Oct. i8, 1902,] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
811 
of their honeymoon. It is not exactly the sort of a 
place. that one would pick out for the honeymoon of two 
such rich young people, but they won the loyalty of every 
man, woman and child on October Mountain by choos- 
ing to go there and stay during their first days of married 
life. Back of the stables is a great water tower lording 
it over a grove of loft}'^ pine trees. From all parts of 
the estate the gray top of the tower can be seen, look- 
ing from the d'stance like a frail shadow similar to the 
ones playing all over the sides of the mountains. On the 
northern side of the grove is the servants' house, a low, 
rambling building, which can hold many people. These 
servants have an easy time Df it, as there are so many 
of them that there is not much for any one to do; When 
the family take it into their heads to go to the Berk- 
shire h.lls. there is much excitement there. A telegram 
risually announces the proposed advent, and three days 
later an army of servants and a small troop of cavalry 
arrive. Before they come the houses and stables have 
been opened, cleaned and made ready, and then the 
servants sit around and wait for the coming of the Whit- 
neys for their short stay of a few weeks. 
The Coming of the Antmak. 
After Mr. Whitney had bought his domain and fairly 
star ed to redeem some of it from nature, he remem- 
bered that he was to have a shooting box. Then came 
the herds of an'mals, elk and bison from the West, 
moose from the North and deer from the Canadian wilds. 
English pheasants and Belgian hares were added to fur- 
nish the smaller game, and everything possible done to 
protect the native stock of partridge and quail. The big 
game is. 'of course, the most interesting and the most 
■difficult to raise and care for. Mr. Whitney followed the 
example of the late Austin Corbin and other big game 
owners, and inclosed a large tract of land in a high wire 
fence. Slowly the limits of the inclosure have grown, 
and now 1,000 acres are closely guarded by a wire barri- 
cade nine feet high. The cost of this fence must have 
been enormous and the work of building it great. The 
wire netting is very heavy and the openings in it are 
about 8 by 4 inches in size. Every 20 feet or so is a 
chestnut post, to which the wire is fastened, and as 
there are no chestnut trees on the estate, all the stakes 
had to be bought and shipped in, so some slight idea 
of the expense of this vast game inclosure may be gained. 
Over hi'ls and through woods and swamps the fence 
runs, and it is much work to take care of it. Once 
every week each foot of the fence is inspected, and also 
after every high wind, which would be apt to blow down 
trees which might break a section of it. This is neces- 
sary, for a break would mean the escape of many valu- 
able animals, and a few bull elk loose in the Berkshire 
hills would not be any fun for the farmers. Only once 
has the outer fence broken, but then the break was found 
by the game keepers before any animals discovered it. 
The big game park lies in front of Mr. Whitney's house, 
which faces to the west, and the fence is very near the 
road, so that the animals can often be seen from the 
lawn. A great part of the inclosure is woodland, and 
the animals spend most of the day under the trees, so 
that early morning and early evening are the two best 
times to see them. 
The buffalo herd is the most interesting animal ex- 
hibit in the inclosure, and the big brown animals are 
nearly always to be seen on a hillside or loafing along the 
fence. The herd now numbers thirty-two, and some of 
the older ones are giants and about as ugly as anyone can 
imagine. Five years ago the buffalo came to October 
Mountain on the cars from distant Wyoming. In the 
party were eight cows and five bulls, and they took 
kindly to the gentle climate of the Berkshire hills and 
thrived on the grass and blackberry bushes. The king 
of the herd was Apache, the big bull, and he has held 
his proud position ever since. No one can go near him, 
as he has a nasty temper and his eye is about as wicked 
as the red men for whom he is named. He is one of the 
largest buffalo alive to-day, and lords it over all the 
animals m the inclosure. During the five years that the 
buffalo have lived in Washington, only three have died, 
two of these being members of the original herd and 
one a liitle calf. One big bull was sent away a year ago 
to the Bronx Park in New York, and Mr. Whitney 
gave him to the city, as it had no good specimen of 
buffalo bull. These are the only missing members at the 
roll call, and' thirt3'-two buffalo now come to the sheds 
in winter time. All summer the big animals roam about 
the great inclosure at will, eating what they want and 
wallowing in the rank grass in perfect contentment. 
