FOREST AND STREAM 
seasons for eating and protecting fish; and we most ear- 
nestly solicit for our columns such information as our cor- 
respondents will be pleased to bestow. Perhaps Prof. 
Hayden will enlighten us upon the disease noticed as pecu- 
liar (?) to the Yellowstone. 
A Petrified Ciiurch. — As a specimen of unique build- 
ing material, and unsurpassed for beauty, the stone com- 
prising the walls of the Presbyterian church in Mumford, 
Monroe county, must carry off the palm. On the premises 
of Oliver Allen, Esq., is a quarry or deposit bed of petri- 
fied wood, which lias been used in its construction. In 
this stone the fibres of different woods, together with leaves 
and berries, ferns, tendrils, and vines, have been perfectly 
preserved, while, mosses, barks, and roots are clearly ob- 
servable in the larger pieces, grouped together in endless 
variety and beauty Probably no petrifactions in the 
world are more perfect than these, and when applied to a 
building of fair architectural proportions the effect must 
be beautiful. 
— The contents of the stomach of a trout weighing forty 
pounds, lately sent from Michigan to Washington, was 
found to consist of eight distinct fishes, six of which 
measured twelve inches in length each, and the other two 
eight inches each, making a total of seven feet and four 
inches of fish in a trout forty-three inches long. The eight 
lay side by side, tie heads and tails being partly digested. 

Subterranean Fishes. — In boring artesian wells in the 
desert of Sahara very small fishes, resembling the white 
bait, not unfrequently occur, which inhabit the waters of 
the subterranean bed of the desert. They are identical 
with a species from the waters of the Biskra. The male 
differs from the female in being transversely barred, so 
that some authors have regarded it as a distinct species. 
The eyes are well formed, although these fishes live a part 
of the time in obscurity. It seems that as far back as 1849 
the governor of the oases of Thebes and Gaibe, in Egypt, 
staled that an artesian well about 105 feet deep, which lie 
bad cleaned out, furnished for his table fishes which prob- 
ably came from the Nile, as the sand which he had brought 
up from this artesian well was identical with that of this 
river. In the Sahara, as in Egypt, these fishes were carried 
away by the waters which filtered into the soil down to the 
subterranean sheet into which the artesian wells open. 
Gcrvais claims to have established the fact that these sub- 
terranean fishes are essentially fluviatile, and that some like 
them are found in the rivers of Senegal and Mozambique^ 
of Syria and Egypt, of the Iberian peninsula, and even 
America. Their fossil representatives are not found in de- 
posits of marine origin, and all that we know occur in la- 
custrine formations. The existence of these fishes cannot, 
then, serve as an argument for the presence of the waters 
of the Mediterranean on the soil of the north of Africa. 
CENTRAL PARK MENAGERIE. 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC PARKS, I 
New York, April 25, 1875. ( 
Animals received at Central Park Menagerie for the week ending 
April 81th, 1875:- 
One Cuvueson. Orax alector. Presented by Fulton Paul, Esq., O. S. 
Consul, Trinidad. 
Two Alpacas, L'nnui pacos. Hab. Pern. 
One Crow, Corvus Amtrlcanus. Presented by Mrs. Dr. Webber. 
The following received in exchange:— 
Nino Brant Geese, Bsrnlcta bienta. 
Six Widgeon Ducks. Mareca psnelope. /7a*. Europe. 
Two Tambourine Pigeons, Tynpanlstria bicolor. UcCb. S. Africa. 
Two Croosbills, Loxia curdiroslra. Hab. Europe. 
W. A. Conklin, Director. 
— The following are recent arrivals at the Garden of 
the Zoological Society, Fuirmount Park, Philadelphia: — 
Two Prong-horned Antelopes, ArUUocapra Americana. Purchased. 
Two American Elk, Otrvws Canadensis. Presented by Hon. Asa 
Packer. 
One Loon, Cdlymbns glacialls. Presented by R. B. Magee, Esq. 
