February, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



71 



The only safe way to carry a swan 



one another's nest, but the moment any bird ventures to 

 pass a nest it is at once pounced upon by the cocks. Some 

 of the birds solve the difficulty by using their wings and 

 flying from the nests to the water. Although they 

 are not fed, the swans at Abbotsbury are very tame. 

 One can walk among the nests, and though it may 

 result in the cocks violently hissing at the intruder, little 

 alarm is exhibited. The fact is the swan is not by any 

 means so formidable an antagonist as people often sup- 

 pose. Though he will bite, his bill is too soft to inflict a 

 wound. His principal weapon is his wing, with which he 

 strikes out vigorously at any fancied foe. Wonderful tales 

 have been told of injuries inflicted by such blows, and, 

 indeed, a former keeper of the Abbotsbury swans had some 

 ribs broken on one occasion by an infuriated male bird. 

 Provided you know how, it is an easy business to master 

 a swan. Novices usually seize the bird by the neck, but 

 this is a great mistake, as it leaves the bird's wings at 

 liberty to inflict a blow. The right method of mastering 

 a swan is to seize it by the wing and pull the bird towards 



Swan defending its nest against a keeper 



you. Under such conditions it is quite helpless, and can 

 be led about without difficulty. 



It might be supposed that the four hundred odd nests 

 at the Abbotsbury Swannery, each containing on an average 

 six eggs, of which four or five are hatched, would result in 

 an enormous annual increase in the number of the birds. 

 As a matter of fact, the keepers consider themselves for- 

 tunate if they succeed in rearing a hundred young birds 

 each season. The little ones are killed by the bigger birds 

 by the score. About the second day after leaving the shell 

 the young cygnets make their way, under the guardianship 

 of the parent birds, to the water's edge, but only a small 

 proportion manage to make the journey. They are ruth- 

 lessly massacred on the way by the bigger birds, who actu- 

 ally lie in wait for them. Every season a number of swans 

 are sold to owners of ornamental waters, the prices real- 

 ized ranging from $5 to $20 per bird. The beautiful white 

 plumage, fine proportions, and dignified bearing of the 

 mute swan make it an ideal inhabitant for lakes and 

 streams. 



An American Forestry School 



By Day Allen WiUey 



NE of the Eastern States to which forestry The school has been planned on a very broad scale and is 

 is of really vital importance is Pennsyl- intended not only to educate those who attend it in every 

 vania, for the reason that such a large branch of forestry, but to conserve this most important re- 

 source so that the timber supply of the State will be per- 

 manent. 



[he institution itself is located in Center County, where 

 an excellent opportunity is provided for a study of the 

 various branches, but in addition the students are sent to 

 various portions of the State as well as out of Pennsyl- 



revenue has been secured from its timber 

 interests. Only ten million acres of its 

 area has thus far been devoted to agri- 

 culture, the lumbering industry being very 

 extensive over the balance of the State on account of the 

 forest growth. In Pennsylvania, as well as other States, 

 the lumber industry has been accompanied with great waste vania for additional study and practice. The State Col- 

 owing to the crude methods employed — the large quantity lege, as it is termed, gives special attention to field work in 

 of valuable stumpage being left, "young trees broken down addition to the routine of the class room and lecture room, 

 in felling larger ones, while the practice of "skinning" the In connection with the earlier courses in forestry the men 

 forests or cutting down the most valuable trees regardless are taken into the field, where they study each kind of tree, 

 of the destruction to the young growth has in itself caused its form, its bark, leaves, buds, and flowers, until thev are 

 a great loss. perfectly familiar with the trees and the material with 

 Several large railroad companies obtain much of their which they will work. Following this they carry on during 

 timber from the State, especially the Pennsylvania Railroad the fall season the work of collecting the fruit and seeds 

 Company, which has introduced a forestry system on its of various trees and their storage, dry in bags or buried in 

 own lands that has resulted in much practical benefit. The moist sand. In the spring the seeds are taken and planted 

 most notable movement, however, is one which has been in forest nurseries, the students doing the actual work of 

 taken up by the State authorities in the creation of the only planting and cultivation. Numerous trips are made in the 

 undergraduate forest school between Michigan and Maine, vicinity of the college to study natural reproduction of the 