In winter time it is all different. Then the herd is 
brought into a small inclosure, and have to be carefully 
fed. The snow is so deep that the animals cannot find 
feed for themselves, and they live on hay, which is cut 
for them on the various farms, and they, with the elk, 
.take care of the whole crop. They seem to prefer their 
hay a bit rank, and if there fare a few brambles in it 
they appreciate the favor. The first year that the buffalo 
,were in their new home only one calf was born, and he 
.is now a fine specimen and ready to take Apache's place ' 
wheji he goes to join the Indians and the buffalo in the 
happy hunting ground. Six calves were born this spring, 
and they are now funny looking little light-brown af- 
fairs, and tag their mothers around, grunting like pigs. 
Six calves were born last year, and ihey now are fairly 
big, but small in comparison with the veterans of the 
herd. The year before only two calves appeared, and 
these are hard to pick out from their elders. The in- 
creasing herd grows more valuable each year, for each 
year finds the buffalo a rarer an;mal, and the herd in the 
. Yellowstone Park is the only one now at large. Th.e 
value of the animals is enormous, when it is taken into 
consideration that they are absolutely no good except 
as curiosities. Each one is worth over $500, and some 
of the big bulls are worth far more than this. F. M. 
Chapel has entire charge of them, as well as of the rest 
of the animals, and his house is close to the winter 
quarters. He has a wholesome respect for them all, and 
it is hard to tell whether he would prefer to meet a full- 
grown bull buffalo or bull elk alone. He does not care 
for either, and none of the men under him like to go 
into the big inclosure. When they do go, they slick 
close to the fence, and they claim that they can clinil:i 
over it in record time, if they are called upon to do so, 
The elk are the most attractive animals to watch, for 
their lordly grace and bearing is fasc'nating. All day 
long they stay in the woods, especially at th's time of the 
year when the days are apt to be hot and the horns of 
the bulls are in the velvet. They now like to rub them 
on the branches of the trees and slowly wear off the 
moss-like coating, so that next month they can be ready 
for the fighting season. The cows, big, horse-l'ke ani- 
mals, without antlers, sometimes wander near the fence 
during the day, but only occasionally is one fortunate 
enough to see them. The first elk came from the 
West, with the buffalo, and there were thirty-seven of 
them. NoAv there are about ninety, but no one knows 
the exact number. The cows keep the calves in the 
woods most of the time, and the little brown fellows are 
so much alike that it is impossible to count them. It 
is thought that there must be nearly forty calves in the 
inclosure now. Two weeks ago Mr. Whitney had twenty 
of the yearling elk captured and sent to his estate in the 
Adirondacks, where they were set free in the woods, 
in hope that in time they will increase to such an extent 
that there will be elk shooting in the North Woods again. 
Ten bulls and ten cows were sent, and the men on the 
estate had a deal of hard work in getting the big, ugly 
animals into the shipping crates. 
Mr. Whitney cares more for his black-tail .deer than 
for any of his other animals, and these beautiful crea- 
tures are but seldom seen, for they are very wild and 
stay in the woods the greater part of the time. Ten 
were brought to October Mountain last season, three 
bucks and seven does. The men have seen two fawns 
this summer, but think that there are more, which will 
be seen when the deer come into the yards with the elk 
in the winter. Ten mule deer came from the West last 
year, five bucks and five does, and three fawns have 
been seen. They are larger than the black-tails and not 
as graceful, but seem to get along as well in the rigor- 
ous climate. Only two of the common, or Virginian, 
deer are on the estate. They are both bucks, and no 
one cares much about them. They are too ordinary, 
and any one who. is not a millionaire can raise common 
deer. The latest addition to the menagerie are the 
moose. This spring two pairs of two-y.ear-old moose 
were brought to the estate from Canada and turned 
loose in an inclosure all of their own. It is in a deep 
valley, where there is plenty of water for them and dense 
woods. No one has seen them since they were liberated, 
and some of the men fear that they will not thrive on 
October Mountain. Only one hard luck story has been 
enacted in the animal colony there, and the antelope 
claimed it as their own. A small herd was brought on 
from the West, but their first New England winter was 
their last, and antelope culture has been given up. It 
is hard to estimate the value of this big collection of 
big game, for there is no market value to it except as 
food. The keen assessors of Washington think there is 
value to it, nevertheless, and tax it accordingly, and 
give it a valuation of $5,838. 
