The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-04-07
Pood for Animals.
NEARLY TWO HUNDRED POUNDS OF HORSE
FLEsH CONSUMED EVERY WEEK ny THE LIZ
0Ns. TIGERS, AND PAINTERS AT THE ZOO
THE DIET OF THE OTHER ANIMALS.

FLESH CONSUMED EVERY WEEK by THE III
oNs. TIGERS, AND PAINTERS AT THE 200
THE DIET OF THE OTHER ANIMALS.
rPhiiadeiphia Times.l
Visitors to the Geological Garden have
noticed down I'm the lower end OF the
grounds. little to The right OF the place
where the polar bears are kept, line OF
low. rambling buildings built against the
fence which separates the grounds from d
long strip Of land lying between the Gar
dens and the New York branch OF the
Pennsylvania railroad. The last OF these
buildings Is a good deal better than the
rest, being a tall, close, frame shanty
Of pine boards, and having a door
10 1t. The Others, smaller, more uneven,
and without any doors, are nothing more
than mere sheds or stalls. Always In front
Of them will be seen a pile OF clover bay,
with bali dezen, more or less sorry
looking horses, the sole occupants OF the
sheds, feeding thereon. An inspection Of
these animals will usually show q plethora
Of defects in the way Of damaged eyes or
spawned joins or broken wind, all, in the
majority Of instances, being the regular
accompaniment OF old age, and being hut
another way OF describing a horse broken
down by weight Of years and past his stage
OF usefulness. Occasionally younger ami
mails may be seen in tae stalls, but these are
also suffering from some affection OF body
or limb, and stand on the same footing as
the rest.
FOOD FOR THE BEASTS.
These horses, once they get under the
above described sheds, have all one common
destiny-ihey are to be killed and dressed
as food for the animals Of the Geological
Garden. The amount OF food consumed
daily by the animals, large and small. is no
little. The chief meat-eating animals are
the lions, tigers, leopards, pumas, and n.y.
enas. Altogether they consume about 1T5
pounds OF horse-meat day. Four horses
a week Il the usual average in keeping up
the supply OF these animals alone. Next
in point OF heavy feeding come the cle-
plants. Their chief food is hay, OF which
it takes about four times as much to keep
an elephant as 1t does to keepa hOrso, the
elephant eating about 100 pounds OF hay
every twenty hours. And in order TO
keep up his appetite the bay must be the best
going, being invariably timothy OF the best
grade. Other animals that eat hay are the
girafies, the camels, the deer, zebra, and
different animals OF the cattle species. Most
oil these are fed on what is known as mixed
v,
twenty per cent. cheaper than The timothy
alone. Two wagOn.loads Of each per week
is about the amount used. Each wagon
load is supposed to contain 10000 weight,
or ton and a half The price for timothy
is about $40 per ton, which makes the three
tons per week equal to $50. The mixed
hay costs in the neighborhood OF SlS n ton,
thus making ihe weekly cost Of that neces-
sary supply S54, which, added TO the 260,
gives the weekly cost OF hay alone in the
sum Of STA.
WHERE THE HORSES COME FROM.
As to the cost Of the horse.meat for the
other animals, this is not 30 much as might
be imagined. The horses are usually pur-
chased at the horse market by one Of the
employes ut the Gardens who has all such
work in charge. The horses, as above
stated, are usually animals which have be-
come superannuated and useless. The
average price paid per head is about five
dollars. As four horses per week suffice,
the cost for horse-meat foots up TO about
twenty dollars week. The lions, tigers,
leoDards, and pumas are not the only
animals that are fed on horse. meat. The
wolves and foxes and prairie-dogs and
monkeys and black bears alsO come in for
their share OF the supplies, being fed almost
altogether on this kind OF meat. IL Is re-
garded as singular that these animals
lions, tigers, and leopards- should make no
distinction between horse-meat and beef,
albeit it is point decidedly In favor win
the pocket-book OF the corporaors OF the
Gardens For four years preceding their
discovery that the animals would eat horse
meat as well as beef they kept feeding them
on the latter. Two years ago it was found
that they would eat the flesh OF horses as
quick as that of cows, and provision was
made accordingly. Since then the Society
has been practlcing iudlcious economy by
feeding the animals on horse-meat alto'
gether, and they save about fifty per cent
COST OF THE SUPPLIES.
The cost of feeding the Hons, tigers,
Ieopards, and purnas, as stated, IS about SZC
week. Add to this the STA, cost o. reed
Ing the larger animals-elepbants, girafies,
and others-and the cost is Sl34. Thls does
not nearly represent all the animals fed in
! the Garden; nor dOes'it come near being the
chief item OF cost. There are a hundred
and one other creatures requiring in many
cases much more delicate and costly food
The sea-lions have TO be fed on fish, usually
| fresh and salt mackerel, each animal taking
| twelve or fifteen to each meal twice a
day, and consuming altogether 100 pounds
of fish daily. Next in point OF delicate
liyers come the polar bears, whose regular
diet Is bread soaked in milk, with fish
now and then for a change. The black bears
are also given bread, 100 pounds being used
daily. Vegetables Of almost every sort are
fed literally to the different animals-cab
bape. potatoes, carrots, onions, and turnlps
The elephants are great cabbage-eaters, IN
addition TO their standard diet. hay. The
oiraffes. singularly enough, are great onion
caters. while the deer and goats and animals
of the COW species eat carrots and turnip'
and notatoes. Bran and oats and corn art
also liberaIly distributed-mostly once'O
twice n week-among the hay-eatlng am
mails. The most delicate and expensive feed
pr in the place. perhaps, is the ourang-ou
tang. which gets beef, potatoes, bread an'
tonev. AS there is only one in the collector
Of nrcsent. the cost OF keeping this grlnnlnt
satire on the human species is not muiti
nIied Another delicacy which must NOT D'
| omitted in the diet OF the polar bears Is nsp
oil of which they get several supple'
week. After the hay the oats is perhaps lh'
noyt chief source OF expense in the way
animal food. AS for the fowls, the iarge'
ones are fed on corn, while the small blrd
are fed on canary seed and all OF them no"
and then get small chunk OF meat. Int
cost cost OF feeding the animals alone foots up t(
ahont 800 day. All the horses tnat 90 u
snnnlv ihe meat-eating animals are klIled OF
the ground, in the small slaughter-hous
,bot Glands at the lower end OF the row
sheds in the lower part OF the Garden.
! SHE WAS Too PRAcTIcAL.-He was ol
scientific turn, she OF sentimental cas'
Lii ,ba I.y of prayitatiOl