One Brent G >o*e, Bsrnlela brenta. Presented by Geo. DeHaveu, Jr. 
One 1' lorida Fox Squirrel, Sciurus einersus. Purchased. 
One Cat Squirrel, Sciurus CarotemU. Purchased 
One Florida Pouched Rat, Oeomys plrnti . Purchased. 
Two Leather-backed Turtles, PlalgpeUlsft rox . Purchased . 
Nineteen Gopher Tortoise, Xtrobaus Carolinus. 
Eight Yellow Terrapin, Plyc'umy < eoncinua. 
One Leather-back Turtle, Platypeltls ftrox . 
Tweuty Scaly Lizzarda, Scclo/sn us undulaius. 
Two Chamelon, Anollus G'arollnensis. 
Two Diamond Rattlesnake-*, Crotulus adamanteus. 
One Ground Ruittesnuke. Crotalophorus tnillanvs. 
One Moccasin Suake, AnclMrodon piscivorous. 
Two Harlequin Snakes, Slaps fulvlus. 
OneGarter Snake, Eutacnin sir tills. 
Two Water Moccasins, Tropldonotus fiuclatus. 
Three Spreading Adders, Utter odon platyr/ilnos. Two Spreading Ad- 
ders, UeUrodon nt modes. 
One Chicken Snake, Coluber ffullalus. 
Two Bead Snakes, Ophibolttt cocclnexu. 
Five Black Snakes, Bascunlon constrictor. 
One Btuck Fox Squirrel, Sciurus cinereus, var. vulplnus. 
One Block Spider Monkey, Aides Bctztbulh. 
Two Weeper Monkeys, (kbits Capucinus. 
One common Macuque Monkey, M. cynornolyas. 
One Macaw, Avaarancauna. 
Tanning Skins with Wool or Fur on.— The follow- 
ing method is recommended for private use in skin tanning- 
Take equal parts salt, alum, and Glauber salts, and half a 
pint saltpetre; pulverize and mix. Handle the skins and 
rub the mixture iu well three or four times a day, the 
oftener the better. If there is not sufficient moisture in 
the skin to dissolve the salts put a little water into the lat- 
ter. We are assured that no moth will ever attack furs, 
the pelts of which have been thus prepared. 
—A negro dialogue, as reported by the Vicksburg Her- 
did : — “How do you do, Sallie, how do you do? I ain’t 
seed you in such a time. How is you.no how?” Sallie, 
grasping the old darkey’s corn stealer, aud giviugit a hearty 
shake, ’T’se still a kicking, thank you, Uncle Tom, but X 
ain’t a kicking high. How you getting on?" Uncle Tom, 
deliberately, “Well, &fl|lie, I’m still eliciting togctbeiMn 
spots,” 
183 
$jtfoodlnnd t Jfurm and garden. 
Raise your own Seed. — It is not an easy matter to ob- 
tain just what we want to plant— ju^t the kind of seed we 
require, but this is the difficulty I would desire you to meet, 
ana which you will in time entirely overcome, so that vou 
will not only have good seed yourself, hut reliable seed’ for 
your less provident neighbor. Cultivate your own seeds. 
You then Know what you have to rely upon. We would 
not be understood as saying that there are no good, reliable 
seedsmen, of whom you might procure pure and excellent 
seed, but their name is not legion. From our own exue 
rience and dealings with seedsmen, we believe the majority 
to he honest. They intend to do right, and sell good seed, 
yet the trouble lies iu the ignorance of the seed they sell. 
’They do not grow thorn; they buy them upou a fair rec- 
ommendation, and hence they sometimes buy what is 
worthless, often mongrel, unfit seed for good, and which is 
given out to their customers all in good faith. 
