"Our insect friends the aphides, or plant-lice, are very fond of the
willow," continued Miss Harson, "and in hot, dry weather great masses of
them gather on the leaves and drop a sugary juice, which the
country-people call 'honey-dew,' and in some remote places, where
knowledge is limited, it has been thought to come from the clouds. But
we, who have learned something about these aphides[1], know that it
comes from their little green bodies, and that the ants often carry the
insects off to their nests, where they feed and 'tend them for the sake
of this very juice. The aphis that infests the willow is the largest of
the tribe, and the branches and stems of the tree are often blackened by
the honey-dew that falls upon them."
[1] See _Flyers and Crawlers_, by the author. Presbyterian Board of
Publication.
"Do willow trees grow everywhere?" asked Clara.
"They are certainly found in a great many different places," was the
reply, "and even in the warmest countries. In one of the missionary
settlements in Africa there is a solitary willow that has a story
attached to it. It was the only tree in the settlement--think what a
place that must have been!--except those the missionary had planted in
his own garden, and it would never have existed but for the laziness of
its owner. Nothing would have induced any of the natives to take the
trouble to plant a tree, and therefore the willow had not been planted.
But it happened, a long-time ago, that a native had fetched a log of
wood from a distance, to make into a bowl when he should feel in the
humor to do so.
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