180 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



$%&][ §ttlttit[e. 



this J ommil is the Ollleial Organ of the Fish Cultiir- 

 ists' Association. 



l-;i'!\x\ Fisrr Commission, — "We karri that the State of 

 Indiana is soon to establish, a Slate Fishery Commission, 

 fdr the protection and improvement of the lakes and rivers 

 of tli.it State, and that our correspondent, W. H. Holabivd. 

 (it Valparaiso, lias been designated as one of the eommis- 

 Biorrers. Efforts will at once be made to restock the prin- 

 cipal water? with improved varieties of fish. 



Propagation un Connecticut.— Black bass weighing 

 four pounds have been taken in considerable numbers 

 throughout the present season from a small lake near 

 Granby, Connecticut, They are the progeny of sOme 250 

 stoch fish planted there six years ago. There is no doubt 

 but that from insignificant beginnings any suitable water 

 will give the most satisfactory returns within a very few 

 years thereafter. There are few fish more prolific than 

 black bass, which, being palatable flesh, a most excellent. 

 game fish, and well able to protect their progeny, are cer- 

 tainly to be preferred for restocking such depleted waters 

 us are not suitable for speckled trout Or Other lish of more 

 aristocratic strains. 



>*»•> 



IIatcuixg fish is Transit.— Fred Mather, of the IT. 

 S. Fish Commission, has invented a can in which to hatch 

 shad eggs while travelling. It consists of one small can 

 inside a large one. The small one has eight arms termi- 

 nating In rubber balls, which press against the outer can 

 and allow it to slide up and down as required to get any 

 depth of immersion, and yet will hold it in any desired 

 position. The bottom of the interior can is of wire cloth, 

 and there are places for one or more trays of the same 

 material above it. There is a four-inch space between the 

 cans, and the motion of the surface water while the caus 

 are running is expected to agitate the water below the wire 

 sufficiently to cause a proper amount of circulation, and to 

 agitate the eggs. When there is but little motion the in- 

 terior can is raised, to bring the eggs up near the surface 

 where the greatest agitation is found, and when the train 

 is at a higher rate of speed it is lowered. Mr. Mather has 

 a well-known aversion to patenting what he calls "trifles," 

 and has given this to the U. S. Commission, who have- had 

 one made. 



•»♦■ 



PROPOSED FISH FARM. 



LtESBCTio, Ya., October 21tli. ISM. 



The pigeon fever lias died away, mid our sportsmen are beginning to 

 try the Bub Whites. Very few birds have been killed as yet. by even the 

 best shots. There is some probability of a fish farm being established 



ear our little town. Afaj. Ferguson, w ho is an accomplished angler and 

 an energetic officer, is trying to come to terms for the use of the Big 

 Spring tract between Leesburg and the Point of Rocks for the purposes, 

 offish culture. This spring is near the residence of the Hon . Thomas 

 Swan, and is therefore convenient to the Major, Mr. Swau's son-in law. 

 The Major has been liberal in his eltorts, and all sportsmen wish him 

 success. He at first offered to put in the capital necessary to make a 



Hi liBn farm, and allow them to hatch some salmon for Maryland. 



This w as not agreed to. Now he wants to lease the land for ten years?. 

 They have not yet come to terms. It will stimulate the cultuie of fish 

 here in Loudotui, and we hope the Maryland commissioner will gain his 



point. t. w. 

 *•♦ 



— Mr. C, G. Atkins, of Bucksport, employed by the 

 United States and Maine, Masssaebusetts, Vermont, Khode 

 Island and Connecticut, to collect the eggs of fish, has at 

 present in. his building erected for the purpose (28x70 feet 

 in size), about 2,500,000 eggs, obtained from 500 salmon. 

 The estimated number of eggs obtained from eaclt female 

 fish is about 9,000, of which about 8,000 mature under favor- 

 able circumstances. 



(stocking Ouk Lakes abb Streams. — We find in the 

 Ii<»-heder Union and Advertiser the report of an interview 

 with the noted Selh Green on the subject of stocking our 

 lakes and streams with fish. He staled that on inspecting 

 recently some of the streams which had been stocked with 

 young shad and salmon, he found those of two years' 

 growth fine and healthy, but complained bitterly o£ the 

 contrivances used for catching fish at wholesale, big and 

 little, of course,, destroying those not large enough to serve 

 their cupidity. The "eel weir" was especially destructive, 

 and the most, wicked of all the traps employed. In Oswe- 

 go Itiver as many as one hit mired young shad have been 

 caught in one of these weirs in a single night. He said it 

 was preposterous lo build flatways as long as these prac- 

 tices are allowed to prevail. Of the three hundred thous- 

 and fish of all kinds put into this river, it was impossible 

 to say how many w T ere left. One thing was to be borne in 

 mind, that either all unlawful modes of taking fish must 

 be suppressed, or fish-stocking of the streams must cease. 

