214 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



weight— of priceless value. It is important for many men 

 to know that the monthly increase of temperature is most 

 rapid in May, and is nearly as great in April, and it is least 

 in June and July. At a lower depth in the earth than that 

 of one foot, we find the temperature to be greater in June 

 and July than it is in the upper stratum. There is loss of 

 temperature, the most rapid in the months of October and 

 November, and least in the very coldest months of January 

 and February. 



In all our forest covered lands we find the lowest temper- 

 ature to be in February. From February to June we have 

 often an interval in which the common, or unscientific ob- 

 server notices, if he notices anything at all about the 

 weather, that the ground is cooler than the air, and in July 

 and August the ground is warmer than the air. Conse- 

 quently the greatest difference between the temperature of 

 tree and forest lands occur in May, and least in June, these 

 fluctuations always being less in the forest than in the open 

 glade. 



The great influence of our dense forests in preventing the 

 cooling of the ground by the radiation of its beat, is al- 

 ways a noticeable fact, most observable in October and No- 

 vember, and least in January and February. 



Should we further discuss this question of ' 'Woodman, 

 spare that tree," we may present other reasons why our 

 prayer for the forest should be heard. 



Ollipod Qtjill. 



The Bois d'Arc for Lumber. — In a recent visit to 

 Northern Texas we saw large numbers of the Bois d'Arc 

 or Osage Orange trees in the river valleys, and heard mar- 

 vellous stories of the endurance of the wood in situations 

 where it was much exposed to alternate moisture and 

 drouth. It was much used by the Indians for bows, and the 

 early French voyageurs gave it the name of Bois d'&rc, or 

 bow wood, a name often corrupted into "Bodock." The 

 tree grows sometimes to a diameter of two or thro • leet, 

 and is sawed into lumber for wagons. It is close grained. 

 and the tire once set upon the wheels never becomes loose 

 until it is worn out. This is a great advantage in any cli- 

 mate, and would be invaluable in the almost rainless re- 

 gion of the plains. They tell of wagons in Texas that came 

 in with the first emigration, and after thirty years are still 

 serviceable and in good condition. The wood is also much 

 used for fence posts, and resists decay longer than any 

 other wood in that region. If these claims are well found- 

 ed there must be an immense demand for the lumber west 

 of the Missouri, where wood is so scarce, and where there 

 is no hard wood at all. The forests of this wood in Texas 

 should have protection by law, and it should be extensively 

 planted in the more northern States as a timber tree. — 

 American Agriculturist. 



mml 



THE Terrier, although not used to any great extent in 

 the field as a sporting dog, is death on vermin, and 

 being very intelligent, apt at learning, delicate of nose, and 

 quick of eye and scent, will be found the best dog for rac- 

 coon hunting. There are several varieties of the Terrier — 

 the English, the Bull, the Fox, the Scotch, the Skye, and 

 the Dandie Diamont, so called, in honor of the character 

 of that name in "Walter Scott's "Guy Mannering." The 

 English Terrier possesses a smooth coat, a tapering muzzle, 

 eye small and bright, and has an habitual custom of dig- 

 ging the ground with his fore feet and dragging away the 

 stones and other substances in his mouth. The Scotch Ter- 

 rier is a quaint-looking animal, broken or wire-haired, al- 

 ways ready for work or play, good to hunt rats, and in fact 

 will dig a fox out of his hole when he fancies himself in 

 safety. The color of the Scotch Terrier is generally the 

 same as that of the English dog, he has so long been kept 

 as a pet that unless a pure breed is obtained from his native 

 country, he will be found valueless as a sporting dog. All 

 these dogs would be of the greatest value for successful 

 raccoon hunting. In the London Field a gentleman writes 

 the following about Terriers, and if raccoon is substituted 

 for badger, it will be found serviceable: 



"I have witnessed the digging out of a great many bad- 

 gers, both old and young, and have frequently found as 

 many as three cubs; and on three occasions that I can re- 

 member, four in a litter. Badgers are a great nuisance : 

 they take possession of the best earths, and as far as my 

 experience goes, drive foxes away, from them, although I 

 know it is generally supposed to be quite the reverse. 



