40 



FOREST AND STREAM. 





A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



PUBLISHED Bi 



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NEW YORK, THURSDAY, AUGUST »7, 1874. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 

 correspondence, must he addressed to The Foekst and Stream Pub- 

 lishing Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 



All communications intended for publication must be accompauied with 

 real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not bo published if 

 Objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 



Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 



We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 



Secretaries of Clnbs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 

 notes of their movements and transactions, as it is the aim of this paper 

 to become a medium of useful aud reliable information between gentle- 

 men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other ; and they will 

 llnd our columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 



The Publishers of Forest and Stream aim to merit and "secure the 

 patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re- 

 fined intelligence enables tnem to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 

 is beantirul in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 

 the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 

 t.find to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise- 

 ment or bnsiness notice of an immoral character will be received on any 

 terms ; and nothing will be admitted to any department, of the paper that 

 may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 



We caunot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 

 monoy remitted to us is lost. 



Advertisements should he sent m by Saturday of each week, if possible. 

 CHARLES HALLOCK, Managing Editor. 



WILLIAM C. HARRIS, Business Manager. 



CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THECUR- 

 RENT WEEK. 



Friday, August 38th— Trotting "meeting Earieville, III.— Trotting 

 me-eting. Hartford, Conn.— Trotting meeting, Gardiner, Me.— Trotting 

 meetinn, Manchester, N. H.— Trotting meeting, Warwick, N. Y — Trot- 

 ting meetin?, Hazleton, Perm.— International regatta, Saratoga. N, Y. 

 —Trotting meeting, Deerfoot Park, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Satubdat, August Mb.— Concord vs. Nameless B, B. C, Prospect 

 Park. Brooklyn— Fly-away vs. competing clubs, Oneida, N. Y.— Inter- 

 national regatta, Saratoga, N. Y.— Long Branch races. Monmouth Park, 

 N. J,.— St. George cricket club, Hoboken, N. Y.— Practice day boat 

 clubs, Harlem, N. Y. 



Monday, August 31st.— Fly-away vs. StarB. B. C, Catekill, N. Y.— 

 International regatta, Saratoga, N. Y. 



Tuesday. September 1st.— Trotting, meetings at Syracuse, Bath. N. 

 Y.- Biver Falls, Wis., Goshen Park, N. Y., Providence, R, I., Boston, 

 Mass., Knoxville, Sycamore, and Macomb, HI. 



Wednesday, September 2d.— Trotting meetings at Syracuse, Bath, 

 N. Y., River Falls, Wis., Gosheu Park, N. Y., Providence, R.I. .Boston, 

 Mass.', Knoxville. Sycamore, and Macomb, 111.— Provincial Rille Asso- 

 ciation, Sussex, N. B.,D. of C. —Match day, Hoboken cricket grounds, 

 foot of Ninth street. 



Thursday, September 3d. —Trotting meetings at Syracuse, Bath, N. 

 Y., River Falls, Wis., Goshen Park, N. Y., Providence, R. I., Boston, 

 Mass., Knoxville, Sycamore, Macomb, 111.— New York Caledonian 

 games. Lion Park, N. Y— Regatta ot amateur oarsmen, Laureate course, 

 Tory, N Y. 



Our Frontier Officers. — Our readers are indebted to 

 our army officers upon the frontier, for almost, the entire 

 fund of information which this journal has been enabled to 

 furnish respecting our great Western Territories. Every 

 post, almost, has furnished some contribution of absolute 

 value, as to the flora and fauna, Indian life, and the habits 

 of the wild characters one meets with on the Plains and 

 among the Mountains. Such rugged annals of Frontier 

 Life, if written and compiled, would make a volume of far 

 manlier literature than the namby painby fictions of love 

 aud stilted heroism which constitute the mass of the world's 

 reading. We have now on hand fully a do/.eu of i.lu-m 

 awaiting their honorable turn to be published in our 

 columns, but still, our insatiable demand cries out for all 

 it can set; and we trust that our generous friends will not 

 lay down their pens under the impression that present re- 

 pletion means everlasting satiety, for we must eat to live, 

 and no sooner has one meal been dispatched than we must 

 provide for the next, no matter how well gorged we may 

 feel for the nonce, Comrades, attention ! 



