.tf'UKJKST AJMJ STKifiAM. 



The top soil is thrown to oue Bide; the daj belpw that 

 wheeled away to a low spot in my garden, spading out at 

 least, eighteen inches, then filling in to its former level with 

 equal portions of sand and cow manure (the manure I used 

 was never more than six months old— did not have any other), 

 mixing the top soil, sand and manure well by spading. I 

 plant any time I can get the bed ready, from first of Novem- 

 ber into January, always selecting a time when the ground is, 

 comparatively speaking, dry. I never plant immediately 

 after a rain ; always before a rain. Neither do I wait, taking 

 the bulbs for a guide, to plant, as a catalogue, before me says, 

 "Whenever the bulbs begin to throw out roots," but I look at 

 the tops whenever they push the least. I plant as soon after 

 as' possible in the border in a perfectly straight line, it being 

 easier prepared for the bulbs, and they are easier taken up 

 without sticking a prong of the spading fork through your 

 finest bulb, as I have done frequently when they were out of 

 the line; bulbs eight to ten inches apart, and top of bulbs 

 four inches below the surface. If cultivated in beds, should 

 prefer straight rows about twelve inches apart, and beds never 

 wider than one could reach for the purpose of weeding or 

 cutting the flowers without stepping on the beds. Before and 

 after flowering I cultivate the bulbs by keeping the soil loose 

 and free from weeds, taking care, while doing so, not to break 

 off a single leaf. Much less do I, after flowering, cut the 

 leaves off to two or three inches of the ground because they 

 do not look well ; I would as soon dig them up and throw 

 them away. When most of the tops have died down, I dig 

 them up in dry weather, handling the bulbs with green tops 

 very carefully, laying them on boards in the shade to dry for 

 several days, removing with my hands, previous to storing 

 them away, any top, root or soil adhering to the bulbs. 

 Kind readers will please remember that I am writing for 

 folks that cannot afford to keep a private gardener, who, of 

 course, knows all about it j I am writing for those who culti- 

 vate flowers for the love of it, and not because it is a la mode, 

 de-ding-dong to have them on one's grounds. Please remem- 

 ber I am living in latitude of about 32 deg., 15 min., where 

 the Cape Jessamine grows out of doors ; where the rose is an 

 evergreen almost ; where the Sweet Olive (Olea fragrans) 

 lives without protection, blooming now (Sept. 12) until heavy 

 frost, and again in the spring, sending out from its insignifi- 

 cant flowers a perfume so exquisite that while you are pass- 

 ing you find yourself stopping to take deep inspirations of the 

 perfumed air. I am reminded of street-car rides, years ago, 

 in New Orleans on Esplanade street, taken for the sole pur- 

 pose of inhaling the air heavily laden with the odor of orange 

 flowers ; flowers and the golden fruit on the tree at the same 

 time. Geo. 0. Evracn. 



Jackson, Mm., Htpt. 12, 1877. 



Infw >nl ]§istor%. 



FOUR MONTHS IN THE FOREST. 



IN the year I860 1 fully made up my mmd to go out West, 

 aud live a naturalist's life for four or five months, and 

 collect some new specimens for my cabinet. On the first of 

 April, in the above year, I started with my beautiful dog 

 Pike, and my well packed valise and gun and implements for 

 skinning birds and animals. When I started, I knew not 

 where 1 would locate, as it was the first time in my life that I 

 ever left home to go on such an expedition. After traveling 

 for nearly two weeks, and riding in the cars for several hun- 

 dred miles, I at last found a place in the deep forest that I 

 thought w r ould be suitable. At the end of my journey, feeling 

 somewhat fatigued by my long and weary ride, I began to 

 wish myself home in the good old city of Brotherly Love, but 

 as I had fully made up my mind to devote four or five months 

 to collecting something new for my cabinet, I was willing for 

 a time to deprive myself of the many delicacies and happy 

 days that I had spent at home. My house in the forest was not 

 wrought by human hands, but was constructed by the: great 

 Builder of the universe. It was nothing more or less than a 

 hollow tree. This tree I occupied for four pleasant months ; 

 it is the species known by botanists as the Platan* ocmdentaUs 

 in more common term button wood of America. This tree, as 

 you have doubtless found by your reading, sometimes grows 

 to an immense size, and frequently, when of great age, it be- 

 comes hollow. The hunter of the West often finds his lodg- 

 ing in its capacious trunk, and often emigrants take up their 

 abode in them for wrecks at a time. The one that I occupied 

 was ten feet in diameter, and twenty-two feet in circumfer- 

 ence. I said that my house was not built by human hands. 

