FOREST AND STREAM. 



197 



— Mr. Klippart, of Ohio, at a recent Hartford meeting of 

 the Americau Association, gave the details of his discovery 

 of a large number of skeletons of the fossil hog of Ame- 

 rica, to which brief reference had been previously made hy 

 Newberry, in his report on the geology of Ohio. 

 These wore found while digging the Artesian well of the 

 city of Columbus, and were obtained at a depth of from 

 twenty to thirty feet. Several skeletons were complete, 

 aud the whole scries is one that furnishes the means here- 

 tofore wanting for determining the entire osteology of the 

 animal. This hog is the Platigomis compremui of Le Coute, 

 and is closely allied to the peccary, although with a longer 

 and very slender snout. 



■ » ■» 



CENTRAL PARK MENAGERIE. 



DEFAJITMENT OP I'nttLtO PAKK3, I 



New Yokk.Nov. 1, 1874. f 

 ccelvefl M Centra) Park Menagerie for the week eudlug 

 October 31st, 1874: 

 Four Bins; Doves, Turbur risorius. Presented us Mr. L. H. Stedwell. 

 Out! Capuchin Monkey, Cebits cupveimu. Presented by Mr. Henry S. 

 Gibson. 

 One Coot, Fuh-ia Americana. Presented by Mr. J. C. Convoy. 

 One Zebn aud Call. Bos in 

 One common Jackal, ettnfe aureus. Hub. India . 

 Poor common 3oas, Boa amstru'twr. Bab. Sonth America. 



W. A. Conklik, 



Woodland, Eawn and (Burden. 



NOVEMBER AND ITS LABORS. 



PREPARATION OF BEDS-SELECTIONS OF SHRCUS AND 

 TKEES-HJXTS FOR PURCHASING, &0, 



THE autumnal tints are beginning to change; the pur- 

 ple of the chestnuts, and the harlequin colors of the 

 liquidanber, are scarcely seen, unless lying at the foot of 

 the trees. The glowing beauty of the" flower garden has 

 gone: the last rose of Summer has left scarcely a redeem- 

 ing bud behind. The shrill notes of the yellow hammer, 

 the screech of the blue jay, and the far off note of the 

 wood pigeon, remind us most forcibly that we are near the 

 waning months of the year. 



