1906 
Watching the Bears 
knew no bounds when he found himself on a railroad train 
journeying toward the East. Another bear was captured 
while a cub and brought up on a bottle. He seemed the 
most tractable of animals, answered to his name and _ be- 
haved in a way that endeared him to the hotel employes, until 
one fatal day when he strayed to the woods, met his kinsmen 
and never returned. He is occasionally seen with the others 
foraging in the refuse heap. Civilized life seems now to 
have lost its attractions and he gives no sign of his early 
kindergarten days in the midst of hotel luxuries. 
Next to the bears in interest are the elk and deer. They 
charm every tourist as they bound over the hills or congre- 
gate on the nearby mountains. A drive along the fine road- 
ways with an occasional deer grazing by the roadside is an 
experience not to be forgotten. Sometimes as many as twenty 
deer will file down from the heights near the hotels and 
linger all night on the plaza in front, returning the next 
morning. Often they will scarcely lift their heads to notice. 
Large bands are always to be seen in Hayden Valley and 
about Mt. Washington. Strict regulations exist regarding 
the killing of these graceful animals, and even the antlers 
can not be taken from the Park without permission from the 
commandant at the fort. The antlers are so common, how- 
ever, that Buffalo Jones, who has a cottage near his corral, 
AMERVGAN FeO MES AND GARDENS 395 
has made a fence of them, a striking object, white from the 
action of the elements. 
This corral contains nearly a hundred buffaloes. They are 
curious, lumbering creatures, a few of those selected by the 
Government in its endeavor to save the species from ex- 
termination. They walk around the inclosure in a dignified 
way and seem to like the admiration they excite from 
travelers, who ride to the fence to see them and watch them 
eat the straw and hay which is a portion of their menu. 
In other places the squirrels and chipmunks are so common 
that no such trifle as a stage coach disturbs them and in 
elevated spots on the mountains and in the Grand Canon 
can be seen eagles’ nests with birds nestling after some long 
flight. 
The Yellowstone Park is a revelation. Its wondrous beau- 
ties, its vaporous forms and water columns, its emerald-hued 
pools, its vari-colored canon, rich in tints of sapphire, ame- 
thyst and topaz, seem designed by some divine hand to give 
an idea of a stupendous wonderland, but the fearlessness of 
its animals is due to the kindness of man. Think of stand- 
ing on the shores of a lake and seeing bears and elk walk 
to the water’s edge and drink. It is as if the days of the 
prophet had come when man and beast of the forest shall 
dwell together. 
The Value of Summer Mulch 
By Ida D. 
ULCH is a covering, either of leaves, grass, 
manure or any protective material. It is 
nature’s protective idea, and without it much 
of our wild flora would be impossible. She 
covers the flowers of the forest with a 
} blanket of leaves that protects them during 
the bleak days of winter and through the early days of 
spring ere yet the leaves have clothed the tree and give 
grateful shade to the plants at their feet. In meadow and 
marsh the thick mat of grass protects those wildings of the 
bogs and fields, and we may learn a lesson of nature and go 
and do likewise if we will. 
Through the early days of spring, and indeed until the 
hot dry days of July, little watering and not a great deal 
of cultivating will be needed, but with the coming of the 
summer heat the demand becomes more imperative, weeds 
multiply abnormally under the quickening sun, and each ap- 
plication of water, unless followed by an early stirring of 
the soil, results in a hard baked surface. To obviate this 
the clippings of the lawn may be applied to the surface of 
the beds in quite liberal quantities. This not only insures 
protection to the plants, but solves the question of what to 
Bennett 
do with the lawn clippings. Though if one keeps a horse or 
chickens that ought not to be a puzzle. 
Before applying the mulch the beds should be put in a 
thoroughly good condition—free from all weeds and well 
cultivated, mellow and free. The mulch may be brought 
well up around the stems of plants having little protective 
foliage—as the lilies—and tucked under the leaves of low 
growing plants, like pansies. It must be added to from time 
to time, as it grows thin by drying, and the mulch that seemed 
ample when placed will be but a thin film after a few days’ 
drying sun and wind, so that each time the lawn is clipped the 
contents of the grass carrier should be spread over the beds. 
This is of further advantage in those beds bordering the 
lawn, as the fresh grass is far more sightly than the old 
dead grass could be. The mulch once placed should not be 
disturbed, as it forms, under the influence of the dew and 
rain, a thick, impervious mat that effectually withstands the 
heat of the sun and drying winds, though freely admitting the 
rain and dew. But if it is disturbed, by the scratching of hens, 
the turning of water from the spout of a watering can rather 
than from the rose, or other causes, it will not give satis- 
factory results. 
