19)1 



jFOREST AND STREAM. 



recently arrived from China, lias presented to the Aqua- 

 rium a little tortoise covered with a singular growth on the 

 shell three or lour inches long, which he believed to be 

 hair. This erroneous belief is doubtless fostered by the 

 Chinese, who induce Europeans to purchase, as great curi- 

 osities, their "hairy tortoises," as some rogues in England 

 sell painted canaries. The so-called "hair" is a filamentous 

 alga, or water weed, which grows on the back of the ani- 

 ELtit in the pond or tank in which it is kept exposed to the 

 light. The microscope soon showed the character of the 

 filiform growth. 



We have examined several specimens of the so-called 

 hairy tortoise, and know of no more amusing pet for the 

 aquarium. They are extremely rare, however, even in 

 China. Mr. Edward Cunningham, of Boston, we believe, 

 once brought some to this country. The Japanese produce 

 the peculiar malformation in the upper jaws of their dogs, 

 by breaking their bones when they are puppies. 

 ^•♦- 



Black Cockatoos.— Tne London Zoological Gardens 

 have recently acquired specimens of the great black cocka- 

 too (Microgiossa aierrima) or JNew Guinea and the adjacent 

 islands. The entire plumage is slaty black, powdered with 

 the white excretioa from tne skin tliat Ls so abundant in 

 cockatoos, pigeons, and some other birds. The bare, 

 skinny cheeks are of a blood red color, varying in inten- 

 sity with the health and condition of the bird. The bill 

 is of immense size and strength; the head very . large, pos- 

 sessed of powerful muscles to wield. tne jaws, and covered 

 with a feathered crest. Than this singular bird perhaps no 

 living animal offers a more striking example of the exact 

 relation that always exists between the structure of. an ani- 

 mal and its habits, it is evident that the form of its ex- 

 traordinary Dill alone enables it to live upon a kernal that 

 cannot be obtained by any other bird. 



Its favorite food in its native state consists of the kernel 

 of the canary nut, which grows on a lofty forest tree abun- 

 dant in the islands where the birds are found. These nuts 

 are so excessively hard that it requires a very heavy ham- 

 mer to break them; but they are readily opened by the 

 bird, which, taking one in its bill and holding it against 

 the notch in the narrow, upper mandible by means of the 

 singular, horny-tipped cylindrical tongue, cuts a notch in 

 in- it by sawing tne cutting front edge of the lower mandi- 

 ble from side to side. This aoue, it is enabled to bteak off 

 a small piece of the hard shell by a strong bite, and then, 

 with the long tip of the upper mandible, it picks out the 

 kernel piecemeal. The tongue itself is very singular, being 

 a bright red cylinder with a horny black tip, and having 

 two roots diverging to each side of the lower jaw. The 

 appearance of tne oird is remarkable. 



, -♦»»■ ■ 



Australian Venomous ISnakes.— A long experience of 

 the effect and cure of snake bites in Australia i,the country 

 most infected with poisonous snakes) shows tnat, in ail 

 cases of poisoning by the snakes of that country, injected 

 ammonia affords a perfect cure. The large blood vessel 

 immediately above the bite should be opened arid the am- 

 monia forced in. 1 know an immense number of instances 

 in which ammonia has effected apparently impossible cures. 

 But tiiis may not hold good of tlie snakes or otner lands. 

 It would be difficult to say that all snake poisons are the 

 same substances, or have the identical eifects upon the 

 system, and, therefore, it cannot be said that the same sub- 

 stance is a remedy in cases so distinct. The poison of the 

 carpet suake may yield to a cure that would be powerless 

 against that of tne terrible Op/uophagm etaps. It is certain 

 that the poison of the Australian snakes is less powerful 

 than the Asiatic ones, but they make up an equality by 

 their number, bo thickly are they spread over tne souin- 

 em part of the continent that the large sheep farmers there 

 employ natives to destroy them, giving so much a head. 

