96 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Tnese facts can be tuDstanUaied to ttie satisfaction of any one who. 
if in this vlcluity, will tuke the troOhlo to call at mo park. We have 
one eeveu year-old buck, wliose One antlers we wi'hecl to get for one of 
tbe Commissioners. I detailed a man to watch his movements Both 
borne were obtained after tbe bnck h»d burled them, the whole pro- 
ceedings being watched by my detail. Atinis time the bocks go singly, 
and seem droopy. The rut'lng takes place with our deer anout the 
second wpek In October. If two bucks cross each othor after different 
doe# they keep on; If nfier the same doe, a Her o struggle em-ues, 
the doe look ng on at a respectful distance. When the battle Is over— 
often ending in the death of one — she goes off with the victor, showing 
her pleasure in manv ways, as licking his wounds or his face. In one In- 
stance I found two dead bucks lying close together, the ground bearing 
evidence of a fierce struggle. Our deer shed about the middle of 
April, and look quite shabby until the middle of May. Tney get qnlto 
thin at this season, seeming to get along better during the rough win- 
ter. when they feed on the undergrowth. 
Afier the rutting season Is over, the bucks herd together In separate 
squads from the does. In regard to your third quest'on, I have always 
observed tha' the spike backs keep a good distance between them- 
selves and the older nucks. I have never seen one chasing a doe, that 
did not come to a dead halt on being crossed by an olier buck. I tbli.k 
they seldom get a Jump until they- are at least three years o'd, 
unless by chance. They are the ones whch do somnch damage to the 
trees by sticking their spikes In the bark, and often killing a tree In one 
night by girdling. Tnis year I have put North Carolina car on the treea 
which they have attacked, and I find it a sure preventive. They 
will not go near a tree coaled with tar. Very truly, 
W. H. Cassell, Snpt. Park Police, Balto. 
I take great pleasure In quoting the above letter of Captain Cassell, 
though his statement contradicts a former one made by ine In regard 
to spike backs. I accept It unconditionally, and am glad to be corrected 
by such authority. To my mind the dispute about the burial of horns Is 
settled, and I trust that at least yonr correspondent will cease to ndlculc 
the Idea. If It be possible for men who shoot at deer heads with the 
rifle for a frivolous pastime, or those who have witnessed hundreds of 
bloody straggles between deer to acknowledge an error, why I shall 
oonsider they have erred In their observations, and not 
Sycamore. 
Dker SnEDDiNG the m Horns.— La-Shar-U-Kittibutz, Little 
Chief of the Pawnees, writes tis from his cattle ranche amoDg 
the sand hills of Nebraska, on this subject, as follows : 
“ White tails commence sheddiig their horns here as early 
as the first of February, and the last buck that I saw with 
horns (and he lmd only one) was on the 16th of February. I 
am told that the black tails (mule deer) 6hed about the same 
time, but as I liavn’t seen a black tail since January 1, I can’t 
tell anything about it. As for elk, I am pretty sure that they 
shed about the first of March, but can’t say positively. I see 
that one of the correspondents of tbe Forest and Stream says 
that deer bury their horns or hide them when they shed ; but 
they don’t do it in this country, for I find freshly shed horns 
every day in the sand hills, and they lie right out in plain 
sight on top of the ground.” 
As a conundrum for those who believe that deer knock their 
loose horns off against trees, wc would like to ask what those 
animals do which live w a country without timber ? 
DEER’S HORNS— GROUSE SHOOTING. 
