84 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



CENTRAL PARK MENAGERIE. 



DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC PARKS, J 



New York, Sept. 13, 1875. ) 



Animals received at Central Park Menagerie for the week ending 

 Sept. 11th, 1875:— 



Three Pea Fowls, Pavo cristatus. Presented by Master Robbie Shan- 

 non. 



Two Pekin Ducks, A nas domesticus. Presented by Mr. James E. 

 Sisson. 



One Bonnet Monkey, Macacus radiatus. Presented by Mr. William 

 O'Connell. 

 t_ One Mexican Deer, Cervus Mexicarais. 



One Hog Deer, Hyelaphus porcinus . W. A. Conklin, Director. 



r aadhnd f Mntm %nd %m&m. 



Peaches for Europe. — The steamship Ohio sailed for 

 Liverpool from Philadelphia on the 26th ult. with a cargo 

 of 2,400 crates of Delaware peaches. The steerage of the 

 ship was turned into a refrigerator and lined with ice, a 

 current of cold air being kept" constantly in motion by 

 means of fans connected with the machinery, but the ex- 

 periment proved a failure — probably because the ice gave 

 out three days after the steamer left port and seven days 

 before arrival at Liverpool, 



SEPTEMBER: 



THE MONTH AND ITS DUTIES. 



■ • ■» — 



"Thou waitest late, and com'st alone, 



When woods and bare and birds are flown, 



And frosts and shortning days portend 



The aged year is near its end." — Thomas Moore. 



AS we journey on, the months swiftly glide on their 

 way to complete the cycle of the constellations, and 

 each in its time takes its place in the Zodiacal circle. An- 

 other sweet season of buds and blossoms has appeared and 

 is now passing in all its loveliness, casting over our earth 

 its many blossoms erf beauty and sweetuess. The ripen- 

 ing leaves are even now reminding us of the days of 

 Autumn's fruits ; theyare at this early time parting with much 

 of their deep and cooling green ess, and the russet tint, the 

 golden and crimson band are even at this early day seen as 

 heralds of the tints and varied beauties of Autumn's ful- 

 ness. Soon our fruit season will be upon us. Pomona, with 

 her horn of plenty will pour her rich profusion of fruits of 

 all kinds at our feet. Our eyes will be gladdened with the 

 peach, the plum, the nectarines, melons and all the many 

 delicious fruits of the season. These in their time will 

 abide with us for a while, giving us new and varied bless- 

 ings; bringing with them new and instructive lessons of 

 the skill and devotion of the gardener and the horticultur- 

 ist for the gratification, and pleasure of man. Every year 

 adds to the usefulness, and gives value to the mission of the 

 scientific gardener. He works slowly and carefully, it 

 may be, in the great laboratory of the earth, but he brings 

 forth as the results of his application and carefulness the 

 most astonishing results. Therefore, to the educated and 

 skillful gardener we must look for those timely hints given 

 "in season and out of season," as well as forethought and 

 suggestions of what we are to do to-day, as well as to- 

 morrow and next week. You have a fine garden we will 

 suppose, well attended, and well cultured; within its 

 ample domains the lily and the rose are blended in rich- 

 ness and beauty. Here winding walks lead you to scenes 

 of almost tropical beauty; you lose youself amid the tall 

 ferns, and you repose amid the purling murmurs of 

 woodland streams, you rest yourself beside the clear, spark- 

 ling waters of a beautiful lake, or gaze in admiration upon 

 the miniature cataract as it ilings its silver waters into the 

 basin below. All this is yours to command, and you can 

 say "this is all mine, this beautiful garden, the golden 

 fishes, this sunny lake, the flower bedecked island, thi 

 enchanted spot— all are mine!" We wonder not that you 

 love it— we should do so if we owned it.. 