 In Killing them they should be approached sideways and 

 smartly nit with a stick on their back. Tnis is easily 

 broken, and then they are powerless, if they be approached 

 from behind tiiey can rise and bite you as easily as in front. 

 But unless its young are attacked or unless its enemy 

 stands between it and its hole, tnese snakes seldom attack 



man. 



, -«»-•♦— 



—The first gull of the season appeared in New York 



Harbor on Oct. 28th. 



. «• » ♦»■ 



CENTRAL PARK MENAGERIE. 



♦ 



DJii'AKXMENT Off fUKLlC PAKIvS, | 



iSiiiW York, Oct. 3ist, 1675. , j 

 Animals received at Central Park Menagerie lor tne week ending 

 October 30ta, 1875:— 

 Cue Virginia Deer, Cariacus Virginianus. Presented by Miss Lesher. 

 Oucj Whue-uuired Porcupine, Erttkizon dormtus. Presented by Pias- 

 ter Harold u. MiLer. 



Onu .icd-e Hog, Eriaaoeus ewropaeus. Presented by k Mrs. Katanne 

 Itaoock. 

 One Uanary Bird, Serinus canarius. Presented by Mrs. John B. Sav- 



fig Oue Monkey, Macacus cynomolgus. Presented by Mr. Jacques War- 

 Two Young Opossums, Mdelphys Virginiarta. Presented by J. L- 

 Morrill, M. D. W. A. Conklik, Director. 



nrdm. 



Military Gardening.- The London Gardener's Chronicle 

 refers to the introduction of gardening as one of the past- 

 times provided for the British soldier iu India. Lord .Na- 

 pier, in reporting the results oi the experiments of the last 

 year in Bengal, says the soldiers are taking increased in- 

 terest in the matter, and the regimental gardens not only 

 supply considerable quantities of vegetables to the troops, 

 but also afford healthful recreation for the soldiers, and 

 are attractive places of resort. It is a diversion which de- 

 serves encouragement, and we shall be glad to hear that 

 our inends on tne outposts are seasoning their rations and 

 adorning their quartets with the products of their own veg- 

 etable and liower gardens. 



_» <> •<: »» . ■ — 



Planting Bulbs.— Readers of Forest and Stream 

 have each year had seasonable hints on the proper care of 

 bulbous plants. The beds should now be prepared and 

 pro^triy enriched with leaf mould or well-rotted stable 

 manure, preserving the lightness an^ tilth of the soil by 



the intermixture oi sand. A heavy damp soil is unsuited 

 to bulbs eff any kind. A writer in the New England 

 Farmer gives the following practical directions for secur- 

 ing a beautiful floral display in the early Spring: — 



"Plant large sized hyacinths and tulips from three to 

 four inches in depth, smaller ones at two inches. Cro- 

 cuses, from one to two inches, according to their size. 

 After planting the bulbs, cover over the beds with dried 

 leaves or loose straw to the depth of three or four inches, 

 and place pieces of board over it to prevent the covering 

 from blowing away. Early in the Spring, take off the 

 leaves or straw, and as soon as the bulbs appear, rake off, 

 with great care, all the debris which may remain upon the 

 beds. There are no flowers which possess more brilliant 

 hues than those comprised in the bulbous tribe, and none 

 which give so gay an air to the garden beds early in the 

 season. Sometimes long before the snow has left us, their 

 tightly shrouded crowns will appear and delight their 

 owner by the first signs of vegetation which the garden 

 displays. 



Bulbs of all kinds are now offered by the florists and 

 seedsmen at quite low.rates. Those which possess high- 

 sounding names, to be" sure, are high-priced, but a dozen 

 unnamed hyacinths cr tulips will often give you quite as 

 much satisfaction as the costly ones, and their price is 

 trilling when compared with their rare loveliness. A bed 

 of tulips and hyacinths in early Spring is a possession often 

 coveted by one's neighbors, arid now is the time to secure 

 it. Clusters of crocuses and snowdrops, either scattered 

 over the sward, or planted in clusters, among other bulbs, 

 are also a lovely adornment when the fa ;e of nature is 

 brown' and sear. 



r » — .*♦♦- 



Coal Ashes as a Fertilizer. — According to the ac- 

 cepted chemical tests of the day we believe it is usually 

 claimed that coal ashes contain no fertilizing elements. An 

 Illinois farmer, writing to the Country Gentleman says he 

 has found them a valuable addition to the soil of the gar- 

 den, and that their influence for good is particularly felt 

 on tomatoes, potatoes, cabbages, and vegetables generally. 

