88 
FOREST AND STREAM 
a rtoiiivbY JOURNAL, 
IlE.-T.-i, to Field and Aquatic Sports. Ppacticai. NaturalHistory, 
FlSRCl LTITRB, THE PROTECTION OF GAMK.FRE8EBVATION OFFoBEBTB, 
Kt'U I HU INCULCATION IN MEN AND WOMEN OF A HEALTHY INTEREST 
EM Odt-doob Recreation and Study : 
PUBLISHES S7 
purest and ^treaty fflttblishmg <&om$ai\g. 
17 CHATHAM STREET, (CITY HALL SQUARE) NEW YORK, 
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Advertising Kates. 
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cents per line. Advertisements on outside page, 40 cents per line. Reading 
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month, a discount of 1(1 per cent, will be made; over three months, 20 
per cent.: over -<ix m mths. 30 per cent. 
NEW YORK*THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1876. 
To Correspondents, 
All commnnications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 
correspondence, must be addressed to The Forest and Stream Pub* 
tiDHiso Company. Personal or private letters of coarse excepted. 
Ail communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 
real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 
objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 
Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited 
VYe cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Aasociations are urged to favor us with brief 
notes of their movements and transactions, as it is the aim of this paper 
to necomo a medium of useful and reliable information between gentle¬ 
men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other; and they will 
dnd 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- 
ahed intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 
is heautifnl in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 
the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 
tend to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise 
ment or business notice of an immoral character will be received on any 
terms; and nothing will he admitted to any department of the paper that 
may not he read with propriety in the home circle. 
We cannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, If 
money remitted to us is lost 
Advertisements should he sent in by Saturday of each week, if possible 
CHARLES tlALLOCR,Editor 
WILLIAM HARRIS. Business id imager 
—Tile Blooming Grove Park Association Held its annual 
dinner at the HnSman House on Tuesday evening of Iasi 
week. The affair was most enjoyable. Seventy ladies and 
gentlemen sat down to diseu-s a. mem which Mr. C. H. 
Read, Hie caterer, had determined should be a chef d'omvrc 
There was a succession of the choicest viands known to 
the French evixime , and wines of the rarest vintages, 
served in a siy’e simply perfect, by a corps of perfectly 
trained waiters. At llin Hie conolu-itm of the banquet 
Bpeecnes were made by D G. Croly, Judge Brady, Wit. 
C. Barrelt, Genio C. Semt, and Col. 8. D. Bruce. A letter 
from Fayette S. Giles was read by John Avery, President 
of the Association Dr. Geo. H. Glcnney acted as master 
of ceremonies, under whose skillful management the 
German and otljer dances concluded an evening replete 
wiili enjoyment. 
Preparations for the coming season at the park are being 
made, which will make it unrivalled as a tesort for sports¬ 
men and their families, ami there is excellent promise of a 
full house throughout the season. 
-«w-- 
A Shower of Flesh —The inhabitants of Bath County, 
K, mucky, were astonished last week by a shower of flesh 
which fell in one of the townships, the meat-like substance, 
and which was said to resemble mutton or venison, cover¬ 
ing a space of an acre or more in extern . A scientific ex¬ 
amination shows the substance to have been the dried 
spawn of some bairacluan reptile, probably that of the 
frog, transported by a current of Wind from some swampy 
place to the spot where they were deposited. Such showers 
have occurred before, and the sudden appearance of im¬ 
mense quantities of young loads, or frogs, is probably to 
be accounted for in the same way. 
-- 
—We have received from Mr. L. C. Earle the artist, of 
Chicago, photographs of his two fine paintings, the one 
representing a pair of mallards, male and female, just 
taking flight, the other a mallard flushed by a spaniel. In 
the latter picture the attitude of the dog is rem .rkahly 
good. Although his back is towards the observer the po¬ 
sition of the head is so excellent that one can imagine the 
eager, expectant eye. Of course we cannot judge of the 
coloring, but the drawing of both ducks and dog is ex¬ 
cellent. As hut one person can possess the originals we 
would suggest to Mr. Earle that chromos of his pictures 
would find much favor among- sportsmen. 
—Editorial Notes p| Southern Travel are unavoidably 
deferred. 
COURSING. 
I T is a little remarkable that one of the oldest of English 
pastimes should have obtained its first foothold on 
this continent on the other side of the Rooky Mountains. 
We allude to the sport of coursing with greyhounds, which 
has become firmly established as one of llie “institutions” 
of the Pacific Slope. The cosmopolitan character of the 
population of California is in a measure one of the agents 
in bringing it about, but the principle cause is found in the 
fact that the almost treeless plains of the last named State, 
and the sage brush deserts of Nevada are the homes of 
myriads of the Jack rabbit or “great American hare,” the 
nearest approach to the hare of England to be found in 
our country. In point of size and fleetness they are quite 
the equals of their European prototype; for the purposes 
of the table they are vastly inferior. In fact, they are not 
to be mentioned with another member of the lepua family", 
the little “cotton tail," erroneously called a rabbit. It 
may not be known to all of our readers that the true rabbit-, 
or coney, an animal living in large congregations in warrens, 
and so common in Europe, is unknown in this country, 
and that we have no rabbits. The cause of this inferiority 
of the flesh of the larger hare is due partly to the coarse¬ 
ness of the flesh itself, and also to ihe fact that in many 
portions of their habitat they are found among the low- 
growing, scrubby prickly pears, ot tunas, tkethnrnsof which 
penetrate their skins; and it is not uncommon upon skin¬ 
ning them to find numerous sores resembling carbuncles. 