We who can share with you all these mosaics of earth, 

 reioice also with you in contemplation of them. Yet love 

 them as we may, we cannot linger longer with them, and 

 regretfully bid them adieu to enter the more secluded 

 Autumn walks. Autumn has its demands upon the 

 landscape artist and practiced gardener; and we 

 have now to call your attention back from the golden 

 tinted month of flowers just past, to the serener duties of 

 the months to come. There is no season so favorable as 

 Autumnal September for the re-arrangement, or making- 

 over anew of the beds for herbaceous plants, such as the 

 hollyhocks, pcenies and the like. Now, while you are 

 preparing your beds for the reception of the above roots, 

 it will be found a very good time, and a saving of time 

 can be made if you now divide the roots of all the tribe, 

 and all your hardy bulbs. This is probably the best time 

 to dc it. Divide your lilies and all bulbs, and replant out 

 at this time. You are to remember, also, as a rule, that all 

 beds of hardy bulbs, such as the hyacinths, tulips, &c, 

 are to be completed as soon as the Fall bulbs (last of Sept.) 

 can be had of the importers and florists. This is the 

 month par excellence for our amateur and practical garden- 

 ers ladies as well as new beginners, to do all they can for 

 next year To our lady friends we would say a word in 

 passing and that of encouragement to those who have 

 been among our friends, patrons and readers of the Fotiest 

 and Stream from the commencement. Our efforts to 

 serve you will be redoubled as the weeks of the new year 

 roll on. ... , . 



Now, as our Autumn is upon us, you will cast you eyes 

 forward a little towards the colder months. Winter will 

 soon be here, and now we are to look to these things of 

 Autumn that Autumn demands. Autumn says to you; 

 "Will you plant any bulbs for the coming Spring? 1 

 love blossoms of sweet flowers," say you. "Well plant 

 out the bulbs now, do not wait until cold weather, do not 

 even wait until next month if you are ready to do it to-day, 

 to-morrow, why not do it?" It will be very important, 

 sensible work, to dig up and finely pulverize any old bed in 

 Which you propose to renew the coming Spring. This will 



save you much time, and a bed, nicely dug up and pre- 

 pared for Spring planting looks better thus than when 

 covered with the dead 'stalks of last Summer's flowers. 

 As every season hath its charms, so every season hath its 

 duties also; and the duties for this September month is to 

 do as much as you possibly can for the month of April 

 next. You can now prepare seed beds for and plant many 

 kinds of seeds for next Spring, particularly the "self -sow- 

 ing" kinds, such as drop their seeds profusely in Autumn, 

 and which spring up early the next Spring — among them 

 we place the clarkias, nempholias, larkspurs, sweet ally- 

 sium, candy tuft, portullacas, pansies and Chinese pinks. 

 These when sown need only to be protected by a covering 

 of which pine boughs or sprigs of hemlock thrown over 

 the beds in Winter and removed in the Spring, when they 

 come forth bright, green and lovely. 



-♦♦♦- 



H. D. L., New York.— Will you oblige an old reader of the Forest 

 and Stream and give your advice as to the cultivation of the Passafiora, 

 otherwise known as the Passionate Flower Vine? I propose planting 

 the seed in a large pot, and by keeping the same in the house during the 

 cold months to raise plants sufficiently large to have flowers next season, 

 but don't know what treatment is necessary during the Wintei . 



Ans. There are several varieties of the passaflora differ- 

 ing in characteristics. The more delicate kinds will require 

 a great deal of warmth, while the common variety is hardy 

 and can be kept under glass without artificial heat. Water 

 every day; in other respects the treatment is the same as 

 with other potted plants. 



%$ Mmnel. 



The Giant Breed of Setters.— H. C. S,, a corres- 

 pondent in Bridgeport, Conn. , informs us that Mr. John 

 Walker, of that city, had a thoroughbred setter that meas- 

 ures 31 i inches in height at the shoulders. Length of 

 head, Hi inches; around the head, 1 inch back of the 

 eyes, 19f inches; around the body, back of the shoulders, 

 33 inches; length entire, from tip of nose to stern post, 55 

 inches. Our correspondent inquires if giant dogs like 

 these are a strain by themselves, or whether they "just 

 happen that way." We know of no strain of such large 

 dogs, but have known dogs to grow to an immense size 

 when they have been kept about slaughter houses and fed 

 all the meat they would eat. 