 Our own observation in the cold clay soil of Westchester 

 county confirms the opinion of this Western farmer. The 

 largest corn we saw during the last season was grown on a 

 small plot where the coal ashes had been deposited, and 

 were very freely incorporated in the soil. The writer 

 above referred to adds : — 



"In volume five of the Ufaison Rustique du XIX Steele, 

 printed thirty years ago, I find in the chapter entitled 

 "Coup d' (Ell 8ur le Jardinage en Europe ," the following 

 paragraph: We encounter on the banks and borders of 

 canals and rivers many boats loaded with coal ashes, which 

 come from Belgium, Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, and a 

 large number of other cities and towns which send to Hol- 

 land the excess of tbeir coal ashes, of which a part only is 

 used in the agriculture and horticulture of Belgium. This 

 very exciting fertilizer {amendment), when carefully rid of 

 r.he half-vitrified scorias with which it is always mixed, is, 

 for the gardeners of Holland, a powerful means of forcing 

 active vegetation." 



The soil of Holland is very sandy, if not all sand, the 

 earth so saturated with moisture, and the climate so humid, 

 that the use of the watering pot is unknown. Coal ashes 

 have been found of great value in moist and cool situations 

 with sand, and in dry and hot ones without it, and the 

 benefit conferred by them in two such opposite conditions 

 of soil and climate would seem to warrant a trial of them 

 in almost any and all intermediate places. The cost of 

 coal consumed in the United States and the quantity of 

 ashes produced, are almost beyond calculation in sum and 

 quantity, and if agriculture and horticulture find in the lat 

 ter a powerful fertilizer it will practically result in cheap- 

 ening food and fuel both. 



-*~H»> 



— At the Georgia State Fair, held recently at Macon, a 

 valuable prize was offered for. the fastest walking horse. 

 There were six competitors, a colt belonging to J. E. 

 Lewis of South Carolina, being the winner. This is a fea- 

 ture which should be adopted by all agricultural exhibi- 

 tions, and is not uu worthy of encouragement by turf asso- 

 ciations. A fast walker, for the practical uses of the farm 



or the road, is quite as valuable as a fast trotter. 

 .«.»*. 



— The epizootic has been very prevalent this Fall, but the 

 experience gained in 1872 in its preventive and cure has 

 greatly mitigated its severity. It is pretty clearly settled 

 by competent medical authority that epizootic is simply in- 

 fluenza, which, if the animal is judiciously treated is as 

 readily relieved as an ordinary cold. Horses that are 

 properly fed and cared for seldom suffer seriously from it. 

 The best English and American authorities agree that a 

 mixed diet and cleanly and well ventilated stables— in 

 short, such regimen and care as a proper regard for the 

 comfort of the horse require, secure him against all danger 

 from epizootic. _^ 



— The Department of Agriculture of the State of Geor- 

 gia estimate the average cost of raising a bushel of corn in 

 that State at fifty-eight cents; of oats, twenty-nine cents; 

 of cotton, eleven cents. The average cost of raising a 

 horse or mule to three years old is reported at $60, the 

 number annually foaled is reported at 6,033. There were 

 $1,100,000 expended this year in buying horses and mules 



brought into the State, . 



•#-♦<•■— — ~— — — 



Our Wool Production. — The Bulletin of the National 

 Association of Wool Manufacturers publishes a paper by 

 Mr. George Geddes on "Wool Growing in the United 

 States," from which it appears that since 1860 the product 

 has trebled, while it is an admitted fact that our growers 

 have the best variety of sheep for the production of wool 

 for clothing purposes. While the industry has developed 

 to remarkable extent the possibilities before it are great. 