The London Field thinks that ihe time is near at hand 
when coursing will be the most generally followed pastime 
of Anglo Saxons in every quarter of the globe. At the 
Cape of Good Hope it has taken firm hold, and in Austra¬ 
lia it has become one of the most popular sports, The 
English hares introduced into the latter country have 
thriven remarkably, and breed with snch fecundity, and 
attain such proportions, weighing often as high as ten or 
twelve pounds, that they frequently cause the dogs to lie 
down. In Australia, however, they have another animal, 
indigenous to the country, to course, and one that must at 
ford splendid sport; we allude to the kangaroo. The kan¬ 
garoo, however, is a very different animal to tackle from 
ike timid hare, its sharp claws making short work of an 
ordinary dog. The dogs used are a cross between the 
greyhound and the staghound, possessing almost the fleet¬ 
ness of the one willi the courage and tenacity of the other. 
Coursing in California is splendid sport; the abundance 
of hares, the wide expanses of oountry as level as the 
downs of England and without fences, the fleet little rails- 
lungs upon which to follow the chase, and the aoupcon of 
danger from one’s horse stumbling in a squirrel hole, or 
burrow, all combine to make a most exciting sport. There 
Is no reason why coursing should not he successfully fol¬ 
lowed in onr own vicinity. The primary step necessary 
would be that contained in iheinjuuclion of Mrs. Glass’ cele¬ 
brated recipe, “first catch your hare.” Having caught 
(hem, or rather imported (hem, turn them out on the 
Hempstead plains on Long Island, protecting them 
carefully until such time as they had increased and 
multiplied. As a pastime nothing would be more popular, 
and one can be as happy in the possession of a finely 
bred greyhound as in a setter, or a pointer, and more so, 
perhaps, than in a horse. The arliele in the London Field, 
to which we have before alluded. Bays:— 
“Coursing bas tlie advantage over horse racing, (hat 
human agency has less to do with the exhibition of a dog's 
ilian of a horse’s soeed; and whereas i( is possible for a 
corrupt jockey to pull an equine fuvoiite, the greyhound, 
„li,'U once loosed Irom the slips, i- totally beyond the con- 
i,ol of his master or trainer. ‘A dinner, but more es¬ 
pecially lea and toddie,’ says the late Mt. H. H. Dixon— 
nt Iter known us “Tile Druid"- 'have an additional zesl when 
, on have a Waterloo Cup winner sireiehed on the hearth 
-tig, dreaming of Will Warner and the hares.' As‘The 
Druid’ wrote these woids he was paying a visit to a most 
-uecessful Scotch courser ai Da’gig, and Canaradzo, who 
bad carried away Hie great prize at Allcar in 1861, was 
lying in front of the fire. It was one of the sayings of 
Mr. Campbell, the owner of Camiraozo and 8cotlund Yet, 
that emtr-ing had more churms for lam than horse racing, 
because he could bring uis dogs with him inio the house 
and live with llu-ra as companions, whereas the turfite could 
not see his horses without visiting them in the stable." 
The ru.es governing coursing, particularly those refer¬ 
ring to lbs slipper and judge are very strict, anil collusion 
is almost impossible. And here we might say that the 
custom of having a paid judge for the decision of almost 
every kind of contest, is one that might be adopted with 
advantage in this country. Whether in racing, trotting, or 
coursing, a professional judge is bound from experience 
gained by practice alone, to have a knowledge of his busi¬ 
ness, and having not only reputation, but his means of 
livelihood at blake, his decisions arc more apt to be honestly 
given. 
A correspondent has written to us within a few days 
past to know where he can obtain greyhounds of a large 
size, to be used in coursing antelopes in Nebraska. We 
have referred him to the coursing clubs of California, as 
we know that llie dogs used by them would be admirably 
adapted for Ihe purpose. However it may be with them 
when first imported, there is no luck of courage in those 
bred in the country. There are some greyhounds owned 
near San Diego that have killed as many as half a dozen 
wild cats in a season, and iliey have been known to fear¬ 
lessly attack and kill a California lion. As coursing in¬ 
volves riding, although not necessarily, and is an invigor¬ 
ating, healthful outdoor sport, we would gladly welcome 
its introduction among us as a valuable addition to our 
list of pastimes, 
METAPHYSICS OF FLY FISHING. 
PART FIRST. 
