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with a tea-spoon, with which she gives a sip of milk to every person, saying, "Take that my pretty puss!" to which, after taking it, "Puss" must gravely "Mew!

answer,

25. To bow to the prettiest, kneel to the wittiest, kiss the nearest, and make a speech to the dearest.

To the first he 26. To candidly acknowledge whom he loves best in the world. 27. The gentleman is to go to three ladies in the room. must make a speech on the fashions; to the second, on the prettiest shape of bonnets; to the third, on the income-tax.

28. To be fed as a baby by the other players-i. e., she is seated in the middle of the room, wrapped up in a sheet; the others bring a custard, a cup of tea, and a glass of wine, and feed her alternately with a tea-spoon, saying, as they do so, "Sweet baby!" No laughing allowed.

29. To pet the kittens without smiling. For a boy: He goes round and says to every lady, "Poor puss!" to which she must gravely auswer, "Me-ew! Me-ew!"

30. To sit down on the carpet, and get up without touching anything. 31. Dance in one corner of the room, sing in another, curtsey in the third, and weep in the fourth.

CROQUET.

This out door pastime is of comparatively modern creation, and is evory It may be played by persons of all ages and of day becoming more in vogue. either sex; but it is especially adapted for ladies and young persons, as it demands but trifling personal exertion, while it affords delightful and healthgiving sport.

The ground upon which croquêt is played is preferably a grass-plot of an oblong form; but an ordinary lawn or expanse of even turf will answer the purpose, so long as it is of sufficient extent for the operations of the game.

The implements for playing croquêt are the balls, the mallets, the starting and turning pegs, the croquêt clips or markers, the hoops or arches. These may be obtained at the ordinary toy warehouses.

Arrangement of the Hoops.-As much of the interest of this game depends apon the arrangement of the hoops, it is essential that they should be fixed in the ground on definite principles. In the first place, the starting peg is driven in at one end of the ground, and the turning peg is driven in at the other extremity. From each of these pegs a space of twelve feet intervenes; here a hoop is fixed; another space of ten feet intervenes, when a second hoop is fixed; a space of eight feet then succeeds, and at this point is formed what may be termed the base, on each side of which, at a distance of twenty feet, and succeeding each other at intervals of ten feet, three hoops are driven in. By this arrangement a square is formed, the starting peg leading into its Where the ground is small, the center, and the turning peg leading from it. distances may be contracted proportionally. Other arrangements of the hoops may be made at the discretion of the players, but the first-named plan will be found best worthy of adoption, as it affords the most excellent opportunities for the display of address and skill.

The game consists in striking the balls from the starting peg through the seven hoops to the peg at the opposite extremity. The bails are then driven back again to the starting peg.

The game may be played by any number of persons not exceeding eight. If two only A larger number protracts the intervals between the several turns, and thereby renders the game tedious. The most eligible number is four, play, each player should take two balls; and when as many as eight play, there should be two sides or sets.

In playing the game, each player takes a mallet, ball, and croquêt clip, of the same color or number, the clip being used to indicate the hoop at which, in his turn, he aims. The division into sides, choice of balls, mallets, etc., is determined by the players among themselves.

Laws of the Game. In croquet, as with many other sports when first established, there exist differences of opinion on certain points of practice. We have consuited numerous treatises on the game, and find Jaques's "Laws and Regulations of the Game of Croquêt" to be one of the most practical and straightforward manuals extant. It is to this work that we are mainly indebted for the following laws of the game:

1. On commencing, each player must place his ball within a mallet's length of the starting peg in any direction, and his opening stroke must be to pass through the first hoop.

2. The players on each side are to play alternately, according to the colors on the starting peg, and the order in which they play cannot be altered during the game.

3. Each player continues to play so long as he plays with success, that is,

so long as he drives his ball through the next hoop in order, or croquêts another ball.

4. When a player strikes his own ball so as to hit another at a distance, he is said to roquêt it; and, having thus hit a ball, he must then, as it is termed, "take the croquêt," which is done as follows: He lays his own ball against the other so that the two touch; he then places his foot on his own ball, which he strikes with his mallet; this will drive the ball with a moraentum and in a direction most desired. In doing this the player should press his foot on his own ball.

5. A player must move the ball he croquêts. He is said to "take a stroke off" when he places his own ball to touch the croquêted ball very lightly, so as to leave it, when croquêted, in nearly the same position; but in doing this the croquêted ball must be perceptibly moved.

6. No ball can croquêt, or be croquêted, until it be passed through the first hoop.

7. Any player missing the first hoop takes his ball up, and when his turn comes again, plays from the starting place, as at first.

8. A player inay croquet any number of balls consecutively; but he car. not croquet the same ball twice during the same turn, without first sending his own ball through the next hoop in order.

9. Instead of aiming at his hoop or another ball, a player may strike his ball towards any part of the ground he pleases. When he has made a complete circuit from the starting peg back to the starting peg, he may either re tire from the game by pegging, or, by not doing so. remain in. In this case he is called a "rover," and will still have the power of croquêting consecutively all the balls during any one of his turns.

