74 

ber to a thousand before opening. It is most earnestly de- 
sired that $150,000 at least will be subscribed, as with that to 
devote to improving the whole tract of ground and collect- 
ing animals, a collection and garden that would compare 
favorably with any in Europe can be obtained by the time of 
the Centennial. 
The Society has had many animals donated, and has pur- 
chased a number very cheaply through means of its friends 
and agents in the West. Its superintendent is now in the 
Cape of Good Hope, from whence he will return by way of 
Australia and India, with a cargo of rare and curious beasts 
and birds. The Society has given him all the money it can 
possibly spare, and ten times the sum in this country would 
not purchase what it will there in the hands of a capable 
man. 
It is proposed to, open the garden about the first of May 
or June of this year, and the Society has no doubt that it 
will be in a condition to entertain and instruct visitors to its 
garden. 
It may not be uninteresting to readers of this paper to 
' know just what go to make up the Society’s collection, as it 
indicates how much can be done with a very little money, and 
much interest is shown by citizens of this and other States 
in such a garden. In view of the Centennial, it must be 
again observed, a collection of American animals would be 
viewed with great pleasure by all foreigners, and it would 
be thoroughly new, and without a rival anywhere. 
The animals marked thus * have been donated. 
1 Blacktail deer doe, 
months old. 
1 pair silver pheasants.* 
5 English pheasants.* 
1 Peccary. 
1 Macaw. 
1 pair ravens, very fine.* six 
4 Alligators.* 
3 Turtles.* 
8 North Carolina horned 
owls, very fine.* 
5 English rabbits. 

80 Prairie dogs.* 
1 Bittern.* 
8 Buffaloes. 
l pair, Nicaragua green 
parrots, very fine.* 
3 Monkeys,2ringtail,1 Afri- 
can.* 
2 Cayotes. 
2 White wolves. 
3 Wolverines. 
6 Guinea pigs.* 
Canaries, Goldfinch, 
sparrow.* 
Oardinal. 
5 Otter. 
8 Red foxes 
fox.* 
2 Silver foxes. 
l very large raccoon, 
Nebraska.* 
2 Raccoons.* 
1 Java cat.* 
1 Santo Domingo dog.* 
1 Porcupine.* 
1 Virginia deer.* 
2 Blacktail deer. 
Java 
and 1 gray 
from 

5 Mink. 
8 Rocky Mountain eagles. 
2 Golden eagles. 
2 Bald eagles.* 
1 pair German squirrels. 
1 black squirrel, very fine.* 
3 Marmoset monkeys. 
1 pair wood ducks. 
12 Rats, black and white. 
1 Grizzly bear, 17 months 
old, weight 800 pounds. 
2 Grizzly bear cubs, six 
months old. 
1 Black bear. 
2 Cinnamon bears. 
7 Antelopes.* 
2 Elk, very fine. 
1 Cross fox. 
10 Beavers. 
1 Pink cockatoo.* 
3 Wolverines. 
1 Badger. 
1 Lynx. 
1 Wild cat. 
1 pair English magpies. 
1 English hedgehog. 

Mr. Theodore Harrison, of this city, whose collection of 
live birds is unrivalled in this country, has presented them 
to the Society, and as soon as a suitable aviary is prepared 
they will be removed to the garden. The aquarial depart - 
ment will be made a special feature, and lovers of that branch 
of natural history will have an opportunity for investigation 
and study never before presented in this country. A source 
of income to the Society will also be the sale of surplus or 
duplicate animals and birds. This could be made a large 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 

item if properly managed. Pigeons, chickens, dogs, sheep, 
birds of various kinds, &., &c., could be raised in great 
variety and purity. 
In fact such a garden opens a thousand avenues of benefit 
and pleasure, and it is to be earnestly hoped that such a 
project shall at once receive the necessary financial encour- 
agement to make it a great American success. 


Gorrespoudence. 

(For the Fanciers’ Journal.) 
ON SELECTING FOWLS. 
So much has been written in regard to the different and 
best plans for the successful rearing of poultry, and so many 
different ideas have been advanced by those whose long ex- 
perience gives them a precedent over the more recent school 
of fanciers, that an amateur hardly knows whose advice to 
take, or what breed of fowls to commence with. For instance, 
a young man whose natural tendencies from early boy- 
hood have leaned toward the feathered tribe generally, goes 
to an exhibition of poultry, pigeons, &c. When he enters 
the room, and finds himself surrounded by fowls and pigeons 
of every known variety, and hears the crowing of the 
knights of the barnyard portrayed in the deep bass of the 
gigantic Brahma, down to the squeaking alto of the dimin- 
utive Bantam, accompanied by the musical cackle of their 
fair mates (for to my ear there is no sweeter music than the 
cackle of a hen, especially about sunrise in the early spring 
mornings), he is at an utter loss as to what breed he shall 
select from, The first variety most likely to attract his 
notice will be the huge Brahma; and as he views their im- 
mense forms, and hears the laudations of their numerous 
admirers (for he will find many of them around the Brahma 
cages), his mind is almost made up to give them a trial. 
Well, they really do have their merits; they are without 
doubt the poor man’s fowl; notwithstanding their ravenous 
appetites, they will subsist on the refuse of the table, and be 
satisfied with a cheaper and coarser article of diet than their 
smaller and more delicate relations. They are not of a rov- 
ing disposition; they can be reared successfully in a small 
yard, provided they are kept clean. They are not as subject 
to disease as some of the smaller varieties, Lice being their 
greatest enemy where they are kept in a city; and for the 
benefit of those that have been troubled by the pesky var- 
mints, I will add a cheap and sure remedy. Go to your 
grocer, and procure a mackerel keg filled with brine, which 
he will be glad to get out of the way; stand it in one corner 
of your coop, and with a sponge saturate the perches, nest, 
boxes, &c., every other day with the brine. It will also de- 
stroy pigeon lice effectually. From the Brahma department 
we will go to their cousins, the Cochins, and as our young 
friend gazes with admiration on the different varieties of 
that magnificent breed, his mind undergoes a complete 
change. What color shall he select? Before him are the 
buff, partridge, black, white, cinnamon, all handsome birds, 
and well worthy of all the praise that can be bestowed upon 
them. Like the Brahmas, they are content with a small 
range, and are also good winter layers when properly cared 
for. My experience with Brahmas and Cochins has not been 
very extensive, but I would suggest that where fowls are 
kept in cities, or large towns, no matter what breed, that 
the coops be cleaned every day; it can be easily done by 
covering the floor of the coop with straw or hay; I prefer 
the latter, as it destroys any bad smell. Shake it up every 