This spring, while in Devonshire, I dug out nine badgers 

 in two days, including a litter of four cubs. There is a con- 

 siderable amount of excitement in unearthing an old bad- 

 ger from a deep sandy earth, and it is one of the best tests 

 of the capabilities of a Terrier that can be obtained. Some 

 of the Devonshire earths are very extensive, covering near- 

 ly or perhaps quite half an acre of ground; and unless you 

 have two or three really good lerriers well up to their 

 work, it is quite useless attempting to dig — unless, of 

 course, you are lucky enough to find, a badger in a very 

 small earth, which is not often the case. I have tried at 

 different times Terriers of all sorts, shapes and breeds, and 

 I certainly think that for going to ground there is nothing 

 to beat the Fox Terrier proper, and his cousin the wire- 

 haired variety. I have seen many capital wire-haired dogs, 

 one of the best being a little dog weighing about fifteen 

 pounds, and sent to me not long ago to try; not many dogs 

 that would beat him for sheer gameness, yet for going to 

 ground, I have never seen a better. He has a most wonder- 

 ful knack of keeping a badger from shifting his quarters 

 in a deep earth, and of preventing him digging. Bull- 

 Terriers are, as a rule, of little use to go to ground; it does 

 not seem natural to them, and they would vastly prefer a. 

 few rounds with the badger in the open air to seeking for 

 him in an earth, perhaps some ten or fifteen feet below the 

 surface. " 



—A correspondent writes from Lawrence, Kansas, that 

 while shooting quail the other day he bagged an albino 

 which was pure white with the exception of three delicate 

 brown feathers on the breast and three quill feathers on one 

 wing— a bird of the most beautiful description. Its legs 

 and bill were also pure white, which is the strangest part 

 of this freak of nature; for although albinoes are not un- 

 common throughout the animal creation, the bills of albino 

 birds and their legs when not feathered, are usually of a 

 delicate pink shade. In the case of ptarmigan, all members 

 of that species assume a winter garb of pure white, except- 

 ing a few feathers on the teil and wings, but these birds 

 are in no sense albinoes, as their dress changes with the re- 

 currence of the seasons, and in autumn is as dark a 

 brown as that of the ruffed grouse. Were the bill of this 

 quail {ortyx) not pure white, we should be ready to believe 

 that in this particular instance these characteristics of the 

 ptarmigan were developed in this bird. We trust that our 

 correspondent has had the forethought to get this bird 

 mounted. 



— Some interesting information relating to the ravages of 

 insects was given by Mr. C. 0. Groom Napier to the 

 House of Commons Committee of last Session on the pro- 

 tection of wild birds. In 1782 the caterpillars of the brown- 

 tail moth were so numerous as to defoliate the trees of a 

 very large part of the south of England. The alarm was so 

 great that public prayers were offered in the churches that 

 the calamity might be stayed. The poor were paid Is. per 

 bushel for collecting caterpillars' webs, to be burnt under 

 the inspection of the overseers of the parish; and f ourscoure 

 bushels were collected daily in some parishes. The browm- 

 tail moth is a beautiful little white insect, about an inch in 

 expanse of wings. Mr. Napier noticed that in 1853 it de- 

 foliated about 20ft, of hedge near Parkstone, Poole; and in 

 1855 the caterpillars riddled and deprived of their leaves 

 two plum trees in his garden at Lewes, one of which died. 

 The caterpillar of the gamma moth is one of the most in- 

 jurious to garden plants; it principally feeds at night, and 

 concealing itself by day, is unperceived. The gamma moth 

 overran France about a century ago and devoured a very 

 large portion of the crops, but, fortunately, the corn was 

 not attacked. The antler moth is sometimes extremely 

 destructive to grass crops. Mr. Napier once saw millions 

 of these on the Wrekin, and in the following summer the 

 grass of that mountain was in a miserable state. The 

 lackey moth is very destructive to filbert plantations, cherry 

 orchards, and other tree plantations. The buff tip, the cab- 

 bage moth, and the small ermines are very destructive to 

 the leaves of fruit trees and garden shrubs. But, on the 

 other hand, the benefits derived from the labor of some in- 

 sects should not be overlooked; some species feed only on 

 noxious weeds, and others prey on still more noxious insects. 

 One of the greatest friends of the agriculturist is the family 

 of ichneumon flies, which lay their eggs in the bodies of liv- 

 ing caterpillars, in which they are hatched, thus destroying 

 them; although the caterpillar, after being "echneumoned," 

 has still a voracious appetite. The caterpillars which feed 

 on the cabbage eat twice their weight in a day; the larvai 

 of some of the fleck flies eat a much larger proportion 

 than this. The productive powers of insects vary very 

 much. Some lay only two eggs; others, such as the white 

 ant, forty millions, laying them at the rate of sixty a 

 minute. The queen of the hive bee is capable of laying 

 50,000 in a season; the female wasp, 30,000. The majority 

 of insects, however, lay but about 100, in general, the 

 larger the insect the fewer eggs it lays. Most insects have 

 two generations in the year; some have 20; others take 

 seven years from the time the agg is laid until their natural 

 death in a perfect state. But probably not above five per- 

 cent, of the eggs laid become perfect insects. Among the 

 flies the daddylonglegs is one of the most destructive, es- 

 pecially in France; it feeds on the roots of grass, and Mr. 