 This is strictly true of the external walls. It stood almost in 

 the heart of a deep and ancient forest, occupying the highest 

 -point of land for miles around. The foundations were deeply 

 Iiid in the heart of earth, being protected aud seemed by im- 

 mense ledges of rocks, which extended a great distance. There 

 was a massive grape-vine that had trained itself over two 

 short horizontal boughs, as if on purpose to form a portico 

 over the doorway to my humble place of resort.. I eoustruet- 

 el a sola by raising some earth and limbs to a suitable height 

 ftt the side 'of my fabric, and covering it with beautiful lichens 

 aud moss of different colors arranged in figures to suit my 

 taste. There was a path of light sweeping through the green 

 boughs of the colonnade as if tine angels of peace and love had 

 opened it for their daily and nightly visits, by the soft sweep 

 of their majestic wings. My room was lighted by a single 

 window ; the pane of that was composed of a beautiful plate 

 of mica— you may know it by its sparkling lustre, like small 

 thin fragments of glass. In that little cozy apartment I had 

 everything that ensured my comfort for my four months' 

 Stay. Nearly every day I rambled through the forest with 

 my faithful companion, collecting specimens of different plu- 

 mage, quite different from any 1 had ever before met with, 

 and a few animals such as, foxes, wildeats, porcupines, aud a 

 variety of snakes aud squirrels. Among my choice collection 

 was a fine bald eagle {Halutus lefucocepTialun). This bird 

 alone, I think, repays me for my Western trip. He measures 





from the point of luVbeuk SO the end of tail 37 inCfai 

 from tip to tipof wings 82 inches, lie is the finest specimen 

 I ever saw- before or since I shot this one. How often, night 

 after night, as I lay in that hollow tree, and as I listeued to 

 the yelping of the foxes and the cries of the wildcat and the 

 hooting of different owls, and many other hideous noises that 

 echoed through the forest, 1 had wished myself at home • but 

 as soon as rosy mom opened her smiling eye, and the wild 

 birds began to warble their morning songs of love, they filled 

 me with joy, and it quite refreshed me after my long night's 

 broken sleep. I returned homo on the second of August, 

 with my dog and choice collection of buds and animals, and 

 can truly say my trip in the far West was a pleasant one. And 

 now as 1 sit and think of the many joyous hours and weeks 

 that 1 passed in the wild forest of the West, it makes me almost 

 wish that I were there again, and living in that cozy room in 

 the hollow tree. Geo. Botwin, Station E., Phila. 



A C ramus Incident.— In Rod and Gun of May 13, 187C, 

 I said, in a letter dated from this place, that I thought quail 

 did at times withhold their scent, but that it was not a volun- 

 tary action of the bird, but a natural consequence of a former 

 action— that of pressing its feathers very closely to the body 

 when frightened and lying concealed. I am now convinced 

 that it is so. Last Friday I went out quail shooting (C. 

 communis, partridge) with two friends. We had two very- 

 good dogs with us, Harras and Max, English pointers, the one 

 my own and the other belonging to one of my fAehds. At 

 one time Harras came to a sudden point. I walked up to him 

 and flushed two birds, one of which I dropped. The other 

 one took an opposite direction, and I was not quick enough to 

 turn round and make use of the second barrel. However, 1 

 was careful, aud marked it down on a stubble field. I called 

 my friends and we all five (including the dogs) followed. We 

 searched for that bird a long time, but could not find it. 

 Then a laborer, who was at work a short distance off, came to 

 us and said the bird must be just where we were ; he had 

 also seen it alight. We looked and looked, and could not see 

 it. Finally the laborer called out : " Why, gentlemen, here 

 it is." It sat under our very feet in a furrow.. One of my 

 friends proposed to try to catch it in his hat, but I protested 

 and insisted that the dogs should be put to work on it first. 

 Now comes the interesting part of my story. We called the 

 dogs in. I took Harras to heel, and Max was told to find 

 bird. Both dogs, as I'said before, are superior annuals, and 

 there is not the slightest doubt about quality of nose. I have 

 seen both make remarkable points. Well, Max stepped over 

 the bird several times and did not get any scent. We then 

 took Max to heel and let narras go. The same thing over 

 again. At one time when the dog stepped over the bird, he 

 actually brushed the bird's tail with his hind foot, and still the 

 bird did not move; and four men stood and talked and 

 laughed withiu three yards of it. The position of the bird 

 was as follows : It sat iu a furrow without any cover ; head 

 end down, tail up; the head was thrown back into the 

 feathers of the neck, so that the eyes were all I could see of 

 the head. The feathers of the whole body were closely drawn 

 in, so that the surface seemed quite smooth, and every time a 

 dog came very near it I noticed a convulsive drawing-in mo- 

 tion over the surface, which I can best compare with the slow 

 closing of some bivalve. When the dog had passed the whole 

 bird seemed to grow a little larger again. It was certainly 

 the most interesting observation I have ever made with dog 

 and gun. When I was fully convinced and satisfied I told 

 my friends to get ready, and then let go both clogs again. I 

 called them to and fro until they accidentally flushed the bird, 

 without either, however, having shown any signs of getting 

 scent. <j. F. W. B. 



