1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
307 
TOYS Is TOMIMSo 
Attention, tiie Wliole! 
The “whole” means every boy and girl belonging to 
the great Agriculturist Family. See here! I wish to 
make a request or two of you, and I wish you to remem¬ 
ber them. Aunt Sue and The Doctor are two very differ¬ 
ent persons ; they live in different cities, and do Sot see 
one another more than once or twice a year. Therefore, 
if you have anything to say to Aunt Sue, please don t 
send it to me, and if you have any message for me please 
don’t send it to Aunt Sue. Please remember—write it 
down if you can’t remember it—that Aunt Sue’s address 
is Box 111, Brooklyn, N. Y., and that mine is 345 Broad¬ 
way, New York. We are miles apart, and if you send 
communications to one intended for the other they have 
to be sent—as you should have sent them in the first 
place—by mail. Moreover, in your letter to either of us, 
do not include business matters; not that we are unwill¬ 
ing to attend to any requests of our young friends, but 
because it makes delay. For instance, when I offer prizes, 
X do not open any of the letters until all are in. In the 
last competition there were several who wrote upon 
business, and some letters contained money, which laid" 
unopened for a month after they were received. Grown 
people sometimes mix up things iu this way, but I hope 
that after reading this notice you youngsters will not 
do so. Everything in relation to subscriptions and all 
other business should be addressed to Orange Judd & 
Co., 245 Broadway, New York, and will be promptly at¬ 
tended to; but when you write on such matters to either 
Aunt Sue or myself you will be obliged to exercise 
patience. The Doctor. 
Skeleton Leaves. - “S. M. J.” We 
should be glad to give an article on skeletonizing leaves 
for the boys and girls were it not that the process is a 
difficult one for older people, and only those who have 
great tact, patience, and skill succeed in making speci¬ 
mens. The process requires very careful manipulation— 
if you do not know what that means you must look it out 
in the dictionary. The minute particulars can only be 
learned by practice. The process depends upon the fact 
that leaves have a woody framework of ribs and veins, 
as they are called, which is filled in with the soft green 
matter of the leaf. Outside of the whole is a thin skin, 
which is attached to the other parts more or less strongly 
in different leaves. Perfect leaves are gathered when 
fully developed, but not too old, and placed in a stone jar 
or wooden firkin; boiling water is poured over the leaves, 
and they are allowed to remain in the water for weeks, 
until the skin of the leaf and the soft green portion are 
loosened by decay, and separate readily from the woody 
framework. The proper time to take the leaves out is 
only to be known by trial. Each leaf is spread upon a 
plate of glass and gently rubbed with a brush under a 
stream of water until all but the framework is washed 
away ; it is then put into a solution of chloride of lime 
to hleach it, and then washed and dried flat between 
folds of paper or the leaves of a book. The leaves are 
afterwards mounted, artificial stems of waxed thread be¬ 
ing used. Some leaves skeletonize in a week or two, 
others require two or three months, and others—such as 
the oak—have thus far been found impracticable. Some 
seed-pods make very pretty objects when treated in this 
way. The capsule of the common Stramonium, also 
known as Jamestown-weed, Stink-weed, and Apple of 
Peru, makes a very pretty object, and is one of the easiest 
things to skeletonize. If the seed-pods be taken before 
they begin to turn yellow, and are treated as above de¬ 
scribed, their green portion soon decays, and leaves a 
most beautiful framework of fibers, from which the 
pulpy matter is readily separated by washing. If S. M. J. 
knows any lady who is successful in skeletonizing, she 
can learn more by watching her for a short time than she 
can from any book that we are acquainted with. 
The Menagerie Prizes. 
One young man writes me that ho is much disappointed 
that he did not get the prize, and asks me to publish the 
winning essay, in order that he may see wherein he failed. 
I would gladly do this, bat as the prize essay would, if 
printed, take about four such pages as this, it is impossi¬ 
ble. I, with three others, gave several evenings and a 
whole day to a careful examination and comparison of 
the essays, and as neither of us knew a single competitor, 
I have no doubt that the awards were made as impar¬ 
tially as possible, and solely upon the merits of the 
articles. All that our disappointed friend can do is to 
try another time. When the weather *becomes cooler I 
will select the best Walrus story for publication. 
Note.— If any wish their essays returned they must send 
stamps (letter postage) during the month of July, as after 
that they will be destroyed. The Doctor. 
A Woodchuck Trap. 
In some localities the Woodchuck—or, as it is often 
called, Ground-Hog—is exceedingly destructive to farm 
crops. It delights in a luxuriant field of clover, and in a 
short time does much injury. 
Cabbages arc a favorite food with 
the Woodchuck, and its ravages 
in a cabbage field are often of 
serious loss to the farmer. The 
Woodchucks must be shot or 
caught, and the work of trapping 
them usually falls to the boys. 