+++• ■ 



— We are in receipt of a letter from Mr. E. L. Francis 

 of West Stratford, Conn., informing us that the splendid 

 setter bitch "May," imported by W. A. S. Hubbell, was 

 poisoned last week, and died on Thursday evening, leaving 

 eleven whelps eight weeks old, sired by Marshall's red set- 

 ter "Rock." 



-**+> 



— One of our wool-growing readers suggests that the 

 reason why so many dogs have died recently, is because 

 the mutton they eat is "pizen." 

 -»» 



Singular Birth. — A correspondent at Janesville, Wis., 

 sends us the following account of the remarkable manner 

 in which his setter bitch recently gave birth to a litter of 

 puppies: 



"I keep Gyp at the club house, and last week while she 

 was whelping was on the dock jumping the other dogs 

 in the water. Gyp hearing the noise left her kennel and 

 come out on the dock, and before I could prevent it, was 

 in the water with the other dogs and swimming about. 

 After a while she waded out, but wheu still about fifteen 

 feet from the shore I noticed that she squatted down on 

 the water. We rubbed her dry and returned her to her 

 kennel. I thought nothing more about the matter, but an 

 hour afterwards the club house man in passing the spot 

 heard a faint cry, and on investigation found a puppy just 

 crawling up the bank. The little thing must have swam 

 fully fifteen feet, and is now as lively as any of his brothers. 

 We named him Moses on account of his fondness for bull- 

 rushes. Two pups were born after this one, making seven 

 in the litter, and as line a lot as I ever saw. 



Richard Yalentine. 

 — •+•+• 



Another Cure for Hydrophobia. — A correspondent 

 in Washington, D. C, sends the following:— 



"I see in your issue of September 3d an article on the use of chick 

 weed and elacampane in cases of hydrophobia, and thinking that an- 

 other remedy may be the means of doing some good, I here give it; it 

 is simply a tea made of skull-cap, (Scutellaria lateriflora.) This was 

 used by a former physician of New York city, and who is well known 

 there, on a gentleman living near Alexandria, Va., who was bitten by a 

 do°- showing every symptom of the hydrophobia. The gentleman is 

 still living, while dogs that were bitten by this same dog died with hydro- 

 phobia, "lie also remembers the case of Mr. Luther Hersey, of Cum- 

 mington, Mass., who was bitten by a dog supposed to have the hydro- 

 phobia, as were also a hog and a dog. The hog and dog were kept 

 penned up, and died with the hydrophobia. Mr. Hersey used skull-cap, 

 and lived over forty years after he was bitten. Skull-cap may be bought 

 at almost any drug store, either in ounce packages or in fluid extract. 

 When using it in ounce packages mahe a tea as strong as our ordinary 

 tea and give two tea-cupfuls a day. In using the fluid extract take a tea- 

 spoonful to a tea-cup of water. Give twice a day. It should be used for 

 at least three weeks. One thing must be distinctly understood— that no 

 case of hydrophobia can be cured after the spasms and frothing at the 

 mouth have set in; therefore it is necessary that whatever is done must 

 be done as soon after the person is bitten as is possible. B." 



. — «♦» > 



MR. LAVERACK AND TRUE COLORS. 



• ■ 



Delaware City, Del., September 2d, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Breeding dogs, horses, cattle, pigeons and chickens, in my opinion, is 

 just as much a science as is chemistry, astronomy, geology, etc. The 

 rules applied are just as positive and uniform in their results, and if 

 they are departed from the result is sure to be contrary. Mr. John M. 

 Taylor, (Forest and Stream, July 29th, 1875,) certainly deceives him- 

 self when he predicts the deterioration of the Laverack setter unless 

 Mr. Laverack discloses all of all his system of breeding. We would ask, 

 has not Mr. Llewellin improved Mr. Laverack's setters by a Gordon 

 cross? General average results say so. No man in Europe has had bet- 

 ter opportunities (or is better qualified,) to judge of the Laverack setter 

 as a class than Mr. Buckell. He has handled many of Mr. Laverack's 

 own breeding and bred them pure himself; he (Mr. Buckell) pronounces 

 the Field Trial superior to the pure Laverack, and for work says they 



are the best he ever saw, but that the Irish (by Irish he means the r A 

 Irish,) run them very hard. Another reason why the cross is to be vr . 