THE PROTECTION OF GAME. 



Sj A f'1-.i.N OF CO-OPERATIVE LAWS. 



IN view of the approaching Convention at Niagara Falls, 

 to devise some plan to provide by legislative enactment 

 for the better protection of game, we deem it best tore- 

 publish from the Forest and Stream of February 19th 

 the resolutions, touching this very subject, which were 

 adopted at the meeting of the American Fish Oulturists' 

 Association, on the 11th day of the same month. A criti- 

 cal examination thereof by the Niagara Falls delegates 

 may expedite the business of their Convention, and elimin- 

 ate many of the apparent difficulties which seem to beset 

 this long vexed subject, it is more than probable that the 

 scheme for legislative co-operation which underlies these 

 resolutions has never met the eye of those whom it was in- 

 tended to reach; for the official report of the Fish Culturists' 

 meeting lies buried in the unpublished proceedings of the 

 convention, while the then limited circulation of this jour- 

 nal failed to give it wide-spread uotiee. That this scheme 

 covers the ground practically and sagaciously, is evidenced 

 by its endorsement by the eminent gentlemen composing 

 that body, which iucluded naturalists, lishculturists, ang- 

 lers and sportsmen from both Canada and the United 

 States, with Prof. Baird, chief U. S. Commissioner, W". F. 

 Whitcher, Commissioner for the New Dominion, Mr. Wil- 

 mot, of Canada, Seth Green, and other practical men 

 among the number. It would be unwise, then, for 

 I lie delegates at Niagai a to ignore the action and recom- 

 mendation of thai body; or, having the scheme presented 

 to their examination, to give it cavalier treatment, the more 

 especially that no other well-defined or outlined plan has 

 ever been before the country. 



Moreover, the light which this scheme throws upon a 

 subject with regard to which most persons have but a 

 vague idea— we mean the precise kind of a remedy to ap- 

 ply to existing evils and defects in the game laws — comes 

 most opportunely, inasmuch as the Convention was called 

 at a date so early (September 9tli) that insufficient lime has 

 been allowed for a careful investigation and intelligent 

 understanding of the subject. We are convinced that most, 

 if not all, the gentlemen prominently connected with the 

 issue of the call, now admit that it was premature and un- 

 seasonable. Many sportsmen are absent in the field, es- 

 pecially at the West, where grouse shooting at present en- 

 gages their attention; but the chief cause of regret is, that 

 the suddenness of the call found the country not wholly pre- 

 pared for the questions before the Convention. 



Under these circumstances, we feel that we are doing- 

 good service by reviewing the ground already gone over, 

 and showing what actual progress has been made by the few 

 who have given the subject their thoughtful attention. 

 We reprint, (as we have stated in the beginning of this 

 article,) from our issue of February 19th. 



\From our isme uf February 1WAJ. 



The editor of Forest and Stream having been im- 

 pressed with the idea that a more general plan of protec- 

 tion was necessary not only for fish but for birds and 

 animals, took occasion at the meeting of the American 

 Fish Culturists' Association to explain his views on this 

 subject. It is an evident fact that but one general law, 

 identical as to time of close seasons, can ever thoroughly 

 protect the fish, birds or beasts of our country. It is per 

 fectly possible to imagine a case where on a river of no 

 great, length it may be illegal to catch fish fifty miles from 

 its source at certain times in one State, when 100 miles be- 

 low in another State the catching of such fish would in no 

 way infringe on the fish statutes of that State. Again, 

 since wo owe a great deal to the Canadian Fish Commis- 

 sioners, it might frequently happen that rivers rising in 

 the States and flowing into the Dominion might be depopu- 

 lated of fish at their source by us while protected iu the 

 Provinces, or that exactly the reverse might happen. A 

 commercial question enters here iuto the subject which 

 occasions no end of dispute and unfortunate consequences. 

