FOREST AND STREAM. U7 
For Forest and Stream. 
HUNTING ON REELFOOT LAKE. 
D N the 27th of November last a small party of sports¬ 
men left the city of Memphis for a visit to the cele- 
iratetl duck grounds of Reelfoot Lake; This lake is 
lituated between Obion and Lake counties, in Tennessee, 
ind extends in an irregular body, varying from one to five 
uilcs in width, from near Paducah, in Kentucky, for some 
hirty miles south into Tennessee, lying at an average 
listance of seven miles from the Mississippi River. At 
ibout twenty miles, however, from the northern end the 
nain body of the lake really ceases, but it is connected by 
\ system of bayous with a number of small lakes extend- 
ng southwardly, opening into each other by guts or bayous, 
trying from a few yards to a mile in length, and finally 
mptying their surplus waters into the Obion River, in 
Tennessee. Through all of these bayous there is a steady 
urrent to the southward, showing the lakes to be supplied 
y hidden springs, as well as the small drainage of the hills 
n its eastern shore. The lakes are all dotted with islands 
f various sizes, clothed with cane or flags, and wherever 
he water is sufficiently shallow the flags grow up into tus- 
ueks or bunches on the spots most favorable to them, 
;aving interminable lanes and pockets of clear water, 
dthin which the sportsman may glide in his boat for 
tiles without being in sight of more than a few yards of 
pen water at anyone time. The largest lake ranges in 
epih from one foot to fifty feet, but the smaller ones are 
une shallow, and rarely exceed two feet anywhere. 
Tho origin of Reelfoot Lake is shrouded in mystery. It 
i filled with trees in some places as thickly as the adjoin- 
ig forest, only the one is green and growetlt up, while the 
titer stands bare and bleak in the desolation of death, 
’he most natural inference is that during the great earth- 
ualte, which shook the Valley of the Mississippi in 1811, the 
utii here subsided with all its forest growth upon it, and 
ie waters have since filled in the chasm. The name is 
tpposed to have been given from that of a small Indian 
■ibe, who long ago lived upon its banks, and concerning 
horn there are many wild and curious legends current 
inong the hunters and trappers who range its woods and 
aters. 
The sportsman will at once see the unusual facilities af- 
irded by such a locality for the pursuit of wild fowl. In 
ict, I am quite sure there is no place in the Uuion where 
ich a body of water can be found with such remarkable 
atural advantages for duck shooting of every description, 
hether at passes, over decoys, into flocks, creeping into 
bekets or flushing them beside the iaues, or, as some of 
to gunners (meu who gun for trade, and do not shoot for 
tort,) do, to steal upon them in their unguarded hours at 
te roost. 
But with all of this there must be something for the 
licks to feed upon, and when the Mississippi River over- 
ows in summer it kills out the yonkepins, moss, and other 
ib-aquatic plants, upon which the fowl do most delight 
i feed, and then the sportsman’s toil is useless there, as 
sewhere. Fortunately this does not happen often, but to 
J)' sorrow it did happen last year. So view us then, four 
-eciouB souls, and all agog to dash through thick and 
liti fiit route to Tiptonville, Mississippi River, whence by 
age we safely arrived in camp at Thomson’s Ferry, near 
e foot ot tlie greater lake. The accommodations here 
e simply detestable, and we advise all parties going to 
ury their own tents and grub. On the upper end of the 
ke, seven miles from Paducah, there is said to be a bet- 
r place, but we did not go there. The board was two 
illars per day, and a dollar for a boatman-and boat; or, 
ie can get a boat for nothing and do his own paddling, 
hieh does not pay at any price. The feed beiDg bad was 
;ainst us, but the weather was bright and warm, which 
as Worse. So we only got one day’s decent Bhooting, and 
at was only one hundred among three of us. In the 
Bek we stayed there we only got about two hundred and 
il-y ducks for the entire party, when in ordinary seasons a 
ior shot cau get between eighty and one hundred a day. 
