THE IHRIGA 110$ AGE. 



tract, or he may somehow be deterred from 

 setting his saw mill in operation until by 

 memorials and personal efforts of legisla- 

 tors congress or the state legislature may 

 be induced to decree that the Calaveras 

 grove shall be a public park purchased at 

 public expense. Chicago Record 



MAKING PORK OUT OF SNAKES. 



Snakes as food for hogs beat chestnuts, 

 acorns or any of the foodstuffs. Of 

 course you know that in some parts of 

 Europe pigs have killed out the vipers. 

 I was in West Virginia some months ago 

 and found that a novel industry had been 

 undertaken by a number of men whose 

 lands were ouerrun by the small variety of 

 snake that infests that section. The 

 snakes were so numerous as to be a 

 nuisance. One farmer tried the hog as 

 an exterminator. He succeeded so well 

 that he found the drove of animals he had 

 turned loose on the plantation had not 

 only decreased the number of snakes, but 

 that they were actually thriving on them. 

 He told his neighbors about it, and no,w 

 the whole valley is one large hogpen in 

 which hundreds of the animals are feeding 

 literally on snakes. Formerly no one 

 would buy land there, notwithstanding 



the beauty of the place, because of the 

 snakes, but now that the remedy has been 

 found and at the same time big money is 

 made on the pigs that grow fat on snake 

 food the land is destined to be in great 

 demand, as it is the most fertile land in 

 "West Virginia. This may sound like 

 a fairy snake tale, but I assure you that it 

 is correct and that hundreds of pigs are 

 sold from the valley every year that have 

 literally become fat on snakes. Washing- 

 ton Post. 



NOTES ON FORESTRY. 



A system of co-operation for the coming 

 summer has been arranged between the 

 Division of Forestry and the forest reserve 

 work of the U. S. Geological Survey. 

 The latter is a branch of the Department 

 of the Interior. Field parties of each 

 division will collect information desired 

 by the other, and, in some instances 

 exchange of men may be made. This 

 system marks a distinct change from con- 

 ditions of a few years ago, when there 

 was sharp rivalry between the scientific 

 branches of Government service. The 

 Geological Survey will give especial 

 attention to collecting data on forest fires 

 for the Division of Forestry. 



