1876 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
227 
Tiie S>octoi*’s Talk^—About ¥ari- 
ous Tiling’s. 
So many of you have written letters that should be an¬ 
swered, that my “ talk ” this time must be of many very 
different things. Some of you write letters that I can not 
answer at once, and I let them wait until room can be 
made for the long story it will take to answer them. I 
hope all of you, boys and girls both, will send me your 
questions, as then I can know what you would like to 
have “ The Doctor’s Talks ” about. 
BALLOONS AND FIRE-CRACKERS. 
Master \V. H., in Huntingdon Co., Pa., is getting ready 
for tiie Fourth of next month, and wishes ns to tell him 
“howto make paper balloons that will fly up of them¬ 
selves.” This is a puzzler, and I give it up. So long as 
a piece of paper is heavier than the same bulk of air, it 
will go down instead of up. The only way that we can 
cause paper, or any other material, to go up, is to make 
a large bag with it, and fill this bag with hot air or gas, 
so that the whole bag or balloon is lighter than a body of 
air of the same size, when it will go up in the air, for the 
same reason that, a cork will rise through water. I think 
that W. If. must have in mind, not exactly balloons, but 
little parachutes, made of tissue paper, about eight inch¬ 
es or a ,oot square, with a thread tied at each corner, and 
all four threads brought together below, and fastened to a 
slight weight. When there is a strong wind blowing, 
and it strikes a house, the wind being stopped by the 
house, rushes upwards to avoid it, and there is an upward 
current caused in this manner. Now if one of these 
parachutes be held by the weight until the paper is 
bulged out by the wind, and is let go near the side of a 
building, it will be carried up by the current, and often 
be taken far beyond the top of the house, and when it 
gets out. of the upward current, it will be carried along 
by the wind fora long distance, but it is all the while 
falling, though very slowly, as the paper being spread 
out, is kept level by the strings and weight, and can not 
turn edgewise, and its fall is very gradual. This is the 
only way that I know of to make a balloon go up by itself. 
A3 TO FIRE CRACKERS, 
you would have to work a long while before you could 
learn to make a fire-cracker equal to those made by the 
Chinese, and sold so cheaply, even were it desirable to 
try. I am sure that all parents will agree with me in 
advising boys not to undertake to make fire-works, as it 
is altogether too dangerous. But why fire-crackers at all? 
Why not begin 
ON THE CENTENNIAL FOURTH OF JULY, 
and stop celebrating with noise and smoke ? What have 
fire-crackers, made originally for heathen religious cere¬ 
monies, to do with the fact that our ancestors set up a 
government for themselves ? I wonder what boys think 
about the 4th of July, and why they feel that they must 
make themselves very disagreeable on this particular 
day ? I recollect that when I was a youngster, older 
boys went out at midnight, and I went with them ; we 
took tin horns, drums, and all noisy things, and paraded 
about, disturbing the sleep of the neighborhood. I have 
not now the least idea what I did it for ; other boys did 
so, and of course I wished to be as much of a boy as the 
rest. I do remember, however, that this nonsense of the 
night before made me so sleepy, that I had very little en¬ 
joyment of the day itself. Now, as there is no meaning 
iH all this beating of drums, firing of crackers, and burn¬ 
ing of powder generally, what is the use of keeping it up? 
Boys have had a hundred years of this, and I think that 
the boys of the new century should improve on the old 
ways.—But what shall we do? will be the question. You 
might do worse than to give this day to finding out what 
THE FOURTH OF JULY 
is all about, for I doubt if many of those who make a 
great noise and get very tired, have any clear idea of 
what it all means. In many of the older States you live 
near some historical spot; there are old battlefields and 
camping grounds, and “ headquarters,” all over the older 
States, and it would be a very sensible thing to get up an 
excursion and picnic, boys and girls together, to one of 
these places, and in advance let some of you look up its 
history, so that you will know what happened there 
about 100 years ago. But if there are no such places at 
hand, and in the newer States of course there are none, you 
can have your picnic just as well. There can be reading 
and singing, and all sorts of out-door games. I wonder 
how many read, or ever heard read, the very paper which 
was signed 100 years ago this Fourth of July, the sign¬ 
ing of which is celebrated every year, and more especi¬ 
ally on this particular year—I mean of course the Decla¬ 
ration of Independence 1 This year then, of all others, 
every American boy and girl, who is old enough, ought 
to read this and understand what it meant when it was 
written. Then there is Patrick Henry’s great speech, 
Washington’s Farewell Address, Webster’s Bunker Hill 
Orations, and many others, full of grand teachings which 
young people are in danger of overlooking. A picnic 
with reading—and even speeches—songs and games, will 
be much more sensible than noise and smoke, and you 
will afterwards think of it with much more pleasure. 