Now, as an illustration (we speak by the book), here i9 
the wav you get your mongrel. Two kinds of seed are 
planted quito near each other, and they mix iu the pollen 
of the blossom, and the result is a mongrel, a cross, called 
hybrid. These hybrids are sometimes very well of them- 
selves, aud ofteu a new fruit or seed variety, partaking of 
the qualities of both the origiuals, is the result. You have 
often seeu this in the mixing, as it is termed, of different 
varieties of corn, the field squash, the citron, and the water- 
melon. Many curious freaks of nature are the results of a 
near proximity of seeds. 
To avoid all this is within your own hands. It is a rea- 
sonable possibility, uttcuded with success when ordinary 
care is used. A lesson may be learned of our Arlington 
farmers nnd gardeuers. which, if observed, auswers in full 
this whole question of the value of good and pure seeds 
for garden purposes. Arlington gardeuers, for the most 
part, grow their own seeds~ particularly all the staples. 
You find them to be exceedingly careful not to grow in 
close proximity any two varieties of the beet. They do 
not plant for seed tne roots of the blood turnip and white 
Silesian, or sugar beet, near each other; aud the products 
of these farms have always stood at the head of the mar- 
ket stalls, as their producers have at the head of the pro- 
fession. 
The secret of their success is the great care they give to 
the selection of their seeds, the culture of the same, und au 
ever watchful care to raise, plant, or sell nothing but the 
most reliable kiud of gardeu seeds. Go thou and do like- 
wise. Ollipod Quill. 
Bottle tiie Apples — Not all of them, perhaps, but as 
many as you can afford to buy bottles for. Apples are 
about as near without a market price now as we ever knew, 
and if preserved by bottling they will really cost but 
little more than the expense of bottles, aud if carefully 
handled these will last many years. Pare and cook the 
apples as for the table, and after gradually bringing the 
bottles to a degree of heat which will prevent breaking, fill 
with the apples boiling hot and seal immediately as for 
.other fruits. All the cans, jars or bottles which have been 
used, during the Winter lor preserving Summer fruits 
should be refilled now with apples. They make au excel- 
lent appetizer in the hot days of Summer, besides being 
much more wholesome than fut meats . — New England 
Farmer. 
Care of Breeding Animals,— At this season of the 
year all the farm stock, aud more especially breeding ani 
mals — cows and ewes that are to produce young — need par- 
ticular care aud attention. The Winter confinement and 
long use of dry forage now begin to show themselves in 
the condition of the stock, and uuless extra care is given, 
aud provender or better feed provided, the aniinuls will 
lose in flesh and have a hard time to get up “May hill." 
Feed roots, shorts, or some kind of provender; save the 
best hay to give the milch cows and breeding owes, and by 
liberal feed and good care now give the stock a good start, 
that it may be kept constantly gaining until turned out to 
the first fresh “bite” of new grass in May. The Winter 
has given the hay mows a severe test, nnd it will be neces- 
sary in many cases to help out with extra feed or proveu- 
dcr . — Maine Farmer. 
M. M. B., Syracuse, N. Y.— The insect you scud is the 
Tingia arcuuta, a sort of beetle, usually found upon the 
holiihock. At the time of blossoming it is sometimes quite 
destructive, but may bo removed by a solution of warm 
water, iu which sulphur in small quantity has been dis; 
solved. 
Addison, Troy, N. Y.— On no account use any liquid 
fertilizer — such as guano water, soap suds, or munurc 
water of any kind— in transplanting trees. Pure water is 
the only elemeut to bo used, with good, fresh, finely pul- 
verized earth well mixed with the roots, and, if you choose, 
mulch a little. Ollipod Quill. 
| t0orsc ntjd (£our L S({. 
Tiie Racing Record.— This convenient aud useful hook 
is issued from the offlou of the Spirit of the 'limes, and con 
tains, beside a record of past races, a complete list of events 
and nominations for 1875, together with those of such of 
1876 as are already closed. It comprises also the fastest 
recorded limes, colors of riders, and much other iufarma- 
tion of vuluc to the horseman. 
Thotting.— The first trotting contest of the season oc- 
curred on Monday, at Decrfoot Park, between Hard Core 
and Skipper, the match being wou by the former after five 
heats; best time 2.52. 