V ERY frequently our correspondents ask for published 
instruction in fly-fishing. While there is no man¬ 
ual that is adapted to the practice of the art in America, 
much information has been printed at odd limes in books 
and letters which, if culled and collated, would constitute 
just such a handbook as is wanted. One reason why sn«h 
a work has not been attempted is, that instruciion in this 
art cannot be fully imparted. Only general principles can 
be given, the rest must be acquired by analytical study 
and investigation, by repeated and varied experiments, 
and by assiduous practice. Natural history, meteor¬ 
ology, mechanical forces, must all be studied and ap¬ 
plied to the practice of the art. The curriculum, or 
course of study, must of necessity extend over a very con¬ 
siderable period of lime, in older that the physical fea¬ 
tures of different waters and streams can be thoroughly 
learned. One cannot “cram,” as students do for examina¬ 
tion, and by incessant and intense applicatien learn in one 
day or season what most men spend a lifetime in acquiring. 
The entomology of fishes—ihe creatures that live in the 
water, under the water, and over the water, and whose 
habits in great part govern or control the movements of 
the fish; this must be made familiar. We are to know 
that certain flies deposit their eggs on the leaves of the 
plants that overhang the streams; that such and such 
ephemeras launch their floating boats of eggs upon the 
water itself; that certain larvte are to be fouuii among the 
weeds at the bottom. We are to knoir just at what lo¬ 
cality upon the stream these are to be found, ana at what 
mouth of the year they will develop into active life, be¬ 
cause where the food is there the fish do congregate. 
This knowledge is important, for it enables ihe 
angler to select the choice places for his casts, and pre¬ 
vents waste of time in testing spots where success is im¬ 
probable. Into this study of entomology also enters all the 
minutite of patterns for artificial flies, and ihe selection of 
such specimens for casts as will correspond in a great de¬ 
gree with the seasons when the natural insect is abroad. 
The mere mechanical art of fly dressing can be so intel¬ 
ligibly imparted that it may he acquired iu a day or two. 
So can the tying of loops and knots, and the making and 
tinting of casting lines. With a complete tackle of rod, 
reel, line, easting line, and flies, and the knowledge of 
where to fish, we have next to learn when to fish, 
and how to fish. If we can discern the face of the 
sky and abide by the conditions of the weather—the 
temperature of the air and water, the direction of the 
wind and clouds, the character of the slreams, etc., we 
can reasonably determine where to fish. 
Observation lias taught us that warm, sluggish and tur¬ 
bid water is not the home of the sal mould®. We know 
that they are less liable to he found iu a limestone 
country than amid a granite formation. We find that fish, 
don’t bite after a thunderstorm, or after a flood; that after 
a heavy rain which washes unlimited food into the stream, 
trout t-ecomesurfeited and indifferent to the angler’s lures; 
that the fish are sluggish on cold, raw and biustery days, 
which are usually accompanied by northerly and easterly 
winds; that it is no time to fish wLen the streams are filled 
with snow water; that trout are most wary when the sky 
is cloudless; that windy weather is unfavorable for cast¬ 
ing; that the fish dwell chiefly in those parts of ihe stream 
where the natural current curries the-surface food; that 
the biggest fish select and occupy the best places. We 
know, moreover, that ihe conditions which apply lo 
streams do not. apply to lakes and ponds, and that the rulis 
that govern the fishing for speckled trout do not apply to 
salmon and other varieties of the salmo family. In ponds 
we must fish where we find the coldest waler supplied hy 
bottom springs; in the deep channels, which are fre¬ 
quently indicated by the growing lily pads; and where 
cold brooks chance to empLy ibemselvea into the main 
body. We do not fish where there are deposits of mud. 
The presenco of aquatic plants indicates mud, but if there 
be a space of clear water it indicates gravel bottom 
caused by the flow of a current which has deposited the 
silt and vegetable mailer on either hand, just a- bottom 
lands on large rivers are formed. Sometimes, too, we 
find patches of a succulent vegetable growth on the bottom 
swarming with lame If we pull up a handfull we find it 
alive with the food that will attract the fish to the spot 
which the experienced angler will instinctively resort to. 
Neither do the same conditions apply alike to all ponds 
and streams; for which reason experience can only be 
gained by fishing over a great number of localities in as 
many different sections of country. This lesson of ento¬ 
mology is imparted in a very lucid and delightful way by 
Miss Sara ,1. McBride, of Mutnford, N. Y., in the follow¬ 
ing passages. It is the foundation of all knowledge that 
pertains to fly-fishing, aod no one can become a„scientific 
angler who builds on any other:— 
“There is a large order of insects that live the first 
stages of life in water, where for weeks, months, in some 
instances years, they hide under stones; carve an abiding 
place in submerged driftwood; feed on decaying vegeta¬ 
tion in lazy inert masses; burrow in the earth beneath the 
current; weave together bits of wood, gravel, stones, and 
floating debris, forming retreats that Burround them as 
they swim or daintily walk; spin of silken thread individual 
domiciles that they guard Irom intruders with the valor of 
soldiers, or boldly and singly dash out in the current 
swimming with agile rapidity. These are all fish food. 
But it is only when they assume the perfect form, when 
they cast aside their aquatic nature, and with gossame? 