Wmbadeh, Germany, Sept. 10, 1877. 



Carnivorous Woodpeckers. — A correspondent of the. lw«y- 

 can Naturalist speaks as follows of a novel habit of one of our 

 commonest woodpeckers: "During that summer a friend 

 raised a large number of black Cayuga ducks, it was noticed 

 that while the birds were still very young many of them dis- 

 appeared, oue after the other, and the bodies of several were 

 found with the brains picked out. On watching carefully to 

 ascertain the cause, a red-beaded woodpecker was caught in 

 the act. He killed the tender duckling with a single blow on 

 the head, and then pecked out and ate the brains. Though 

 my friend was an enthusiast in protecting the birds and squir- 

 rels that came about his premises, this provocation was too 

 much," The woodpeckers were speedily shot. 



Showers of Toads.— Notwithstanding the fact that the 

 so-called showers of toads have been accounted for by natur- 

 alists showing that the long needed rain has called myriads of 

 young toads from their hiding-places, and the grounds where 

 none were seen a few hours before suddenly become alive 

 with the little creatures who come forth to enjoy the moisture, 

 there are still many who firmly believe in their pluvial origin. 

 There is a fact in this connection that does not appear to be 

 geneially known, even to those who are well posted in such 

 matters, which is, that the young toad has two modes of de- 

 velopment, the best known one is UiaL of passing through the 

 tadpole state when the eggs are laid in water, in a manner 

 similar to that of the frog, but the other is the wonderful 

 property that is possessed by the egg of a toad enabling it to 

 skip the tadpole form and hatch a perfect toad if laid in moist 

 earth instead of water. It is not improbable that a warm rain 

 may be required to develop the embryo, or at least release it 

 from the egg, if so, a " shower of toads " is the result. 



Feed. Mathee. 



A Curiosity. — Dr. Furber has shown us an anomaly j it 

 consists of a second perfectly formed hen's egg inclosed in the 

 first. 



M Shakes.— *1 have seen artlelesin the Forest and Stream 

 denying that sharks Will attack a man. When on a voyage of 

 two years in the American ship Webfoot, 1 saw sharks in the 

 harbor of Bat.avia jump clear out of the water at bovs painting 

 the sides of the ship on stages. At Columbo in Ceylon it is a 

 weekly occurrence for the green sharks to go right into the har- 

 bor in five feet of water, and take away the Indians discharg- 

 ing lighters. In 1806, at the port of Aden (Arabia) white 

 men could not bathe, except by dropping a sail overboard to 

 do so in, because of the number and voracity of sharks. 



R. D. V. 



Habits of Deer.— An article in Forest and Stream of 

 Aug. 23, touching the habits of deer, is both interesting and 

 instructive ; but is not altogether correct, therefore I crave a 

 space in your columns to show wherein I think it is in error. I 

 have hunted deer (Genius virginianus) for many years, have 

 had several fawns in my possession, have watched their move- 

 ments. " Sycamore" is out when he says " deer rarely weigh 

 over two hundred pounds." Ikilled abuckonce thatweighed 

 two hundred and twenty-seven pounds, and I have often 

 killed them that went over two hundred, but I think one 

 hundred and fifty pounds would be a fair average. Does, 

 naturally being the smaller animals, will not average over one 

 hundred pounds. I do not believe that the pointsof the horns 

 indicate age, from the fact that often they do not have the 

 same number of points on each beam, and are often two years 

 old before they have " spikes," at least I have killed them in 

 the fall, when they were yet in their red coats, and their 

 heads were as smooth as a doe's. Now if they had not been 

 over a year old they would have had white spots on them. 

 " Sycamore" seems to think that the deer deposit their horns 

 in some secret place, but it is not the case, it is a very common 

 occurrence to find deer horns in the open woods, and some- 

 times, though seldom, both hornsare dropped at the same time. 

 1 have never saw a deer that had shed its horns before Febru- 

 ary, and I do not think they ever do. The horns of the buck 

 make their appearance about the time does bring forth their 

 young, i. e,, in the latter port of May and the first of June. 

 The food of the deer might be said to consist of almost every- 

 thing, for they wilt eat anything that any oilier ruminant 

 will. I might make one exception — they are not fond of grass 

 nor will they eat it so long as they can get any thing else. I 

 do not think that the "spike" buck ever engages in a contest 

 with an old buck, or any other, at least I never saw one that 

 showed any signs that would justify the conclusion. I have 

 sometimes found the dead bodies of both of the contending 

 deer lying hut a few yards apart, and I have killed bucks thai 

 that were badly used up, but in every ease the marks upon 

 the body showed that it was the work of an old buck, or one 

 with branching horns. 