Now is the time for amateur cultivators to take a sort of 

 Pall inventory before the frost king has sealed up the earth 

 so that you can do no more work within your garden 

 ground <. Your flower beds, to be sure, are gone; their 

 glory has departed, and left you with a clean slate, upon 

 which you can, if you please, write a still more glorious 

 remembrancer for the next Autumn's review. Your month 

 of labor is not gone, neither have you tilled out your full 

 season unless you have cleared off the rubbish, removed 

 the old and decayed leaves from your Bower beds, dug up 

 deeply, manured fully, and mixed in the soil, sand, peat, 

 manures, and fertilizers (of all kinds), such as your beds re- 

 quire. Fold not up your hands to rest, Mr. Periwinkle, or 

 Mr, Cowslip, unless you have put in the most ample order 

 your preparatory bed for the growth of your best and most 

 ehoiee tulips. f)o not talk of going "guuuing" until after 

 you have spaded up the currant bed and well manured the 

 same; cut out, while you are about it, all the superabun- 

 dant wood, and burn it, with the old debris and leaves, at 

 one end of the bed. While you are doing this work, which 

 is fitting for the three months of September, October, and 

 November, you are to a very considerable extent gaining 

 much time to do at comparative ease what you would do 

 very badly in the Spring months of April and May. Iu 

 those months you are of necessity very much hurried, and 

 consequently cannot do this kind of work so well as yon 

 can in the Fall. You kuow how great a diiference you 

 find in the quality of nursery trees lifted in the Fall or" the 

 Spring. If you have 3 r our trees lifted with good, unbroken 

 roots, and in good condition, you Will get them oftener in 

 the Fall than in the Spring. In the Fall the season's sales 

 are over, and the trees forthe early seasou's orders are now 

 nicely heeled in, or in the capacious cellars cf the nursery- 

 man awaitiug the Spring orders. At the first breaking of 

 the Spring planting mouths you are not hurried to make 

 your receptacles tor trees or plants. You accomplished 

 this work in the Fall, and ucjW you rejoice over it. You 

 can now leisurely visit the nurseryman aud lake your time 

 in making selections of trees. In the hurry of Spring 

 every one desires to be served first, and is often served the 

 woxst, You have only to spend in lookiug on, as we have 

 doue iu Spring lime at more than one of our large nurseries, 

 to see the manner in which Michael and Patrick "snake 

 'em up" Jo believe in the cracking and splitting- and cutting 

 off of the main roots. If many of the trees we have seen 

 lifted from the ground, by what were called careful nur- 

 serymen, could speak, they would cry out with anguish at 

 the rough usage they often receive. And could you rea- 

 sonably expect to have your order put up as orders should 

 be, and as the nurseryman's printed circulars promise they 

 shall be. You will not believe too highly iu the veracity 

 of the printed circulars of even our best nurserymen, for 

 as honest and high principled as wo know some of them to 

 be, they cannot oversee the taking up, matting, and deliv- 

 ering of half their plants. 



When you are ready to set out your shrubs or trees, 

 either fruit or ornamental, go to the nursery yourself, or 

 scud an agent you can trust, and select the trees you desire. 

 Have them lifted carefully without breaking the roots, and 

 pay for them only when they are satisfactory. Or, if you 

 do not take your trees iu the Fall, at the time of your pur- 

 chase, tie a while tape around them; and having made 

 your purchase be sure you pay for it, at the same time 

 making a memorandum of the trees you have bought. 



This will be fouud a good plan to pursue, even if you do 

 not wish to set out the trees in the Fall. Much of the real 

 loss accruing from trees dying in the Spring may be justly 

 laid at the door of carelessness, tearing of roots, and a lack 

 of knowledge of the business by the operatives and em- 

 ployees of our nurseries. By selecting your trees in the 

 Fall you will scarcely ever fail in getting your money's 

 worth, and have the satisfaction of kuowiug your trees are 

 really in fitting condition to be set out. 



We shall reter to the subject of nurseries at some length 

 in a future number of Forest and Stream, when we shall 

 endeavor to answer the enquiries of quite a number of our 

 valued correspondents. ~ Oiirrorj Quill. 



THE LAST DAYS OF AUTUMN. 



IF you propose any new alterations or improvements in 

 your lawn or flower garden, now is the time for mak- 

 ing them. Lay out anew your walks, cut eveuly the grass 

 edging, aud gather with care the leaves and place in heaps 

 under your barns or outhouses. Sprinkle over them 

 lime and ashes. You will find this Fall labor a gain for 

 the Spring. Give good drainage to all undraiued grounds. 

 You will Mud your account in doing this work well. 



House Plants.— Of such plants as you desire to save 

 for next year you will cut back both root and branch, and 

 let them 'lie in a shady place for a week, when they will be 

 well established. In potting anew r , be cartful to sift the 

 earth well into the pots previous to putting the same into 

 the cellar or cold frame. Make your cuttings at this time 

 of all such choice plants as you desire to propagate. 



Cannas.— T:ike up these roots very carefully; otherwise 

 you will not have any luck with them. 



CHRYSANTHBxrrxMS. — To those who love these late bloom- 

 ing plants, we say, just as soon as they have found good 

 strong buds you can pot for the Fall and Winter bloom3. 

 Those, not taken up should be staked well, and they will 

 bloom hnely, even in quite cool weather. 



Perennlals. — These plants are sometimes left out in 

 their beds for two, three, and even more years, but this we 

 deem to be quite objectionable, for the reason that when 

 lifted, and their roots divided and reset in charcoal, they 

 will produce much finer flowers. 



Dahlias.— This is the lime to lift and label your dahlia 

 roots, first drying them thoroughly. Choose a good, dry, 

 warm, sunuy"day, and do the work leisurely, and, be sure 

 von do not break any of the roots. 



Bi :Lns.— All the hardy kinds, I mean, such as tulips, 

 hyacinths, jonquils, crocus, crown imperials, should be 

 planted by November 12th, sure. The more tender bulbs, 

 like the gladiolus, the tiger flower, etc., should be removed 

 after the frost has nipped their leaves, and be dried off and 

 stored for the next season in a cool, dry situation, where 

 they will not freeze. 



Protection. — Give protection to half hardy plants, 

 shrubs, etc., by laving coarse sedge grass in small quanti- 

 ties over therm An excellent covering for the same will 

 be found in the boughs of the red cedar; it lays closely, 

 and yet gives necessary passage to the air. 



Do not cover bulbs too soon, as they may heat aud rot. 

 They will, when in the earth, stand a tolerable cold night. 

 Plants of the hardy kinds, as well as the tender, more 

 delicate kinds, should always have some protection, ns 

 they develop a handsomer and finer flower. 



