Hare — Headivaters. 109 



Another thing we might considei* is the advisability of carrying 

 fish to the headwaters of these streams and planting them where they 

 will be immune from the attacks of their natural enemies. One of the 

 members of this Society last year made a very timely remark when he 

 said that he would rather have one can of fish properly planted than 

 half a dozen cans of fish dumped into pools where the larger fish con- 

 gregate at fords and bridges. We might consider the necessity of using 

 more judgment in planting fish as well as enacting laws for the pro- 

 tection of those fish in the small headwater streams. I do not wish to be 

 personal, but I would like to remind you of a little stream in West Vir- 

 ginia. I always think of that stream with fond recollections because it 

 was the stream wherein I used to dive; it was the old mill pond — Sleepy 

 Creek. When I left West Virginia years ago that stream was practi- 

 cally depleted; there were no fish in it that amounted to anything; the 

 people would go to the great Cacapon River and the Potomac River. 

 Well, the Bureau of Fisheries planted, not in Sleepy Creek proper but 

 in the tributaries of that stream, a quantity of fish; ample protection was 

 afforded; the laws were strictly enforced, and to-day the organizations 

 are going to Sleepy Creek on their fishing excursions instead of to the 

 great Cacapon River and the Potomac. That is one way of increasing 

 the supply of fish in public waters, and it seems to me that it is the most 

 important way. 



Mr. Hare has raised a very interesting question, touching upon 

 many phases respecting the protection of fish, the enactment of laws, 

 and the planting of fish, and I do not think the matter he brings up 

 could be given too much consideration. We can interest the public gen- 

 erally through the Isaak Walton League; these men take special de- 

 light in carrying fish away up into the mountains. When we get the 

 headwaters of our streams so thoroughly stocked that the supply of food 

 becomes inadequate, the fish will know enough to come down stream 

 and let the angler catch him. We might, therefore, consider the advisa- 

 bility of having enacted legislation which would close entirely the head- 

 waters of certain public streams. 



