REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 38 



long be successfully bred except where given extended range. Herds 

 kept on restricted areas may do well for a time, but eventually their 

 vitality becomes impaired^ the birth rate diminishes, and it is only by 

 the addition of new animals bred in comparative freedom that the con 

 tinned propagation of the species under such conditions can be secured. 

 The recommendations made to Congress in previous years for the 

 establishment of preserves and other measures to insure the continued 

 existence of some of these notable animals have not secured favorable 

 action. I fear that already this matter is passing beyond control, for 

 no power can recall a vanished race. 



The varied topography of the park, presenting as it does a succes- 

 sion of valleys and hillsides of umisual beauty, makes it eminently 

 adapted to such treatment as would protect indigenous flowers and 

 trees and maintain them in the best conditions attainable. What is 

 known to landscape gardeners as a ''wild garden'^ — that is to say, a plan- 

 tation of indigenous plants allowed to grow with freedom, yet arranged 

 so as to produce unobtrusive artistic effects — can be applied to many 

 portions of the park with excellent results. Something of this kind 

 will probably be attempted on a small scale should the appropriation 

 permit. All such attempts, however, should and will be made subor- 

 dinate to the prime object of the park, namely, that of maintaining a 

 zoological collection. 



The policy of encouraging wild animals and birds to make the park 

 their home has been increasingly followed, and were it practicable to 

 employ sufficient force to thoroughly police the park and its entrances, 

 herds of Virgina deer and perhaps of the American antelope might be 

 allowed to run free within it. The principal difficulty experienced in 

 caring for animals and birds thus running wild lies in their tendency 

 to stray away and get into the more extensive woods in the Rock 

 Creek Park or its neighborhood, where they are often killed. It 

 would be an advantage if the killing of game animals could l)e abso- 

 lutely prohibited in the District of Columbia, for if sucii prohi])ition 

 were made it would be possii)le within a few years to have a consider- 

 able collection of animals and birds living in perfectly natural condi- 

 tions and with but little fear of man. I shall gladly aid in i)rocuring 

 any legislation to this end. 



In order to bring to the notice of the general public the aims and 

 objects of the National Zoological Park, it was thought desirable to 

 make at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition a more significant exhiV)it 

 than has heretofore been shown. Accordingly application was made 

 for a large "flying-cage" in which to exhibit birds in conditions as nearly 

 natural as possible. The United States Government Board consid(>re(l 

 the matter favorably, and an exhibit of this character was accordingly 

 installed, and at the close of the year was in successful operation. I 



SM 1904 3 



