8 MY LIFE 



Mr. Talbot called in a two-horsed buggy to take mo to his 

 farm: two other gentlemen in another; Judge Wakefield, 

 Miss \\\ (the lady who painted flowers), and two children in a 



third. We first went to a bluff near the town to see a thick 

 bed of loess resting on glacial drift, and this on eivlaccons 

 sandstone. Then Up the valley of the greal Sioux river, a 

 fine, clear stream, passing another bluff showing a thick b I 

 of obliquely stratified gravel with enclosed pebbles and 

 boulders, and about one hundred and fifty feet of loess over 

 it. We then turned up a thinly wooded valley to Mr. Talbot's 

 farm, about four miles from the city. Here we picnicked in 

 a rather scrubby wood with very little shade, as no leaves 

 were yet out, and it was very hot and dusty ; but we had 

 quite a luxurious feast and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, 

 lighting a fire and making tea and coffee to finish with. 



We then inspected our host's animals — six fine American 

 bisons, twelve elks, an East Indian zebu, a drove of solid 

 hoofed pigs, a flock of four-horned sheep, hybrids of zebu 

 and cattle, a fine trotting colt, wolves, foxes, rabbits, wild 

 geese, and other aquatic birds, pigeons, rattlesnakes, and 

 other curious birds and reptiles. He has here six thousand 

 acres of land, wooded valleys and prairie, where, besides keep- 

 ing all these animals in order to observe their habits, make 

 experiments on their instincts, etc., he carries on a consider- 

 able business in growing agricultural seeds of choice qualities, 

 breeding the solid-hoofed hogs, which are said to be superior 

 for fattening purposes, as well as the four-horned sheep, 

 Angora goats, hybrid cattle, etc. He has also patented metallic 

 tags for identifying cattle and other farm stock, and several 

 agricultural implements. These animals are all looked after 

 by youths trained by himself — boys and girls, who are, he 

 finds, as soon as they take an interest in the work, much more 

 trustworthy than any men. He has also a large building for 

 a museum, or rather, laboratory, of experimental zoology. 

 Here he showed me several hundred skins of wild geese, 

 roughly prepared, but every one with numbered labels giving 

 the date, hour, and exact spot where they were each shot, with 

 the direction of their flight, while the contents of the stomach 



