1368.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
107 
mm & <hhm’ ©mimm 
A Curious Fail. 
Recently wo examined a Japanese fan which is calcu¬ 
lated to afford some amusement. At first look, nothing 
out of the common way was seen. It was opened and closed 
like any other fan, when spread from left to right; but on 
spreading it the other way, from right to left, it seemed 
to have suddenly fallen to pieces, as shown in the accom¬ 
panying engraving. We will try to describe the ai- 
rangement so that our ingenious young readers may make 
one to puzzle their friends with. First make the splints 
or sticks for the frame in the ordinary manner. Cut pa¬ 
per or silk for the covering in strips two or three inches 
wide at the top, according as the size of the fan is to be 
large or small. The cover strips should be tapered, so 
that they may fit smoothly when the fan is spread out. 
The right taper can be learned by laying the splints upon 
the silk at the top, and briuging their ends together. 
Next lay one splint (4) upon the right hand edge of the 
silk, and another splint (3) under the opposite edge of the 
silk, and fasten them there with gum or paste. Make 10 
pairs in this way, one pair of splints in each, and 
number the splints, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. For the outside parts 
have one wide and one narrow splint (1, S). Make a 
hole in the lower end of the splints, through which a 
wire is to be passed to hold them in place. Put the wire 
through the splints, in the following order: through No. 
1, 3, 2, 5. 4. t, G, 9. 8, 11, 10, 13, 12, 15, 14, 17, 16, 19, 18, 20. 
Fasten the wire by riveting it at the ends, to prevent 
the splints slipping off, and the fan is complete. 
A New 1*055 
The boys in New York and vicinity are amusing them¬ 
selves with a new toy, sold at the shops, which is easily 
made with a jack-knife and a gimlet. Bore a hole length¬ 
wise through a straight pine stick, say six inches long,and 
whittle it into the form of a small cannon, as shown in 
the engraving. Fasten a small peg on each side of the 
cannon, and make a rod to fit the inside of the bore, 
but about an inch shorter; leave a knob on the end 
of this stick. Tie each end of a strip of India rub¬ 
ber to the pegs, and stretch the middle part of the strip 
around the end of the knob on the rod, as shown in the 
illustration. Drop a pea into the mouth of the cannon ; 
draw the rod back, take good aim and let lly; the India 
rubber spring will force the rod forward, and send the 
pea out with considerable force. 
Why I>o We Cultivate IPlamts ? 
There are two kinds of life—animal life and plant life,— 
and yet in many ways these are not so different as they 
seem. Almost every thing that lives and grows, whether 
plant or animal, must have light, air, and suitable food, 
though mouths and stomachs may differ. The leaves of 
plants absorb light and air, as the pores of our skin do ; 
if they are kept in the dark they become white and 
slender, just as children grow pale and weak who do 
not exercise much in the open air. 
The real mouths of plants, however, are in their roots, 
and with these they take in food from the earth. Out of 
all the various substances which make up the soil, each 
plant must have the food that is best for it, to grow well, 
as a horse needs hay and grain, and a dog, meat. For 
this reason it often happens that some land is better for 
certain crops than for others, and a good farmer or gar¬ 
dener will not only find out what to plant in his fields, 
but will learn what manure will give to the soil the 
food needed for the grain or vegetables he wishes to grow. 
Children \yho have plenty of suitable, well-prepared 
food, grow to bo strong and healthy; horses and cows, to 
work well and give rich milk, must be abundantly fed; 
and so the gardener is obliged to provide well for his fruit 
trees, vegetables, and flowers, if he expects to make 
anything of them.—He must keep the earth loose by 
hoeing, so that the tender roots can run through it easily 
in search of food, and also that air and moisture may be 
supplied. He must give water and new nourishment, 
when the soil needs them, and seek to know what is 
the best food, and lie must keep away weeds which 
would appropriate the food in the earth. 
This care of plants and soil, which we call cultivation, 
has become quite a science, producing wonderful results, 
and no boy has more need of education and reading, 
than one who is to be a farmer or gardener. The wild 
apple is small, hard, and sour, but under cultivation it 
becomes large, tender, and juicy; and moreover, many 
different kinds of apples with different flavors are ob¬ 
tained. Potatoes, when wild, are only poor little tubers, 
but under cultivation increase in size and furnish food 
for thousands of people. Lettuce carefully grown for 
market is brittle and delicate, while if a few seeds chance 
to scatter and struggle up in the hard path or in a corner 
among weeds, the leaves will be tough and bitter. Culti¬ 
vation does quite as much for flowers. They grow larger 
and more brilliant in color, and many which are single 
as wild flowers become double. The wild rose has only 
one row of petals, and is full of thorns, but in gardens 
and hot-houses the slender yellow stamens swell into 
broad petals, row upon row; and there really seems to 
be no end to the different kinds of roses we now have. 
Aljotit Fai-tlloqjisalces. 
The newspapers are giving acconnts of frcqnent earth¬ 
quakes recently occurring in some of the West Indies, 
particularly in the island of St. Thomas. As many as 
five hundred distinct shocks, it is stated, have been felt. 
Some of these were severe enough to throw down houses, 
and destroy much property and many lives. Such visita¬ 
tions have not been uncommon in that part of the world. 
A most terrible convulsion occurred in the island of Ja¬ 
maica in 1692. The land on which stood the city of Port 
Royal, extending over 1,030 acres, or more, suddenly 
sank out of sight, the sea rolling in covered the whole 
area, and ships from the harbor were driven over the very 
place which a few minutes before was teeming with busy 
life. One of the most noted and destructive earthquakes 
ever known occurred ia Spain in 1755. A rumbling 
noise was heard, which was immediately followed by a 
shock that threw down most of the buildings in the city, 
overwhelming 60,000 persons in the ruins. A great num¬ 
ber sought safety by rushing out upon an extensive mar¬ 
ble wharf recently built, where there were no buildings. 