The Game Birds and Their Homes. 
The feathered population on October Mountain keeps 
quite a few men employed, for game keepers are walk- 
ing in the woods at all times, and more are working in 
the pheasantry. This is a big colony of tiny little houses, 
each inhabited by a cackling hen with a lot of young 
pheasants playing in the front yard. Charles Briggs is 
the head game-keeper, and has charge of the two pheas- 
antries. At one, near the Lenox line of the estate, all 
the old birds are kept, which are there for breeding pur- 
poses. The coops are similar to those in Forest Park, 
and the birds of the common English variety, and only 
about 200 old birds are retained in captivity. The big 
pheasantry near the center of the estate is the most in- 
teresting, and in it everything is done according to the 
most successful English method. The eggs are brought 
to it from the other pheasantry, where they are laid by 
the old birds, and then set under a hen. Each hen cares 
for twenty eggs, and while she is setting on them she 
lives in a little box in a comfortable house, where many 
other hens are employed at a similar occupation. When 
the chicks Avere hatched this spring they and their foster 
mothers were put into the little coops in the rank grass 
of the pheasantry at once, and the chicks were allowed 
to run around in the big wire inclosiire, and have all 
the fun they wanted. The wire fence is only, about three 
feet high, and the young pheasants can now fly over it 
and roam about as much as they choose. 
About 1,500 young birds were raised this year, and 
they can go to the woods as soon as they want to, for 
nothing is done to keep them in captivity. They fly 
and run all about the outside of the fence now, but three 
times a day they come in so as to be on hand for their 
meals. There are 128 coops in the phea.santry, and if it 
had not been a poor year for raising the young birds 
there would have been many more. This is the first 
season that .such a large number of pheasants has been 
raised, but an even greater number will be brought up 
next year. None have been shot on the estate as yet, 
and it is not probable that Mr. Whitney will allow any 
to be killed this year. It seems to be his idea to thor- 
oughly stock the woods before any shooting is indulged 
in, and, beside, it is an awful lot of work to chase a bird 
through the woods. ,It is much easier to sit on one's 
front doorsteps and break clay pigeons and have a man 
in top boots load j-our gun for you. This is the popular 
shooting at October Mountain now. Many partridges 
and quail are to be seen about the place, and all over 
the estate tiny fields of buckwheat have been planted 
and the grain will be allowed to drop its black seeds on 
the ground for the birds, so that they can have plenty 
to eat iti the fall, and they will be fed by the game- 
keepers through the long winter. 
Two 3'ears ago, in the height of the Belgian hare 
craze, Mr. Whitney laid in a stock of these long-eared 
innocents, and they have increased and multplied as only 
rabbits can. At first they were kept in a warren on the 
southern slope of October Mountain, but soon they 
became so plentiful that most of them were given their 
freedom, and the woods and fields are now full of them. 
In a year or so they will be as thick as the hares are in 
an English park, and hare hunting will be one of the 
popular sports, Large numbers of quail were also lib- 
(^.rated, and the^ ijicre^se^ last year, but the deep srqw§ 
of the hills is against the Bob White, and it is doubtful 
if the quail ever become plentiful. The pheasants will 
overrun the coiinrry, however, and soon good pheasant 
shooting can be enjoyed about the edges of the estate 
where no Whitney signs can bid the gunner nay. The 
partr dge will take care of themselves and increase 
rapidly as long as they are carefully preserved. 
Fishing will, in a short time, be one of the features of 
October Mountain, and great care is now being taken 
of the various bodies of water. Basin Pond, in the 
southern part of the estate, is the largest sheet of water, 
a beautiful little lake, about twenty-five acres in extent, 
situated in the heart of the southern hills and impris- 
oned in big woods. Last fall Mr. Whitney decided to 
stock it with black bass, so sent to a fish hatchery and 
bought twenty big 2-pounders to put in Basin Pond. 
For some reason they were not shipped until early in the 
winter, and the snow was heavy on the ground when 
the big tank containing the fish came over the road to 
October Mountain. Hurriedly the fish were loaded on 
to another team, and the four-mile drive to the pond be- 
gun over unbroken roads deep with snow. When the 
fish were taken out to be put in their new home eight 
were dead, but more will probably be. put in later this 
season. Two smaller ponds are full of bullheads and 
pickerel, but these are too prosaic to .trouble the Whit- 
neys. A large number of brooks ramble through the 
woods, and some of them are full of trout. The largest 
brook, which flows through the center of the estate, is 
not posted, as it has been stocked by the State Fish Com- 
mission, and each year many trout are taken from it. 
