190 
AMERICAS AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
leaves to prepare it. Many years ago I was botan¬ 
izing in what is now Arizona, and discovered a 
flower which is own cousin to this monster. Though 
it was only a quarter of an inch across, it had the 
family habit of stealing its living, and was attached 
to a small bush in large numbers. This was not a 
Rafllesia, but a Pilostyles. The Doctor. 
The Round Robin. 
Dear Boys and Girls.— One of the best let¬ 
ters that Round Robiu has received, was a neat 
one from Charlie Greenfield, of Somerville, 
Ohio, which we enjoyed exceedingly, and we shall 
be glad to hear from him again. He says “I have a 
dog called Fossy, a cat called Susie, and a playful 
white kitten. Holiday nights were very restless 
ones with me. I slept two or three hours in the 
first part of the night, then the rest was spent in 
rolling and kicking until morning.” We imagine 
that Charlie is not the only boy who lay awake on 
Holiday nights. He sends his love to all. 
Nettie Woodward, of Burlingbam, N. Y., is niue 
years old, and must be a very bright little girl, for 
she says she “ cyphers in decimals,” and is soon 
“going in the Fourth Reader.” She has an Alder¬ 
ney calf named Floss, for a pet, and better still a 
dear little baby brother Benny. We are glad, Net¬ 
tie, that you succeeded in making out the Geogra¬ 
phy puzzle. It is excellent practice. 
Edie Hillbrant, who lives at Union Station, Ohio, 
writes—“I will tell you about my pet pig. Papa 
found him one morning, out by the strawstack, 
nearly frozen to death. He gave him to me to 
raise. I fed him with a spoon and he grew to be a 
nice pig. His name is Sambo. He gets up in the 
morning, and makes his bed, and then lies down 
again.” Edie’s sister Berthie has a kitty named 
Daisy, which is so genteel she will never eat on the 
floor, but always climbs up on a chair or table. 
Edie makes a good suggestion, she says “Last sum¬ 
mer, 1 gathered leaves of different kinds, and 
pinned them, one on each leaf of a book, until I 
had over thirty kinds. This is a real nice way for 
little boys and girls to do in summer.” 
Round Robiu thinks so too, especially if you are 
old enough to look up the plants in some good 
book on the subject; and classify the different 
species, writing both the common and botanical 
name under each leaf. 
Little folks must be patient, if their communica¬ 
tions do not appear right away, and we will try 
and give as many as possible a place in tne next 
issue after they are received. 
Yours truly, Round Robin. 
In-door Gaines of Marbles. 
Most children have marbles in stock or may ob¬ 
tain a supply for a few cents while in town. They 
afford a simple amusement, and one that will 
interest them for hours at a time. Fig. 1 repre¬ 
sents a board four inches wide and two and a half 
feet in length, with strips or supports nailed at 
each end as shown. The lower edge of the board has 
six arches cut or sawed in, each being three inches 
wide and two inches in hight; immediately over 
the top of each arch are marked the figures 20, 
40, 10, etc. etc. To plgy the game, set the board 
upon the floor within about a foot of the side 
of the room. The one that is to play then takes 
his position at the opposite side, and rolls the 'mar¬ 
ble toward the board. Should it pass through an 
arch, the number above the areli is tallied. Each 
player has five chances. The one tallying the 
greatest number of points wins the game. When 
a player misses the board, or the marble strikes the 
space between the arches, that shot is lost. The 
game shown in fig. 2, is also played upon the floor 
or carpet. The strip at the back upon which the fig¬ 
ures are placed, is two feet in length, one half an 
inch in thickness and two inches wide. The six 
arms or projecting pins are two inches wide and 
eight inches in length, and are kept in place by the 
strip nailed upon the top. The game is played like 
the foregoing, and care must be taken that the 
marble does not re-bound outside the limits, in 
which case the count is lost. Another game is 
shown in fig. 3. This consists of parts of thin 
wooden hoops, placed in the form shown, and held 
there by two wooden strips nailed to them. The 
spaces in which a marble may stop are marked 40, 
60, and 80. Care is necessary or the marble will 
pass in at one end of the half circle and out at the 
other. Each player is entitled to roll five or more 
marbles, the one tallying the highest number being 
the winner. Several other forms could be devised, 
but the foregoing will answer for one time. 
Postage-Stamps. 