Mr. G. H. Smith, of Wyoming Co., 
N.Y., thinks that our boys will be 
pleased with a trap that he has 
Invented, as it can be readily made 
from such materials as are at hand, 
and it is more humane than a steel 
trap, as it kills at once, while that 
holds an animal in suffering until 
some one attends to it. We give 
an engraving made from a sketch 
furnished by Mr. Smith, and think 
that the construction of the trap 
will he readily understood by re¬ 
ference to tlic letters. To begin 
with, there is a heavy stone (ri.) 
which rests upon a shelf attached 
to a common fence-board (B), 
which is 2 * l A feet long, and has at 
its bottom three iron spikes made 
of strong wire and sharpened at 
their lower ends. Two upright 
pieces (E, E) slightly thicker than 
2J, to allow-that to slide easily, 
are connected by four cross-pieces 
((7,(7); one of the upper ones of 
these cross-pieces should be bevel¬ 
ed to give a proper purchase to the 
lever ( F ). This lever ( F) is made thick, and so shaped 
that it will fit into a notch in the upright piece like that 
shown at _B, but of course lower down, so that the lever 
( F ) will catch in it when it is in the position shown in the 
engraving. Two stakes (S, S) are driven into the-ground 
to hold the trap upright, and directly in front of the 
Woodchuck’s hole. The trigger (D) is placed across the 
hole, so that a slight pressure will spring it. It will be 
seen that a small stick catches in a notch in the trigger, 
and a string passes from this to the lever (F) which 
holds up the board (B). If the trigger ( D ) be lowered, 
the trap will be sprung. 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-lSox. 
CROSS-WORD. 
My first is in pepper but not in salt. 
My next is in whisky but not in malt. 
My third is In carpet but not in rug. 
My fourth is in camphor but not in drug. 
My fifth is in New Hampshire but not in Vermont. 
My sixth is in fountain but never in font. 
My seventh’s in bunting but not in flag. 
My eighth is in mountain but not in crag. 
My whole is the name of a beautiful bird ; 
If you can’t find it out it will be absurd. 
Owego. 
ADDED LETTERS. 
1. What letter makes a bird a dog ? 
2. What letter makes a grain an animal 1 
3. What letter makes the sun a fish ? 
4. What letter makes an insect a beverage ? 
5. What letter makes sunshine destructive ? 
6. What letter turns a large animal into a small one ? 
7. What letter turns the specific name of a bird into 
its generic name? 
8. What letter changes one instrument into another ? 
Italian Boy. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of twelve letters. 
My 1, 3, 3, 4, 5 is an Eastern city. 
My 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is one of a certain race. 
My 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is a goddess. 
My. 8, 11, 7, 6, 9 is a musical instrument. 
My 12, 10, 11, 8 is a twig. 
My whole is a city in a Western State. 
F. A. Schultze. 
pi. 
Fo lal het shampont gentefil ni eth tism . 
Fo item, hoghnt agreem lal, dan thylogs hint, 
Stom balastintusun, lensuitanes hades 
Saw thyarle meaf. O. A. Gage. 
'alphabetical arithmetic. 
oak)hrigcnm(OGQKN 
I H H 
OOGG 
O M III 
OR A C 
OMIH 
_ RC I N 
RRGN 
RHMM 
RGNK 
CN '‘Swsrr T. r ' 
SQUARE WORD. 
1. To expect with desire. 2. An egg. 3. Guiltless. 
4. A bird of Australia. Ben. R. S. 
HIDDEN CITIES. 
1. Whoever heard of cars on city alleys ? 
2 . One dog mad is one too many. 
3. I can not say Brooks was very much in the wrong. 
4. Bravely the tyro meets his fate. 
5. His little royal-game is spoiled. 
6. Mr. Phelan sings here to-night. 
7. 0! ma has hurt herself. J. H. Craig. 
DIAMOND PUZZLE. 
1. Part of an emerald. 
2. An animal. 
3. Resex-voirs. 
4. One without a home. 
5. A city. 
C. What ships arc often called. 
7. Facetious. 
8. A pronoun. 
9. Part of a rose. 
The center letters, horizontal and perpendicular, name 
the city where we live. W. P. & E. H. Albright. 
437. Illustrated Rebus— and a geographical one at that. 
438. Illustrated Rebus .—What every boy and gir.l ought 
to be able to say in reference to something. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE JUNE NUMBER. 
Square Words.— 
1. OCEAN 
CRAVE 
EAVES 
AVERT 
NESTS 
2 . 
SPARE 
PAPER 
APPLE 
RELIC 
ERECT 
Alphabetical Arithmetic.— 
243 ) 57628 ( 237 
486 
902 
729 
1738 
1701 
37 Key ; Golden IL'v. 