 Mr. Green said, however, that be believed laws would ere 

 [one be provided and officers appointed to execute them, 

 and that they would be executed in all casef as atirictlj 

 and severely as in crimes of burglary and horse-stealing. 



In reference to the practical benefit Of the Btate fish 

 Commission, .Mr. Green said it was rather early to expect 

 any enlarged benefits. The Commission was not estab- 

 lished until 1809, and two or three years were then spent in 



iking over the ground and laying out plans. "In no 

 Case v. here small fish were deposited in large numbers have 

 they remained long enough yet to attain full size. In many 

 waters, however, good-sized fish of artificial hatching and 

 planting have become very abundant, and soon will become 

 so plenty as to attract much attention. The Commission 

 have had much to contend against iu the greed of the net 

 and trap fishers. Shad were put in the Hudson as early as 

 ISG'7, and have been continually added to, at the proper 

 season, since that lime, Their abundance at present is a 

 matter of frequent comment. Many will remember that 



shad|weighing four pounds each were sold here last, season 

 at fifty cents a pair. As a result of a sleeking of the Hud- 

 son and other streams the price of this fish" has been re- 

 duced fully three-quarters." 



The commissioners expect to distribute to all applying 

 parties in the Stale during the coming three winter months", 

 three millions of fish, and in four years expect to supply 

 every lake and stream in the State. The result of all this 

 will be that fish as an article of food will become so abun- 

 dant and cheap as to reduce all other necessaries of life 

 proportionately, and will afford a permanent supply K the 

 protective laws are enforced. 



♦•♦ 



Brook. Tiiotjt. — A. Palmer, Boseobel, Wis, says:— 



"While this is not the fish for the million, as the amount 

 which can be raised is limited, yet it is a great favorite 

 with the angler and epicure, and is better adapted to culti- 

 vation iu private ponds than any other fish yet experiment- 

 ed with. Although naturally very wild, it is easily domesti- 

 cated, and with a little petting becomes as tame as a kitten. 



"I'liev are easily bred, and" grow rapidly, although they 

 don't produce as much spawn as some fish, yet a sufficient 

 amount to trouble the breeder to find water to raise the 

 fish in, eacb female producing from five to eight hundred 

 spawn at two years old, and about double that amount at 

 three years old; but they cannot be raised to advantage in 

 any other than spring or brook water. This may be either 

 hard or soft, but noUargely impregnated with minerals. 



"Trout, in their natural state, prefer active water of even 

 temperature, but still they do well in pond water if there 

 is a continual supply of fresh water running into them, 

 and will stand a temperature of sixty-five or seventy de- 

 grees; but water which runs up to a high temperature will 

 not raise as many trout as that of more even temperature. 

 The same applies to still Witter. They are great consum- 

 ers of oxygen, and cold water contains more than warm 

 water, and running water more than pond water. In build- 

 ing ponds we try to have a fall from one pond to another 

 to cany this property into the water. We find iu trans- 

 porting trout that as long as the cars arc moving they need 

 but little attention, but if they stop for a short time the 

 water must he agitated. 



"They are cheaply raised. Being cold blooded, they waste 

 no food in keeping' up the heat" of the body, and ponds 

 which have been built a few years, as well as" brooks, pro- 

 duce a large amount of insects and Crustacea, and nearly 

 enough to feed what trout the water will bear. 



"I am feeding about fifty thousand, ranging from two to 

 eighteen inches in length, the larger portion small, and 

 they will not eat a beef liver a day. Milk curds, any lean 

 meat that is fresh, or other kindsof fish, make good food 

 for them. 



"In connection with other farming, a small spring that 

 is perpetual will pay to improve, while many farms in the 

 State contain water"enough to raise more pounds of meat 

 than all the arable land would, if cultivated, and the pro- 

 ducts of it fed to cattle and hogs, and the building'of the 

 ponds would not cost as much as the necessary buildings 

 to make the stock comfortable. The stock to" start with 

 would cost less; the necessary seed for the farm would 

 more than feed the trout; the "labor of feeding and caring 

 for the cattle and hogs would be much greater than that of 

 the trout; then if I am right, and I think I have been lib- 

 eral, the trout will pay the best by the difference of fenc- 

 ing, ploughing, seeding, harvesting, and threshing, and 

 will come into market in less time than the cattle, and 

 pretty near as soon as the hogs. 



