FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 271 



informed me, she was entirely without teeth, I infer she must have been 

 pretty old. 



I have now in the park of thirty-one acres, thirty-five deer. I have, of 

 course, to feed them, using corn and a mixture of bran and meal. During 

 the summer I have my men cut for them as much wild food as possible, and 

 have always found that they care more for the rankest weeds than the 

 choicest grass. After experimenting with all kinds of hay, I found them to 

 prefer alfalfa hay to all others. 



Now, my dear doctor, I must come to a close. I could go on for- 

 ever, as mv stock of information is almost endless on account of my 

 experience. 



Should there be anything more you or your friends would like to know, 

 call on me freely. 



With kind regards, believe me. 



Very sincerely yours, 



Thos. Blagden. 



Another Inquiry. 



New York State Veterinary College, 

 Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, N. Y., June 3, 1904. 

 Forest, Fish and Game Commission, Albany, X . Y. 



Dear Sirs. — At the request of the Commissioner of Agriculture I 

 went with Dr. Kelly, of Albany, on March 16, 1904, to Big Moose in the 

 Adirondack Mountains to make an investigation into the cause of death of 

 wild deer that were reported to be dying of some infectious disease. 



The examination of such deer as could be found, in the time at my 

 disposal there, failed to reveal the presence of any infectious disease. It 

 was learned from the guides that it was young and very old deer that were 

 dying and that the most probable cause of death was the lack of food 

 occasioned by the very deep snow. The guides were requested to send me 

 at Ithaca for a more thorough bacteriological examination all deer that 

 they could find that had died recently. 



Sunday morning, March 20, one old buck and two fawns were received. 

 These were very carefully examined. They were all very poor and their 

 stomachs were practically empty. Their feet and mouths, like those of the 

 deer examined in the woods, were practically normal, thus excluding the 



