St. Paul daily globe., 1895-06-03
AND STORES AWAY GRAIN.
PROyIDENT AGAINST THE INEV-
ITABLE SEASONS OF UN-
PRODUCTIVENESS
In Mexico Where These Wise Lit
tie WOrkmen Till the
Soil.
PHILADELPHIA Times.


ers in Sonora, Mexico. These are So
called agricultural ants. which plant
| fields of grain and regularly harvest
| their crops. Upon the latter they-,de-
pend wholly for food. In fact, if the
crops should fail. they would perish
of famine. On the other hand. the
cereals which they grow have been
specialized by cultivation, like the
wheat and rice of the human husband
man. and would quickly disappear If
the attention of the insects was with
drawn.
The fields of the farmer ants cover
scores Of square miles in Sonora, a
large part of which is quite densely
populated by them. The home of
colony is marked ordinarily by a cir
| cular clearing from to 80 feet in
diameter, on which nothing is permit
| ted to grow. This serves as sort Of
| parade and exercise ground. Around
| the clearing is a ring Of luxuriant
grass from to 20 feet wide. On the
seeds of this grass the insects subsist,
| planting it every spring and garner
| ing the crop in the autumn Across
| the rings which surround the forrni-
carries run turnpikes a few inches
wide, connecting farm with farm for
many furlongs.
In the region described there is
| practically no vegetation except the
| grasses cultivated by these ants. The
latter appear to keep down and ex-
terminate all other plants, such as
cacti, greasewood and mesquite. The
plants naturally prevailing in that part
of the country are entirely absent
| from the most thickly settled farming
districts. In short, these insects have
| developed
AN ART OF AGRICULTURE
peculiar to themselves, nave made con-
quest of the land for their needs and
have artificialized certain cereals as
thoroughly as maize and barley have
been artifcialized by man Thus"
says Prof. McGee.. "tle rigorous en-
vironment of the deser! has developed
one Of the most rem arkable intel
ligences; and, incidenta lly, an animal
and plant have come to be mutually
/; dependent upon each other for exist
ence.'
The agriculture of these ants seems
| to be far more extensive in Sonora
than in Texas, where their farming
| operations have been extensively
! described by Henry G. McCook. On
| the fiat table lands of, the Lone Star
| state their farms are extensively scat
| tered. These, like those of Mexico,
are mostly fiat and circular clearings,
from which communication is had by
roads with the surrounding cultivated
herbage. In the center of each such
clearing is a hole which serves as a
| gateway, opening into the subterran-
can formicary. There are several
species of ants, however, and at least
! one of them constructs a conical
/ mound, which takes the place of the
clearing. So widely distributed are
the farms that they are found in the
very streets and gardens of Austin.
At the time of the harvest one or
more of the roads leading to the
| formicary may be seen on any fine
| day to be thronged with workers
| marching to and fro in double coll
umn, one going and one coming. The
pathway is trodden hard by their feet.
Those coming are heavily laden. each
carrying seed. They do not gather
| the seeds from the grass tops, but
| pick up those which have ripened and
| fallen. For these they search on the
| ground in the forest Of grass stalks.
| feeling for them with their antennae.
Having secured one the worker ant
lifts 1T, adjusts the burden so as to
be carried most easily, and finds her
way back to the road, along which
she trots homeward, finally disappear
ing through the gateway.
WITHIN THE GATE
| is vestibule, from which a pas
sage way leads downward at slant
to the rooms beneath. Some of these
! rooms are nurseries for the rearing
of the young of the colony, while 9TH
| ers are granaries, in which the seeds
| are stored. Usually the rooms are
| shaped somewhat like horseshoe,
the walls and floors being neatly and
| smoothly finished with plaster, for
| which suitable earth is brought from
above and made adhesive with the
saliva of the insects. There Is apt
to be one grand storeroom two inches
| or so in height and three or four
| inches long. the other apartments
being somewhat smaller. All Of them
are formed with domes.
/ The seeds before being stored in the
| granaries are husked All refuse, in
| Guiding husks and imperfect seeds, is
[ carried out and thrown outside the
4 limits of the fermicary. Nothing is
| permitted to remain on the clearing.
| Anything that falls upon it is cut to
| pieces and taken away. If luckless
tumblebug rolls it's ball into the for
bidden territory 1t is driven away. or
/ If it refuses to retreat it is promptly
| killed. The workers possess very
| formidable stings. which are used with
! effect upon too inquisitive human
beings. The poison seems to be quite
powerful, causing great deal OF
inflammation and sometimes nausea.
| However, the insects are quite peace
| full unless outrageously disturbed.
| In Texas the farmer ants also gather
the seeds of crotons and of several
| species of weeds. After they have har-
vested their grain in the autumn they
| carefully cut away all of the dry stub
BILE, so that their fields may be ready
for planting in the spring. Respect
ing the methods of planting adopted
by the insects. no reliable observations
have been made up to date.
ALL OF THE LABOR,
| of whatever description. is performed
| by the workers, who are undeveloped
! females The males do nothing. the
| sole purpose of thier existence being
! to perpetuate the species. The devel-
| oped females are destined to become
| the mothers of future colonies.
/ The developed females and the males
have wings. while the workers possess
| none. The workers constitute the
| bulk of the population, being divided
into two classes-workerS major and