FOREST AND STREAM 



4U 



i' i 1 I rate this " Ririly Chamber " — ■■ far so, 



by old Romphi03,it mi-ht well be 



called - i i ciraeus 



therein po isessipta. Yet 



be willi 



tors, .in . ■.:• . Dri xsei, Dr. Finsch, 



Messrs, Pilrin, 8o1afcv, SueboTun and Sharps,, und Lord 

 Tweeddftle, an ion of Prjevalsky's loi- 



a i work cm the Mrdsof Turkestan, published in Russian, 

 wii.ii copies of tile plates, was a rsal boon to those ignorant 

 or that ■"ilr-a xliis he often wandered into the by- 



ways of ornithology, which frequently possess a curioua kind 

 ofnjtajra ■ i i s ot many places remarkabj Foi 



■ I them. Never did the contents of a 

 work- better justify its title, for anything mm: miscellaneous 

 than tbfiy are cum & well ba imtglned Failing health, as he 

 him* II inlj ten mnati I in his cOTOludii 



marks, brought it to an end far sooner than he had intended. 

 Setting aside- the scientific value of some of the papers, the 

 beautiful plates by which nearly all are illustrated mike its 

 cessation a loss tO Ornithologists ; and those who knew that 

 Mr. Kiev-icy had for a long time been gathering information 

 bearing on the i I | Linct(Jare-fowl(iLtea impenniti) 



had hoped iv : : i his labors in this respect would 



one day make its appearance, But this was not to be. More 

 than a year ago a violent hemorrhage of the lungs gave warn- 

 ing of serious danger, and the attack was only too quickly 

 followed by others of a like nature, under which he sank, in 

 his fifty-seventh year, dying, by a singular coincidence, on 

 the very same day as his father, who had long been an invalid. 



Not Frss'ATED Grouse. — A correspondent, "J. JI, £.," 

 who writes to us front Gold Mill, Nevada, persists in holding 

 to the opinion that; the "prairie chicken" is found in that 

 Stale. Ho says thai these birds are abundant in the eastern 

 portion of the State, and are quite different from the sage 

 hen. Our correspondent says : 



The sage hens are found upon the table-lands and foot-hills, 

 amidst, sage, brush and stunted willows, generally in the vi- 

 cinity of a spring or little stream. They are larger than 

 " chickens," with a darker plumage— in fact, upon the breast 

 almost dark. They have a heavy, " loppy " flight ; their flesh 

 is dark and coarse, and if not drawn shortly after being 

 killed, they taste of sage brush and become very bitter. On 

 the other hand, the chickens are found lower down upon the 

 river bottoms and in the grain fields iu Star, Kuhy, and 

 Lamoille valleys, and on the Humboldt Liver, from Ciirlin to 

 its source, very few being found west of Carliu ; but I be- 

 lieve they are working west, and eventually we will have 

 them here in the western part of the Slate and" in California. 

 Utah, Montana, Idaho and Oregon also have them in parts 

 where it is possible for them to exist. 



The second species of grouse to which our correspondent 

 refers is not the true prairio chicken, but the sharp-tailed 

 grouse (Pediweks phasianeUm var. Columbian-ws). As we 

 have many times repeated, there is as yet no evidence to 

 show that the prairie chicken (Cupidonia cupido) has ever 

 been taken west of the Rocky Mountains. Our friend, Mr. 

 W. II. Reed, told us once that he had shot a single specimen 

 of this species near Como, Wyoming ; but as the skin was 

 not preserved, it is possible that there may have been an 

 error in the identification of the bird. A disputed point of 

 this kind cannot be decided in the affirmative on the testi- 

 mony of non-scientific sportsmen. It requires the dictum of 

 some one who is known as a naturalist to finally settle such a 

 point. If any one of our friends should kill what they be- 

 lieve to be prairie chickens west of the mountains, they can 

 have the question settled by sending us a skin of one of the 

 birds. 



