 
animal, this has a foot, shown at /, figure 1. Be¬ 
tween the two shells is a thickened jiortion of the 
mantle, m, which fishermen call tlie “ rim.” Like 
the fresh-water clam, this has two tubes, one for 
taking in, and the other for sending out water. 
These,«, s, are inclosed in a strong sheath, which 
is represented as divided lengthwise, in figure 1. 
Tile tubes in the sheath form together what along¬ 
shore people call the “ .snout.” The clam can so 
elongate it, that it reaches from its resting place, 
up to the surface of the sand. When the tide 
covers the sand, the clam takes in water through 
one of these tubes, which supplies the gills with 
breath, and at the same time it brings in minute 
Eig. 1.— CLAM SHOWING THE ANIMAL. 
creatures, upon which the clam feeds. When the 
rising tide covers the sand, the end of the snout is 
at the top of the hole, and the water passes in at 
the larger opening, and out at the other. Around 
the openings of these tubes there are little feelers, 
like a fringe, which, by their constant motion, 
keep a current of water flowing in at one 
opening and out at the other. This condi¬ 
tion of comfort gave rise to the along-shore 
saying, “ As happy as a clam at high water mark.” 
To see the animal itself, one of its shells must be 
removed as in figure 1. At m, in the thick portion 
of the mantle (see last month’s Talks for descrip¬ 
tion of the mantle), a, a, show where the two mus¬ 
cles are attached that hold the shells together. 
The foot is seen at f; the gills, g, are delicate 
plates, two on each side of the body, &, which they 
nearly hide. The body is largo and globular, and 
is the principal eatable portion of the clam. 
The inside of a clam shell is given in figure 2. In 
the fresh-water clam, as shown last month, the 
strong ligament that acts as a hinge and holds the 
two shells together, is on the outside; here, as 
seen at 1, it is on the inside of the shells. The 
marks aa and are scars which show the points 
where the strong muscles, those which draw the 
shells together and close them, were attached. The 
irregular line, pi, marks the poi'tiou of a sliell to 
which tlie mantle of the animal was attached. 
A Dakota Boy’s Letters to his Friend. 
Eriend James : — I have intended to write you 
ever since we came to Dakota, but have been so 
busy that it was almost an impossibility. We left 
the East in a “Prairie Schooner,” and enjoyed the 
trip very much. I will tell you how W’e fixed our 
wagon. We had a good ox-team, and father 
bought a new, strong lumber wagon with a double 
box. We took some two by four basswood 
scantling, cut six feet long, using five pieces, and 
laid them ci’osswise of the box, cutting notches 
about an inch deep, where they rested on the box 
to keep them in place. They projected over each 
side eighteen inches. Boards were nailed on the 
underside, outjide the box, and a strip about six 
inches wide on the ends of the scantling. Strips 
of basswood, one by two indies, four feet long, 
were fastened upon these six-inch boards with 
screws, and made a solid frame about four feet 
high and six feet wide. We covered this on the 
top and sides with a heavy manilla building paper, 
all of one piece, for sides and top. The joints 
came on the strips, to which they were firmly 
pasted and tacked. A strip of carpet binding was 
placed over the joints, through which the tacks 
were driven. Afterwards the whole top was given 
one coat of a light-colored paint. Eor the ends 
we fixed curtains of canvas, so that we could 
button them on the frame work. They could be 
rolled up from the bottom or down from the top, 
just as we wanted them. 
Trunks and boxes were packed away in the back 
end of tlie wagon box, level with the top of the box, 
and a straw bed was placed over them. By hang¬ 
ing a curtain up in front, mother and Emma could 
sleep as comfortable as at home. Eather and I 
would take out the spring seat, and spread some 
blankets and clothing over strips laid across the 
front end of the box, and were very comfortable. 
AVe brought one horse and a covered buggy witli 
us, and mother and sister would ride in that, 
father and I driving the oxen. When we stopped 
for meals, we set up our oil stove on one side of 
the projecting wagon top, and used the other side 
for a table, and found it much more comfortable 
than to get up a fire outside, especially if it rained. 
On a rainy day we would hitch the horse and 
buggy behind the wagon, and mother and sister 
would ride with ns. We brought but little with 
■us besides some crockery, clothing, and a few 
tools; all other goods were boxed up, and left 
with Uncle Edward, who will send them to us 
when we get a place for them. 
We came into the territory through Moody 
County, crossing Lake and Miner counties, then 
north through Beadle and Si)ink counties. Wc , 
found some fine land and had many chances to buy 
claims which had been proved upon, but father 
wanted to look further, even if he had to come 
back, so we struck AVest through Faulk County. 
We found some splendid land here, although there 
is hardly such a thing as a tree in the county, a 
few being found along the Nixon Kiver. The land 
is rolling and soil looks very fine. AA"e finally 
found a quarter section within half a mile of the 
centre of the country on which a man had squatted 
and broken about ten acres. He was one who can 
never be satisfied, so father gave him a little more 
than the value of the breaking, and entered it as a 
homestead. He had to go to Huron to file on it, 
and says that the picture in the December Ameri- 
can Agriculturist, 1883, is as near correct as possible, 
and he can almost pick out his picture in the 
crowd waiting to get into the ofifice building. 
I 