10. When a ball roquêts another ball, the player's ball is "dead," and "in hand" until after the player of it has taken the croquêt. Hence it follows that if it cannon from one ball to another, or from a ball through its own hoop, or from a ball on to either of the pegs, none of these subsequent strokes count anything. If, however, a player cannon off a ball which in the same turn he has croquêtéd, and then runs off it and makes a stroke, that stroke

counts.

11. A player whose ball is roquêted or croquêted through its hoop in order, counts the hoop.

12. A player must hit his ball fairly-not push it. A ball is considered to be fairly hit when the sound of the stroke is heard. A ball is "pushed" when the face of the mallet is allowed to rest against it, and the ball propelled without the mallet being drawn back.

13. A player may play in any attitude, and use his mallet with his hands in any way he pleases, so that he strike the ball with the face of the mallet. 14. When the ball of a player hits the starting peg, after he has been through all the hoops, whether by his own play, or by being roquêted (subject to the provisions in Law 10), or by being croquêted, he is out of the game, which goes on without him, his turn being omitted.

15. The clip is placed on the hoop through which the player is next going. The clips are to be changed by the umpire, and are decisive as to the position of a player's ball; but if the umpire forget to change a clip, any player may remind him before the next stroke. Should there be no clips, a player is entitled to ask any other player how he stands in the game.

16. A player stops at the peg; that is, having struck the turning peg in order, his turn is at an end, and even though he should roquêt off the peg, it does not count. When his turn comes round again, he plays his ball from the spot it rolled to after pegging.

17. A ball is considered to have passed through its hoop if it cannot be touched by the handle of the mallet, laid on the ground from wire to wire, on the side from which the ball passed.

18. The decision of the umpire is final. His duties are: To move the clips; to decide when balls are fairly struck; to restore balls to their places which have been disturbed by accident; and to decide whether a croquêted bail is moved or not, in doubtful cases.

TERMS USED IN THE GAME.-Roquet-To hit another ball with one's own. Croquet-To strike one's own ball when in contact with a roquêted ball. Wired-To have the ball in such a position that the hoop prevents the stroke which is wished to be made. Peg-To "peg" is to strike either of the pegs in proper order. Dismiss-To "dismiss" a ball is to croquêt it to a distance.

BEE-KEEPING DEPARTMENT.

BY THE PUBLISHER.

NOTE. We are indebted to the courtesy of H. M. Johnson, of Marshall, Mich., a practical and experienced bee-keeper, who has also published a work upon this subject, called "The Farmer's Guide to Bee-Keeping," which is the best work of the kind that has come to our knowledge. He has kindly permitted us to make such extracts as we saw fit, but our space will not allow us o give full details, but to give enough so that any one can understand the general principles, and manage bees quite successfully. If any one wishes a 'horough and scientific knowledge of the subject in all its details, and also how to make the various kinds of hives, bee pasturage, etc., etc., Mr. Johnson's book should be in their hands.

FUNDAMENTAL POINTS IN BEE-KEEPING.

There are four fundamental points which render bee-keeping a success, viz., the man, the moveable comb hive, the season, and the honey machine or mell extractor." The operator should be acquainted with and understand the nature and working of the bee to enable him to manage them properly. He should then have a hive that will answer all his needs in every department of bee culture, and in the making of hives should aim at simplicity. The honey machine is acknowledged by all bee-keepers to be the greatest Improvement to the science since the invention of the movable comb hive, by the use of which we claim to double and even treble the quantity obtained by the old method.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A SWARM OF BEES.

Every prosperous swarm of bees must contain one queen, several thousand workers, and a portion of the year a few hundred or even thousand drones. We will now proceed to describe the different bees which constitute a swarm, and the labors of each.

DESCRIPTION OF THE QUEEN.

The accompanying cut will illustrate the appearance of this most important member of this industrious colony. The queen is the only perfect female bee in the colony, and hence the name of queen or mother bee. In form she is longer than either of the other species. She is usually of a dark color, except the under side of the abdomen, which bears somewhat on the golden shade. All her colors are bright and glossy, and she has but little of the down or hair seen on the drones or workers Her wings are short, reaching a little more than half way back. Her posterior is more pointed and, has the appearance of curving under, more than that of the workers. She has a sting, but never uses it, except in combat with a rival queen.

THEIR AFFECTION FOR THEIR QUEEN.-The queen is always treated with the greatest affection by the bees. If she is removed from them, the whole colony is thrown into a state of the most intense agitation. All labor is abandoned, and the bees run wildly over the comb, and rush from the hive in anxious search for their beloved mother. If they cannot find her, they return to their desolate home and manifest by their sorrowful tones their sense of this great calamity, as no colony can long exist without the presence of the mother bee.

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THE AGE OF THE QUEEN.

The average age of the queen is about three years. None should be allowed to become older than that, as after that age they often become barren, or deposit eggs which produce only drones, and the colony soon wastes away without being replenished with worker broods.