—The first race-meeting to be heard from is that of the 
Nashville Blood Horse Association, which will begin ou 
Tuesday, May 4lh, and continue through the week. Pools 
will be sold iu this city at the Turr Exchange and Johu- 
sou’s. 
—The grand Spring trotting ci-cuit, comprising the 
Point Breeze Purk, Philadelphia; Prospect Park Pair 
Grounds, Brooklyn; Connecticut Slock Breeders’ Associa- 
tion Hartford; Nurragansetl Park Association, Providence; 
Beacon and Mystic Parks. Boston, will he shortly receiving 
the attention of turfmen. The Point Breeze meeting will 
inaugurate the circuit, and follow » regular Buco*»«9n m 
the order above given. The entries for all the above **«»- 
.fto 1 * ” re lo c * ose tl10 8iuue v,r • Monday, May 10th, 
lit 9 P. M. 
— The 9prlng meeting at Fleetwood Park will he held on 
Mav 18th nnd continue four clays. On the first day $5,000 
will bo given 1° the 2:50 and 9:35 classes. On the second 
day $’■3,550 for 2:51 horses and double teams. On the third 
clay $4,000 for the 2-84 and 2 24 classes, nnd on the* fourth 
day $1,000 for the 2:80 and 2:20 classes. Tiie entries for 
these purse's will close nt Johnson’s pool rooms on Monday, 
May 10th, at 0 o'etock P. M. 
—The stewards will moot at Fleetwood Pnrk at 4 P. M 
on the 15th of Mav to select judges ancl make tho final 
preparation* for the Mav meeting, and on the day of the 
meeting the Judges will aid tho stewards In seeing that thn 
rules are stric'tly compiled with. The rule* require that 
each rider shall wear a cap of the color mentioned on th« 
programme; that tho riders shall report to the judge* for 
instructions fifteen minutes before tlih timo for starting; 
that while waiting for tho word the horses shall not turn 
inside the first flag nor go beyond the second flag; that a 
blacksmith shall he on the ground on everv meeting day, 
and that the course shall he govorned by tho rules of the 
National Trotting Association. 
—A spirited trotting horse, owned by George Cook, ancl 
driven by Col. Dickey of New York, bis trainer, ran away 
in Main street, Springfield, Mass , a few day* ago, and 
dashed head first through a plate-glass window hro the 
Union office, cutting himself so severely that lie lias sine* 
died. Dickey was severely hut not fatally injured. The 
horse was half-brother to Smuggler, and was brought Eust 
from Kansas by Arnasa Sprague of Providence. 
—At a meeting of the Buffalo, Cleveland. Utica, Npdng- 
field, Rochester, and Poughkeepsie Association, C. .1 llnm 
lin, Chairman, and E. B. Graham, Secretary, the following 
classification of purses was suggested, subject to the ap- 
proval of the clubs: 2:88, 2:85, 2:32, 2:29, 2:20. 2:23. 2:20, 
2:17, and 2:14, the last tlireo classes being left open for fu- 
ture consideration. The date of closing entries was also 
left for tho future action of tho associations. The Cleve- 
land Club has approved this action. Mr. John Todd wn* 
appointed to confer with tho other associations in regard to 
the detuils. 
— Tho Terre Haute (Ind.) Trotting Association stables at 
the track aro full of fast horses, among them Hoosier Dick, 
a pacing horse, who paced three consecutive heals at Cam- 
bridge City in 2:204, 2:19}, nnd 2:111$, Monarch, Jr , a trot- 
ter with a record of 2:25, and Harry Mitchell, with u rec- 
ord of 2:28 are also there. 
— Throe thousand dollars are offered in purses for a three 
days’ meeting at the Manchester, N. II , Hiding Park In 
Juno. 