All the water will probably be closed as soon as the 
owner can find time to attend to it and take care of that 
part of his sport. 
The Farms on October Moontain. 
Instead of having one head fann where everything is 
centered, Air. Whitney has left the little farms just as 
he bought them, and in most cases the original owners 
are living in them now as his tenants and employes. 
The farms are connected with a private telephone sys- 
tem and fifty-five men are employed on them. Each 
year about 100 tons of hay has been cut, but all of 
this has been fed to the animals and nearly fifty addi- 
tional tons have been bought to feed the horses and cows. 
The domestic animals form but a small feature of the 
estate, and this number is limited, but time will prob- 
ably increase them as the estate grows and is made per- 
fect. The hay is now the only crop which amounts to 
anything, and the enormous barn for it at the home farm 
is another example of the millionaire's way of doing 
things. Last year the hay crop was larger than had 
been expected, and it was seen that a new barn nmst be 
built to store it. Again the twenty-day order was is- 
sued, and this time it was executed and the hay stored 
in safety. Charles H. Parsons is in charge of the farms, 
and, in fact, of the whole estate, as he is the superin- 
tendent. His work is enormous, as he has to visit all 
the different places each day and be responsible to Mr. 
Wh'tney for everything. All bills are sent to him, and 
none are paid unless approved by him. He has the 
pay rolls, amounting to $2,500 a month, and has abso- 
lute power over the men. Under his care are the twen- 
ty-four houses and thirty barns on the estate, beside the 
October Mountain house and stables. 
Away down in the southern part of the estate is the 
Grossett farm, where the flocks of goats and sheep are 
kept. The goats are all Angoras, and beautiful with 
their long, silk-like hair. No one but Mr. Whitney 
knows why they are there or what good they are, for 
they are seldom seen. There are sixty-five go'ats in the 
flock now, and tliey simply run around and butt each 
other for lack of something better to do. On this same 
fa rm is the big flock of 226 sheep, another bunch of ani- 
mals with no particular excuse for being there. They 
are just sheep with not even an ancestral tree, and be- 
yond the few which have furnished mutton for the mil- 
lionaire, they have done nothing. October Mountain 
is yet crude, but the promise is there and enough has 
been done to give a slight forecast of what will follow. 
And on some future day, when the stranger comes to 
October Mountain over the tops of the blue Berksh're 
hills, he will see a country place perfect in every detail, 
representing an enormous expense and changing wild 
October Mountain into a bit of artificial England. 
Wisconsin Game Protective Association. 
Milwaukee, Oct. 11. — Editor Forest mud Stream: 
Please publish inclosed resolution, adopted in our last 
regular meeting : 
Whereas, Our Mayor, David Rose, who is running for 
(iovernor, makes a dangerous war on our good game laws. 
This political demagogue has promised the farmers, game 
hogs and market-hunters that he will revoke the game 
laws and abolish the game wardens when elected, to make 
vdtes among the farmers. But the farmers of Wisconsin 
are no outlaws, and are in favor of protecting the game 
and fish. He tells the people every day that it costs the 
State a large sum for game protection (the wardens get 
only $2.50 per day if they work), and that that money 
can be saved, which is untrue and a campaign lie, as no 
•money from the State treasury can be used outside of the 
license money, which is only one dollar for a resident, for 
paying the wardens, etc. 
We hope you will roast this demagogue in your paper. 
Aug. Plambeck, Sec. W. G. P. A 
A permit must be secured from the local authorities 
when a weapon of any kind is to be purchased in Rus- 
sia. The name of the man who makes the purchase, 
with the number of the weapon, is recorded. If the 
purchaser ever wants to dispose of the weapon, he must 
notify the authorities and cause the transfer to be re- 
corded on the books of the firm which sold it. 
Reading Forest and Stream and rifle shooting afe 
about all the recreation I get, or indeed care for. Would 
as soon think of giving up my four rifles, as T would of 
-topping yoirr paper as long n,s I have the wherewith. 
5. S. 