 Napier in 1859 noticed meadows in La Manche devastated 

 by it. The starhng is a bird most useful in destroying 

 these larvae, and those of the horse and cattle flies. 'The 

 orthopteris insects, of which the locust, grasshopper, and 

 cockchafer are examples, are very destructive. ' The 

 numerous species of grasshoppers lessen the amount of our 

 grass crops. Locusts are seldom found in England now in 

 sufficient numbers to do any_ damage, but they have done 

 considerable damage here in former generations. Their 

 greatest enemies are the starling and rose-colored pastor, 

 which follow them in flocks and decapitate them by hun- 

 dreds. The beetles are immensely numerous, as regards 

 species. In 1574 the cockchafers gathered in such numbers 

 on the banks of the Severn as to prevent the working of 

 the watermills. On another occasion, in Galway, they 

 formed a black cloud that darkened the sky^f or the distance 

 of a league, and destroyed the vegetatiou so completely that 

 summer seemed turned into winter. They made a noise 

 resembling the sawing of wood. The people, threatened 

 with famine, were obliged to devour them. In 1804 they 

 were alarmingly numerous in Switzerland. The female 

 lays about 30 eggs; in six weeks they are hatched. They 

 live from three to four years in the larvse state. The first 

 year they do not do a great amount of damage; but in the 

 second year they attack the roots of all plants within their 

 reach. They often ruin the crops of corn, lucerne, straw- 

 berries and various plants on which man depends for food. 

 In a field of twenty-nine acres in France, above 43,000 larva? 

 were found— quite sufficient to destroy the entire crop dur- 

 ing the season. Our insectivorous birds are diligent in des- 

 troying the larvae of insects, but they will not do all that is 

 required; hand labor is also needed. Mr. Napier is of 

 opinion that the extensive diffusion of information on the 

 habits and means of destroying our more noxious insects 

 would be the meana of saving millions of pounds worth of 

 valuable food every year. He says that in the United 

 States the importance of this subject is felt, and almost 

 every State has a government ' entomologist, whose 

 business it is to make inspections and reports of the ravages 

 of insects, and show the remedy. In France government 

 returns were published, from which it appeared that the 

 damage done in Normandy by the cockchafer alone amount- 

 ed to twenty-five million irancs. A law was passed in 

 France a few years since for the protection of birds. Not, 

 however, that all birds are to be welcomed; the sparrow 

 does more harm than good, by feeding so much on green 

 crops, and the wood pigeon does much mischief. But on 

 the whole Mr. Napier is certain our birds do a great deal 

 more good than harm. 



DO SNAKES SWALLOW THEIR YOUNG? 



4 



THIS is what naturalists have been asking each other 

 for more than a century. In that most fascinating of 

 books, "The Natural History of Selborne," Gilbert White 

 mentions the popular belief, but does not venture to en- 

 dorse it. M. Palisot de Beauvois, a member of the French 

 Institute, and a councillor of the University of France, 

 who traveled in the United States early in the present cen- 

 tury, claimed to have seen five young rattlesnakes, "each 

 about as thick as a goose quill," run down their mother's 

 throat, run out, and then down a second time. John D. 

 Hunter, t in his celebrated "Memoirs of a Captivity among 

 the Indians of North America," gives similar testimony. 

 Sir William Jardine, an eminent English naturalist, wrote 

 in 1853: "We have always looked upon this a a popular 

 delusion, and the supposed habit is so much at variance 

 with what we know of the general manners and instincts 

 of animals, that without undoubted proof we are still in- 

 clined to consider it as such." In 1865 Mr. 31. O. Cooke, 

 of Science Gossip, strongly advocated the affirmative, 

 citing many instances observed by his friends. In 1869 Mr. 

 F. W. Putnam, of the American NaturaM&t, considered the 

 case unproved, though he inclined to believe with 31 r. 

 Cooke. During the last year a lively discussion has been 

 carried on in Lcmd and 'Water, Mr. Frank Buckland, one 

 of the keenest of English naturalists, strenuously opposing 

 the idea, So stood the question, the authorities being about 

 equally divided. To the American Agriculturist is due the 

 honor, it seems, of finally deciding it. Last February the 

 editors kindly inserted a paragraph asking for information, 

 and in a few weeks about eighty letters had been received 

 from subscribers in twenty-four different States and prov- 

 inces. Some of these were not to the point, but most of 

 them contained the statements of those who had personally 

 observed this very curious habit. Many were, Very natu- 

 rally, indignant that a fact so well knowm should be called 

 into question. These statements, together with many oth- 

 ers collected by diligent personal inquiry, were embodied 

 by the writer in a paper read at the late meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

 The paper elicited some discussion but no opposition. Prof. 

