1876.] 
307 
AMERICAN AGrRIC ULT URIST. 
Thanks, for puzzles, letters, etc., to Robert J. D., Annie 
F., A.B.S., J. A. M. (wlmt is “Santiegar ”?) A.H.B., i<„ 
NielLee, Sadie E., C. tV. St., Jennie Van A., May, L. M., 
L. H. K.. and Charlie. 
Send communications intended for Aunt Sue , to Box 111, 
P. 0., Brooklyn, N. T., and not to 5145 Broadway. 
Aunt Sue's Clints. 
M. J. D.—A very pretty “ toy for the baby ” may be 
made with three knitted bails attached to a rubber teeth¬ 
ing-ring by cords. Set up about 20 stitches on a steel 
needle, say of blue worsted. Knit about 20 rows of plain 
knitting; then join on some red worsted, and knit 20 
rows of that; then finish it off. Join the ends together; 
gather one side, and fasten it (sew it together). Stuff it 
Fig. 1.— BALL. Fig. 2.— BALL. 
with raw cotton ; then gather the other side, and fasten 
that off (having first fastened in a cord, made of colored 
worsted, to hang it up by ; let the cord be three fingers 
long, and (listen the other end of the cord into the next 
ball you make). Now, with some white worsted (and a 
worsted needle) work a star (see fig. 1) from the center of 
the ball around the cord, three 
stitches (of “ single zephyr”) 
in each point. On the sides of 
the ball work four stars (fig. 2). 
Where the blue worsted joins 
the red, work a black star (one 
stitch in each point), and a little 
round spot of yellow worsted 
in the center. In the center of 
the red side, work a blue star 
with yellow center, and in the 
center of the blue , side, a red 
star with yellow center. Now 
fasten a little toy sleigh-bell at 
the bottom of the ball (as seen 
in fig. 2), and one ball is com¬ 
pleted. Of course you can select 
your own colors, but I have 
been particular to describe the 
foregoing, as a set of balls now 
hangs near me so exceedingly 
pretty, that I should copy it ex¬ 
actly. The other two balls are 
pink and green (with a green 
star in the pink worsted, and 
a pink one in the green; a black 
star where the two colors join), 
and black and yellow; the latter worked with rod and 
white stars. Now fasten the balls to the rubber-ring, 
letting them hang in different lengths, as in figure 3, and 
the baby will be delighted with the effect, 
Freddie wants me to suggest “a name for his dog” 
(a “ puppy”). I can give you a few names which occur 
to me, Freddie, and you can take your choice; but I 
should not like to take the responsibility of naming him 
myself. In our own family we have had dogs named 
Snap, Duke, Billie, Jack, Bang, Peggie, Dot, Pinkie, 
Nellie, and Ned. Then there are Dash, Rover, Carlo, 
Sport, Snip, Jip, Tot, Major, Don, Boz, Wolf, Hector, 
Nero, Cresar, Crab, Nemo, Lion, Bounce, Dick, Prince, 
Leo, and lots of others, not forgetting “ Schneider.” 
Helen F. W. wants to know “ why hypocritical tears 
are called ‘ crocodile tears.’ ” As long ago as the time of 
Herodotus (four hundred years before Christ) there exist¬ 
ed a fabulous legend as to the crocodile’s ability to snare 
unwary travelers by certain cries, and that it also shed 
tears. Shakespeare refers to the cries when he says 
-“ as the mournful crocodile 
with sorrow snares relenting passengers.” 
And of the tears of “this most deceitful of animals,” an 
old writer (1010) says—“It is written that he will weepe 
over a man’s head when he hath devoured the body, and 
will then eat up the head too. Wherefore crocodiles 
teares signifie such teares as are feigned and spent only 
with intent to deceive or do harm.” 
Mat.— To “ transfer initials ” or other embroidery 
from muslin or cambric, you must cut it from the original 
fabric, leaving no margin. Theu baste it upon the ma¬ 
Fig. 3.— TOT. 
terial to which you wish to transfer it, and hem it around 
all the edges, very neatly, with a fine needle and thread. 
Fannie Clark (to whom we are much obliged) sug¬ 
gests something better than the fine tooth-comb for 
spatter-work. She says: “I have had pretty good suc¬ 
cess in making spatter-work, and I use a sieve ; any little 
wire or tin sieve will do. Hold it over your work and 
rub the brush across it gently. It makes the spatters 
much finer. Every one who has tried this way likes it 
much the best.” 