Ollipod Quill. 

 «*►«. 



Wild Sheep in California.— In Spring and Summer 

 the males form separate bands. They are usually met in 

 small flocks, numbering from three to twenty, feeding 

 alona; the edges of glacier meadows, or resting among the 

 cattle-like crags of lofty summits; and, whether feeding or 

 resting, or scaling wild cliffs for pleasure, their noble 

 forms, the very embodiment of muscular beauty, uever 

 fail to strike the beholder with liveliest admiration. Their 

 resting places seem to be chosen with reference to sunshine 

 and wide outlook, aud, most of all, to safety from the at 

 tacks of wolves Their feeding-grounds are among the 

 most beautiful of the wild Sierra gardens, bright with 

 daisies and gentians, and mats of blooming shrubs. The 

 wild sheep eats little besides the spicy leaves and shoots of 

 the various shrubs aud bushes, perhaps relishing both 

 their taste aud beauty. When VYi-i.i r storms fall, deckiug 

 their Summer pastures in the lavish bloom of snow, then, 

 like the blue birds aud robins, our brave sheep gather and 

 go to warmer climates, usually descending the eastern 

 flank of the range to the narrow, birch-filled gorges that 

 open into the sage plains, where snow never falls to any 

 great depth, the elevation above the sea beiug about from 

 o.OOf/ to 7,000 feet. Here they sojourn until Spring sun- 

 shine unlocks the canons and warm the pastures of their 

 glorious Alps. 



In the mouths of June and July they bring forth their 

 young, in the mosc solitary and inaccessible crags, fat- 

 above the nest of the eagle. I have frequently come upon 

 'he beds of the ewes and lambs at an elevation of from 

 12,000 to 13,000 feet above sea level. These beds consist 

 simply of an oval-shaped hollow, pawed out among loose, 

 disintegrating rock chips and sand, upon some sunny spot 

 commanding a good lookout and partially sheltered from 

 the winds that sweep passionately across those lofty crags 

 almost without intermission. Such is the cradle of the 

 little mountaineer, aloft in the sky, rocked in storms, cur- 

 tained in clouds, sleeping in thin, icy air; but, wrapped in 

 his hairy coat, cherished by a warm, stroug mother, de- 

 fended from the. talous of the eagle and teeth of the sly 

 coyote, the bouuie lamb grows apace. He learns to nibble 

 the purple daisy and leaves of the white spine; his horns 

 beirin lo shoot, and ere Summer is done he is strong and 

 agile, and goes forth with the flock, shepherded by the 

 same divine love that lends the more helpless human lamb 

 in its warm cradle by the fireside. — OeerLind Monthly. 

 ««» 



Florida Weather. — The Prem says: — 



"The weather is now perfectly charming. We have had 

 a week or so of heavy blowing, but this has calmed down, 

 and we are now enjoying the 'Indian Summer' of these 

 regions — cool and refreshing at night, balmy and delight- 

 ful In the day. The gardens are flourishing, and we have 

 uever seen a "finer display of oranges. The blows seem to 

 have driven the fish, especially the big fish, into the har- 

 bor. The gareoni are enjoying themselves with the sport 

 of catching bass off the fort battery. The city is perfectly 

 Healthy; the doctors have a careworn and melancholy ex- 

 pression of couuteuance, and the only time that a sickb/ 

 smile glimmers ou the features is when a horse runs away 

 with a cart, or they look up at the workmen on the giddy 

 scaffold." 



«■» 



— At the botanic garden, Oxford, the Mexican DasyUHon 

 arcotrichum recently threw up a flower stem which, when 

 twelve feet high, grew at the rate of six inches in twenty- 

 four hours. The Ndumbium hiteum (the sacred bean) is 

 reported this season as producing perfect seeds. 



■*■»■ 



x — James Scannell, a young farmer residing in the town- 

 ship of Denholm, was treed by wolves in Edge's swamp, 

 about thirty miles north of Ottawa last week". He had a 

 gun with him, and killed one and wounded two others 

 with partridge shot, the only ammunition he had with 

 him. The killed animal was torn to pieces by his com- 

 rades. 



fennel. 



DOG BREAKING.— No. S. 