GRAZING LANDS IN TEXAS. 



[The following correspondence will answer inquiries to 

 many persons who have applied to us personally and by letter 

 for the same Information. — Ed.] 



Austin, Texas, Dec. 18, 1878. 

 Editor Forest and Streaju : 



1 often receive letters of inquiry about Tesas j so many 

 that I cannot answer all, hence I inclose the within, and may 

 reply that others who arc seeking homes or information in 

 regard to the stock-raising region of Texas may be benefited. 



S. B. Buckley. 

 Pro/. S. -£. lU('-l:Uy. HiaU- QeolQfffet, Tuxas : 



Deur Sir— Tnree or four of us intend to go to Texas in January or 

 February lo look- for a large trace of land for stock-raising and Ullage, 

 but principally the former. My purpose ia to get a tract of 10,000 acres, 

 more or less, and f uuce it hi and stock it with improved cattle or sheep, 

 or boili; and we wish to go to a county mat promises well for improve- 

 meat, waere we aao and good BOil, water, umber, stone, com, etc., at 

 low prices. Tnu will greatly oblige me if you will name a few of tlio 

 counties beat adapted to our wants, a healthy location being tlie first 

 in Importance. Tuiryyonra, W. Bobbins. 



Chicago, Oct. 30, 1878. 



Austin, Texas, Dec. 18, 1878. 

 Mr. William Rabbins : 



Dear Sir— In reply to yours of October 80 I can only give 

 brief answers to your queries , yet if you visit the region 

 specified, or only part of it, you cannot fail to be suited, and 

 this you had better do and not trust to the report of any one. 



If you wiBh for a moderately temperate climate, where 

 nearly all the fruits and vegetables of the North can be grown, 

 and also some of the semi -tropical, then the counties directly 

 north of this as far as the Bed River, and-also the counties 

 west of said line to the frontier near Fort Concho, all these 

 are comprised largely of fertile soils, abounding in hill and 

 dale, mostly prairie, clothed with nutritious native grass 

 suitable for stock. It is a well-watered country, abounding 

 in never-failing streams, rivers and springs. There is also 

 plenty, of wood for fuel besides, the larger portion of that re- 

 gion is Composed of the regular carboniferous formation, 

 where already several beds of coal at and near the surface, of 

 very good quality, have been opened and used extensively by 

 the blacksmiths of that region. Limestones and sandstones 

 suitable for building purposes also abound. Besides, it is 

 decked with fine scenery, presenting Unarming landscapes, 

 amid which comfortable and beautiful homes can be made. I 



!' and far, and have never seen elsewhere 

 so much beautiful and pictuicsque scenery as abounds in 

 Calahan and its adjacent counties. Tints I wrote in lyT.I to 

 Judge Anderson, oi Memphis, Teoni, who had wrl 



'oiiry lie and his brother went 1 litre and estab- 

 lished two slock ranches, being the first, settlers of the county; 

 but in less than one year 100 mora faiuilfei thei and 



now all the land of that county is owned by seitlers.Ot specu- 



, ii 



But I lived in western New York until in the winter time 

 I was nearly frozen to death; earns to Texas with im- 

 paired health, and now I am in vigor a boy again. I still 

 dislike cold weather, and hence 1 prefer a home not north of 

 this latitude, 30 deg. in the winter, therefore, I wovdd not start 

 a ranch much north of this, because the counties west and 

 southwest of Austin have also good soil and i 



The climate is less cold, and hence stock need less 

 shelter, care and food in the winter. 



A large portion of this country, indicated above, is already 

 settled with a good class of people, who ate mostly engaged 

 in the stock business, people from the Northern and Southern 

 States, and from Europe, Germany and England beiug largely 

 represented. I met. an intelligent Englishman with a sheep 

 ranch in Parker County, who told me lie had dwelt several 

 years in Australia in the same business. 