L. J. S. asks how to press and preserve ferns. Make 
books of your old newspapers, by doubling them, pin¬ 
ning them at the back, and then cutting the edges, leav¬ 
ing them about the size of the American Agriculturist. 
Don’t pick the ferns and bring them home to your 
“ books,” but take the books to them, and place each fern 
as soon as it is plucked between the leaves of the book. 
Examine them daily for a week or ten days after gather¬ 
ing, and each time that you look at a fern, take it from 
ils old place and put it in a new dry one. An old music- 
book is very nice for the purpose. The oftener you 
change the ferns to dry places in the books, the better 
they will keep. Place them under a moderate weight all 
the time they are drying ; a couple of flat-irons would be 
enough for one music-book. Two or three months after 
gathering the ferns, you can wax them if you choose. 
To do this, you will need a piece of white wax. Put a 
folded newspaper on your ironing table, and place your 
fern upon it; rub a warm (not hot) flat-iron with the wax, 
pass the iron quickly all over the fern on one side, then 
turn it and iron the other side. Experience will teach 
you how much wax to use. 
Gertie L. B. asks me to tell her how the word 
“slang” originated. An old work, called “A New 
Dictionary of Sportsman’s Slang, etc.,” derives it from 
slang , which is the old word for which we now use slung. 
....Slangs were the irons worn by prisoners, and so 
called from their being slung, or suspended by a cord, 
from the waist, to enable the wearer to move about. The 
irons were the slangs ; the wearer's language was natu¬ 
rally “slangy,” i. e., partaking of the nature of their 
condition—convicts in slangs. Hence, at length came 
the noun slang. ... A mere fanciful account, but I think 
less likely to be the correct one, says that ‘ ‘ slang ” comes 
from an old Dutch General, Slangerberg , who commanded 
some English, or allied Dutch troops under Queen Anne, 
and who was notorious for his use of bad words, espe¬ 
cially when speaking of the Duke of Marlborough, for 
which he was afterward removed from command. J. 
Van Lennep, a well-known Dutch writer, agrees with this 
and thinks Slangenberg was known as “ Old Slang,” and 
hence the present word for low r language ; he says the 
sailors in the Dutch navy, even now say of a soldier 
“ Let is een slang," (a soldier); just as London boys say 
of one of their “red-coated” soldiers, “there goes a 
lobster.” So, little Gertie, you can take your choice of 
these accounts. If any one can give us more certain in¬ 
formation, we shall be glad to get it. 
Thanks for letters, puzzles, etc., to Beatrice, Mrs. M., 
E. C. G., (I will endeavor to send you a catalogue from 
which you can select patterns), F. S. W., Charlie, T. Tray, 
Libbie, and Mary A. E. 
To those correspondents who say “ please let me know 
if my answers are correct,” I would say, that, even if 
they had the courtesy to enclose a postage stamp for the 
reply, I should not have time to answer each one per¬ 
sonally, and that if they wait until the answers are 
published, they will be able to judge for themselves. 
To those who ask agricultural questions, and address 
me as “ Dear Sir,” I would state that I am not a “ Sir,” 
and cannot give instruction on “ grafting-wax,” or 
kindred subjects. Such questions should go to the editors. 
The doctor’s Talks—About Iron 
and Steel. 
Here comes from Alabama a question from “ one of the 
boys,” “W. F. II.,” for which he wishes an answer in 
our “ next.” It is very rarely that an answer can come 
in the “ next,” as that paper is usually being printed at 
the time such requests come. All such questions are 
welcome, but I must take my own time about answering 
them. But I haven’t yet stated the question, which is: 
“ What is the difference between Wrought and Cast Iron, 
and as I am one of the hoys, I want to know the differ¬ 
ence between Iron and Steel.”—A very sensible question, 
and sensibly put, and I like to know that the boys take 
an interest in these common things of every day use. 
Many people are content to know that iron is good for 
some uses, and steel for others, but never think to ask 
what is the difference. It is very difficult to answer this 
question in such a way that young people will understand 
it. If my young friends knew just a little about chemis¬ 
try, I could give them a very short and clear answer, but 
unfortunately that is something that not manyold people 
understand, and we can’t expect that youngsters will 
know much about it. Iron is an element.—Now I have 
to stop just here, and explain that an element is a sub 
stance, that no one has ever been able to separate into 
two or more substances. Salt is not an element, for it 
can be broken up into a greenish suffocating gas {chlorine), 
and a metal as bright as silver {sodium). Water is not an 
element, for that is easily split up into two gases, hydro¬ 
gen and oxygen, and so with most of the things which 
surround us ; they are mainly made up of other things. 