 Gill, of Washington, one of the most skeptical, as well as 

 one of the ablest of American scientists, expressed himself 

 as convinced by the testimonies of so many witnesses, and 

 so did many others. Many of the letters received deserve 

 to be printed in full; but since want of space forbids, only 

 figures can be given. Our witnesses are 104 in number, 58 

 saw the young enter their mother's mouth ; 19 heard the moth- 

 er warn them by a sharp wihstle or hiss or click; 3 were con- 

 siderate enough to wait and see the young reappear when 

 danger seemed to be passed; 18 saw the youne; shaken out 

 by dogs or running from the mouth of the dead mother; 32 

 who saw the young enter killed the mother and found them 

 living within her; while only 14 of the 58 allowed the poor 

 affectionate parent to escape; 29 found the young in the 

 body of the parent, but as they did not see them enter the 

 mouth, this testimony is rather dubious. Among the wit- 

 nesses are four naturalists of reputation, whose word is as 

 good as gold in other departments of Natural History. Em- 

 inent physiologists admit that there is nothing impossible in 

 the habit, for living tissues are not easily affected by the 

 gastric juice, and reptiles could not easily be smothered, 

 even in the mother's stomach. The habit is known to be 

 shared by the English scaly lizzard. The males of certain 

 species of South American fishes related to the "cat-fish" 

 and "bull-head" carry their eggs in their mouths and gill 

 openings, depositing them in places of safety and removing 

 them at the approach of danger. Equally singular though 

 not similar habits of protecting the young are found in the 

 well known Surinam toad, in the kangaroo and opossum, 

 and in the pine fish and his cousins. There is room for 

 many interesting observations, especially to determine what 

 species afford their young this protection. About the gar- 

 ter-snake and the ribbon-snake, the water-adder, the Bandel ' 

 rattlesnake, the copperhead, the moccasin, and the Massa^- 

 agua there can be little doubt, and the habit probably ex- 

 tends throughout the genera whieh these species represent. 

 The case of the hog-nosed snake, sometimes called the 

 blowing or puffing adder, needs farther investigation, and 

 so also that of the black snakes. It seems more than likely 

 that the racer or mountain black snake, which is distin- 

 guished by a little ridge or carination in the middle of each 

 scale, does thusprotect its young, but ithas-not been shown 

 that this is the case with the .common smooth-scaled black 

 snake. It is very desirable to learn whether, as has been 

 supposed, the habit is peculiar to those snakes which are 

 ovoviviparous— that is those in which the young are 

 hatched from the egg while still in the body of the pa- 

 rent. As was remarked, there is no proof that the black 

 snake swallows its young, and this is the case with all the 

 egg-laying genera, as the milk-snakes, grass-snakes, brown- 

 snakes, ringnecked-snakes, and bull-snakes, although they 

 are common and easy to observe. If any reader of the Ag- 

 riculturist should observe a snake with young running down 

 its throat, or should have reason to believe that site had 

 them in her stomach, it would be a capital plan to tie a 

 cord tightly about her neck to prevent their escape, and 

 then carry her to some naturalist or some physician and 

 have a careful dissection made. This would forever settle 

 the question, and might be done without the least difficulty, 

 for all our snakes except the rattlesnakes, moccasins, cop- 

 perheads, and massasaugas are perfectly harmless. 



Accurate statements are much needed of cases of snakes 

 charming men, quadrupeds, and birds. It would be inter- 

 esting to know whether the cast-off skin of a snake is al- 

 ways left as the snake wore it, or whether it is sometimes 

 turned inside out. —Prof. G. B. Goods, in American Agricul- 

 turist. 



<***- 



A Great Herdsman.— The greatest herdsman in the 

 world is the title claimed for Samuel W. Allen, of Texas, 

 who owns 225,000 cattle. He has one ranch eightv miles 

 long and forty wide, between the Nevada and Colorado 

 Rivers, the largest on the continent, which pastures 120,000. 

 Two others accommodate respectively 70,000 and 35.000. 

 These cattle all subsist on native grasses of a part of Texas. 

 His herds require the attention of at least 400 herders and 

 branders and the use of 3,000 horses. He brands 60,000 

 calves every year to keep up the supply. The value of his 

 stock, exclusive of the land, exceeds $5,500,000. He is the 

 chief meat purveyor for New Orleans and the neighboring 

 counties of the Gulf coast. 



. *•*» 



There is every indication of an unusually gay winter in 

 Washington. The financial troubles do not, "as a rule, 

 affect the class of persons who make Washington their 

 winter residence. 