_ _ Ridgewood, N. J., March 4, 1678. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
N ildng sever 1 communications In the Forest and Stream and 
Rod and Gun relative lo deer shedding their horns, I will give yon 
my experience^ relation thereto. I grew np In what was considered, 
at one Ume. a very good deer country, and have an experience of 
thirty years’ shooting, In which Ume I have shot and killed many deer 
(and hatf not, a much greater number). In Northeastern Pennsylvania 
has been my only experience. I have never, In my thirty years’ shoot- 
ing, observed where a bnck had shed his horns before ChriBtmaa, and I 
have never seen a hack with Ills horns after February, and, if my re- 
collection serves.me, not after the month of January. I believe that 
the bucks drop their horns between th ) times I have mentioned, and In 
a qnlet way— not by force against trees. On hlg-h ground I have ob- 
served more old horns than on level or low land, yet I have discovered 
them on both high hills and low, level country. Now, as to the fawn’s 
spots My observations are that they are, as a general thing, entirely 
off by the 1st of September; still, I would not Bay I had not discovered 
them in September, but It’s a rare thing. I wish to be understood as 
not doubting the opinions and experience of others, bnt I firmly believe 
that different olimates may change time of losing the spots. I wish 
tbit I had done as Jndge Ca'on suggests, for memory Is nncertaln— 
noted down all that came under my observations while engaged in the 
pursuit of goanlng daring the time I have referred to. It would un- 
doubt ;dly be an interesting story to the lovers of the gun and rod. It 
would afford me much gratlflcailon to have some of our older hunters 
for deer and other game give their experience. 
Now, Mr. Editor, I observed lu last week’s paper, a record of the 
work of two pot-hunters headed, “ Market Shooting in Massachusetts,” 
a total of fifty-four days— 1, If#. One th .neand one hundred and eighty- 
nine birds, or an average of twenty-six birds per day I— several days as 
high as thirty to thirty-eight partridges, besides woodcock. I %nppose 
thny meau by partridge our pheasant, not quail. Now, I shall presnme 
that the said George and John Stone, the market shooters, must be, 
judging from their success, similar lo some of onr pot-hunters In Pike 
foamy. Upon the examination of the birds yon will, perhaps, find 
Where a little brass wire has encircled the neck, and the bird Is un- 
harmed, to far as shot is concerned. I am sorry to say we havp, once 
in a while, a very successful shooter in our country. Sometimes he 
will be gone two or three days at a Ume, and will return with a bag of 
fllty or sixty birds. Yet be Is considered only an ordinary shot I my- 
self had the opportunity of testing his way of killing, slu I fonnd the 
wire had done Its work we I ; and farther Inquiries led to the fact ibat 
the party had several pot-homers In the woods awaiting his arrival 
He bags the g»me and returns loaded. Great success I What glory ! ‘ 
You will pardon me for my Insinuations, bnt I will close by saying 
that it would afford mo a fearful of pleasure to accompany these 
geotlemen for one week during the best shooting season. Poor as I 
am, I would cheerfully pay the week’s expenses, give them all their 
game, If they would average twenty-five pheasants, If this is what they 
mean by partridges per day. lam nfty-flvc years old, have followed 
shootlog for thirty years, and It certainly would be a gratification to me 
to witness one week’s shooting with this party on terms I have Btated, 
eo that I might see what I have never seen, and what, I believe, I never 
wl11 - Pennsylvania. 
[“Confess, confess, hath he not hit you here ?"— Ed.J 
Arrivals at the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens fob Week 
Ending Tuesday, Feb. 19.— One bald eagle, Ualiaeius Uucoesphalus, 
presented; two rough-legged buzzards, A. lagopus rar taneu phanni «, 
purchased ; two white rabbits, Ltpit* ounieulus, presented. 
Arrivals for Week Ending Feb. 62,-Four hybrid fowls, presented ; 
one white rabbit, L. eunteulus, presented; eight dlngos, Canit d<npo, 
born In garden. ’ 
For Week Ending Tnesday, March G.-one great homed owl, Ilubo Hr. 
iflnianiu, presented. Arthur * Bk<jWKi ^ Supl 
fjjjfoodhmd, ^nrni mid garden. 
THIS DEPARTMENT IS EDITED BY W. 3. DAVIDSON, BEO. N. T. 
HORTICULTURAL BOOIBTY. 
THE TRUE SHAMROCK. 
Wc have often been asked about it, and have puzzled our 
brains over the vexed question of which is the true shamrock. 