That the deer have their regular crossings when chasing 

 each other is true, but generally they have several runways, 

 aud may be here to-day and there 'to-morrow. I have tried 

 watching their crossings, and I find it rather a precarious way 

 of getting game, and entirely devoid of sport. I have hunted 

 deer in every way possible, and I find more real sport and 

 pleasure in still hunting than in any other. Yes ! give me the 

 still hunt, where it takes nerve and skill to bring down the 

 keen scented aud wary game. All that wish may follow the 

 baying hounds pr sit idly in the shade of some tree, waiting 

 for them to bring emt the deer ; but none for me. I am m it 

 well posted in the '"lick" business, but I know that breaking 

 down limbs or scattering powder about the lick will not spoil 

 it. I have tried such physic for that purpose iu order to cur- 

 tail Cufl'y's chance of killing deer in their breeding season, but 

 it was a failure. " Sycamore's " theory about the deer slap- 

 ping its tail down, would lead the novice to think he had not 

 Struck the deer, unless he sees it give its tail a pretty hard 

 jerk downward and dance off at railroad time. That tail 

 business will not do. I have seen deer slap their tails down 

 and get off in double quick time when there was not a hair 

 touched. They will invariably do so if the shot pass close to 

 their heads, sometimes they will go off apparently unhurt 

 when they have received a death shot. I haveofteu shot them 

 through the heart with a large rifle-ball when they would canter 

 olf with their tails up as though they were not hurt. 



South Bend, Ark. Antler. 



[ We corroborate "Antler" regarding the dropping of horns. 

 The reason more are not found is that they are made way willi 

 by the small rodents. — Ed.] 



Drowned et ant Octopus.— A story comes from Victoria, 

 Vaiieouvers Island, of an Indian woman who while bathing 

 was seized by an octopus, or devil hsh, and drowned. The 

 body was discovered by Indians next, day lying at the bottom 

 of the bay iu the giasp of the octopus. They cut the tentacles 

 and recovered the body. 



— Elephants are employed iu the timber yards of Burmah to 

 handle the heavy logB of leak wood,, the Burmese not having 

 machinery for the purpose. The sagacious animals use their 

 vast, strength with remarkable skill. 



ARRIVALS ATPUIl.ADEl.rnTA ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS FOR WEEK ENDING 



Tuesday, Sept, 25, 1S77.— Oue great horned owl (Bubo vitgim 

 presented ; two brown lizards (£ /s«!«/««j, presented; onccIucKen 

 suake (C. qvaJr iviti.ui.iui) presented ; one oooa snake (C. i/ultaim), pre- 

 sented ; one green snake {Cyclopias vernaMt), presented; two banded 

 rattlesnakes (C. durissus), presented; one common crow (Corwtt 

 Umericaims), presented. Arthur E. Brown, GeuM Sapt. 



Arrivals at New York Aquarium for Week Ending Sept. 20.— 

 Prom Bermuda— One octopus, one land shark, eighteen angel lienes, two 

 Spanish hog fishes, four common hog fishes, three parrot fishes, two un- 

 usually large porcupine fishes, twelve red squirrel fishes, six gray snap- 

 pers, one green Maray or sea serpent, three surgeon Cshe3, and about 100 

 other smaller ones. The octopus, sand shark, and two immense catfishes 

 over 2M0 pounds weight have since died. There have also been re- 

 ceived one secretary bird, three Stanley craues, and a flamingo. 



ANWALS RECEIVED AT CENTRAL PARK MENAOERIE JOR WEEK End- 

 im Sept. 2H, 1S77 .— One festive parrot {CliVySott* /estiva) ; uiie St. Do- 

 mingo parrot (A'mazonim domencionsis), presented by Mr. Thos. L. Dah- 

 ney, New York city ; oue Grivet monkey (Chho-ocelim engythttkea) ,• 

 three Macaque monkeys {Macaeus cynomulyua), received in exchange ; 

 one llnmboldt's lagothrix (Lagullirix inimUotti), presented by Mr. Isaac 

 Brandon, Panama; one red fox (Vtrfpes fulmis), presented by Master 

 Owen Connell, New York eity ; one red-tailed bawk (Bi 

 presented by Master Clarence Biker, Oinnge, N. J.; one Spring 

 buck (Gazella evclwre). This animal derives Its names from the 

 extraordinary perpendicular leaps which it makes when alarmed, 

 reaching to the height of ten or twelve feet, and clearing fifteen feet 

 of ground at each spring. It stands about two feet eight inches at th^ 