— A new half-mile traek.is being built at Lynn, tho loca- 
tion being about a mile and a half from the centre of tha 
city und near the Danvers turnpike. A i until hotel i« being 
built on the. gVounds, nnd a large number of box stalls will 
be provided for tho accommodation of horses. The inau- 
gural meeting will bo held in July. 
— Mr. J. G. Rounds of Lynn sold a Winthrop Morrill 
gelding lsst week lo Boston parties for $3,800. 
Racing in England.— The Snndown Park Spring meet- 
ing commenced on the 22d inst , the most notable event of 
the meeting, tho Grand International Steeplechase, being 
won by Gold finder, who started at tho long odd* of 20 lo 1. 
The meeting now in progress Is the inaugural one of Hr* 
new Sundown Park as an aristocratic racing ground. The 
Park is situated at F, slier, in Surrey, within convenient dis- 
tance of London, and Its opening, from some peculiar! tie# 
in management, etc., has attracted considerable attention 
and comment . The special object of the Club, as set forth 
in its prospectus, is to promote racing of a high cla«s char- 
acter, and to this end gate money to the extent of 2s. 6*1 is 
charged, an innovation on the old custom which admitted 
the great unwashed to the field and excluded them only 
from stand and paddock . The stands and Club buildings 
at Sundown are particularly unique and elaborate; the 
members’ stands being built of yellow brickB, relieved by 
red and black- It is modeled after that at Autcuil, and 
holds about 600 persons. At tho back of the stands a 
churmingly wooded eminence, somewhat after that known 
us "The Lawn" at Goodwood, has been tastefully laid out 
and planted witli rhododendrons and shrubs, at a cost of 
several thousand dollars. Four miles beyond Esher Is ilia 
premises of the Cobham Stud Company, where can ha 
seen that magnificent specimen of a horse, Bluir Athol, for 
whom the company paid £12,000, and whose life is insured 
for £8,500. Marsyas, Macaroni, Chattanooga and Wild 
Oats, all liorses with splendid pedigrees, aro also compan- 
ions of Bluir Athol. 
THE COMING HORSE. 
Milwaukee, Wl*., April 28, 1875. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
My attention has been called to s trotting horso— "Mexoma'Ma," an Ifi- 
diun mime, signifying "Iron hor«*"— irnly no mli-nomcr. He was «l rad 
by Puul Jones, be by Vermont Black Hawk; dam. a Bellfoundcr roars. 
He Is eight years old tbl* Spring, aland* fifteen hands three lnche«. is a 
light chestnut, with silver ream- and tall, owned by E. U Brosdheud, of 
this city. Hi* natural gait U a pace, bat Is brought down fo a square 
trot. At a trial In Chicago lust season ho made Ihrcc heats as follows: 
2:19}, 2:20, and 2:23 He will be put on'bc turf tills coming seasun, 
when the best will be put lo their slumps to hold their laurels. He was 
guaranteed to make five heats Insldo of 2:25. but at tho llilrd heat, os 
above, he gave such complete sail-faction tnut bo wa- purchased on the 
Hpot at $10 000. the price u-ked for lilra. Mr. Broaohend Is n wealth/ 
banker in this city, and proposes io gl>e his horses u record that will 
place him low iu the •'teens. “ when ho will withdraw th** b-»s- from the 
torf entirely. That he will do It— If no accident befalls hlm-thero la 
no question to any one who lia« witnessed his action. Ills power, endur- 
ance and resolution Is the best evidence of eurcess. Please bear this In 
mind, you will bear more of this horse- B. 
—The best result ever attained wiili any gun in existence 
is said to have been arrived at a few days ago with a thirty- 
eight ton Woolwich gun. at the proof butts in the Govern- 
ment marches, adjoining the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. 
The gun was being fired to determine the proper proof 
charge for guns of its class, and when discharged witn 150 
pounds of gunpowder and an 800 pound projectile it re- 
corded the extraordinary velocity of 1,506 feet per second, 
the pressure on the inner surface of the gun at the same 
time remaining moderate. This result is due to the use of 
the newly desijpwl cubical gnopowder. 