"While there is much for the new beginner to learn, I 

 think he can get a knowledge of it as easily as he could of 

 their nature and habits. And while in one case he would 

 apply to the cattle breeders for information, in the other 

 he would go to some well informed fish breeder." 



also teems with food, which may account for their rapid 

 growth. In other streams trout have been seen of a large 

 size; but there are very few persons who take such a lively 

 interest, in thern as Mr. Young.— Lund rim! It'ifry'. 



ACCLIMATIZATION: OF TnODT IN O'I'AGO, NEW ZEALAND.— 



About seven years ago Mr. G. P. CUfford, the manager of 

 the Acclimatization Society of dago, undertook the con- 

 veyance of a lot of trout ova from Tasmania to Olago, 

 which he safely landed and hatched out at the society's 

 grounds in Dunedin. When the young fry were fit for 

 transport, they were distributed in"several of the likeliest 

 Streams in the province. In one of those, the Shag Itiver, 

 at Palmerston, he put, if 1 recollect right, 100 fry. Tnese 

 were looked after, and, I may say, nursed by Mr. W. A. 

 Young, an energetic and enthusiastic gentleman, through 

 wdiose property the river runs. Mr. Young, talcing a lively 

 interest in the stocking of the river, determined to increase 

 the quantity of trout by artificial breeding. Not only was 

 he anxious to increase the fish in his river, but wished to 

 get all the rivers in the province also stocked, and there- 

 fore he has watched their growth from their infancy, and 

 prepared places for breeding purposes. At his own ex- 

 pense he excavated a pond on bis property, the water to 

 supply which is taken from his mill-lade. At the head of 

 tho pond there is a small lade about thirty feet long by 

 three feet broad and one foot deep, a sluice at the head 

 regulating a continuous stream of water which passes into 

 the pond." On the property there is also a fine spring, hav- 

 ing a temperature of forty-eight degrees Summer and Win- 

 ter; it is at this spring his breeding boxes arc placed. Last 

 year was the first iu which he began operations. Having 

 procured nets, so as to be ready on the approach of "Win- 

 ter, he wailed, until in July he saw the large trout, turning 

 up l he gravel, which they ploughed up in redds like sal- 

 mon, and then sent for Mr. Deans, the present manager of 

 the Acclimatization Society, to help him. I also was pres- 

 ent on the occasion, and, with the nets, twelve fish were 

 captured, the largest weighing twelve pounds, the rest 

 being nine pounds, eight pounds, and down to three 

 pounds. These were placed in the small lade above re- 

 ferred to, and kept from going up or down by grating at 

 top and bottom. Prom these fish he got 30,000 ova, which 

 were treated by the American dry process. They hatched 

 out over ninety per cent. The" same lish were stripped 

 three times at different dates, which was found to be the 

 best way, as only the ova which came away readily was 

 taken. The young lish were distributed in nearly every 

 river in the province successfully. This week I have had 

 a letter from Mr. Young, in which he mentious he had 

 caught eighteen fish this year,, one of which was of the 

 extraordinary weight of sixteen and a half pounds. This 

 fish he intended killing and sending to the museum in 

 Dunedin, which already contains specimeus of trout and 

 other lish. Prom his trout this year he has obtained a 

 large supply of ova, which by this time will be hatched 

 out. The Shag River is small, but has fine deep pools and 

 gravelly streams, and has good Shelter lot the trout. It 



TrrE Black Bass. — We doubt if as gamy a fish swims 

 ns the black bass. Hooking him is the least of catching 

 him, and no bungler can land a three pounder. "When 

 hooked he dives for the bottom, then turns and rushes like 

 an arrow to the top, sometimes leaping three or four feet 

 in the air, then down he goes again like a bullet, turning, 

 shaking, and twisting, bending or breaking a stout pole 

 like a feed, snapping a sUk line like a thread, and jerking 

 the strongest hookslrom his tough gills. If you are ex- 

 pert and wary enough to prevent this, after three or four 

 plunges he becomes exhausted, and you may haul him in. 

 The manner of fishing black bass is generally by trolling 

 with a long line, though sinking in ten or fifteen feet of 

 water with worms or minnow for bait is a favorite method 

 with some, especially in the Pall. 



The bass pair and spawn in May, and are said to make 

 their beds very much like the roach, only in deeper water 

 and on a much more extensive scale. They select a bed 

 of coarse gravel, and after scouring the pecbles smooth 

 and bright with their fins and tails, deposit their effgs. It 

 is supposed that two or three weeks elapse before the eggs 

 hatch. The hatching is almost instantaneous, the young 

 bursting the egg and coming out a perfect lish about three 

 eighths of an inch in length. After hatching, the young 

 remain several days hovering over the spawning Lads, Die 

 old ones keeping close by to protect them. 