This entire region is remarkably healthy— no malaria. The 

 air is so pure that it is especially beneficial for all lung dis- 

 eases. Austin, San Antonio, and other places iu Western 

 Texas are largely resorted to in the winter by Northern people. 

 A Northern gentleman, a few days ago, bought 1,200 acres, 

 suitable for either tillage or pasturage^ for *1, 200, situated 

 on Onion Creek, in Hays County, about seventeen miles west 

 of Austin. His main business will be the keeping of sheep. 

 O. B. Buckley. 



MlONONNETTE OULTUBE IN WlNTET;,— " Although OBC Of the 



easiest things to grow when properly managed," says " S. 

 W. P." in the London Country, "I know of nothing in the 

 plant way which gives amateurs so much trouble as winter 

 niignonnette, and more particularly is this the case if the 

 drainage happens lo be at all defective, as no plants arc more 

 impatient of excessive moisture. Even when growing out- 

 doors in the open borders I have seen them go off wholesale 

 after heavy rains, or look so wretched for days as to give but 

 little hope of recovery. This unsatisfactory state of things 

 iB most frequent during their earlier stages, "which is always 

 the most critical time for them in pots, and until these be- 

 come well filled with roots the only safe way is to keep the 

 soil in such a condition as to prevent the plants from flagging 

 or losing their healthy green color. Mignonnette so treated 

 makes a short-jointed, stocky, vigorous growth, and produces 

 such flower stems as to be an ornament in any greenhouse or 

 window, and a source of delight from the delicious perfume 

 the sweet blossoms exhale. When getting toward this ad- 

 vanced stage liquid manure is of great assistance, the most 

 suitable being clear soot water. 



"Nest to judicious watering, sweet pure air and plenty of 

 it, whenever the weather is favorable, is the chief requisite 

 with winter mignonnette, and it: it gets this, with an abundance 

 of light at the same time, there is no diOieultv in having it in 

 a great state of perfection. The best situation for it is on 

 shelves close to the glass at the ends of a greenhouse, where 

 slight currents of air are always passing through between the 

 laps, and where it gets an increased quantity by day when- 

 ever the ventilators are opened. A position of this kind suits 

 it far better than a pit or frame having walls around, and an 

 an atmosphere much closer and damper than that of a 

 house, in the latter of which the temperature is less fluctu- 

 ating and consecpiently more favorable, independent of the 

 extra amount of light the plants there derive. To enjoy 

 mignonnette later on in the spring of the year, another sowing 

 should be made at once, and this is best done in the pots it is 

 intended to flower in, as then there is no further disturbance 

 in shifting. The handiest and most suitable sized pots are 

 those known as 32's, or Gin., in which five or six patches of 

 seed should be sown at equal distances apart, and the plants 

 thinned out singly as soon as they are large enough to handle, 

 leaving the strongest and most promising when doing so. As 

 before observed, drainage is a very important matter toward 

 the successful culture of mignonnette, as it is highly essential 

 that whenever water is given it should be able to percolate 

 through the soil and find a ready outlet, instead of lying in, 

 to render it sodden and sour. One crock over the hole, there- 

 fore, and a few pieces broken smaller and placed around it, 

 is the right thing, and on these, if it can be got, a handful of 

 pigeons' dung should be scattered, on which the roots will 

 feed just when they most require such assistance — that is, at 

 the time the plants are coming into flower. As to soil, 

 nothing suits better than good fibry loam made tolerably free 

 and open by using a little leaf mould with it, or a slight por- 

 tion of mild decomposed hotbed manure and a sprinkling of 

 sand, and if these are incorporated together the mixture will 

 be as perfect as need be desired. The finest mignonnette for 

 pot culture is the Pyrimidalin grandijiora, a large form of 

 the old Reseda odorata, and quite as sweet. In addition to 

 the first named, there are several other so-called varieties, 

 but none sufficiently distinct to make it worth growing them, 

 as the difference in them is very slight indeed." 