Business men are besieged on all sides by eager 
Philatelists (as stamp collectors are styled) begging 
for the canceled stamps from their foreign corres¬ 
pondence. To procure a complete set of stamps, 
issued by every nation, would be almost impossible; 
and we advise young collectors, to commence with 
their own country and then proceed by degrees to 
England, France, and .other countries; forming as 
perfect sets of each, as is possible. It is stated 
that more than 1,200 stamps have been issued by 
various governments. Of these, Spain has about 
65 : Great Britain and Dependencies the same ; the 
United States, 44 ; Hanover, 34 ; Prussia, 32 ; so on 
down to Hamburg, which has only one. Besides 
these there are innumerable revenue stamps, 
stamped envelopes, wrappers, and postal cards. 
Very beautiful albums are made for these collec¬ 
tions. But for beginners all that is required, is a 
blank-book, some sheets of very thin writing paper, 
and a bottle of gum arabic dissolved in water, and 
made thin. To mount the stamps cut the writing 
paper into strips, half an inch wide, gum along one 
edge, and lay the 6tamps on the gummed edge. 
Then cut the strips and trim the paper, having it 
slightly narrower at the top. Now fold this paper 
so as to form a hinge, and fasten it to the blank 
page with a drop of gum. Write under the stamp 
the date of issue, cost, etc. Arrange them first 
geographically: American, European, Asiatic, Afri¬ 
can, and Oceanic; and then according to their 
money value. In each geographical division, every 
country should have a distinct place. 
In some countries there are stamps issued for 
special purposes; thus, New South Wales, Queens¬ 
land, and Victoria have stamps for registered let¬ 
ters only, and the latter place has a “too late” 
stamp also. In many catalogues there will be found 
stamps classed under the head of Essays. These 
stamps are valuable, as they are very scarce. 
What Every Boy Should Learn. 
Every boy should learn to lift himself by his- 
hands, and to hold on for some time. It is not 
necessary to go to a gymnasium to learn this. Boys 
in the country in climbing trees are soon able to 
lift themselves by the hands. It is well to have a 
pole placed horizontally, just high enough to allow 
the feet to be clear from the ground. With this 
and a rope of good size hanging down from a se¬ 
cure fastening, many useful feats may be learned. 
The pole and rope may be under a shed or in the 
barn. To lift the body by the hands and to move 
along on the pole, to hang by one hand, and to swing 
in various ways, will greatly strengthen the arms 
and hands. The rope will allow of the more diffi¬ 
cult feat of climbing it. At first learn to climb the- 
rope by the aid of the feet, pressing the rope be¬ 
tween them. After this learn to go up, using the 
hands only. In going down never slide, but go 
down hand-under-hand, otherwise the hands may 
be badly hurt. One who can command himself 
while on a rope may at times find the ability to do 
so very useful. Tt is easily acquired, and the time 
spent in such exercises is by no means wasted. 
'I'lie Paper Hunt.— “ Charlie J.”—As we- 
understand it, the Paper Hunt is a capital amuse- 
meut for rather large boys who can take a long tramp- 
without much fatigue. There should be several 
boys, the more the better, one boy we call the- 
leader, takes with him a large number of scraps of 
paper—in his pocket or in a bag slung over his 
shoulders. The scraps should be white, and large 
enough to be seen readily; those cut from the edges 
of old newspapers will answer. The leader, having 
five minutes start, goes where he pleases, only 
agreeing to drop a scrap of paper every few rods. 
When the minutes are up, the rest of the boys start 
in pursuit and try to catch the leader, being guided 
in the direction hy the scattered papei scraps. The 
leader, if he understands the country well, can. 
take the rest on a long chase, while the boys in. 
pursuit can, by separating somewhat, keep on the 
lookout for the paper scraps and aid one another 
in the hunt. If any one can give us the rules of 
this game, we shall be glad to have them. 
An Arithmetical Curiosity.— As the year 
1881 came in, many papers, including the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist , amused their readers with the 
arithmetical changes that one could ring on. 
the number 1881, from the properties of the 
digit 9. What I send you is, I believe, original, 
and has peculiarities. I present it in diagram 
form as more striking. The number 1881, when. 
resolved into prime factors, gives us 1, 3, 9, 11,19, 
these and no others, as when multiplied together, 
they produce 1881. It 'consequently must have 
twelve complete divisors, and can have no more 
and no less, if we regard unity and the number 
itself among the divisors. These divisors are all 
readily obtained, and the diagram presents them in 
pairs, the two members of each pair are found 
opposite each other. See 57 opposite 33 ; 33 times 
57 equal 1881, and so of other pairs. Petbopons. 
