J? Uit-Ei © 1 AI> JJ> - © 1 liJ^AM . 



227 



western country to those who live in log cabins. They es- 

 tablish themselves in the root beneath the sod, and once ia 

 possession they seem to be constantly on the watch to see 

 what they can carry off. We. have long beeu familiar with 

 their purloining proclivities, and have even suffered by them, 

 but the above narration far exceeds any experience of our 

 own. Can any of our readers match it ? 



SEALS. 



With the exception of the whales and their allies, the 

 seals, perhaps, at first sight exhibit a greater departure from 

 our ordinary idea of animals than any other mammalia. 

 Although still undoubtedly quadrupeds, their legs are so com- 

 pletely enclosed within the skin of the body, that nothing 

 but. the feet project, and of these the toes are united by skin, 

 so as to form tins or paddles, adapted almost solely for the 

 propulsion of the animal through the water. The position of 

 the hind legs, too, is very singular; they are turned com- 

 pletely backwards, so as to form a sort of broad double- 

 tail fin, very similar, both in appearance and action, to the 

 tail fin of the whale. But in these, as in the forefeet, all 

 the parts existing in the most perfect quadrupeds are to be 

 recognized; whilst the .tail of the whale is really a fin, and has 

 nothing whatever to do with the. hinder extremeties. As 

 might be supposed from the form of the limbs, seals are by 

 no means at home when out of the water, floundering about 

 in a decidedly awkward manner by a vermicular action of the 

 abdomen, assisted by the fore paws. But in their native ele- 

 ment the fish-like form of their bodies and their powerful 

 paddles render them very active, and they swim and dive with 

 great rapidity in pursuit of the fishes and other marine ani- 

 mals which constitute their general food. 



The common seal, which is especially plentiful on the Paci- 

 fic coast, is of a yellowish-gray color, often covered with 

 dusky or blackish spots. Its average length is about three 

 feet, though sometimes it measures five or six. It has a rounded 

 head, and the eyes are very large, soft and black, giving it a 

 most intelligent expression of countenance; it has no external 

 ea,fB| and the orifices of the auditory organs are furnished 

 with valves, capable of being closed wdien- the animal is under- 

 water ; however these do not seem to prevent hearing, but 

 act. as a sort of additional drum or tympanum, rather intensi- 

 fying than decreasing sound. 



On the coast of Greenland and British America seals exist 

 in inumerable herds in spite of the destructive warfare that 

 has been waged against them for ages, both by natives and 

 Caucassians. To the latter the "seal fishery" furnishes but 

 two products, oil and fur; but so indispcnsible is the seal to 

 the very existence of the former that it has been said : " The 

 sea is the Esquimaux's field, and the seal fishing his harvest." 

 The skin of the animal, when deprived of the long and rather 

 coarsa hair which forms its outer coat, furnishes a soft downy 

 fur of light brown or fawn color, held in great repute for caps, 

 coats, mantles and other articles of winter comfort. It pro- 

 vides the Inuuit with the whole of his clothing ; and to a 

 people who depend so much on seafaring life for subsistence, 

 its capability of resisting water is not one of its least desirable 

 qualities. The oil too. not only serves as a light giving me- 

 dium, but is employed for heating and cooking purposes, and 

 i? held to be a most desirable beverage. McCulloch, in speak- 

 ing of seal oil, says that, "when extracted before putrefac- 

 tion has commenced, it is beautifully transparent, free from 

 smell, and not unpleasant." 



Every part of the seal is utilized by the Innuits. The pelt 

 not only furnish/- s them with the warm clothing so necessary 

 to an Arctic climate, but provides their boats and summer 

 habitations with a waterproof covering, and when tanned 

 forms a strong, serviceable leather. The intestines form sub- 

 stitutes for glass in lighting their huts, and are also formed 

 into shirts aud other articles of wearing apparel ; the sinews 

 furnish them with thread, the bones become tools and heads 

 for spears, and their flesh is a most important article of food. 



[n fide weather seals are fond of basking in the sun, and 

 vast herds of, them are often seen thus engaged upon the geld- 

 ice. In these situations, which are known as "seal-meadows," 

 the hunters endeavor to surprise them while sleeping, so as to 

 intercept their attempted retreat in the water, to which, as an 

 asylum, they always direct their course when alarmed. They 

 are generally killed by knocking them on the head with clubs, 

 a single blow being sufficient to dispatch them. 



In character seals exhibits amiable points. They are de- 

 voted to their young, and the latter are dutifully obedient to 

 their parents ; while the males fight valorously in defence of 

 their consorts and families. In confinement, especially when 

 taken young, they are easily tamed, and exhibit as much at- 

 tachment for their master as does the dog.— AppMon' '« Journal. 