 The plains of the trans-Mississippi States and of the Pa- 

 cific coast afford a fine field for it, and there exists there 

 the opportunity for the production of fine wools, equal to 

 those of Australia and INew Zealand, and superior to those 

 of South America. Mr. Geddes thinks that these plains 

 will eventually become the source of the world's supply of 

 fine wools. 



Profit from Low-Priced Grapes.— It is probable th» 

 the time for "fancy" prices and enormous profits in g r <i 

 growing has gone by. The culture has extended so ranidto 

 that we shall never again see entire crops marketed t 

 fifteen to twenty cents per pound, and the fortunale grow 

 reap a profit of $1,200 to $1,500 per acre. The erape is V 

 easily grown that such prices cannot be maintained and 

 lovers of this fruit may reasonably expect a supply at 'rate 

 low enough for the consumer, but giving a fair profit to 

 the producer. The great secret of success is in selecting 

 varieties that are early enough to always ripen a crop and 

 are always hardy enough to withstand our severe Winter 

 Aside from our old stand-by, the Concord, we can ^afVv 

 recommend the Salem, Delaware and Rogers 43 and 4 

 Any one of these can be produced by the acre, at a cost 

 not exceeding two cents per pound,' and sold and marketed 

 at good profit at five cents. A friend of ours, residing 

 near Rochester, sold and marketed Isabella grapes for four 

 cents per pound, and cleared considerablv more ihan $100 

 per acre over all expense of cultivation and interest on 

 value of the land. The only difficulty he experienced was 

 that occasionally his crop would not ripen, and had to be 

 sold at about two cents per pound for making vinegar. 

 Even then it paid expenses and as much profit as most 

 farm crops. With varieties like Salem and others we 

 have named above, there need be no difficulty in ripening 

 a crop every year. — Babylon Signal. 



— The art of baking an apple well, is to hake it in a 

 moderate heat without breaking the skin. It is confining 

 the steam— holding the moisture— while baking, that re- 

 duces the apple to the proper delicious consistency. Dif- 

 ferent apples— according to the thickness of the skin, re- 

 quire a longer or shorter time to bake, but three to five 

 hours are about the the extremes, sweet apples requiring 

 more time than sour ones. 



— Some idea of the magnitude of the trapping interest 

 may be gained from the sales of traps annually by the 

 Oneida Community, who make a speciality of selling traps 

 as well as of using them. Their sales of- traps, in 1874, 

 of all sizes, from those large' enough for the grizzlies of the 

 Rocky Mountains, down to the most diminutive rat traps 

 amounted to $92,431.23. 



— The rapid spread of the foot and mouth disease in 

 Great Britain, and the ravages committed can be some- 

 what appreciated by considering the number of cases. For 

 the quarter ending October 16th, these numbered as fol- 

 lows:— In Somersetshire, 83,000; in Cheshire, 50,000; in 

 Dorsetshire, 48,000; in Gloucestershire, 44,000; in Oxford- 

 shire, 39,000; in Warwickshire, 33,000; in Norfolk, 31,000; 

 in Cumberland, 32,000. Throughout England and Wales 

 there were for the same time over 500,000 cases. The 

 money damage is estimated at $1,000,000. 



— The farmers of Linn, Hardin, Grundy and Marshall 

 counties (Iowa) are building a railroad. It is called the 

 Farmers' Union Railroad. Its starting point is Lisbon. 

 Twenty miles are graded. The rails are of Michigan 

 maple, which will te used until the road earns the iron. It 

 is of the narrow gauge, and will cost, ready for business, 

 a little over $4,000. "Farmers along the line have laid out 

 towns at the stations, and donated lots to the company 

 which will sell for enough to pay for the road, 



— The Louisiana orange crop this year is larger than that 

 of any previous year. 



lie Mennel. 



DOGS IN ENGLAND AND THE NOT- 

 TINGHAM DOG SHOW. 