CATCHING SQUIRRELS. 
Here is Master Cyrus, who does not write a very long 
letter, but it is better than the letters of many older per¬ 
sons, for it states at once what he wants and then stops. 
He writes: “ Dear sir, will you be kind enough to tell us 
how to catch squirrels on a fence. Yours, truly, Cyrus.” 
Now that is what I call a capital letter, and if he had 
written two or three pages of note paper, beginning by 
a long apology for w’riting, and somewhere near the end, 
told what he wanted, it would not have been half so 
good. The squirrels that we usually see running along 
fences, are the little striped fellows, called chipping or 
ground squirrels, and chip-munks. They live in holes in 
the ground, usually made near the roots of a tree, and 
they are seen most often towards fall, when they are very 
busy in laying up a supply of food for the winter; at 
this time they have the pockets or pouches in their 
cheeks filled with small nuts or grain, which they are in 
great hurry to store away in their burrows. They can be 
caught in traps, but why catch them, Cyrus? They do 
very little harm ; the grain they gather is mainly that 
which is scattered, and they do no mischief to the farm¬ 
er worth talking about. Besides if you caught them 
they would be very poor pets, as they do not become 
tame like the gray or flying squirrels, but always are 
wild and discontented. I think you had better let them 
run “on a fence,” and be amused by watching their 
quick and pretty ways, and not try to catch them, as they 
would be very unhappy in confinement. 
THE AQUARIUM. 
I thought I had made a very full talk about aquarium 
matters last April, but it seems that there are some 
things yet that need to be explained, and I will answer 
several questions in a lump. No ; the water does not 
need to be changed. When all goes on well, the water 
will keep clean and sweet for months ; but there must 
not be too much animal life for the amount of plant life. 
. . .There is no way of preventing the green scum from 
coming upon the sides of the glass ; it does no harm, but 
is useful ; but as it covers the glass so that you cannot 
see plainly what is going on inside, you do not want it 
there. I say it is useful, for it is a living and growing 
plant, and if I could show you a little of this scum under 
my microscope, you would see that it was a great lot of 
green threads ; very simple plants, but they in growing 
behave towards the water just as I told you last April 
larger plants do ; they take from it the carbonic acid, 
and give off oxygen to the water. Snails help to keep 
this green scum from growing, they will crawl along the 
glass and eat it off very clean, but if there is too much 
for them, you can rub it off by using a cloth or bit of 
sponge tied to a stick ; this may make the water look 
thick, but it will soon settle and become clear....The 
tritons, or water-newts, or salamanders, as the lizard-like 
water animals are called, are amusing to have in the 
aquarium, and they come to the surface to breathe, and 
do not get their air from the water_Tadpoles are in¬ 
teresting, as they develop very slowly, and you can 
watch their changes, and they also, except when very 
young, breathe air_Yes, the water-butter-cups are 
very excellent plants for the aquarium, and wherever 
there is a pond, or a slow stream, you can be pretty sure 
to find water plants of some kind that will do. 
WILLIE’S DOG. 
My “little friend Willie” living in Huron Co., Mich., 
no doubt thinks that, as I am called “ Doctor,” I must do 
doctoring, so he tells me that the hair comes off of his 
dog and the skin turns red. He wishes to know what is 
the matter and what he shall do. I do not know much 
about sick dogs. I never treated but one, and was very 
successful. I thought he should have a good dose of 
strychnine, he took it, and was never afterwards troubled 
with any disease. Willie’s dog appears to have the 
mange, and a friend who knows all about dogs says: 
mix up flowers of sulphur with oil (sweet or lard oil), to 
make it thick like batter, and rub the dog all over with 
this for two nights, or if very bad, three, and then give 
him a washing with soap and water. 
GRACE DARLING. 
Lizzie has a picture of a girl rowing in a rough sea, 
whose name is Grace Darling, and she wishes to know all 
about her. Grace was the daughter of the keeper of the 
Longstone lighthouse, on one of the Fame islands, a 
little cluster of rocky islands off the north-east corner of 
England. On Sept. 6, 1836, the steamer Forfarshire, go¬ 
ing between Hull and Dundee, was wrecked on one of 
these islands, and of 53 persons on board, all hut 15 were 
lost. The wreck took place in the night, and the next 
morning Grace saw these 15 persons clinging to the 
rocks, where they would be washed off the next high 
tide. Grace launched a boat, and with her old father, she 
rowed out to the wrecked persons, though the waves 
were very high, and brought nine of them safely to 
shore ; while the others were saved in some other man¬ 
ner. It was a brave act, that of this young woman, to 
risk her own life to save the lives of others ; the story 
was told all over the world, and from being merely the 
daughter of an obscure lighthouse keeper, she was for 
a time more talked about and more celebrated than any 
other woman. People gave her presents, and $3,500 in 
money was raised for her by subscription. She died in. 