Large Wapiti Antlers.— Captain Algernon E. Smith, 

 United States Army, is the owner of a pair of elk antlers, 

 found in the Black Hills of Wyoming, the dimensions of which 

 are as follows : From tip to tip, 3 ft. 7 in.; widest spread out- 

 side of curvature of shafts, 4 ft. 8 in.; around burr, 121 in.; 

 just above burr, 10^ in.; left head tip to centre of skull, 5 ft. 

 liin.; right, the same; right head tip to right head brow 

 antlers tip, 6 ft. 4§ in.; left head tip, 1^ in. less; right head 

 curvature tip to bun 1 , 4 ft. 9 in.; left head, £ in. less; between 

 brow antlers, 12i in.; weight, 50 lbs. We have a photograph 

 of them. 



Hatsitb of Deee Again. — Moorefield, W. Ya. — In a late 

 issue of your paper "Antler" takes occasion to contradict 

 statements made by me in a recent article on the habits of 

 deer. Although he disagrees with me, I was glad to learn 

 that the subject was of sufficient interest to merit a reply. I 

 do not intend to trespass upon your valuable space with an 

 answer, for I could only state the facts upon which my former 

 statements were based. I may, however, be allowed a few 

 words in regard to one point of especial interest. Although 

 "Antler" has the corroboration of your learned self upon the 

 question of horns, I venture to again assert what was once a 

 theory with me, but which now has the force of fact, namely, 

 that deer deposit then horns in secret places. It is true the 

 horus are sometimes found, and bear marks of the w T ork of 

 rodents. Not only has recent inquiry confirmed my opinion, 

 but I have learned a fact which seems to place the question be- 

 yond dispute. Several years since the deer in Druid Park, 

 Baltimore, became so numerous that some of them had to be 

 killed, A report upon the subject by the Park Commissioners 

 contained some curious fads in regard to the habits of the. 



deer. It was slated that only once since deer had been kept 

 there (a number of years) bad any of the horns been found, 

 and then in a very secluded spot,. Stranger still, the horns 

 then discovered were buried. These gentlemen Beemed to he 

 of the opinion that it was the. undoubted habit of deer to bury 

 their horns, or when the ground was too hard to hide them iu 

 some secret place. The park alluded to is not very large, 

 while the deer are very numerous. With the thousands of 

 people who ramble through its groves,, it is certainly signifi- 

 cant that deer horns are never found. If it be true, as claimed 

 by the Park Commissioners, that deer bury their horns, it 

 seems probable that such horus as are found are dug up by 

 rodents. One word in regard to that " tail business." With 

 such a keen eye as "Antler" must possess, the novice would 

 hardly need a "sign" that he had wounded a deer. Observa- 

 tion and inquiry have led me to believe the sign of some ac- 

 count, and so I shall continue to believe until a supernatural 

 vision, as possessed by our friend, enables me to tell how close a 

 bullet has passed to a deer's head, or that each particular hair 

 is untouched, while the deer is running off at "double quick" 

 speed, Sxoamoee. 



Alkpidosauijus. — We mentioned this rare fish in our last 



issue. In our next we will give a full description of it and its 



habits, and all the facts connected with the capture of the 



specimen received by Mr. E. G. Blackford, to which we have 



made reference. 



_»«^, 



Boa Constrictors.— The boa constrictor in the New York 

 Aquarium gave birth, last Saturday evening, to fifty young 

 boas. The young strangers are from two to two and one-half 

 feet in length, quite a respectable size for infant reptiles. 



Animals Received at Central Park Menagerie for Week End- 

 ing Oct. 20, 187T.— 1 black hear, nrsns amerinmus, presented by Mr. 

 Geo. Bough, New York city ; 1 hornerl owl, Bubo virgin-iamis, presented 

 by Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes, New York city ; 1 hawk, Euieo borealis, 

 presented by Mr. I). C. Deyoe, Westfcil], N. Y. ; 1 monkey, Cebus cajm- 

 cinm - W. A. Conkxin, Director. 



^jjjfaadkmd, <$ntm nnd §?ardm. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF IMPOVER- 

 ISHED LANDS BY MEANS OF SHEEP. 



Fkrn Bank, Ohio. 

 Editor Forest and Stream s 



I am quite sensible, Mr. Editor, that for a journal like 

 yours, with its legion of readers scattered over the whole 

 North American continent, my last communication on sheep 

 husbandry was somewhat too local in its application ; but the 

 fact is, your note of approval and allusion to the Blue Ridge 

 of Virginia touches a chord in my heart which will ever vi 

 brate, responsive to any kindly mention of the dear Old Do- 

 minion ; and I was tempted to diverge from the path which I 

 had proposed to follow in preparing these papers. I over- 

 ran the trail, and now, if you please, will "hark back." My 

 original intention was simply to advocate sheep culture, not 

 with reference to the profits to be derived from wool and 

 mutton, but as the cheapest method of renovating exhausted 

 soils ; the mutton and wool I reserve for another paper 

 should this prove of sufficient interest to your readers to re- 

 ceive the honors of type. 