_# 



The following letter from our valued correspondent, 

 "Viatores," will be read with pleasure by all who are in- 

 terested in the importation of fine dogs from England:— 



Northampton, England, Oct. 4, 1873. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :~ 



On September 30th we visited Mr. Wra. Wardlaw ReidJs ketinel at 

 Peckham Rye, six miles from London. Owing to failing eyesight, Mr, 

 Reid sold most of his fine kennel at Aldriehe's last July, among which 

 were his celebrated Laverack setters Sam, and Jess, full sister to S<iiiL 

 Although Mr. Reid has given up shooting to any great extent anil dis- 

 posed of most of his kennel, he still has the wish that is. in every mis 

 sportsman's heart, viz., that of owning one or two brace of szood dogs, 

 and if he has parted with Sam he has some young ones of his gee as w.dl 

 as a few fine brood bitches. Mr. R. goes in for the Laverack!?, and hai 

 bred his three-quarter and f nil-blooded bitches of tliat strain to such dogs 

 as Mr. Pilkington's Dash, Mr. Laveraek's Blue Piince, by Pride of the 

 Border, and his own Sam. He does not object to a slight out cross of 

 good setter blood, and when he cannot get them pure Laverack, likes 

 them at least three-quarters. He still keeps a few dogs in training, arid 

 as these were in the country, and we did not see thtni, we can only sp< ak 

 of Clytie, black and white Laverack bitch, two years and three mouihs 

 old, by Pilkiugtons Bash, out of Mr. Reid's Jess; Jess full sister to 

 Sam. She is a very handsome bitch, and her orange and white brother 

 Brathay is about as hanisome a setter a^ Wj ever saw; he was sola at 

 auction last July for sixteen guineas, which was "dog cheap." B'Jag^ 

 an orange and white bitch, three years and a half old, by Mr. Brierly s 

 Fred, out of Mr. Reid's Jess, is a three quarters bred Laverack, aim 

 very fine looking. This bitch was bid in at the sale at Aldriche's for ten 

 guineas, Mr. R. thinking she is worth much more, if only to use her to 

 breed from. If she had been in a little better condition to stand a long 

 sea voyage we would have purchased her for a friend, but as she bad D0 

 fully recovered from weaning a large litter of puppies, we were afraid 

 risk her oa the high seas. However, there is a possibility of her seeing 

 your country before Spring. . 



We next saw a brace of black and white ticked, or more correct y 

 speaking, blue dog pups four months old, by Mr. Laverack 1 ** Blue Frinw. 

 out of Mr. Reid's Flirt; Flirt oy Mr. Reid's Sam, out of May, W,1I ^ J 

 ter he sold to Mr. Heubbeil, of Philadelphia, for fifty guineas, iw 

 puppies were seven eighths Laverack, and were very fine looking, 

 brace of black, white and tan bitch puppies, same age as the above, J ^ 

 next shown. They wer= by Mr. Reid's Sam, out of his Joy. Joy . 1 ^ 

 the celebrated .Wemyss Castle breed. For looks we liked these a» v^ 

 as any young dogs we have seen in England. Mr. Reid has a »f_ 

 breed of Dandy Binmots. The puppies we saw were very hau so 

 and his stock dog Nip is a winner at Crystal Palace and other shows. 



Nottingham i>oo Show, Oct. 2, 4, 5, and 6. -This show was . 

 fine in every respect but one, and that was the one we went so far 

 viz , the pointer and setter entries. Of the pointers there were el ^^ < 

 entries of dogs and bitches, large and small classes, but with the ^ 

 tion of three or four they were a poor lot, and we could have giv ^ 

 ten points and a beating had they been entered in any dog shovV ^ lije 

 ica, averaging the pemts in each lot. The bitches were better ^ ^ 

 dogs, though there wasn't one that could have held her ov> a *g 

 Waddeli's old lemon and white Bream. ^ ^o 



The getters were not much better in way of entries, and i ^ 

 classes for Irish reds there were but four shown, and i>wt omn 