But no one has yet been able to show that chlorine or 
sodium, oxygen or hydrogen, can be divided up into any 
other substances, so t hose are called simple bodies, or 
elements. Thus far 03 of these elements have been dis¬ 
covered, many of which are very rare. Every substance 
about us, everything that we see, feel, or use in any way 
—all matter—is made up of one or more of these 63 ele¬ 
ments. Iron —pure iron —is one of these elements, and 
you may be sure a very important one, but before I can 
go on with the story about that, there is another thing 
that I must tell you. I have already hinted that these 
elements united with one another—mind I don’t say that 
they mix, but they come together and form a substance 
quite different from either by itself. Two or more ele¬ 
ments may combine, but we will now talk about only two. 
Take the case of common salt already mentioned. It is 
hard and brittle, and when pure as clear as glass, but as 
you see it, it is dead white, just as pounded ice is dead 
white then salt is pleasant to the taste, and instead of 
being injurious, is healthful; when put into the fire, it 
will not burn. Now you must take my word for it that 
this very common article, which we daily use, is made up 
of two elements, chlorine, a green gas that would short¬ 
ly kill yon should yon breathe it, and a silver white metal, 
almost as soft as tallow, and if you were to drop a piece 
of it into hot water, it would take fire and burn with a 
bright yellow flame. You see from this that the com¬ 
pound-salt—is very different from its elements, chlorine 
and sodium. So with water, the liquid we know so well, 
its two elements are only known as gases, one of which, 
hydrogen, burns the moment it is touched by a light, and 
the other, oxygen, is quite unlike that, and both as dif¬ 
ferent from water as can well be. Now one more ex¬ 
ample of this fact., that the compound is unlike the ele¬ 
ments that are in it. You wish for some nails, and can 
not find the nail-box ; after a while you remember that 
you left the box where you were mending the chicken 
house, or dog kennel, a few days ago. Yon go for the 
neglected nails, and find them covered with a brownish 
powder, which comes off upon your fingers as you handle 
them. You say that the nails have rusted; but what is 
this rust? It is not something that has fallen upon the 
nails ; it is the iron itself, with something else. The iron 
is one element, and it has united with another element, 
oxygen, of which there is a great abundance iu the air, 
and in the water which fell as dew upon the nails. But 
how unlike is the rust to the iron of the nails, and just as 
unlike the oxygen, an invisible gas. You have no doubt 
found a piece of iron that lias been buried for a long 
time, that was so rusted that the rust would break off in 
brittle scales. Rust being iron and oxygen, is called 
oxide of iron. This oxide of iron is found in great quan¬ 
tities in some places, and is one of the valuable ores 
from which iron is made. It is not then called iron rust, 
but that is what it really is—oxygen and iron—but it is 
found of different colors, and some much harder than 
others, and while some are exactly like iron rust, others 
are mixed with other elements. Now, to talk about iron, 
we have got down to the starting point—iron ore. No 
doubt some of you have seen some kinds of iron-stone, 
as it is often called ; one of the best kinds is dark brown, 
but when scratched with a file shows a yellowish brown 
powder, much like rust; it is brittle, and as unlike iron 
as any other stone, though it contains more than half its 
weight of pure iron. In this form of oxide of iron, or 
rust, iron is found almost everywhere ; it is iu the soil, 
and in plants, and is also found in our bodies. But iron is 
not always found united with oxygen; a common mineral, 
which is iron and sulphur together, has a shining appear¬ 
ance, and is yellow. So many people have supposed it to 
be gold, that it is known as “ Fool’s Gold.” In these and 
other forms iron is found abundantly, all over the world, 
but though these contain iron, they are not iron in the 
useful state, such as we know in the many household 
articles, farm implements, and the hundreds of other 
uses to which it is put. Iron separated from other sub¬ 
stances, is metallic iron ; when it is united with other 
elements, such as oxygen, sulphur and others, it is an 
iron mineral, which, when abundant enough to yield 
much iron, is called an iron ore. Iron in the metallic 
state, i. e., so pure that it maybe used, is exceedingly 
rare, in nature, even much more so than gold. Large 
masses of it have been found which have fallen to 
the earth. You have no doubt read of meteorites, 
which are sometimes seen to rush through the air like a 
shooting star, and to strike the earth. Some of these mete¬ 
orites are nearly pure iron ; I once saw in a blacksmith’s 
shop in Mexico, one of these meteorites in use as an an- 
vil, and there are others in Mexico and South America 
much larger. But iron in this form is very rare, and the 
first that was used had to be obtained from some iron 
