1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
293 
A Pair of Young Moose. 
There is considerable confusion among the com¬ 
mon names given to xhe larger members of the 
deer family. Our Moose, (a name derived from the 
Indians), is so near the European Elk, that some 
naturalists have considered the two as the same 
animal, differing only in such points as may be due 
to food and climate, but naturalists at present re- 
remarkable for the size and shape of its horns; 
when four years old, the horns become palmated, 
i. e., with a broad, flat expansion, like the palm of 
the hand, to which are attached points correspond¬ 
ing to fingers. The full grown horns measure six 
feet across, with a palm a foot wide, to which arc 
attached points or prongs up to the number of 20 
or more, the whole weighing from 50 to 70 lbs.—an 
immense mass of bon} - matter to be secreted and 
shed every year, and in marked contrast with the 
Among the Farmers—No. 7. 
BT ONE OP THEM. 
Business called me into Westchester County, N. 
Y., a few days ago, and I visited a farm whereon a 
racing stud has been kept for many years. It lies 
very near to the East River, just where it joins 
Long Island Sound. The soil is good alluvial, ly- 
ing upon a granitic basis, neither light nor heavy, 
gard them as distinct. Then the animal that is 
called the Elk in this country, or the Wapiti, is 
quite different from the European Elk, but belongs 
to the same genus with the common deer. It has 
been proposed to call our Moose the American Elk, 
and to give the animal generally known as Elk, the 
name of American Stag, hut it is impossible to 
change common names, after they have become 
well established, and the animal in question, how¬ 
ever naturalists may class it, will continue to be a 
Moose and not an Elk, so long as it exists. Our 
readers are no doubt familiar with the appearance 
of the full-grown Moose, at least from engravings, 
and not a few of those living on our northern bor¬ 
ders have seen the animal itself in a wild state. 
Like other members of the deer family, it is annu¬ 
ally growing more scarce, and its range, so far as 
our territory is concerned, becomes more and more 
narrowed to a strip along the northern part of the 
Hew England States—and westward to Oregon. 
Their southern limit is about 40° 30', and they are 
found northward to the frozen regions. The Moose 
excels all living animals of the deer family in size 
and strength ; it is as large as an ordinary horse, 
and weighs from 800 to 1,200 lbs. The animal is 
size of those of an animal one year old, in which 
they are but an inch in length. The Moose is a for¬ 
midable animal at the breeding season ; the males 
fight among themselves, and the hunter is at this 
season very apt to become the hunted, and obliged 
to flee for his life. Though hunted at other times, 
the Moose is most successfully shot in winter, as 
the small feet of the animal break through the 
snow and it moves slowly, while the hunter upon 
snow shoes can readily outstrip it. The dispropor¬ 
tionately large head of the animal, with its long, 
enlarged upper lip, give it an appearance which 
caused Audubon to remark: “The head forcibly 
reminds us of that of an enormous jackass.” 
This asinine appearance is still more striking in the 
young animals, as may be seen in the portraits of 
a pair added this year to the London Zoological 
Gardens, and here reproduced from “The Field.” 
There can hardly be any animal so ungainly, or more 
like a slouching young donkey than a young moose. 
The flesh of the old moose is coarse and dry, but 
the young animals are sought after by hunters on 
account of the superior quality of their flesh ; the 
mouffle, as the nose is called, is regarded as a great 
delicacy, as is also the tongue. 
but a friable, easily tilled loam, packing somewhat 
if worked in wet weather. I was struck with the 
excellence of the 
Pastures. 
and was pleased with the common-sense views of 
the proprietor concerning them. It would be hard 
to induce him to plow up an old pasture, though 
the ground is level and well drained, and would 
make capital corn or hay ground. “ A good pas¬ 
ture,” said he, “once well established, is worth 
everything to a breeder, especially of horses, and 
must never be touched, except to take out weeds 
and to top-dress.”—He is quite right, like a per¬ 
manent meadow, or New England “ mowing lot,” 
an old pasture, if the feed be abuudant and of good 
quality, is invaluable. Having been years in grow¬ 
ing to a state approaching perfection, if disturbed, 
it might be equally long in being restored. They 
have a proverb in England, which I have before 
quoted, for it contains a rare kernel of truth under 
a heap of exaggeration. It is this—“ It takes three 
generations to make a gentleman, but three hun¬ 
dred years to .make a lawn.” There are, to be sure, 
a few lawns in England whereon the sward may be 
supposed to be three hundred years old, but it 