St. Patrick’s Day will soon be here, and many, doubtless, 
would like to kuow what the true shamrock is. Antiquarians 
abroad have exercised themselves considerably on the matter, 
and there are many plants of the clover family that are desig- 
nated as the Shamrock. Many think that it is the Trifolium 
repens, or common white clover ; others think it i9 the Tri- 
folium minus, or small yellow clover ; while others declare, 
and with much probability, that it was not a species of clover 
at all, but the common wood sorrel ( Oxdlis acctosella), the 
leaves of which look like clover, and which is one of the 
most common of the early spring flowers in Britain. The an- 
tiquarians argue that in the days oP St. Patrick Ireland was 
very thickly wooded, and that as this plant (the oxalis) grows 
very abundantly in woods, it was doubtless very plentiful in 
Ireland, and would readily be used by St. Patrick to illustrate 
the doctrine of the Trinity to his hearers ; and, besides, it is 
not certain that the two species of clover before-mentioned — 
not being indigenous to the country, were introduced before 
St. Patrick’s time. 
The Irish themselves do not appear to have any decided 
tradition as to which plant is the correct one, and it is quite a 
vexed question which cannot be solved at this day. In fact, 
while writing, two Irishmen, well posted too, argue the 
the point— one for the Oxalis, and the other for Trifolium , 
Either will do for the believer, and the Trinity is as well repre. 
sented by the Trifolium as by the Oxalis. 
SPORTS ” IN PLANTS. 
orTZr f w,8h '^ toJolna orsuclass Shooting and flshtng 
' a UVOrft,,le ° ppomnl,y by 1 
Mr. C. M. Hovey, the able and experienced horticulturist o 
Boston, has had something interesting to say on this subjec 
to the Horticultural Society of Massachusetts. He says 
“ What is a natural sport ? To most horticulturists and cul 
tivators of experience this may appear a simple question, bu 
by numbers of persons it is not so well understood. A natura 
sport is a variation of peculiar chang® of any part of a plan 
from its Dormal state. Take, for instance, the Camellia, oi 
Japonica as it is often called. Here we have the old Doubh 
White {alba plena), a Chinese variety, imported into EDglanc 
so loDg ago as 1739, and since then extensively propagatec 
and dis-omina’cd all over Europe and America. Yet it is stil 
the very same flower it was in 1739, so far as we know our 
selves, or can learn from descriptions, paintings, or bookB 
It has never been anything else. If, however, you or 1 had i 
plant which should, upon one particular branch, show a flowei 
of a different form or color, that particular flower would b< 
denominated a ‘ sport.’ So, too, if the leaves were to assume 
a different shape, or the branches some peculiar form, thal 
would be also a sport, because, iu either instance, it has de- 
parted from its original type. Such a flower or branch is, 
therefore, a ‘ natural sport,’ and so considered in these re 
marks. It is somewhat extraordinary, when we notice the 
character and importance of these sports, that so little has 
been written upon the subject. In the very hasty manner in 
which I have been enabled to look through the works of vari- 
ous authors I find that it is scarcely mentioned at all. Mr. 
Knight, in his numerous physiological and horticultural papers 
published from time to time in the ‘ Transactions of tbe Royal 
Horticultural Society,’ does not speak of sports. Loudorr, in 
his various exhaustive volumes on trees, plants and shrubs, 
has little or nothing to say of them. Lindley, in his * Theory 
of Horticulture,’ does not notice them, and M’lntosh, Thomp- 
son, and other authors, do not give us any information upon 
the subject, Indeed, it is only in the periodical works upon 
horticulture, and scattered through many volumes, that much 
can be learned, and this in the main recorded of only a few 
particular sports. When we reflect a moment upoh their im- 
portance, and consider how much our pleasure grounds and 
gardens, our greenhouses and conservatories, have gained in 
valuable additions through these sports, we are surprised that 
so little has been treasured up regarding them. Thfc fact that 
we know so little of Jhe cause of these sports is probably the rea- 
son why t he record of their production is all that can be found. 