 f erred is the extreme mortality among the young dogs. Mr. Buckell sa 

 "I do not believe, counting puppies and all, there are at this minute 100 

 pure Laveracks in England, and I am sure every year will lessen th 

 number. Out of thirty-one of this breed Mr. Llewellin has had in his 

 kennel sixteen have died, while five were only kenneled for a few weeks 

 and then sent off again. These are statistics; they serve to show what 

 those who go in for breeding Laverack setters quite pure must expect 

 I do not care to discuss the merits or demerits of any particular strain of 

 dogs only so far as they are useful in illustrating my "hobby " ( *thp 

 breeding of dogs." It has always been an enigma to me how from one 

 pair of dogs and their progeny, and they both blue Beltons, Mr. Lave- 

 rack could produce almost every known setter color. Coloi is an unmis- 

 takable mark of purity. When bred to color, (such as the red Irish 

 black and tan, Gordon, etc.,) an accidental connection with a dog of im'.' 

 pure breeding or of a different color will tell its own story. Mr. Lave- 

 rack at one time bred from a bitch belonging to a Mr. Walker (pure Lave- 

 reck) five red whelps in a single litter, supposed to be by his black and 

 white dog Jet. I think I am correct in saying that this same dog Jet 

 before and since this litter has ahvays failed to produce a single red 

 whelp. Mr. Buckell says, "I have had some of these red ones to try 

 but they were returned because we could not discover in them the char^ 

 acteristics of the rest of the breed.' 1 He also says that he doubts the 

 purity of these red dogs, and so would any one who has bred setters ob- 

 servingly for any great length of time. 



Mark the first appearance of these red dogs; (Mr. Buckell says they 

 they were red Irish color,) both sire and dam bred through a period of 

 forty years or more without a trace of this color in their pedigree, and 

 behold in one litter five red whelps. Next comes the liver and white 

 ones, how many in the first litter I don't know, but I do know that these 

 liver and white ones throw their own color amazingly thick considering, 

 and I predict that by breeding from none but the liver and white get of 

 Pride of the Border that it will take a less number of generations than 

 seven, (which is his remove from Ponto and Moll,) to make the color ex- 

 clusively liver and white. I don't wish it understood that I am trying to 

 dispute the purity of Pride— not at all; he has proven his royal lineage 

 in the stud. The purity of a dog is better judged by his get than by 

 his performances; in his get you may have dozens to judge by while he 

 is but one; he may carry all before him both on the bench and in the 

 field and yet be a grand imposter; we have had several such public ex- 

 amples. What I do mean to say is, that Mr. Laverack made a mistake 

 in publishing the sire of Pride, (which also changes the color,) through 

 a defective memory, and that it is just as probable that he has made a 

 mistake in some other of the dogs or in their color in Pride's pedigree, 

 which would account for the liver and white. Mr. Hope, in commenting 

 on Mr. Burges' letter on "True Color in Setters," says that he (Mr. 

 Burges) mistakes the cognomen of black and tan Gordon f©r Gordon 

 setters, and red Irish for Irish setters. I do not understand him so. Mr. 

 Hope might as well say that Mr. Burges believed that Irishmen were not 

 allowed to breed any other than the red setter. The red setter, of course, 

 is not the only color bred in Ireland, but this red setter is the dog which 

 has made Ireland famous for her setters. When pure he breeds true to 

 his color; you can't put hound, colly, spaniel, or whatnot into his blood 

 (unless of the same color) without its showing itself. There is no doubt 

 that this is one of the reasons why he has been kept pure* In all of the 

 works on dogs where the Irish setter is mentioned this is the dog meant 

 and generally understood. So also the Gordon; all of the Gordon setters 

 with a public record were black and tan. The Duke of Gordon bred 

 hlack, white, and tan dogs by crossing with black and white stock, but 

 they were not so famous as the black and tan, and by common consent, 

 (as in the case of the red Irish.) the, black and tans only were understood 

 as Gordons unless qualified. In my experience I have never known the 

 dog to fail in marking some of the litter after his own color, and often 

 more than half of them. On two occasions all of the litter were marked 

 after the dog; one of these litters contained eleven whelps and the other 

 eight. Let who will try it, they will find it 'an impossibility to breed to 

 color by the selection of bitches. Whelps very seldom throw back to the 

 bitches color. I mean to the grand dam or great-grand dam, when they 

 do, the dam, whose color they throw, was well (or long) bred to color. 

