72 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



the crops obtained were quite as abundant as could fairly be 

 expected. The total results were as follows : 



60 tons hay, 5oOO heads cabbage, 



100 bbls. potatoes, 900 pumpkins, 



175 bu. sweet corn, 80 bbls. turnips. 



Wood for Fuel. — During the coal famine all the dead wood 

 that had been cut out of the forests and accumulated during the 

 past two years, to the extent of about 50 cords, w-as sawed, split, 

 and consumed in the furnaces of the animal buildings, thus saving 

 several hundred dollars' w^orth of coal. 



Grading and Seeding. — The borders of the new sections of 

 the motor road, the borders of all new walks, and the lines of 

 the trunk sewers and water lines, about 42,000 square feet in 

 all, were graded and seeded. 



PERMANENT GROUND IMPROVEMENTS. — Hermann W. Merkel, 

 Chief Constructor. 



By the consent of Park Commissioner John E. Eustis, the mis- 

 cellaneous ground improvements provided for in the bond issue 

 authorized on May 19th, 1902, were carried out under the di- 

 rection of the Zoological Society and officers of the Park staff. 

 The results previously achieved on this plan have demonstrated 

 that for many kinds of work it is more economical, and far more 

 satisfactory in results than would be possible under the contract 

 system. 



Addition to the Bear-dens. — The growth of the bear collec- 

 tion rendered it imperatively necessary to increase the accommo- 

 dations for those animals, and the success of the original series 

 of bear-dens justified the completion of the series by the erection 

 of four new dens, as originally planned. As previously stated, 

 the plans and specifications for this improvement were prepared 

 by the Society's Engineer, Mr. Beerbower, and the masonry con- 

 struction was performed by the Zoological Park force, working 

 under the direction of Mr. Merkel. 



The presence on the site of these dens of several valuable trees 

 — some of them standing on sloping banks of earth — rendered it 

 necessary to build for two cages an elevated concrete floor, to 

 provide for the roots of the trees a proper air space, and to avoid 

 disturbing their roots. The presence of a number of immense 

 granite blocks which had broken away from the main ledge sug- 

 gested their utilization in the construction of the sleeping-dens. 