 Fish may be legally caught in one Stale at one particular 

 season of the year, then snipped and exposed for sale in an- 

 other State where the time for catching such fish may be 

 against the laws, aud it becomes a uice question to decide 

 whether the seller or the purchaser of the lish is actiug in 

 contravention of the law. The editor thinks it poi led Im- 

 possible, then, that laws should be enacted by ihe several 

 legislatures, identical in character iu regard to close time, 

 within certain zoms more or less extended. 1 f the resolution 

 adopted by the Association, as suggested by Mr. Charles 

 Hallock, could have been made eveu more compre- 

 hensive as to detail, so as to include birds and animals, 

 it would have even met his views more fully, but as the 

 business of the convention was directed Only towards the 

 subject of fish, it was thought wiser to leave to the sports- 

 men's associations in the country the wider development, of 

 this idea, to wit, of the enforcement of a more general and 

 co-operative system of game legislation, 



The advantages of the proposed plan in regard to the 

 naming of fish aud the identification of species is a mani- 

 fest one. if among the game birds hardly any two Stales 

 in the Union can" agree exactly as to what 'is a quail, a 

 pheasant or a partridge, the confusion is worse confounded 

 as to fish. Men who are doubtless innocent, who would, 

 if they knew belter aid the Fish Commissioue.'S iu their 

 arduous labors, violate the letter of the law from ignorance 

 of Ihe name of the fish. 



Not a day passes but thai the Forest akd Stream is iu 

 receipt of loiters coiniug from Maine to California, all 

 bearing on these subjects, communications written not 

 only by sportsmen but by those who look iuto this subject 

 ot pisciculture in an economic sense, ami it was principally 

 from their suggestions that the preamble and resolutions 

 adopted by the Association were advanced. 



The following is the preamble and resolution offered and 

 accepted by the Convention of the American FteU Cultur 



ists' Association, with Mr. Hallock's remarks on presenting 

 them : 



"I beg to bring to your notice a subject admitted lo be of 

 the greatest, importance, though I doubt whelher it comes 

 fully within the scope of this association; but having heard 

 one of your most distinguished members yestersday assert 

 thai, "protection must go hand in hand with propagation, 

 and that all efforts in breeding fish will be nullified by 

 neglect to protect the young fish and fish in spawn by judi- 

 cious legislation and 'wardenship," I am encouraged to 

 speak. We set the highest value upon provisions and pen- 

 alties to prevent the use of nets, aiant powder, i?><v/lv.i indi- 

 c-us, ami other devices for the wholesale and indiscriminate 

 catching of fish, and for the taking of gravid and spent Hsu 

 and all unseasonable, fishing whatsoever, and for the means 

 devised lo prevent poaching in private or public waters, and 

 for all those wholesome restrictions intended to govern 

 angling on leased and open rivers, lakes and streams. All 

 these go far towards the consummation of the main object 

 desired to he accomplished, but it is evident thai the im- 

 perfect operation of ihe existing laws and the great loop- 

 hole of escape for transgressors lies in the fact that game 

 and fish taken in one Slate may be sold in the markets of 

 another State with impunity. 



