770 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 17, 1906. 
FROM THE ROOF OF THE PRIMITIVE HOTEL. 
On the peaks in the distance are the haunts of the gray partridge. 
came very chummy and he took me to see his 
home, an interesting old fortress of mediaeval 
build, where he spends a few weeks every year 
shooting quail and partridge. On hearing of 
my day's work, he was very much surprised, 
and it seemed to him an unheard of thing that 
a “forestiere” (foreigner) should seek game in 
such out-of-the-way places. He congratulated 
me and promised that if I’d stay over and go after 
quail with him, he would give me such a day 
as I’d seldom enjoyed. “We are sure to 
‘sballare’ (shoot over 100 birds) between us,” 
he said, and that settled the question. 
He made good, too, for between us we 
brought back 112 of the gamy birds. But—that 
comes under another chapter. 
Herbert Reeder. 
The National Parks. 
Yellowstone National Park. 
The report of Major John Pitcher, 6th 
Cavalry, Acting Superintendent of the Yellow¬ 
stone National Park, to the Secretary of the In¬ 
terior, has just been received. Dated Oct. 3, 
1906, it gives the condition of affairs in the park 
and its management from June 30, 1905, until 
the close of the last season. 
As more than once pointed out in Forest and 
Stream, the alfalfa field, which was planted two 
years ago near the Roosevelt ^.rch, has proved 
very useful, and the hay cut from it has kept 
the antelope herd almost entirely within the 
limits of the park during the past winter, thus 
preventing any destruction by hunters and send¬ 
ing them off to their summer range in the hills 
in fine condition. 
The twelve small sequoia trees imported from 
the Sequoia National Park in California, which 
were planted near the arch and on the plateau 
at Mammoth Hot Springs, have all died, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that great care was taken in 
planting them and in protecting them through 
the winter. There have been practically no fires 
in the park. 
In spite of the heavy fall of snow in the park 
last winter, the large game pulled through in 
good shape, and the percentage of loss was very 
small. 
The alfalfa field near Gardiner and the hay cut 
from it proved of great benefit to the antelope. 
This field yielded about one hundred tons of hay, 
which was fed to antelope at times when they 
most needed it. Like all other wild animals that 
are cared for and protected by man, they soon 
learned that when the snow fell deeply on the 
hills, they could find something to eat at the 
haystack near the soldier station. It was .esti¬ 
mated that about 1,500 of these animals came 
down to the feeding grounds near the haystacks 
last winter, and as very few of them died or were 
lost from any cause, the number this year should 
be at least 2,000. 
The elk also learned that forage for wild game 
was being issued at Gardiner, and after the an¬ 
telope had been fed they came down in large 
numbers and cleaned up all the coarser parts of 
the alfalfa that was not eaten by the antelope. 
Major Pitcher writes: “I was told by an ex¬ 
ceedingly reliable man in Gardiner that 1,200 elk 
had been seen and counted on this alfalfa field 
one evening during the latter part of the winter. 
This combination of elk and antelope within a 
few hundred yards of the town of Gardiner pre¬ 
sents a game picture which cannot now be dupli¬ 
cated at any other place in the United States, 
and it is one which the people of Gardiner are 
doing well to assist in preserving. 
“The buffalo herd still continues to thrive and 
now numbers 57. This is a very encouraging in¬ 
crease from the original herd of two bulls and 
eighteen cows with which the herd was started 
four years ago. During the past summer ar¬ 
rangements have been completed to move all of 
the young buffalo of this herd to a point on 
the Lamar river, where they will be eventually 
turned loose. The place selected for the pur¬ 
pose of establishing these young buffalo is at 
the mouth of Rose creek, where it flows into the 
Lamar river. The land along the river bottom 
at this point is particularly well suited for rais¬ 
ing hay of any kind, and with comparatively little 
work in the way of clearing and ditching for 
the purpose of irrigating it almost any quantity 
of hay can be raised. A very comfortable log 
cabin has been built for the use of the buffalo 
keeper, and about one square mile of fine graz¬ 
ing land has been inclosed by a suitable fence of 
smooth wire. 
“It is intended to keep the young buffalo in 
this inclosure and to feed them until they have 
become thoroughly at home at this point. After 
this has been accomplished they will be gradually 
turned loose, and it is believed that they will 
not wander far from the haystack which will at 
all times be kept on hand ready to be fed out 
to them. All of the old buffalo will be kept in 
the pasture at the Mammoth Hot Springs as 
heretofore, and their young will be moved up to 
the new pasture on the Lamar from time to time 
as they become old enough to be driven there. 
If nothing more is accomplished by this division 
of the herd I am of the opinion that it is advis¬ 
able to divide it so that in case of sickness or 
disease of any kind in either band it would not 
necessarily be communicated to the other.” 
The fish hatchery near the west side of Yellow- 
