1872.] 
27 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
TOYS <& (B©mWMc 
'i'lae Bioctor’s Hfew Year’s Word. 
Hurrah! hoys ; and hurrah ! girls, too, for girls below 
a certain age—I don’t know exactly what it is—hurrah 
as well as boys. There is my niece Alice, who a 
few years ago was half a Fourth-of-July celebration, 
she made so much noise ; but since her mother was ill 
she has been a demure little house body. But that is 
not what X started to _ _ 
say. Did all of you, 
boys and girls both, see 
my proposition last 
month ? There are 
probably so many new 
youngsters that I shall 
have to briefly repeat 
it. I offered for the 
best map made by any 
boy or girl of the place 
on which he or she 
lives, $5 in money; for 
the next best, Hearth 
and Home for 1872, 
equal to $3 ; and for the 
third best, the Agricul¬ 
turist for 1872, equal to 
$1.50. More particulars 
are given in December, 
1S71. It will do you all 
a great deal of good to 
try, and it will be very 
pleasant to have a great . 
many of our boys and 
girls all working to¬ 
gether on the same 
thing. I have some 
other premiums in 
view, but let us get 
through with this first. 
The time for this pre¬ 
mium will be up Feb¬ 
ruary 1st; that is, all competing maps must reach me 
on or before that date. Lot us have all hands wide 
awake, and go in for a happy new year, not only now 
while the year is young, but every month, and all 
through to the end. 
Tlac SMOW-35ir«ls. 
Hurrah for winter 1 Is there not ice for skating, and 
snow for sleighing and sledding, and no end of fun for 
boys and girls generally ? Then, isn’t it fine to look from 
the window and see the snow come sifting down so 
body, and come about the house, but they usually put off 
making their calls until the snow has come. It may be 
that, like some other visitors, they come for what they 
can got—and we will not disappoint.them. Let us open 
the window and throw out a few crumbs or seeds. It is 
a pleasure to see the cunning airs of the little fellows as 
they pick up the food. These birds have good memories, 
and will be likely to come again to-morrow, and if we 
throw out food every day we can daily enjoy looking at 
them. “ Where do they go in summer?”—We thought 
you would ask that question. They go off for a little 
MttllFfflOR-WILL 
422 .—Illustrated Jlebus. —This, when made out, will be 
found to be a maxim which is none the worse for being a 
rhymed one. 
silently ? As we look out there is not a living thing to 
be seen. Ah! yes there is; there come the snow-birds— 
the merry little fellows. They have been hiding long 
enough in the edge of the woods, and now that snow has 
come they flit about, and give their little chirp to an¬ 
nounce that they, too, have come. There is something 
very pleasant about these birds—they like to be neigh- 
SN'OtV-BIIlDS. 
quiet housekeeping, some to the mountains, and others, 
the majority, go very far north, where they find suitable 
retreats where they can build their nests and raise their 
young. In autumn the snow-birds make their way south¬ 
ward. What a journey it must be for these bits of birds 
to flap their tiny wings for hundreds of miles! There is 
scarcely any other bird found in so many parts of the 
country as this. Our boys and girls in the Gulf States, 
as well as those away up in Canada, can make its ac¬ 
quaintance. When they first arrive from the north they 
stay in the woods, as they there find sufficient food; 
later they may be seen around the barn-yard, where they 
follow the fowls, and pick up the little bits that the 
larger birds have overlooked; and when cold weather 
fairly sets in, they then come about the house, apparently 
knowing that there must be some kind-hearted boy or 
girl there, ready to give them a little food. 
The («;ime of “ Succotash.” 
Our young folks at home have been kept wide-awake 
many evenings by the new game of Succotash. As every 
boy and girl ought to know, Succotash has two parts— 
viz., beans and corn. It is best in learning the game to 
commence with the first part, beans— in this way : All 
the players being seated, one begins by counting “ one,” 
his next right-hand neighbor says “ two,” the next 
“ three,” and so on, until “ seven ” is reached, but instead 
of saying “ seven ” the player says “beans." Then keep 
right on counting, each naming his proper number in 
turn, “ eight,” “nine,” “ten,” etc., until “ fourteen ; ” 
but say “ beans” instead of fourteen. Go on again, say¬ 
ing “ beans” instead of “seventeen,” or “ twenty-one,” 
or “twenty-seven.” In other words, the rule of the 
game is: “ Beaus” is to be said instead of seven or any 
multiple or compound of seven. Of course, when 
seventy is reached it will be “beans” all the way 
through, with “beans, beans” for seventy-seven. Who¬ 
ever fails to say “ beans ” in the right place, or says it at 
a wrong number, is “ out,” and the others play on, until 
all are out. The counting is continued up to “ eighty- 
four,” then begins at one again. 
When “ beans ” are mastered, begin with “ corn,” 
using it wdierever “ nine ” occurs, or any multiple or 
compound of nine, and continue the counting up to one 
hundred and eight. 
Next try and mix them, for “Succotash;” naming 
“ beans ” and “ corn ” in all the right places at the sev¬ 
ens, nines, etc. Be sure and call out “ succotash ” at 
tw’enty-seven, because it is a multiple of nine and also a 
compound, of seven; at forty-nine, which is a multiple of 
seven and a compound of nine, and at any other number 
where these parts both occur as multiples or compounds. 
To play the game lively, without mistakes, will require 
quick thinking and careful speaking. The game can be 
varied by using any other numbers, and those who have 
had hard work to remember the multiplication table will 
find it a capital exercise to fix the figures in mind so that 
they will stay in their places. 
Somctliiug- about Gaines. 
Who invents games, and where do they come from?' 
How do boys and girls all over the country seem to know 
the same games ? And, as far as out-door games are 
concerned, the boys all 
know exactly when the 
proper time comes for 
them. That boy who 
would play marbles in 
top time, or fly a. kite 
in the season of hop¬ 
scotch, would be look¬ 
ed upon by his fellows 
as a ninny. We wonder 
who fixed the times and 
seasons for games, and 
how do boys know 
when they come 
around? Perhaps it is 
because it is so long 
since we were a boy. 
Well, never,mind.that. 
We wanted to say a 
word about social in¬ 
door games, which are 
much more timely just 
now. We believe in 
innocent games, and 
take as much enjoy¬ 
ment in playing them 
as the veriest boy or 
girl of you all. We 
nearly laughed the but¬ 
tons off of our vener¬ 
able vest over the mis¬ 
takes that we made at 
the game of Succotash, 
described elsewhere. These games have a good influence 
in sharpening one’s wits and strengthening the memory. 
But that is only incidental. We do not play them for 
that, but for the fun that there is in them—for the genial, 
jolly laughter they bring. We notice, by the way, that in 
games we follow the way of the world, and see the mis. 
takes of others much quicker than we do our own. 
Now, there are .games all over the country that seem to 
be unknown outside of a particular locality. Let us try 
and bring the good ones out, so that all the boys and 
girls can enjoy them. If a game is played at your home 
that you think is not generally known, just write it out 
423 .—Word Puzzle .—Here are several cats. There is 
the cat sepulchral, and the one found in the Sunday- 
school ; and there is the cat to be avoided, and the one 
that you like to have with you in the library. Indeed, 
we may say there is a concatenation of cats. 
for us, and if it seems to us desirable we shall be glad to 
tell all the rest about it. There are books of games, but 
we never saw one that contained them all, and there must 
be many unpublished ones known to our young readers. 