ost of these were gray ducks (G. streperus), but we found 
iite a number of the most delightful of all wild fowl, the 
eeu-winged teal {Q, carolimnsis), which gave realty good 
ort at the passes during a half hour or so on breezy even- 
gs. The curious family of rail was also represented by 
farming thousands of its sub-family, the Fulmiue, or 
ols. These are called puldoos by tho natives, but why 
s could not find out. But the ornithological curiosities 
ere were the cormorants (GraruUdce), or perhaps they 
ire darters [Piotidaf as I did not have an opportunity of 
>se examination. These fellows were there in great 
mbers, and nearly any morning could be seen to collect 
»ether in a line ol several hundred yards long for the 
rpose of Jinking. This was accomplised by moving sim- 
aneously forward, flapping: the wings, and beating the 
iter, thus driving tho frightened minnows into the 
xinte formed by the closing wings of the line, whence 
sy were gobbled ad libitum. Snipe also (G. Wilsom ) 
imed to be abundant on the marshy islands, and perhaps 
eed there during the winter; but the nature of the ground 
•bid my searching for nests. I also killed two of a 
nily ol summer acquaintances, the gray-backed snipe 
'. grisens), which had perhaps left the sea-coast for a 
auge of air. 
And now, having spun my yarn, brother sportsmen, I 
til, like the famous “Guido,” drop her, and go below 
■ my watch off deck. Pat. 
Dbigin of the Newfoundland.— “Caractacus,” in dis¬ 
using in the Fancier's Gazette the question as to whether 
: Newfoundland dog was indigenous to the island from 
dch he takes his name, says:— 
‘My own opinion is that European settlers, finding dogs 
draught an absolute necessity, and thinking they might, 
prove on Ihe native breeds, imported large dogs 
various kinds —as, for instance, the mastiff, 
! colley, the Alpine spaniel, and (he Matin- 
l of France—and that the present breed 
ang from many roots, and has acquired, from change of 
male and other causes, certain peculiarities of its own, 
1 that by careful selection a fixed variety lias become 
ablished. **-*** I think the probabilities are 
it it owes its origin to several types, and that time, selec- 
n, and climatic influences have at last worked it into a 
linct variety. I have never been able to hit on any re- 
d which would tend to prove that such a dog existed 
,en the island was discovered by Europeans; and if any 
i can point to any that will throw a light on the dark- 
a, I shall be delighted beyond measure.” 
THE NATURAL AND ECONOMIC HIS¬ 
TORY OF THE SALMON 1 DJE —G EO- 
GRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND 
ARTIFICIAL CULTURE. 
NO. SEVEN. 
by pnnto icnrrtYOS. 
D ISMISSING the salmou as an object of natural his¬ 
tory, and viewing it as a matter of commerce, it is 
found that considerable apprehension exists that the an¬ 
nual product of salmon-bearing streams is rapidly dimin¬ 
ishing. The English salmon fisheries have nearly failed. 
The Irish fisheries had largely fallen off, but have lately 
become productive again by means of artificial culture. 
The Scotch fisheries had also declined, but have measura¬ 
bly readied their former productive status, by the artificial 
mode of replenishment. At a not very remote period sal¬ 
mon were extremely plenty In the United Kingdom, so 
much bo as to find a place on the table of the poor, while fish 
mongers sold it for two pence per pound; so plenty 
was this fish that farm servants bargained with employers 
not to he compelled to eat it more than twice a week. Our 
salmon streams have become impoverished by untimely 
fishing, and by obstructions from mill-dams; by the poi¬ 
soning of rivers from the reprehensible habit of throwing 
dyestuffs into them; by sawmills, and the various appli¬ 
ances of advancing civilization, A hundred years ago all 
our rivers natural to this species teemed with salmon. Wri¬ 
ters affirm that the North and East Rivers, during the Rev¬ 
olution, not only contatned abundance of shad, but salmou 
also. The rivers of New Eugiand were filled to repletion 
with this right royal flsli. The rivers of British America 
contained such vast numbers that the fisheries of the Prov¬ 
inces for a long period seemed inexhaustible. Besidest.be 
inclination of salmon to devour their own eggs, myriads of 
enemies hover about them while young, with such insatiable 
greediness that only a very small per cent, reach adult life. 
Some economists estimate that only one full-grown salmou 
may be counted upon from a thousand eggs. Sir Huuiph- 
ery Davy calculates that if a salmon produces 17,000 roc, 
only 800 of these will mature into full-grown fish. Were 
it not for the extreme fecundity of fishes, the water area 
would soon become as barren of fish as a desert of vegeta¬ 
tive life. But the grand difficulty—the root of the evil, as 
regards the scarcity of this most estimable fish—is to be 
found iu the improvidence and unaccountable avarice of 
fishermen, who overfish the rivers and streams. The reck¬ 
lessness of men who gain livings from the capture of fish 
seem to be utterly regardless of the possibility of a failure 
of the harvests of the sea. Tt is found in our country that 
two hundred patents have been granted for the destruction 
and capture of fishes, while hundreds more not patented 
are used, many of which are explosives. Giant powder is 
in common use in the streams of California, which not 
only destroys the edible fish, but hundreds too small for 
use. While traps of all descriptions—nitro glycerine, and 
other murderous agents—are being used to despoil and 
waste our food fishes, only eight patents have been issued 
for their increase and protection; a plain indication of pub¬ 
lic sentiment, even to-day, in reference to the protection 
of the fish and fisheries of our country. 
