I ntie Garden a Terrarium I 



CHARLES M. BREDER, JR. 



1 



The aquarist with a garden at his dis- 

 posal, and broad tendencies in nature- 

 study, should not miss the opportunity 

 afforded by a large open-air terrarium. 

 An attempt along this line in no way in- 

 terferes with the horticultural projects of 

 other members of the family, unless the 

 entire space is given over to a bit of the 

 great outdoors. On the other hand, if 

 but a few of the lower vertebrates are 

 desired, these can be so selected as to be 

 a real asset in any vegetable or flower 

 garden, consuming, as they do, large 

 numbers of pests. 



One of the best and most easily procured 

 is the common box tortoise [Cistudo 

 Carolina). They are possessed of a good 

 disposition, harmless, and useful in keep- 

 ing the invading insect army in control, 

 as well as having a good grade of intelli- 

 gence for chelonians. Dr ; Charles C. 

 Abbott, in a report of the Geological Sur- 

 vey of New Jersey, writes : "A very 

 abundant species, that should be encour- 

 aged in every garden in the State, as they 

 wage an unending war against a multi- 

 tude of noxious creatures. The habit of 

 cutting initials upon the shell of this ani- 

 mal has resulted in proving it to be an 

 animal of long life. Instances of this, 

 showing the animal to have been from 50 

 to 80 years of age, have come under the 

 notice of the writer." 



A photograph is presented showing one 

 collected by the author in 1912. Carved 

 on its plastron appears "J. S. V., Sept. 

 XXVIII, 1888." The latter part of the 

 inscription is now almost effaced, but it 

 was quite plain at the time the specimen 

 was taken. The initials were identified 



as those of J. S. Van Horn, whose 

 brother remembered being present at the 

 "engraving match" when a boy. That 

 the specimen was rediscovered near the 

 same place demonstrates that it was not 

 a great wanderer. Mr. Van Horn stated 

 that the tortoise was just as large when 

 the carving took place, but 24 years is a 



,5MOW BALL BU5H 



nos5 GR.own 



LOG 



^U-LAUr\EL 



Plan of Author's Garden 



long period over which to carry a mental 

 measurement. The species is widely dis- 

 tributed and will be found in most of our 

 eastern woodlands. 



It has been stated that their food con- 

 sists almost entirely of vegetable matter 

 but those in the terrarium of the wnter 

 have only been observed to take cherries 

 that had fallen from a tree in the yard, 

 as far as this class of food is concerned. 

 Their preference has been for earth- 

 worms and slugs, the elimination of 

 which, from a gardening viewpoint, is 