It suddenly sank with them, drawing many vessels and 
boats down the immense whirlpool which was formed, 
and they were seen no more: not a body, ora fragment of 
the wrecks, returned to the surface, and alter the convul¬ 
sion was ended the water was found to be 600 feet deep 
over the place. This shock was felt throughout Europe 
and extended across the ocean to America. The tide 
rose suddenly to the hight of 20 feet along the shores of 
the West Indies; the coast of Massachusetts felt the 
shock, and the waters of Lake Ontario were greatly agi¬ 
tated. As lately as 1S37 a severe earthquake was expe¬ 
rienced in Italy in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius, by 
which more than 20,000 persons lost their lives. The 
city of Quito, in Ecuador, was nearly destroyed by a simi¬ 
lar visitation in 1859, and many thousands perished. 
These great convulsions usually occur in the neighbor¬ 
hood of volcanoes, although their effects are not confined 
to those regions, as we have seen in some of the instances 
here noted. Frequently, if not usually, the earthquake 
moves forward like a succession of waves, as though the 
surface of the earth rose and fell upon some heaving fluid 
beneath. Indeed, facts seem to show that this may be the 
case. It is generally believed that the interior of the earth 
is a mass of melted matter; that volcanoes are openings in 
the crust, through which the fiercely raging fires find vent 
as through chimneys. Various causes might produce 
violent commotion in the vast fiery caldron. A portion 
of the crust beneath the ocean giving way and letting its 
waters pour in upon the fiery tide would produce tremen¬ 
dous results. Various gases exploding beneath the sur¬ 
face would be followed by great convulsions. We can 
easily believe that if the mighty elements upon and 
within the earth were permitted to exert all their power, 
the globe itself might be rent into fragments. It seems 
probable, however, from the facts brought to light by geol¬ 
ogy, that these convulsions of nature are of less frequent 
occurrence than during past ages, and that the earth is 
becoming better and better fitted as a habitation of man. 
The great mountains which cover so much of the earth's 
surface appear to have been thrown up by volcanic action 
in times perhaps before the history of man, as there is 
no record of any such mighty changes having occurred for 
thousands of years past. What the future may have in 
store for this planet is known only to Him who holds all 
its powers subject to Ilis own will, and we may be sure 
that wisdom and love will determine all that occurs. 
Printers’ Mistalccs. 
Mr. Greeley, who can write a fair hand, but who is 
usually too much in haste to make letters that any ordi¬ 
nary reader can decipher, one day wrote an article head¬ 
ed: “William H. Seward.” His surprise was great on 
seeing it in print as : “ Richard the Third.” At another 
time he wrote: “ Three men in buckram,” but the com¬ 
positor set it up : “ Three men in a back room.” An¬ 
other author wrote: “Is there no balm in Gilead?” 
which came out thus: “Is there no barn in Guilford ? " 
Of course the printers had to take the blame, but we sym¬ 
pathized with them when we heard one of our own new 
printers, who was trying to make out a puzzling piece of 
copy from “ Head Quarters,” exclaim : “ Whoever writes 
like that ought to be sent to China to mark tea boxes 1 ” 
New Puzzles to l»e Answered,. 
make a picture of a dog’s head on the wall. After trying 
it, endeavor to find out what kind of fish it represents. 
No. 300. I Vord Puzzle .—I am hard, soft, easy, uncom¬ 
fortable, long, short, wide, narrow, round, square, high, 
low, good, bad, of all colors, of all sizes, of all shapes, and 
used by every one. Transpose me, and I am a drink in 
veiy general use, I am of several colors, and foreign 
birth. Transpose again, and I am one of the most 
important points of a good guide. What is the word ? 
No. 301. Illustrated Rebus .—Name of an interesting play. 
No. 302. Illustrated Rebus . — Old proverb in a new dress. 
Answers to Frolfoleisis and S*«izzles. 
The following are answers to the puzzles in the Feb¬ 
ruary number, page 67. No. 296. Turn the picture bottom 
side up, and the head of the “ Old Man of the Woods ” 
may be seen_No. 297. A flattering lip brings ruin_ 
No. 298. Behemoth {Bee he moth). The following have 
sent correct answers to some of the puzzles previously 
published. J. F. I. Oster, F. B. Wilson, L. F. Irwin, 
W. and W. Belcher, C. V. Bradley, Wm. II. Fulton, 
Ebenezer J. Bridge, Daniel W. Lcitzell, Lodema C. Boice, 
B. P. Bigelow, Isaac Evans Bonsall, Joseph M. Darr, II. 
F. Swayze, E. Briggs, Jacob Diehl, Samuel N. Stubbs. 
Ruth Morris, Oscar W. Baker, George B. Slocum, “ F. 
M. A.,” Mina M. Walker, Hugh Latimer, Jesse Billups, 
Israel Camp, Mary Wells, Lizzie Kisner, Maggie A. Gray, 
J. Milton Snyder, Burksville, Ivy., George II. Townsley, 
N. L. Henderson, D. A. Griffin, Byron Wright, Rachel 
Dague, II. M. Iveeny, Addio and Nellie Barnes. 
What is the difference between a gauze dress and a 
drawn tooth ? One is too thin and the other tooth out. 
The bread of life is love ; the salt of life is work ; the 
sugar of life, poetry; and the water of life is faith. 