IN order to more readily teacji our pupil to back another 

 dog's point when he is taken into the field and hunted 

 on game, he should know that "Toho" is the command to 

 slop or halt, which we teach him after he has become 

 prompt iu charging, using the check cord as in the first 

 lessons. Provide yourself with some morsels of food 

 when the dog is hungry, and having fastened the cord to 

 his collar, as before, take him into an apartment or yard, 

 where no one can attract his attention, and throw a piece 

 of the food where he can see it fall. He will naturally run 

 for it. Let him do so, but when he comes near to it pull 

 the cord sharply and cry out "Toho" in aloud tone. He 

 will probably drop or charge, remembering the lesson you 

 first taught him. This is what we desire, so long as he 

 stops. Continue this until the use of the cord is not re- 

 quired, and he will halt to the verbal command, and at the 

 same lime keep him perfectly familiar with the down 

 charge by signal, and to dropping to shot if you have de- 

 termined to teach it, aud have begun it, 



In order to encourage our young dog to quick move- 

 ment, and to cultivate in him a free and spetdy gait, we 

 should take him with us in our walks as often as possible, 

 extending our rambles to the suburbs of the city, where 

 there are open fields and plenty of room. For a time keep 

 the cord attached to his collar, and let it trail after him as 

 he moves about; it will not impede him as much ns might 

 be expected, especially if you select a strong one about the 

 diameter of an ordinary lead pencil, and "point" the end 

 with thread to keep it from fraying. You will find it will 

 greatly add to the control you may have to exercise over 

 him, aud have the effect of impressing him while he is at 

 liberty that you are still master. On these walks, accus- 

 tom your dog to the sound of the whistle you intend using 

 for him, summoning him from time to time that he may 

 become, perfectly familiar with it. Practice him, while 

 you are out, in the same lessons you began at home, until 

 every lesson is obeyed promptly; and when he charges 

 walk away from him, each time extending the distance, 

 insisting upon his remaining so until ordered lo hold up. 



No doubt he will notice, and perhaps show an eagerness 

 to hunt the sparrows and other small birds you may come 

 across in your walks, and probably point when ho scents 

 them, from natural iustiuct. This we do not check, but 

 rather encourage for a short time, as it will give a greater 

 desire for the chase, and when ready to be put on game, 

 and once shown to him, he will soon choose between the 

 two, and readily distinguish the difference. 



Your walks chould be more frequent the nearer you ap- 

 proach the shooting season, when 5'ou shall want to go 

 into the field, and confirm and put to use the lessons you 

 have imparted lo your dog. We have thus far said noth- 

 ing in regard to breaking setters and pointers to retrieve, 

 intending to give our views and experience upon that 

 branch of training in some future article, and can only 

 now say we have shot over both, and greatly prefer the re- 

 triever, feeling confident in our individual case that the 

 lifting of dead game by our dogs in no wise detracted from 

 their live birds, nor lessened their staunchness in pointing 

 them, which was equal to that of most setters, albeit we 

 did not insist upon pointing dead before the order fetch 

 was given, but gave the command directly after the dog 

 had charged. 



We shall now want to enter the field with our beginner, 

 and give his first lesson in actual work. 



*■»■ 



THE DASCHHUND. 



THE dasehhund, or German beagle, bids fair' to soon 

 become a favorite dog in this country, as we are 

 daily having inquiries in reference to where and how the 

 species cau be had. We only know of one gentleman who 

 breeds this variety of hound, and his stock is too limited 

 to supply even the smallest portion of the demand that is 

 made upon him. Within a few days we have learned that 

 several persons have ordered, or are about to order, them 

 from Europe.where the breed is found in all its purity. In the 

 neighborhood of our cities feathered game is becoming so 

 scarce that those who are fond of field sports, and who 

 can only find time to be absent from home for a day or 

 two, feel that setters and pointers are of no use to them. 

 Heuce the demand for the interesting beagle, for the pur- 

 pose of hunting the small American hare, which is still 

 comparatively abundant in our, suburbs. We doubt not 

 that before long regular foot packs will be organized, as 

 they exist iu England, and that much enjoyment can bo 

 found in following the slow but certain trailing of the 

 dasehhund. 



We will take this opportunity of requesting our foreign 

 correspondent to give us the names of some of the breed- 

 ers of reliable strains in both Great Britain and the Con- 

 tinent, so that our readers who desire good breeds may 

 procure them. 



The dasehhund would not only be sure on the trail of 

 our small hare, but would follow aud unearth it when it 

 seeks the burrows of other animals for safely. Iu some 

 portions of Europe this little hound is used for deer driv- 

 ing, and on account of its intensely crooked and shorL legs 

 its gait is so slow that the game moves gradually before it, 

 offering better shots and greater chances to kill. 



Great objections have always been made to the use of 

 our larger hound for the driving of deer to the gun in 