The economic history of the Halmonidm in this country 
may be summed up iu a few words. But in connection 
with this part of the subject some running remarks may 
not he out of place in reference to inaugurating and sus¬ 
taining measures calculated to increase the value of our 
salmon fisheries, If we would reap we must sow. This 
self-evident truth applies with no more force to agriculture 
that to aquaculture. The fisheries of the globe, in point 
of utility, if not in value, are vastly more important Ilian 
its mines of gold. Gold mines, in process of lime, become 
exhausted, and it is not within the scope of human genius 
or power, to replenish them again, or recharge tho sands, 
or quartz, with shining ore; but the living, self-producing, 
aud self-augmenting gift of God in the wealth of food in 
the fisheries of the earth, is inexhaustible, if economically 
managed, rightly fished, and if timely and proper fore¬ 
sight is used in replenishing those great ocean reservoirs 
of human sustenance. We have no statistics of value of 
Our salmon fisheries ante dating 1869. During this year 
there were received at San Francisco from the Columbia 
River Fisheries, 22,180 cases of canned salmon, each case 
containing 24 cans, equal to 531,120 cans shipped to this 
point alone. By good authority it is estimated that the 
whole product of those fisheries in 1809 reached 800,000 
cans—a sum, at twenty-five cents per can, of $200,000. 
Besides this product, 6,104 barrels of salted salmon were 
shipped, which, at $10 per barrel, is $61,164, making a to¬ 
tal of $261,164. This is the beginning of an enormous in¬ 
dustry, which, if properly managed, will furnish a vast 
revenue to the State of Oregon. Reports of these fisher¬ 
ies for four months ending August 1st, 1872, show 170,000 
salmou canned, whose dressed weight was 2,700,000 
pounds, value, $430,000; salmon taken for curing, 162,500, 
dressed weight, 2,GO0,OOO pounds, value $117,000; whole 
weight, 5,300,000 pounds; total value, $647,000. In 1874 
there were put up and shipped from the Columbia River 
Fisheries more than 20,000,000 pounds of canned salmon. 
It is estimated that half as much more was cured or eaten 
fresh, giving an aggregate annual product of one river 
alone of 30,000,000 pounds of food fish, fit subsistence for 
kings, and all of this vast product furnished without one 
dollar for its production! 
Estimating this enormous quantity at twenty cents a 
pound, here is a revenue of $0,000,000 alone from the vast 
feeding grounds of the Pacific Ocean; and all this supply 
of human sustenance was prepared for food without price, 
save for its capture aud preservation. And yet, wiili 
proper management, mauy fold may be added to this vast, 
aggregate of food. The weight of salmon taken in the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers In 1875 amounted to 
5,190,750 pounds. The product of the great, trout aud 
white-fish fisheries of the inland lakes of the United States 
and the Dominion cannot amount to less than $3,000,000 an¬ 
nually, while thesalmonfisheriesof tlmDominion alone must 
amount to more than a million of dollars. Tho salmon 
fisheries of Maine will soon attain a high degree of pro¬ 
ductiveness, aud her principal salmon rivers—Penobscot, 
Kennebec, and St. Croix—under the enlightened manage¬ 
ment of her able Fish Commissioners, must soon lie re¬ 
stored, through artificial means, to their ancient abundance, 
if the greed to over-fish does not contiuue until the salmon 
and all its congeners are exterminated. 
The economical value of the salmon lies in the richness 
and delicacy of its flesh, and the many different methods 
of preserving it. By means of freezing the newly-caught 
flsli, it may bb kept a long period of time without detri¬ 
ment or deterioration, so that it may be distributed iu win¬ 
ter so extensively as to find its way to the tables of the 
inhabitants of all tlm Northern, Middle, Western, and 
many of the Southern States of the Union. Tlie. cunning 
of its flesh makes it a cosmopolitan food; salting and 
smoking makes it the eligible food^if the poor; and, com¬ 
mercially, it must ere long rank with the cod and herring 
ns a universal food fish. The salmon of the English fish¬ 
eries only attained anything like a commercial value when 
shipping in ice was originated. The trade, indeed, was 
then quite local, until the establishment of railways, which 
lias increased its value so much that it is now only found 
upon the tables of the rich. 