We have in this country, and more particularly in the late 

 slave-holding seaboard States, millions of acres too poor to 

 bear the expenses of cultivation or even inclosure. To judge 

 from the original growth of timber still standing upon these 

 lands, most of them were, when first brought under cultiva- 

 tion, of excellent quality, and the problem now to be solved is 

 their restoration to fertility at the least expense. The appli- 

 cat.iou of stable manure or other fertilizers is out of the ques- 

 tion, for the impoverished soil will not sustain the cattle to 

 produce the first, and the owner has neither the money nor 

 the credit wherewith to procure the latter. Guano, poudrette, 

 bone-dust and the super-phosphates, even when not subjected 

 to fraudulent adulteration, are all too expensive ; they will 

 not pay. What, then, is the alternative ? We answer, gyp- 

 sum and sheep. Gypsum, whether a manure or a mere stim- 

 ulant we will not stop to discuss, is the cheapest of all ferti- 

 lizers, because of the smallness of the quantity required ; and 

 impoverished as these lands are, none of theni are too poor to 

 carry one or two of f our common, native, mongrel sheep to 

 the acre. The gypsum will awaken such elements of fertility 

 as may still remain dormant in the soil, and the sheep will 

 make a clean sweep of the bushes and briars and other coarse 

 vegetation that would choke the white clover aud sweet 

 grasses brought out. by the planter. But to carry out this sys- 

 tem of improvement successfully, the old thriftless method 

 of managing (or rather not managing) sheep must be aban- 

 doned. They must not be turned adrift, as is the almost uni- 

 versal practice, to shift for themselves, and never looked after 

 except when at irregular intervals they are enticed with salt 

 to put in an appearance, in order to be shorn or to furnish a 

 victim for the shambles. 



Let the farmer be convinced that his material salvation is to 

 be attained only through his sheep, let him give to their well 

 being as much and as earnest thought as he does to local poli- 

 tics, lethitn be convinced that the increase of his flock aud the 

 consequent improvement of hk land is of more importance to 

 him and his family than the election of this or that county 

 demagogue to this or that office, then he will as he should do, 

 care for his sheep with as much or even more solicitude than 

 for any other stock. As a consecjuence he will soon sec his 

 galled, gullied and sedge-clad fields smiling in robes of emer- 

 ald green he will be emancipated from the slavery of debt, 

 and he will no longer feel inclined to escape by the back door 

 when the tax-collector or the sheriff enters at the front. 



It may be asked why the common native sheep should be 

 recommended for the improvement of exhausted land ? Simp- 

 ly, because being more frugal and hardier, they will bear 

 heavier stocking than the improved breeds, and they are not 

 near so costly; moreover, with judicious management, they 

 will improve in quality just as certainly as the soil which 

 they cleanse with their teeth aud enrich with their droppings. 



In spite of the teachings of an able agricultural press there 

 is still among us a class of farmers who, with heads as hard 

 as their fists, and that obstinate incredulity so often the ac- 

 companiment of ignorance will object to the proposed system 

 on the old and obsolete plea of danger from sheep killing 

 dogs ; they might as well plead the danger of fire as a 



sufficient reason for not building a comfortable house. It was 

 hoped that fiie grangers would have suppressed this evil 

 through legislative enactment, but, alaS! it would appear that 

 the owners of marauding curs and the pot-hunters can yet. 

 outvote I he grangers, and of course the demagogues in the 

 legislatures will go with them even if the destruction of the 

 lust sheep and all the game in the country be the consequence ' 

 Of what value to a self-seeking politician is a great national. 

 industry compared with a vote which may enable him to 

 clutch the spoils of office ? 



But why wait for a tardy legislation to do what we can ac- 

 complish ourselves ? There are but two precautions necessary 

 to remove all danger from dogs, the first is to fold the flock at 

 night, and this is indespemahle where the i inymvement of the 

 land, is the -main object, and the other is to put bells on ten 

 sheep in every hundred, the marauder will never venture into 

 the fold, and if he attempted to chase the sheep when at large 

 he is intimidated by the clamor of the bells. Another excel- 

 lent safeguard is to let a few sharp-horned cows herd with 

 them habitually; next to Spanish or Mexican sheep dogs the 

 most efficient protectors sheep can have from their canine 

 enemies, for when attacked the flock instinctively seek safety 

 beneath the horns of their bovine friends. 