It isonly wilhin a few years that they have assumed any prom- 
inence, though, undoubtedly, they have existed for a long pe- 
riod. The very curious variegated trees from Japan, though 
probably some are from seed, are, many of them, undoubtedly 
sports, for it is not probable that so many seedlings should be 
precisely like the parent, except in the color of the leaf. 
LoudoD, in describing one of the very dwarf forms (Abies 
clanbrasi Uana) of the Norway Spruce, states that it was said 
to have been found at Belfast, but, he remarks, that to him 
1 was very doubtful whether such a stunted variety as this 
was ever found in a bed of seedlings ; we think it more prob- 
able that it is a continuation by cuttings of one of those bird- 
nest-like monstrosities that are occasionally found on all 
trees.’ in reality a sport, though he does not use that word. 
As we have stated, little can be learned about sports in books, 
and we are driven to form our own conclusions regarding 
j^em. That they do take place on original plants there is no 
doubt, but it would seem tbat this tendency to sport is greatly 
increased by continued reproduction from seed. We have 
stated that, so far as we know, the old Double White Camellia 
has, in neurly a century and a half, never Bported. Yet, when 
we look at that incomparable and most exquisite of all flowers 
the Camellia fimbriata, a perfect counterpart of the Double 
White in leaf and form, except that its petals, pure as the 
driven snow, are as delicately cut as the most delicate of fair 
bands alone could cut them, throwing a charming fringe 
around each petal, we think this, too, was a sport saved by 
some observant and enthusiastic cultivator of the Flowery 
Kingdom, and bequeathed to ub as a token of the cure which 
that heathen nation has ever bestowed upon one of the most 
beautiful handiworks of the Creator. The Azalea is another 
Chinese plant which, at the present day, is the most ‘ spor- 
tive or all that we possess ; In fact, It has become so to 
such a degree that a name signifies but little. Sometimes the 
flowers of striped varieties are all white, sometimes red, 
and at others parti-colored, and many of our varieties are per- 
petuations of these sports, some of which continue true and 
others go back to the original. As to the cause of these 
sports we have little to say. Our only theory is that, having 
undergone so many cross fertilizations, they have become, as 
we often say, * somewhat mixed,’ for the older varieties of 
the large-flowered, or rather large-leaved kinds, of thePheo- 
nicea aud alba type remain very true and sports among them 
are exceedingly rare— indeed, we ourselves do not know of 
oie. I trust that the few instances 1 have mentioned of the 
origin of sports will show you the importance of observation. 
No doubt many interesting additions might have been made 
to our variety of plants, had the cultivators of fifty years ago 
been as numerous or unremitting in their labors as those of 
recent years. The number now who are on the look out for 
every sport is legion, and the yearly additions to our cata- 
logues show that they are not idle." 
VERDURE FOR TREELESS PRAIRIES. 
St. Louis, Feb. 22, 1878. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
In some former numbers of your valued paper I noticed 
reasons were set forth why our Western prairies are treeless. 
If I remember aright, the principal reason assigned for their 
being so was that the soil generally is too fine aud compact. 
So far as my observation aud experience go, these conclu- 
sions are erroneous, as wherever forest or fruit trees, iu- 
digenous to the locality, have been properly set out or propa- 
gated from seeds, they thrive and grow remarkably well. 