 Many are the slips in pedigrees which would not happen were color ad- 

 hered to. The most expert dog breeders cannot always distinguish the 

 long-haired dropper from the setter, or the setter and water spaniel cross. 

 So well do these three dogs, (setter, pointer, and water spaniel,) cling to 

 their physical characteristics that frequently the sham is not discovered 

 uutil they are taken into the field, and sometimes not until they are bred 

 from, I can call to mind a number of cases as evidence, but will give 

 only those cases which can be proven by the living dogs and owners. 



(Jerry, (setter dog.) 

 Steel Hammer < ( Ned, (setter dog.) 



(Flora *...-< 



( Nig, (water spaniel bitch.) 

 This Steel Hammer, you will see, is three-fourths setter. His hair is 

 as long and nearly as curly as the bitch Nig, and is nearly as good a 

 specimen of the water spaniel . This dog has a full brother who is as 

 well marked after the setter; but how about the get of these so-called 

 setters and spaniels? They have no progeny to my knowledge, and I 

 hope for my country's good that they never will. Known laws which 

 govern the breeding of animals were discovered in exactly the same way 

 that chemical and mechanical laws were, by experiment and observation. 

 Inbreeding dogs many laws have been discovered, and many more will 

 be discovered. Let the experience of each be given for the benefit of 

 all in well authenticated cases, but let no man's theories, dogmas, or 

 experience, because it happens to differ with ours, lead us to forget our- 

 selves in the use of ungentleinanly personalities. Yours truly, 



M. Von CtJLIN. 

 -«-♦♦- * 



LAVERACKS IN AMERICA. 



« . 



Craig or Douglas, by Selkirk, Scotland, August 28th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



I saw in the Forest and Stream a statement that there were only 

 three pure Laverack setters in America. At the request of the owner of 

 one I write to say that Pickle, the property of C. Demuth, Esq. ; Vic- 

 tress, the property of L. H. Smith, Esq., and Carlowitz, in the kennel 

 of the same gentleman, are all pure Laveracks, and, unlike one of those 

 named by you as the only three in America, they have no "Mystery" blood 

 in them, a cross which is not admired by most breeders in this country. 

 I have never seen it stated in any American paper that • Fairy, when the 

 property of Mr. Llewellin, won first at Bangor and second at the Bir- 

 mingham dog shows, facts which Mr. Raymond may like to know. I 

 cannot agree with a correspondent of yours who declares none are Lave- 

 racks except those bred by Mr. Laverack himself. Not one of the most 

 successful Laveracks of the last few years was bred by Mr, Laverack, 

 but by Mr. Pilkington, who bred Rock and Dash II.; Mr. Llewellin, who 

 bred Phantom, Petrel, and Princess, and Mr. Dickens, who bred Peter. 

 Pride of the Border has been successful in America, but in this country 

 he never won a prize, although often exhibited. 



I believe no one besides Mr. Laverack and the three gentlemen named 

 has ever bred a good and successful Laverack setter. There are two rea- 

 sons against breeding them:— First, every one knows they require fresh 

 blood; second, it is nearly impossible to breed them owing to their ex- 

 cessive weakness when young. Yours faithfully, 



G. T. Teasdaee-Hickeli- 



-«-•+- 



THE MANCHESTER DOG SHOW. 



— — #. ■ 



Portsmouth, N. H., September, 1875. 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I wish to make a few remarks in regard to the Bench Dog Show at trie 

 New England and New Hampshire State Fair, of which I was a close od- 

 server. It would have been much more attractive had more oi on 

 sporting friends owning good dogs taken interest enough to have shown 