Like the drone, the queen never goes to gather honey, her only duty beh to deposit the eggs, both male and female. Yet she is as dependent on the workers as they are upon her, and both are dependent upon the drones, not withstanding they are the acknowledged idlers of the colony.

DEPOSITING THE EGG.

In all well populated hives young broods may be found in different stages of development, every month in the year, with few exceptions. The queen carefully examines each cell by thrusting her head in, before depositing the egg, to see if it contains bee bread or honey, as she never uses a cell partly filled. If she finds the cell clear, she immediately curves her abdomen and inserts it. She remains but a second or two, and then leaves the cell, when an egg about a sixteenth of an inch long may be seen attached to the base of the cell, usually a little to one side.

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HATCHING.

The eggs remain unchanged for three or four days. They are then hatched, the bottom of each cell containing a small white worm, which floats in a whitish transparent fluid, which is deposited by the nursing bees, and by which it is probably nourished. It gradually enlarges until its two extremities touch, which forms a ring. It continues to increase during five or six days, until it occupies the who e breadth and nearly the length of the cel'. The nursing bees now seal over the cell with a light brown cover. As soon as the larvae is perfectly enclosed, t begins to When this is finished line the cell by spinning around itself a silky cocoon. it undergoes a great change, from the grub to the nymph or pupa state, and

Ovaries of a Queen Bee.

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Section of Comb, showing Honey, Bee Bread, Brood and
Queen Cells, in their different stages.

(k) Represents comb filled with honey; (h) represents the brood in ar stages; () represents cells containing bee bread; (g) represents drone brood sea.ed, represents sealed brood; (a) represents an old queen cell where a queen ha formerly hatched; (b) represents a cell where the queen was killed by violence before hatching; (e) represents where a queen has hatched recently; (d)r presents a perfect queen cell; (4) repants a queen cell just started, with a grub about five days old.

es not beg a vestige of its previous form. It has now attained its full growth, and the large amount of nutriment taken serves a a store for developing the perfect insect.

Queens are reared from eggs that, if deposited in worker cells, would produce worker bees, but by larger cells and royal jelly queens are developed. The time required to raise a queen is three days in the egg, and five days as a worm, and on the sixteenth day she has attained the perfect state of a queen bee. The working bee comes forth perfected in twenty-one days from the time the egg is deposited. The drone takes twenty-four or twenty-five days.

IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN.

It is acknowledged by all apiarians of the present day, that the art of copulation takes place high up in the open air, and usually between the fourth and tenth days after leaving the cell. If fertilization does not occur before she is twenty days old it never takes place, and the eggs deposited will only produce drones.

THE WAILINGS OF THE QUEEN.

The queen has two notes; one of defiance, called piping; the other is a note of fear, a plaintive, pitiful wail, mournful in the extreme, and lingering long in the memory when once heard. This mournful note is set up when removed from their hive, when seized by the other bees to destroy her life, or when her colony are starving. Whenever this note is heard turn not a deaf ear, but immediately respond to the call, for there is something wrong. Rigidly examine the hive and remove the cause of complaint.

An unimpregnated queen is called a "virgin queen." They are capable of laying only drone eggs. A fertile queen is one which has mated with a drone, and is capable of laying eggs which may become either workers, drones, or queens. A barren queen is one who has passed the stage of laying eggs, that will become either workers or queens, but continues to lay eggs which produce only drones. The period of fertility lasts from two to three years, and cannot be depended on longer safely. All such queens should be destroyed and fertile ones introduced, that the colony may not become extinet.

WORKER BEE.

The annexed cut represents the worker bee, a very import ant member of the colony. They constitute the mass of the colony, and upon them devolve all the labors of the hive. They gather the honey and pollen-the food for the young. They nurse and feed the young brood, and defend their house against invasion of enemies. The care which the workers bestow upon their nurslings is wonderful, and they manifest the most tender attachment for them. The slightest movement of these nurses approaching to administer to the young brood is sufficient to attract them to their food which they devour voraciously, and it is unsparingly administered. After the cells have been sealed up they seem to cease from anything like attention, although if the brood comb is meddled with, their utmost ire is kindled. Bees reared in the spring and earley summer are shorter lived than those reared later in the season. Each worker is armed with a formidable sting, and when disturbed does not hesitate to use it. The extremity being barbed, the bee can rarely withdraw it, and in losing her sting she looses her life and dies in defending her home and sacred treasures.

DRONES.

We herewith present a representation of the drone of the colony; the "gentleman of leisure," who leads an easy life, taking no thought of the morrow. They toil not; neither do they spin, but let others bear the heat and burden of the day. They differ from the queen and worker in form and structure, and are of a darker color and less active. They have no proboscis for gathering honey; no basket for pollen; no sack for wax; and no sting to defend themselves with. They seem to be a necessary evil, consuming the fruits of the labor performed by others. Yet without them the brood would soon become extinct. Microscopic examination shows that they are the males of the bee family, and in the performance of the functions appointed to them, they invariably yield up their life. The duties devolving upon them are to accompany the young eens upon their bridal tour. In the performance of the same their life

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