Last spring I put out a quantity of fruit and forest trees of 
various kinds in a firm, hard, loam soil, and I have never 
seen a finer growth anywhere. I procured about 500 little 
cottonwood stocks from a saDd-bar in the Saline River, set 
them out, and many of them attained a growth of more than 
three feet in height the past season. My theory as to the 
prairies being bare of trees is the almost annual fires that 
sweep over all their surface, licking up and destroying every 
vestige of living tree and shrub. Un most of the water 
courses trees and small fruit bearing shrubs are to be found, 
but remote from the track of the devouring prairie fires, and 
where no fuel was afforded no grasses grow. There has been 
no trouble in making trees grow on timber claims, on sod 
ground, when they could be kept secure from fires ; and the 
day is not far distant when fine tracts of woodland will be 
present to view, where now nothing greets the eye but vast 
tracts of treeless prairie. I am glad Congress granted the 
right to enter quarter sections of government lands for tree 
cdlture. Its provisions are : That ten acres shall be broken the 
first year ; that during the Becond year another ten acres shall 
be brokeD, aud the first ten acres be planted with forest trees 
not less than twelve feet apart ; and so on yearly until forty 
acres are thus planted. At the expiration of eight years, if 
proof is made that the conditions have been complied with, 
the trees properly cultivated, etc., then the government gives 
the person entitled to it a patent and full ownership. Many 
Buch claims have been entered throughout our Western States, 
notably in Kansas, but I regret to state the great bulk have 
been forfeited for non-compliance with the conditions at- 
tached to the entries. It looked easy to set out ten acres of 
little forest trees each succeeding four years, but when the 
time came to do so a great majority of these timber claimants 
backed down and out, and their claims have been taken by 
others for homesteads and pre-emptions. On many accounts 
I am sorry to see so little true grit displayed by these would- 
be pbilantropists, for if all the land is to be taken up for 
farms we 6ball have no forests or timber culture to speak of. 
It certainly is no great task to collect sufficient forest trees to 
plant ten acres the second year after entry, aud continue on 
until one-fourth of the land is planted. Nuts And seeds could 
be gathered and propagated the first year, and sprouted ready 
for setting out the second (as this mode is allowed by the act 
of Congress). Tbe land between the rows of trees could 
be cultivated to good advantage for trees and crops un- 
til the expiration of the. eight years ; so, al 60 , the balance of 
the tract. I am a lover of trees, and it would do my heart 
good to see our vast prairies dotted all over with well-tended 
and growing forest und fruit trees. D. L. Dickinson. 
American Woods for Paris.— One of the most remarka- 
ble exhibits designed for the Paris Exposition is a tablet of 
Dative American woods, which consists of a mosaic tablet 
eight feet wide and twelve feet in height, and was designed 
expressly for Mr. William H. Lippincott, the well-known 
Philadelphia lumber dealer, by the best artists and architects 
of the Quaker City. The tablet is in the Egyptian style, and 
consists of a flat moulding on the outer edge made of three 
quarter circles of bird's eye and curled mapld; with a triangu- 
lar-shaped piece of bois d'arc and beech filling the blank por- 
tion of the circle. The main panel is of white and yellow pine 
ash, striped and plain walnut, poplar, apple, chestnut and syca^ 
more. The bottom is a broad piece of close-grained oak skil- 
fully carved. Resting on the oak rail is an antique vase of 
various woods, from which springs a lotos plant with a wide- 
spread flower and leaves, all carved with great delicacy from 
ordinary American building woods. At the right and left 
upper corners of the tablet are dragons, made of California 
red wood. The open spaces of the design are filled in with 
rosettes in relief composed of Florida, North Carolina and 
New Jersey cedar, with caps of white holly and locust 
forming a most beautiful contrast to the deep red cedar. The 
tablet is suspended by large rings of black walnut relieved 
with hickory, from a handsome bracket with a polished hick- 
ory roller. On each side of the bracket is a flying bat carved 
from butternut wood. Forty-three different varieties ot na- 
tive American woods enter into the construction of the tablet 
including, besides those already named, birch, elm, cypress' 
spruce, gum, hemlock aud others. Two cross-bars hear the 
the words, “Lippincott, Bois d’Amerique pour Importation." 
The whole affair has been pronounced to be the finest collec- 
tion of American woods ever gathered together.— Graphic. 
• — — 
New York Horticultural Society.— The regular month- 
ly meeting of the above society was held at their rooms, 68 
West 33d st., on Tuesday of last week. The room was 
crowded with visitors, and the display of plants and flowers 
was unexpectedly fine. Mr. Boileau delivered an address on 
the proper method of training and fruit trees, a resume of 
of which we will huve much pleasure in laying before our 
readers next week. This is the season these things ought to 
be attended to, and we try to draw attention to all these 
things in their season. 
