St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-05

Written for the FARMER.
THE CARRIER ANT, AS INVENTOR,
ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER.
ssYou see, compadre, the carrier has
done no harm to your rose bush. See
how the new foliage is starting"
So remarked Don Manuel. some two
weeks later. "when they choose leaf
age from plant or. tree, they are at full
They choose deciduous trees
mostly, with the leaves at prime, rs
the succulcnt juices, the
fully ripcned material necessary for
their purpose"
"There, Don NJ. that is the point :
what is their purpose? Solve me the
riddle, rs you seem on familiar terms
with them." always enjoyed getting
the Don on his favoritc hobby.
II will tell you," he replied. s.1'he
carriers as you call them, are the
eldest of inventors. Oh, of course, you
laugh at that, but hear me out. Re-
Gently, all throughout the agricultural
districts of Europe and America, ssilo'
is one Of the animal food products now
mostly ext0lled. The carriers were
making 'silo,' 'ensilage.' or whatever
else 1t may be called, before the Pyra-
mlds were built, for all we know to the
pV hn 1Nnr 1Nur sxy1as s.1,
they collect is stored away in lay
crs in the dome Of their mound
there is gallery underneath, and
through the perforated floor of the
storage vault they withdraw the per-
fected food from below, while con-
stantly adding to it above. That Is the
food of their young, aud in fact of all
the colony, in the season Of heavy
rains. So, when l heard of Mr.. So
and-sO's dis covery, or invention, and
read the Agricultural Bureaus reports
on the subject, 1 realized that this
highly endowed and intellectually gift
ed creature called man, was simply
copying . process practiced for un-
known centuries, probably, by the car
rier ants. Here are some photos Of
red hill of Cienega de Oro."
suggested creMating it, to preserve
its interior structure So with o lot of
old tubing and tram rails from the
sugar mill, we made an outer caging
to prevent pressure on the mound it.
self. In thirty hours tie outer surface
was baked to . pale brick color; after
it was cooled of we had it opened with
saws, and by that means got perfect
views of the interior.
The views mentioned were two cross
sections and two longitudinal, giving
q complete idea of the skill of the
builders. Having since that time wit
messed the opening of another mound,
q hundred leagues further south, can
write from personal knowledge. The
interior structures were precisely the
same in both mounds.
The storage room was in the upper
section Of the mound, the ensilage in
layers covering . space two
feet wide by six feet long, twenty inch
es from floor to upper ceiling, perfor-
ated with holes for ventilation.
The hysienic conditions were per-
feet; the nOxiOus gases likely to he
caused by fermentation of the heritage
passed out through sheltered openings
on each side and end of the mound, the
ends of such ventilators curving down.
ward to prevent rain entering.
The quarters Of the poems, or labor
ers, are below the ground level, the
structure at its base being two feet be-
low the surface of the ground. The
lao
gallery leading to the store room.
The lab0rers who carry the heritage
enter a wide arched passage, mp wind
ing way through a passage in the outer
wall until above the level of the store
room, and there drop their load t.. rough
al open sluice to the room below,
where others place it level. The la
bOrer, after dropping his load, makes
his exit by another passage TO the OPP
posite side of the mound, avoiding con-
tact with those coming in loaded. until
some yards away from the mound.
They seem to have police system
they certainly have relays of laborers,
Que gang relieving the other, and cer-
when crippled. "Red Gross"
brethren with their own tribe, but de-
cided s.crosS red" with any wandercr
from another colony. who may trespass
on their domain. The engineer, who
passes sentence, has him decapitated
Ut once.
Here in the primeval forest, where
great eampanas and bOngo trees shade
The sward: in this mound Of earth,
reared particle by particle, thirty feet
vide by forty, feet long, and seven feet
N height-twO underground and five
on principles cor
to direct science. they have
he cOmmunistic system established,
to their needs.
Bellamy might have found the idea In
such . community, that prompted him
% write Choking Backward
Ihad noticed branch roadway lead
ng from the carriers main thorough
are, direct to the fruit garden of the
house, and was told by the
I'D majOr-dOmO that 1t had Eecl open
ID by Don Manuel's orders. I asked
lin about it one evening.
Eyes" be replied, 'sseyeral years ago
started = nursery of choice fruit
rees, or tried 10, but found the aphi-
liam races too strong for me. The
eafage on some of the young plants
vas completely covered upon the under
idle with the green pests. Old Pacho,
ny native gardener, was opposed to
chemical mixtures, Paris green, or
,ther modern insecticides, and told me,
t he could have his way, he would find
remedy. gave him carte blanche, SO
le opened road for the carriers, cap
ured few hundred of the portad0res,
With their engineers, and turned them
DOSE in the nursery. We knew they
would not touch the LEAKAGE, but the
liant lice, catsrpillars, grubs. cut
worms, and such pests, seem to be the
pecial diet of the labOrers of the col
my
~ day or two later the nursery was
with the carriers, under the
anne engineers. We knew them to be
he same, having had them well shaken
lp with fine rice pOwdei-dO that when
ou wish to keep track of any particu-
ar ant; You can identify him for sew
raj days after. Many q messenger !
ave watched 10 his destination by that
node. They visit the nursery every few
months, and search every crevice of the
utter bark for the larvae of the cur
uli0. moth, bug or beetle; clear young
'lauts of "Trip, lice, and all varieties
4 yermin. So ! have reason to be
thankful for the carriers
Lack OF space prevents more COM