The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-25
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
INSECT AND PLANT LIFE THAT A.
FORD OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDY.
What Can BE Found in the Study n,
Botany, Entomology and OrnithoI-
oEy in the City Streets.


New York almost treeless and shade,o-.
| streets are about the last places that a
naturalist would think of selecting for a
study of insect or plant life; but. like thu
Sahara desert, which contains its GASES. tn.
city has spots where the young naturalist
can find profitable employment for MANY
pleasant hours. 1t is said that grass has
not been seen growing on Broadway sinca
the great cholera scare of many decades
ago-and no one can blame it for refusing
to flourish in such uncongeniaI surround
ings as that hot thoroughfare presents in
summer-but it is not unusual to see wheat
oats and even corn plants struggling for a
precarious existence on the docks and piers
along either river front. These seeds bava
been scattered there from the grain boats
and finding good Judgment in the rich soil
between the planks and spiles they have
started into vigorous growth. 1t is rara
that one cannot find a few spears Of such
useful grain plants somewhere around the
piers and docks where the boats load and
unload.
But this is not all. Down on West street
near Cortlandt, there is an old pier that has
very little traffic during the busy hours q,
the day, and as the accumulation OF dir
between the planks has rotted the wood
seeds find congenial soil for growth. Soma
queer and wonderful plants have been dis
covered on the dock in the spring and early
summer. The flower seeds, and weed seeds
too, for that matter. that have been brought
across the river by the florists have been
scattered around by the wind, and MANY Of
them have become established in the soil
on the pier. Fifty different varieties Of
flower and weed plants were counted there
one day early this summer 1t was after
r-11.-
seeds had terminated quickly. and no one
had taken the trouble to disodge them.
There were found among others morning.
glory vines, phloX. nasturtiums daisies.
timothy and orchard grass oats, wheat
dandelions and plantain If the weather had
continued moist and cool there is no tell
ing what this old-fashioned flower garden
might have produced; but the extreme heat
and dry weather of the last few weeks
dried up and killed all of the tender varie-
ties. Owing to the limited amount of soil
and the hot glaring surroundings, the
plants in the city cannot long endure the
summer sun. They flourish the best when
the season is cool and rainy.
MANY FOREIGN PLANTS.
In Brooklyn and in Jersey City and Ho-
boken there are ballast grounds for ships
to dump their stone ballast. and the scene
around them in the spring and summer is
II
sometimes proves exceedingly profitable.
The ships bring in with their ballast-stones
the seeds of many foreign plants. and these
frequently drop in the soil and grow thrift
lily. Sometimes very precious foreign plants
found growing there. One naturalist at
Feast in the city has made some important
discoveries at the Hoboken ballast ground.
and he generally makes a visit once a
week during the growing season. When a
strange plant is discovered he lifts it carte
fully, and transplants it to a small box
which he carries for that purpose. Several
beautiful. and comparatively rare, air
plants from Brazil have been obtained IN
this way.
Moses alone would make a great study
in the city. These Will grow on brick and
stone walls in city streets where plants and
flowers could not exist. On the dark or sun
less sides of streets scale MOSES attach
themselves to the houses and pavements IN
countless numbers. They are scrubbed and
scraped from stone steps and BRICK walls
every morning by the housemaid. Along
the rivers front they abound in such guam
titles the stones and rocks that ii would
require a whole summer to classify them
properly. On the Battery wall they discoor
the gray stones so that they can be seen
many blocks away; but a close examination
reveals many beautiful MOSES that a
trained naturalist might walk miles to Sc
cure if he but knew of their existence.
To take up entomology next, it would
only be necessary for one to keep his eyes
open to discover interesting specimens.
This study can be pursued better in the
night time, when the air seems full OF ny
ing insects. If one is inclined to question
the Veracity of this statement, he should
follow one of the men who clean the cleo
trio globes eaGh moFnng dne t6 Goh 1a Of
one hand, and they will be composed OF the
wings, legs and half-burned bodies Of
score or more of insects But 1t Is not even
necessary TO follow the cleaner in his daily
round for proof OF this. On hot nights the
insects can be seen flying around the cleo
81. T@1,a fDr~n 4TfarF1
possible to enumerate the kinds and varte-
ties of insects that hover around the cleo
trio lights on summer nights or even TO
mention by name those that are PICKED up
next morning and identified in spite OF
singed wings and burned bodies. Most OF
the insects are the common kinds such as
every naturalist is acquainted with, put
occasionally a new one is discovered 1t IS
probably these flies, moths and beetles IN
the city which attract certain birds in the
hot streets at evening They hover AROUND
the brilliantly Illuminated squares and ave-
nues, and devour the insects by the l stoTs'
The bats are the most frequent Vlsit9iS
and they swarm in the city on hot nights
in considerable numbers.
PLENTY OF BATS.
The great number of bats in the city led
to an investigation recently, and it was
found that hundreds of them were in the
habit of wintering in Central Park. There
are several rocky caves in the park where
the bats can find congenial quarters. At
nlSnL Iney ny AROUND the CITY dAtSA 49,
natural food; but day approaches they
betake themselves to the dark, gloomy cav
ems in the park. Last winter, in cleaning
out one of the underground streams OF
water which flow into the Harlem lake at
ne-hundred-and-tenth street a bunch OF
nearly fifty alternating bats were found
suspended from the rocky roof of the cav
ern. In the summer time they can DC
smoked out in considerable numbers from
the natural cave at the Eighty-hrst street
entrance. But there Is no reason why they
should be bothered or killed. for they do no
harm to any one, and considerable goou -
all. They are the best insect destroyers ia
the city.
Nighthawks also come to the city AZ
night time from the Jersey marshes ING
Palisades and from Long island, ana JUG.
at dusk can count them by the do1ea2
from the roofs of uptown houses. Ihty ny
about stealthily in the gloom, but lhvy
rarely utter their shrill cry, which Is so a.
tractive to people in the country disulCess
early in the summer. Swallows are IOI
averse to visiting the city in the cool sum.
mer evenings; but they are geheIdUy
found in the track of swarms Of lnseSls;
Five summers ago New York was lnNaoeu
by a host of mosquitoes, and it was sald O..
the time that the swallows were III 80 -
abundance, sweeping over the tops OF va
houses and circling around chimneys anu
towers.