The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-08-10

always learn something by early morning
visits to the different parks. A few morn
lngs ago reporter for the Times visited
prospect Park while the dew was still
upon the leaves. The gardeners were
just beginning work. Two old fellows
Wu~e grumbling over a weeping ash
whose leaves had been ruined. Trey were
spflnkling it with some poisonous concoc-
ton to kill insects, and one of them
said: &~~s# !, Il ..z 4 @..-s
Mike, there's no use working over
this. The more we sprinkle the more the
lice seem to eat.''
81 A man who was seated on a6bench near
Walked up to the little tree, looked at
it, and, said: w.: u. = a-,4 =
You will never be able to do anything
with that tree until you get rid of the
ants in the neighborhood.' = \. n
| What have the ants to do with it?''
one asked. r.
These plant lice, as you call them are
ophldes and are the mich COWS of the
ants was the reply,
Ihe two men knew about plant lice, but
had never heard of ants having milcb
cows, SO they became at once interestes
IN what the stranger had to say. :
- Inc poison you have sprinkled on the
tree Will keep the lice off for but a short
Time. The ants will carry them up the
tree again. 81 - :
After careful search along the
ground, which the srln had nearly dried.
ne called out: Come heren'
The Tim es man joined the three On
The ground was. a stream of ants and
each one had in it's mouth an aphis The
line was headed for small bush. Up
the stem the ants went, and on the
leaves deposited their sleek green kline.
NOW, If you iwill watch" said the
stranger, you will see that half dozen
or more ants will remain there as herd
ers. They will watch the aphides and
Will now and then milk. them"
This happened as he said. One of the
gardeners had now become very much
interested, and, in answer to his ques-
lions, the man told him that:
MANY species Of ants keep aphides
as milch cows, and sumo species EMPLOY
other insects which yield sweet secre-
lions: Gall Insects and cocci are kept bv
some, while one naturalist discovered a
species that kept caterpillars of the
genus Lycoena for the sake Of it's sweet
secretion. ". >,..''@
The ants guard their COWS and care for
them as man does When the pastur-
age gives out they move them This ac-
counts for the sudden disappearance of
the lice from an infected plant, which
you have noticed. The ants have regular
stables for them in their nests. Dur
ing the winter they are fed on small bits
of leaves that have been stored by the
ants. Before knew of the aphides T
used often to wonder If the ants carrying
kpieces of leaves were taking them for
bedding or for food.
''Not only do the ants care for the
aphides, but they collect their eggs and
guard and tend them as they do their
own. Now, YOU may see haz.-the ants
milk their cows"
By, this time it has developed that the
impromptu lecturer was a professor in a
local college. He drew from his pocket a
strong magnifying glass and permitted
each to watch the ants. AS a. hungry ant
approached an aphis it would play it's
antennae against the abdomen of the in
sect In second or two the aphis would
pc seen to give little heave and ex-
crete limpid drop Of juice which the
mixer eagerly devoured. Then he would
rush Off to another Of his kind and re-
peat the operation until hunger was an.
peased. * = s-[.1.:.. i .<.I1.-.
Then the instructor explained that if the
ants We're removed and the aphides left
alone they would not excrete until their
load became absolutely painful. Thew
would show their discomfort as an I'M
MIXED cow does hers, by uneasy move
ments and a restless shifting about.
Fl well" asked a gardener, If the ants
keep bringing the lice to the trees how
are we to get rid of them?v .--... ...
obviously, the only way is to kill the
ants was the reply 40. -. + .Es
One: of the gardeners scratched his
head, with q grin, and remarked, IT guess
that's right" and Immediately began a
war on the ants. -5 - -. ~.
To the Times man the instructor said:
''The people of New York do not under
stand the real value of their parks. But
how can one blame them when even a
gardener is ignorant Of one of the func-
lions Of the plant louise? Each park Is an
immense volume Of nature, which it would
| take years for the resident of its Neigh
horhood to cead. Let him once begin to
stody that volume and he will learn some-
| thing new and interesting every day.
New York Times.
| . p .