TflB Bamboo.— Common as it is, there is no more graceful 

 or beautiful object in nature than the bamboo in its nuiivj 

 luxuriance, and nowhere is it seen in greater perfection than 

 by the rivers and creeks of Burma]). As you round the bend 

 of a- Burmese river cluster after cluster p£ bamboi 

 graceful Salute with its Spray-like foliage, and 1 could tell of 

 country roads flanked by a bamboo avenue like nothing so 

 much as a living Gothic aisle ; the smooth pillar-like clems, 

 jointed together with perfect regularity, and raising on either 

 nHle of the road almost perpendicularly, so graceful is the arc 

 described, meeting close overhead at a lofty height, and form- 

 ing beneath a stillness which completes the parallel to the 

 cathedral oiale. Aud when you turn to consider 11: . 

 filled by this fairy-like plant, the wonder is scarcely less. 

 Whether in his house, or on land, or the boat, in which half 

 the Burmau's life is passed, the bamboo ia present every- 

 where in an infinite variety of forms. The main ,, 

 the house are commonly of timber, but it is from the bamboo 

 that the beams and rafters of floor and roof are made, the 

 partition walls, the matting on the floor, the very string 

 which lashes rafter and beam together, and in many cases the 

 mat-thatch which completes the house; while Within the 

 house so built hardly a vessel but is made from, or at least in- 

 debted to, the same. On board the boat the bamboo is no 

 less important ; it floats the fisherman's net, it is his shelter 

 from the weather, and affords the rough bedding on which ha 

 lies ; it is the stake to which his boat is moored, the pole 

 which thrusts it. from the shore, and oven the anchor which 

 holds it in the stream. Under more elaborate process it forms 

 the substances of muitiform vessels of lacquer work, which in 

 Burmah takes so largely the place of the earthenware in other 

 countries. It is I he scaffolding of the builder, the laborer's 

 basket, the child's toys, and from its branches are woven the 

 fantastic structures so dear to the Burmese, where the mooay 

 or drama is held, and it forms the faucil'ul canopy which 

 covers the coffin in the funeral procession. 



How to Pebsebve Flowers.— L'ltalia Agricota gives these 

 directions for drying flowers. The great value of the process 

 is that it preserves the brilliancy of the color : 



An ordinary box of suitable size for the reception of the speci- 

 men or specimens it is desired to preserve having been ob- 

 tained, its wooden bottom is removed, and a thin sheet of metal 

 loosely attached substituted for it. A quantity of sand, nearly 

 sufficient to fill the box, is then taken, carefully washed, dried, 

 passed through a sieve, and heated over the fire with a hun- 

 dredth part of its weight of stearine (such as is used for the 

 manufacture of stearine caudles), the mixture being con- 

 stantly stirred the while, so as to insure the perfectly uniform 

 incorporation of its component parts. A layer of this, about 

 l-3d of an inch deep, is placed on the bottom of the box, the 

 flower or flowers are then introduced, and more of the pre- 

 paration is gradually and gently adJcd till they are com- 

 pletely surrounded and covered by it. The box is then filled 

 up with sand, covered over, aud placed in a warm place for 

 two or three days. When it is desired to extract the con- 

 tents, the metal sheet which forms the bottom of the box is 

 partially detached, and the latter gently raised , the Band 

 gradually runs out by the opening at the bottom, and the 

 flowers will be recovered dry and perfectly unaltered in color. 

 Our contemporary adds that in Germany and France large 

 bouquets and garlands are frequently preserved by this method 

 lor an almost indefinite length of time. 