On the continent of Europe the shepherd has a light box on 

 wheels, in which he sleeps very comfortably at night. This 

 house on wheels stands by the side of the sheep fold, and 

 when the latter is moved, as is done every few days, the. 

 house is lifted off and the running gear serves to transport the 

 hurdles from place to place as may be required. Where the 

 flock is large and valuable enough to warrant this precaution, 

 there is no reason why it should not be taken in this country 

 as in Europe. 



But to condense. Upon a given breadth of land spread 

 plaster of Paris (gypsum) annually, at the rate of one bushel 

 to the acre, turn upon it as many sheep as it will maintain ; 

 salt the flock regularly, or better still, keep lumps of rock 

 salt permanently on the galled spots of the field, fold the flock 

 every night on the same spot until sufficiently manured, and 

 then remove the. fold from place to place until the whole field 

 is gone over. 



The above may be accepted as a fair solution of the pro- 

 posed problem : "To improve impoverished lands by means 

 of sheep," if we add to it that in sheep breeding eternal vigi- 

 lance is the price of success. F. G. S. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



r_ pHE best time for transplanting shade trees as well as fruit 

 -^ trees and deciduous shrubs is just when the leaves have 

 fallen or are about to fall, but when planting has to be doce 

 on a large scale, it has to be proceeded with at all times when 

 the w r eather is open enough. The sooner therefore a com- 

 mencement is made the better, and one condition is essential 

 to the success of such operations, more particularly when they 

 are performed at somewhat unfavorable seasons, viz. : that the 

 plants slwuld have been properly prepared in the nursery before 

 being sent out, and if this has been the case planting may be 

 performed with little risk at nay season. Young trees and 

 shrubs of all kinds should be moved or transplanted almost 

 every season while in the nursery, and this has generally the 

 effect of causing them to root near to the boles or stems, and 

 there to form a dense mass of roots which necessarily retain a 

 considerable portion of the soil. When this is the case the. 

 moving and transplanting in reality inflicts but a trifling check 

 on the plants. With regard, however, to the transplantation 

 of trees or shrubs that have attained considerable dimensions 

 the case is somewhat different, as they will probably have oc- 

 cupied the position in which they now stand, undisturbed, for 

 years, but from which, for some cause, it may be desirable to 

 remove them. When this removal has for some time been 

 decided upon, the trees have doubtless been judiciously root 

 pruned a year ago, and their removal will be comparatively 

 easy and without much risk, and may bo .proceeded with at 

 once. The leaves have now accomplished their mission, or 

 nearly so, the young wood is in a comparatively ripe, state, 

 and the buds have arrived at that condition in which they 

 will be the least affected by the temporary check which is sus- 

 tained by the necessary mutilation of the roots. If the oper- 

 tion is performed now it will afford ample time for reparation, 

 before the atmosphere and the soil have become so cold as to 

 retard the production of fresh roots. The plant is thereby 

 enabled to start afresh in spring with plenty of young feeders 

 already made, which it would not have if the planting he de- 

 layed until that time. Iu all eases, however,, in which it is in- 

 convenient to attend to the final removal of trees at present, it 

 will be advisable (more particularly if the specimens to be 

 moved are valuable) to defer the operation until somewhat 

 late in the spring when the soil begins to receive some heat, 

 and the probabilities of success are greater than if done at any 

 time during the winter or late in the fall, no matter how fav- 

 orable the weather may be. One or two points must however 

 be kept well in mind in case of late spring planting, viz., keep- 

 ing the plants as short a time out of the ground as possible, 

 that the fibres may not get dried up— the giving of abundant 

 and frequent supplies of water to the roots, as well as mulching 

 the surrounding soil to prevent undue evaporation,. and where 

 possible syringing or hosing the plants iu the evenings during 

 dry weather, until there are sufficient indications of theif hav- 

 ing become established in their new situations, when that at- 

 tention may, of course, be discontinued, ('specially if the 

 weather be damp or cloudy, It is a well-known fact that, 

 evergreens, and even deciduous plants may be transplanted 

 successfully at almost any tune of the year ; and indeed as re- 

 gards evergreens, May and June are the preferable months in 

 this climate— just as the young growth begins to start and 

 active root-life with it. In fact the only drawback to spring 

 planting is the considerable amount of extra labor which it 

 necessarily entails at a very busy time of the year; therefore 

 early fall planting may, all things considered, be regarded a3 

 the most suitable period for the prosecution of this work 

 (with deciduous trees and shrubs) as the newly transplanted 

 trees will not only require less labor, but it will also be pos- 

 sible to devote more time and attention to then requirements, 



