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Show ANTS AS MUSHROOM GROWERS. -5 The little busy bee has had a less conspicuous con-spicuous place in our hall of fame for ias-cta since we have cume to know more of the sterling qualites and great intelligence intelli-gence which ar the attributes of the Hilts Prof. J. B. Alnsworth Davis gives the latest proofs of their right to our applause. ap-plause. He says: "In trapical America the traveler In their native region often sees thousands of ants marching In column col-umn of route, each holding in its powerful jaws a piece of green leaf about the size of a sixpence. These they take to their nests.' The material Is ustd as an elaborate elabo-rate sort of mushroom culture, requiring much more skill and intelligence than that in which human beings engage. The n ushroom grower stts spawn In tiie beds h prepares, but the ant does not need to do this. The desired spawn soon makes its appearance in the chewed leaf. But in its natural state It is Inedible, and must undergo careful treatment before It yields the mushroom which the ant desires. The nrccesary work is done by a special caste of gardener ants. These weed out obnoxious ob-noxious germs, etc., and, pruning off the tips of the threads, prevent them from growing into the air and producing useless use-less toadstools. ; As a result of this the threads swell into Innumerable littie rounded white thickenings, each of which is about one-fiftieth of an inch across. It is these which are the mushrooms. These curious bodies constitute the sole food of the ant or, at any rate, the chief food. |