1845, at the age of 27 years. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Freezing .—Thomas P., North Hampton, N. H. I 
cannot answer your question about the freezing of water 
until I have tried it myself. Since your question came 
we have not had cold enough weather to try it. 
What are they ?—Bessie W., Mt. Sterling, Ill., only 9 
years old, sends the Doctor some things she found on 
the bushes, and would like to know what they are. These 
are one kind of flowers of the Hazel, but not yet open. 
If Bessie can see last year’s papers, and look at March, 
1875, page 106, she will find pictures of them, and the 
whole story about them is told. 
Iron and Steel .—Here comes the father of some of our 
youngsters, who thinks that it would interest old per¬ 
sons, as well as young, to have me tell them what is the 
difference between iron and steel, and how one is made 
into the other. Good. I am glad to have the young 
people ask questions, and it is pleasing to know that 
their parents take an interest in what is given their chil¬ 
dren. Let me know your wants, and I will try to meet 
them in due time. 
TBae Prize Stories. 
Last month we gave the names of those boys and 
girls to whom prizes had been awarded for their stories. 
There is just one unpleasant thing about awarding 
prizes—no matter how many prizes there are, there 
are never enough to give to all who deserve them. 
Those who read the pieces, say that some were almost a3 
good as those which took the prizes, and they say that 
the following are deserving of special mention : 
M. Alice Walsh, Jerusalem Mills, Md. 
Nellie B. West,Washington Heights, N. Y. City. 
Mattie E. Dimon, Putnam, Conn. 
Libbie S. Stafford, Port Hope, Mich. 
Frances II. Long, Port Royal, Pa. 
Ida C. Hosack, Parkwood, Pa. 
Sarah Fleming, Spartanburg, S. O. 
St. Lawrence Fleming, Spartanburg, S. C. 
Among the boys are 
Fred. A. Stewart, Dracut, Mass. 
David Angst, Waumandee, \\ is. 
I said that perhaps some of the stories would be pub¬ 
lished, so I give yon the interesting parts of those of the 
oldest girl and boy, leaving out of each all that is not 
necessary to tell the story. < 
THE OLDER GIRL’S STORY. 
By Miss Fussie Eastwood , Port Elgin, Onl. 
My story is about our own dear “ Carlo.” The poor 
old fellow is now blind and very lame, but we can not 
think of killing him, as some do when dogs become help¬ 
less, because he has been such a noble dog. Long ago, 
when I was but four years old, I went on a visit to grand¬ 
pa’s with my mamma, and Carlo went with us too; one 
day I was playing with my two little cousins, away off 
in one of the fields, in which was a very deep spring of 
beautiful cold water ; we became very thirsty, and bend¬ 
ing over to take a drink, I fell into the spring; my 
cousin Johnie, who was much bigger than I, caught me 
by my hair, and when I screamed with the pain, Carlo 
came bounding up and held me by my pinafore until 
help came. 
Then again, when I was ten years old, Carlo and I were 
at grandpa’s again, just at harvest time. The hired man 
who drove the team was so cross that we did not like to 
ask him to let us get up on the hay, bnt when the last load 
was about to start, I was determined to have a ride, so 
climbing up under the wagon, I clung to that pole be¬ 
tween the wheels, but oh ! how I wish I hadn’t 1 This 
last load proved to be a very little one, and when they 
stuck the pitch forks into the hay, one of the prongs went 
right into my wrist. I dared not scream, because the 
man might tell of me, but Carlo, dear old dog, seeing that 
I was in a fix, barked and barked until the driver, know¬ 
ing that Carlo never barked without a good cause, jumped 
down to see what was the matter, and there he found 
me. When he saw how badly I was hurt, he was not so 
cross after all. 
Our Carlo goes to church every Sunday morning, with 
an old man, a frieDd of ours, and when any other dogs 
go to church, they always put them out, bnt they never 
put Carlo out, because he is such a quiet dog. 
THE OLDER BOY’S STORY. 
By Frank Zimmermann, Peshtigo, Wif. 
His story roads : I wish that all the boys and girls who 
read the American Agriculturist , could have known my 
