322 With Rod and Gun in New England 



CHAPTER XXI. 



pisH ajmd Game i]si Vermont. 



By Hon. JOHN W. TITCOffiB. 



Much has been written on the attractions of Vermont. While these 

 writings do not exaggerate the beauties of her natural scenery, there is a 

 tendency to overestimate her attractions to the sportsman. Vermont cer- 

 tainly has such attractions, but it is useless to claim that they compare with 

 those of the immense regions where the axe of the lumberman has not 

 penetrated ; regions that are still in such primeval condition that Nature 

 retains her equilibrium against the demands made upon her forest and 

 streams, but which are within the reach of anglers and hunters. In this 

 article, therefore, I must necessarily speak of the attractions to be found in 

 a small territory, all of which has been more or less changed by civilization, 

 and whose natural resources have been taxed to the utmost. 



The casual observer of the topography of Vermont is impressed chiefly 

 by the tremendous upheavals in nature, and the traces of the immense 

 streams of water which in past ages flowed between her hills. The observa- 

 tions will be confirmed upon examination of the various strata of earth or 

 gravel, revealed by excavations in any valley showing the changes in the 

 river beds which, in many instances, have occurred within a century. The 

 county atlases of Vermont, published only thirty years ago, show many 

 small streams which at the time were natural trout streams, yielding good 

 fishing, but which to-day are only " dry brooks." Perhaps at their sources 

 one or two farms are supplied with water from springs of sufficient volume 

 to be regarded as valuable only to their occupants. Formerly these small 

 streams yielded a steady flow of clear, cold spring water, which was of quite 

 even volume throughout the year, and of comparatively even temperature. 

 The decrease of water and its attendant evils, extreme changes in tempera- 

 ture, make these streams unsuited to the trout which formerly inhabited 

 them in great abundance. The larger streams suffer proportionately as 

 their tributaries are cut off, and the destruction of the spawning beds by 

 the emptying of mill refuse and sewerage into them, has unfitted them for 

 the trout family. The changes in the character of the streams were inevi- 