"Fussing" with Fertilizers.— A correspondent wishes 

 to know if we don't think that we were a little hasty iu our 

 reprobation of the habit which some farmers have of " lud^ic 

 with so-called chemical fertilizers, of which they know noth- 

 ing," to the neglect of manure making by utilizing all the 

 wastes of the stables aDd farm-yards. Our friend says very 

 truly that on many farms, especially in the older States, where 

 fertilizers are most needed, there is not stock enough kept to 

 furnish what the lands require, and that it is only a choice be- 

 tween commercial fertilizers aud starvation of the soil. Very 

 well ; but it still : emains true that a great; many farmers could 

 make fifty loads more than they do of unexcelled fertilizers by 

 the use of muck, leaves or other composting material, and the 

 liquids and other wastes of their barns. It is true, also, that 

 commercial fertilizers are used too much at random, and there- 

 fore extravagantly and foolishly. Some farmers have an idea 

 that everything which is sold under the name of " fertilizers" 

 is good for their land, provided it has a bad smell and is la- 

 belled with a learned-looking " analysis " and a few testimo- 

 nials on the patent medicine advertising plan. This we call 

 " fussing " of the most foolish sort. A dozen rows of corn, 

 or a patch of grain in the corner of the field, will give a 

 farmer an " analysis " of any fertilizer that is worth a good 

 deal more to him than any chemist's report. Nature should 

 be the farmer's consulting chemist, and the bushel measure 

 h.a maker of certificates. Iu other words, let him find out 

 whether a particular compound is what his land requires by 

 the simple expedient of trying it before he loses money and 

 wastes time in applying it wholesale. Every intelligent man's 



farm should be an experiment station. The quality, qui, 



to be used, and the methods of applying a new fertilizer, can 

 be ascertained only by successive and varied trials, continu- 

 ously made and carefully observed. Don't "go it blind," 

 therefore, on the grab-bag, pig-in-a-poke, happy-go-luck'v 

 style of farming. — Golden, Rule. 



%qnnql. 



SPANIELS. 



IT is satisfactory to note that there is a rapidly-growing in .. 

 terest in this country in the breeding of spaniels aud their 

 use in the field. Unfortunately, in England, from whence we 

 must draw our supply for stock purposes, the various breeds 

 have become much mixed of late years, and with regard to 

 cockers in particular it can scarcely be said that they exist as 

 a distinct breed. There is little in the earliest records of 

 sporting in England to tell us what sort of spaniel was used 

 for hawking and netting before fowling-pieces came into use. 

 That he was the progenitor of the setter there can be no doubt', 

 and we have in our possession an old engraving in which is 

 depicted what is evidently a spaniel pointing, or "fetling," 

 birds, while two wild-looking poachers, with lanterns, are 

 about springing a net over dog and the birds ahead of him. 



As a companion, or dog of all work, the spaniel is excelled 

 by no other breed, and considering the nature of a large por- 

 tion of our country, with Its thick swamps filled with briars 

 and dense alder thickets, we wonder that he has not long be- 

 fore this been more generally adopted for woodcock and ruffed 

 grouse shooting. In classifying spaniels " Stonehenge" di- 

 vides them into the Modern cocker, the Sussex and the Clum- 

 ber, including in the first named the Norfolk spaniel, which is 

 now somewhat rare, the Welch and Devon cockers and in fact 

 every kind of field spaniel except the Sussex and Clumber. 

 Many of the spaniels which have been sent to this country aud 

 which are commonly called cockers havo undoubtedly a great 

 deal of the Norfolk blood in them, as indicated by their colors, 

 which in the old breed is a liver and white, black and white 

 and rarely lemon and white. Very many that we now have 

 show a cross with the Irish water spaniel which can easily be 

 detected by the tendency of the coat to curl, and sometimes 

 even by a topknot, or tuft on top of the head. The old-fash- 

 ioned Welsh and Devon cockers are now rarely met with, 

 having been crossed so frequently with other breeds. For- 

 merly they weighed not more than 20 to 25 pounds, but the 

 crossing has brought them up to 30 pounds. In color they 

 were originally liver colored. Some of the best strains of 

 cockers of the present day are all black, and it will therefore 

 be seen that every latitude is allowed in the way of color. The 



