TINY BUILDERS 
29 
carrying parties. But never do they stoop to 
carry a load, or even so much as lend a hand in 
an emergency. However, if an enemy of any 
kind appears, they at once show their worth, and, 
too, when there is game that is hard to kill, they 
seem to take special pleasure in dispatching it. 
Some colonies have two sizes of workers, one 
large and the other small, and each does the tasks 
best assorted to their stature. The wonderful 
thing about the whole matter is that the queen 
mother either has the power to lay at will the 
various kinds of eggs to produce the different 
creatures in her kingdom; or else, if the eggs are 
all alike, the nurses have wisdom enough to care 
for and feed the progeny in such a way as to 
produce the different kinds—workers, soldiers, 
and once a year a family of princes and prin¬ 
cesses. Some scientists claim it is one way and 
some another; but the truth is, the problem must 
probably remain one of Nature’s secrets. 
“ Ants follow the pursuits of man very closely. 
Nearly all the trades and occupations and not a 
few of the professions are represented in their 
kingdoms. Ants are especially capable farmers. 
A kind of seed called ant rice is their crop. It is 
grown in a field ten or twelve feet square, which 
is marked out around the nest. Some say that 
the little farmers do not know enough to sow the 
seed. They merely stake out their farms where 