The U, S. Fish Commission.— Prof. Baird has addressed 
an official communication as United States Commissioner 
of Fish and Fisheries to the Speaker of (lie Douse of Rep¬ 
resentatives, asking for au appropriation of $17,500 for 
tlie purpose of continuing the introduction and propaga- 
gation of useful food fishes in the public waters ot the 
United States during the present season. Tho argument 
which accompanies Prof. Baird's communication is ex¬ 
haustive and to the point, showing the great work already 
accomplished by the Commission and the amount there is 
yet to be done. A good point is made in the fact that tlie 
work prosecuted by the United States Commission is in no 
case that which would he carried nu by State Commis¬ 
sions or by private enterprise, Tlie Slates of Iowa, Min¬ 
nesota, Ohio, or Pennsylvania would not find their advan¬ 
tage in going to any great expense in the way of stocking 
their streams, in view of the fact that the fish, when ma¬ 
ture, would, on their return, enter tlie mouth of the Mis¬ 
sissippi, and traverso all Ihe intermediate Stales before ar¬ 
riving within their borders, with a certainty that a large 
portion of the catch would be secured by non-citizens. A 
fish to which it is proposed to deveto a portion of the 
appropriation, should it be made, is the European carp, a 
species eminently calculated for the warmer waters of tbe 
country, especially the mill-ponds and sluggish rivers and 
ditches of the South. This fish has been domesticated for 
thousands of years, and furnishes tlie principal food of 
the Chinese. Living on vegetable matter iustead of ani¬ 
mal, it can be multiplied at very little expouse in restricted 
waters. 
A very elaborate table accompanies the letter, from 
which we learn that there has been hatched and distribu¬ 
ted by the United States Fish Commission, of shad, 18, - 
689,500 fish; of Penobscot salmon, {Salma solar), 3,294,065 
fish; of California salmon, transported to new waters of 
the Uoited States, 5,153,740 fish. As this vast total of 20,• 
137,855 fish turned loose, to also, increase aud multiply, 
represents but. the labor of three years—1873-1-5—it is too 
soon to judge of results by tlie amount accomplished; but 
unless fish culture is a failure, and we have abundant ev¬ 
idence that it is not, the couutry should be to-day richer 
by many thousands of limes the total amount already ex¬ 
pended in the work. We trust that the Committee on Ap¬ 
propriations will take a similar view of the case aud at * 
once report a, bill making Ihe appropriation, 
—The Livingston Sportsmen’s Association of Geneseo, 
says the Dansville KxpresH, last week putiulo the waters of 
Conesus Lake 30,000 young salmon trout. Hie trout wure 
procured at the State Hutching House, Caledonia, aud Mr. 
E. Sackott, having the matter in charge, says that the fish 
were transported very successfully, and with hardly a per¬ 
ceptible loss. Conesus Lake already furnishes good fish¬ 
ing, and with the restocking it has received (luring the past 
few years an improvement may be expected, 
t Black Bass in South Jeusey.—G apt Milton P. Pierce, 
who last season stocked numerous public and private wa¬ 
ters in South Jersey with this variety of fish, writes us, 
uhder date of April Oth, as follows:— 
“In October of 1875 I placed black bass of different- 
ages, and varying from three-quarters of a pound to three 
pounds iu weight, in some of the small reservoirs at Aqua- 
dale, keeping them there till January 1st, 1876, when I 
transferred them to a pond constructed expressly for them, 
covering nearly two acres, aud varying in depth, the deep¬ 
est points being about 10 feet. In November the huger bass 
gave every indication of hibernating, keeping close to Lhe 
bottom of the deepest places iu the small reservoirs, but 
tlie smaller ones swam around as usual. During the brief 
time that the bass pond haB been frozen over during the 
past winter some of the smaller bass have been seen swim¬ 
ming about in shallow water. Before flowing lhe pond I 
prepared gravel beds, that are from two and a half to four 
feet under water, for them to spawn on. They are now 
ruconoitering these beds, and evidently preparing for 
business.” 
—The first flock of geese passed over Portland, Me., Mr. 
L. Redlan writes, and tho gunners are having good shoot¬ 
ing at blue-bills aud black ducks. Blue-birds ami souij 
sparrows were seen March 81st, 