What is needed, therefore, is such a co-operalion of 

 Stares as will procure Ihe enactment of a law which shall 

 make it illegal to expose for sale in the markets of one 

 State fish illegally taken in another Slate within the periods 

 for which their taking is prohibited in such States. Some 

 such measure is by universal consent acknowledged to be 

 necessary, and we are pleased to observe that a draft of a 

 bill with this object in view has been presented to the Leg- 

 islature of Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Angling 

 Association, of which \)v, J." P. Ordway is the very earnest 

 and efficient President, and that the works and efforts of 

 this society have been endorsed by the Fish Commissioners 

 of Maine; and 



Whereas, The Commute of ihe said Anglers' Associa- 

 tion has, in a series of resolutions, invited the co-operation 

 of their sister Slates, and urged the formation of similar as- 

 sociations for this purpose; therefore be it 



Boohed, That it is the special province of the American 

 Fish Culturists' Association, composed, as i( is, of ihe Slale 

 Fishery Commissioners, ami the leading Fish Culturists of 

 the co"untrv, to promote aud encourage, either within or 

 outside of its own body, the formation of a similar society 

 to that of Massachusetts, aud for the like objects. Also", 

 in view of the difficulty that has hitherto attended the iden- 

 tification of species by a confusion (if 'oeal names whereby 

 we are unable lo distinguish by the vernacular a trout from 

 a black bass, a pike from a pickerel, aud a blue lish from a 

 taylor fish, it is of the utmost importance that an uniform 

 nomenclature be adopted to enable us to (kngnaie such 

 species as may be named within aud coining under the pro- 

 visions of any sumptuary act, so that the same be known and 

 recognized in all those States included within the limits of 

 said act. and that the better to decide upon and establish 

 such uniform nomenclature a Otmimim-et Board of Re- 

 ference be formed lo be composed of delegates, one from 

 each naturalist's and sportsman's association in each State, 

 whose qualifications shall be defined and determined by a 

 convention composed of one delegate from each naturalist's 

 and sportsman's association iu the States so co-operating, 

 and the decision of which Board of Reference Of Committee 

 shall be final. 



Following the heels of this resolution, we prepared a 



Comparative Table of Close Seasons, iu all those States 



where game laws exist, which we published on the 18th of 



March with the following explanatory comments appended : 



[From curiam uf March Vilh.] 



Herewith is given a comparative table of Close Seasons 

 for all kinds of Game and Fish iu each State of Ihe Union 

 .where protective laws exist, so that the reader can deter- 

 mine at a glance, without the trouble of hunting through 

 volumes of codified laws, just what particular bird, animal, 

 or fish is excepted, or prohibited from being caught or 

 killed, at any given month in the year. Its usefulness and 

 labor-saving character iu-e apparent, lie who examines 

 carefully, however, cannot, fail lo see how strangely the 

 laws conflict, as respects the gam j of any given latitude, 

 even in the States thai are contiguous and homogeneous in 

 i heir flora aud fauna. The time and seasons often vary 

 several weeks in localities that lie within the same geographi- 

 cal zone and between the same parallels of latitude-. It is 

 apparent at once what, opportunity is thus given to those 

 who desire to evade the laws, either in the killing or selling 

 of game, while to the well disposed and most earnest advo- 

 cates of protection the jumble of heterogeneous and inter- 

 minable legislation renders it. almost impossible to keep in 

 mind, or even determine, when and where any particular 

 kind of game is in season or out of season. 'More than 

 this, within the general law of individual States are hun- 

 dreds of special provisions, excepting this pond and that 

 stream, and this county ami thai township, so that, there are 

 prohibited districts, and close seasons within close seasons, 

 that, render the confusion worse confounded, and defeat 

 the efforts of those who seek the general welfare. And at 

 each session of every Legislature some well meaning aud 

 enthusiastic advocate of 'protection clamors for additional 

 and more stringent measures. $o that il) 'be. midst of loo 

 much legislation and too much protection we are likely lo 

 defeat the ends we strive for. 



It is obvious thai the only remedy lies in co-operative 

 legislation, aud in a simplified code. Nature has singularly 

 defined her geographical belts, arid designated the animal 

 and organic life that dwells within them. As certainly are 

 the boundaries of the range of the duor and the habitat 

 of the trout defined as are the varieties of food upon winch 

 they feed. UmtUA 1'inirnt'ttnu.i ia nol found north of a. 

 certain latitude, nor ihe Xnlmo fortinalk south of a certain 

 latitude. The same is true ot the i lifted and pinnated 

 arouse, the quail, the turkey, the moose, ami the antelope. 

 What we need is one general enactment thai shall apply- 

 to each of these geographical zones alike throughout its 

 breadth ami extent,' or at least to extended sections of these 

 zone-. Came law.- for Ohio need nut be the same as for 

 Maine, but the laws protecting game in Maine, Vermont, 

 and New Hampshire should be precisely alike, as the laws 

 for Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois should be the same for 

 those particular Stales. To the Pacific coast the law of the 

 Atlantic, would not apply, for the climates and seasons are 

 different. Local laws would have to oe made for the moose 

 and the big horn sheep, for iheir rauge is limited and fixed. 

 For the nomadic bulla lo, which ranges through main de 



