43 



b}' careful huslDandn-. Shall we neglect our waters, 

 the great source of our riches, for the want of an eco- 

 nomical husbandry ? Or shall we let them become a 

 barren waste, when abundance awaits an intelligent 

 cultivation under judicious and wholesome laws?" 



His interest never wavered in watching the protec- 

 tion of fish and game. 



Anent his first experiences in "the gentle art" of 

 angling, I quote from a manuscript penned b}^ Mr. 

 Potter for ni}' use when he was in his ninetieth year : 

 "When I was sixteen 3-ears of age," he writes, "not 

 liking farming very well I made up mv mind to go a 

 fishing to sea. I had a colt on the farm called my 

 own, although I had never invested any money in it. 

 This I sold and with the money I started for New 

 York ; arriving at Alban}', for the sake of econoni}', I 

 took passage on a lumber sloop. Down about West 

 Point we were becalmed and laicl to. After dark, it be- 

 ing very warm weather, the table was set in the cabin 

 with the windows open and the lamp lighted. We 

 were all seated around the table, when all at once a 

 huge sturgeon bounded through the window upon the 

 table scattering dishes and supper in ever}- direction. 

 He took complete possession of the cabin, much to my 

 enjo3-ment. We soon dragged him on deck, and for 

 the rest of the vo3^age had plent}' of what the captain 

 called 'Albany beef.' Not finding a ship in New 

 York I worked ni}" wa}'; to Boston, w^here I found, at 

 Long Wharf, a vessel just fitted out and ready to sail 

 for the banks of New Foundland on a cod fishing voy- 

 age. This was just what I wanted. I had caught 

 speckled trout in all the mountain streams of New^ 

 York and I ached for a taste of the gentle art at sea. 

 I got it. I found before the season was over that the 

 gentle art had lost its romance in cod fishing off the 

 banks, and oh, how I longed for the speckled trout in 

 the clear streams of mv native home." 