In about a week the young scatter into deep water, and 

 are not seen again until September, when they come in 

 shore, having grown to about two inches in length. When 

 they are well supplied with food, the}' grow about four 

 inches the first season. At two years old they reach a 

 pound in weight, and after that will grow about a pound 

 each year until they weigh six or seven pounds, though 

 few are caught weighing over four pounds. They are 

 enormously prolific, a fish yielding nearly a third of her 

 entire weight in spawn. 



A Horned Toad.— Through the kindness of Mr. Win. M . 

 Tileston, one of our most valued correspondents, and the 

 author of several breezy sketches of adventures in the 

 Orient and California, we have been enabled to glance 

 at the horned toad (Tapaya Douglasii), a species of the 

 Saurian family epiite abundant in the Pacific States and 

 Territories. This is most common on the dry and elevated 

 plateaus, and like its congeners is an excellent adept at 

 catching flies. Its most marked peculiarity is the two 

 small and hard excrescences which put out from the head 

 above the eyes and give it its cognomen. This creature 

 has a temper not the sweetest, for in its natural state it is 

 quite pugnacious, and will promptly oppose any enemv, 

 yet it is perfectly harmless. The specimen shown to us 

 came through the mails from San Diego, California, so 



that it is now quite an experienced traveler. If i , 



curiosity to those who have never seen the species. 



A WANDERER. 



Catsk.u.1,, N. T. , October -lid, 187 I . 

 Editor FrmtsT akd Strkam:— 



A bird which tallies precisely will, Lc ich's Pefa il— genua ( 'i/nochorea— 

 iCoiics' whs shot one flay last *COi in "!' ah. nit tlie hay along the vest 

 hank of the Hudson, ju-i below the junction therewith of ftafial fctll 

 Creek. The dimensions, as nmsagarer} by J. Robert Greene, Esq:, of this 

 village, are as follows: Length, 8 inches; wings, il.j inches; tali, 

 forked, 3.4 inches, while upper tail coverts, &e. Very respoetfl Hj 



Geo. B, T)av. 



P. S.— I have Often seen the stormy I'etrii, but never observed one 

 closely. This specimen of the Petri! family is. I should judge 

 as huge as the common species. We are ISO miles or mure from the 

 ocean. G, I). D. 



The Oiugixaj. Cause on Cacses of the Migration 

 of Bnuis. — In some cases scarcity of food would seem to 

 be a .sufficient cause, and it is undoubtedly the most obvi- 

 ous one that presents itself to our mind. As food grows 

 scarce towards the end of Summer in the most northern 

 limits of the range of a species, the individuals affected 

 thereby seek it in oilier countries. Thus doing, they press 

 upon the haunt of other individuals; these i.i like manner 

 upon that of yet others, and so on, until the movement 

 which began in the far north is communicated to the indi- 

 viduals occupying the extreme southern range of the spe- 

 cies at that season; though, but for such an invasion, these 

 last might be content to stay some lime longer in the en- 

 joyment Of their existing quarters. When we consider, 

 however, the return movement, at the end of Winter, it is 

 doubtful, I think, whether scaraily of food can be assigned 

 as its sole or sufficient cause. But here we feel the want 

 of knowledge. At present we are far too lillle acquainted 

 with the physical peculiarities of those more equatorial 

 regions, which in Winter are crowded with emigrants 

 from the north, to come to any final decision. Il seems 

 not too violent an assumption to suppose that though such 

 regions are well fitted for the Winter resort of the bin! 

 population of the north, they may be deficient in certain 

 necessaries for the nursery; and it seems still less of an as- 

 sumption to suppose that even if such necessaries are not 

 wanting, yet that the regions in question would not supply 

 food sufficient for both parents and offspring — the latter 

 be iff, ttl l lie lowest computation, twice as numerous as 

 the former— unless the numbers of both were diminished 

 by the casualties of travel. But another point must not he 

 overlooked. The most sedentary of birds year alter year 

 occupy the same quarters in the breeding season. In some 

 instances this may be ascribed, it is true, to the old haunt, 

 affording the sole or the most convenient she for the nest in 

 the neighborhood; but in so many instances such is not the 

 case, that we are led to believe in the existence of a real 

 partiality, while there are quite enough exception-, i In 

 that a choice is exercised. The same may equally be said 

 of the most migrant of birds, and perhaps the strongest 

 instance that has ever come to my knowledge refers to one 

 of the latter. A pair of stone curlews {U. ■■'. ■ .■. 

 tans) — a very migratory species, affecting aln 

 sively the most open country — were in the habit •• 



