FOREST AW) STREAM. 



81 



There were but few qnail killed the past Reason, and there 

 is piomise of an unusual large supply for this falls shoot- 

 ing. Ducks and geese have been flying very thick for the 

 , and afford fine Bhc-Qiing. Yesterday it rained, 

 which froze as fust as it fell, and I witnessed something I 



iv before. Gee?e were flying thick, and as their 

 Wings became coitcd with ice llic> would drop, and could 

 be picked up by hand, being; perfectly helpless. A large 

 were caught here in town. The old saying of 

 "Nut as much courage as a goose," did not work, in this 

 case, for they Woujd bite aud fight When caught, and ex- 

 ■ ■■jurage as a bulldog. We have succeeded 



! BOme amendments lo our game law this winter, 

 which will he vigorously enforced La this section. Very 

 little if any game was trapped in ihi s vicinity this winter, 

 and none shipped, as the pol hunters and trappers were 

 afraid of the law. Yours, truly, JJ. K. B. 



TENHESBBiE— JPosABi'Ke, March 1th, 1577.— Samuel D. Ed- 

 mondson, residing in Lawrence county recently killed sev 

 eiilccu partridges' at one shot, and ten at another. (Shame.) 



Granville Hensley, livingon Shoal Creek, Lawrence, Co., 

 has captured a very large wolf, and keeps it chained in his 

 yard. 



The Alan ry County Sportsmen's Club has been reorgan- 

 ized. Rules and regulations lor its government have been 

 Sampled, The laws" for the protection ol game and tish 

 are lo be examined, and any change necessary will be re- 

 ported and steps taken to have the same provided for by 

 the General Assembly. 



John Vantreeae, whose residence is near Pinsou, Madi- 

 son, Madison county, has a partridge which came to his 

 house over six months ago, and took up with the chickens. 

 It was full grown at the time, and gradually became 

 gentler, until it now calsaud roosts with the poultry. 



A.tldreVv Meadors, captain of the Hugh McCrea, No. 1, 

 lire engine, in .Nashville, is one of the best shots in 

 Tennessee, ami a grcal admirer of the Forest aisd Stream. 



'I'he "EockOity Shooting Club" is not dead, but only 

 (deeping. Several pigeon shooting matches will be given 

 undo'- its auspices 'ere i 



A deceased member of the Saurian family, thirty-two 

 inches long, was lately found near a spring on his faim in 

 Jackson county, by J." Q. A. McClelland. 



The game law of Tennesset went into effect on the 1st 

 instant. Pkank Pern. 



— Capt. Ducaigne remarks, in a late letter, that one 

 dealer in the neighuorhood of Worlhington, Nobles county. 

 Minnesota, has, during a part of this season, purchased 

 54,000 muskrat skins. The animals were trapped in the 

 immediate vicinity. 



— A rich contractor was holding forth upon the instabil- 

 ity of the world. "Can you account for it, sir?" he asked, 

 turning to Poole. 



' ' VV ell, not very clearly," he responded, "unless we sup- 

 pose it was built by contract " 



S tst l ££ttltnt[e. 



SALMON IN FRESH WATER, 



. 



LaGrosse, Wis. 

 Kni'ioii Forest and Stream.:— 



The Superintendent of Pish Farming for Michigan has 

 stocked a large amount of the fresh water streams and 

 lakes of thaf State with salmon fry, and in his last repott 

 indulges in a little speculation as to the success of the en- 

 terprise. There has been a great deal written concerning 

 1he habits of salmon and yet it remains an open question 

 as to whether they regularly return to the sea after depos- 

 iting their spawn, It is possible the prese»t attempt to raise 

 them in large numbers in fresh water may tor ever settle 

 the question. 



The writer of this article for two or three years observed 

 with very great interests the habits of this noble "stag of 

 the stream," in the waters of Oregon, and was lead to be- 

 lieve that a loisg residence in I reth water rendered them 

 diseased and worthless. The reasons for this belief are 

 found in the following well authenticated facts: The sal- 

 mon fresh from the sea run up the Columbia and Willam- 

 mett rivers to Oregon City, where with wonderful strength 

 and celerity they throw themselves up thosixly feet of almost 

 perpendicular fall and spcad onward towards the rocky 

 bedded streams in the mountains. These magnificent 

 specimens are often taken as they dart up the fall by the 

 spearmen, and are of far finer flavor and stronger "flesh 

 than any salmon taken on the coast, while those (alien fifty 

 or sixty miles further up are- almost totally worthless. 

 Some satisfactory reason may be found for this fact in the 

 natural peculiarities of the streams. In the winter during 

 the heavy rains and meltiug snows these streams become 

 le mountain torrents and plunge madly and wildly 

 over their rocky beds, carving out deep basins auri wild 

 caverns, which as summer and low water approach be- 

 come beautiful pools of pure cold water and deadly aqua 

 riuins. Above and below these deep holes the stream 

 spreads out and falls placidly over the level rocks, leaving 

 perfect flow for the stream, 'but an impassable barrlel fur 

 any luckless fish caught in its toils, in all these pools, 

 without exception, may be found hundreds of salmon in all 

 Stages of disease— some dark and almost as active as in 

 pei lent health) others spotted with while and others white 

 as leper?, perfectly helpless and almost dead— while masses 

 of putrid carcasses line the banks for many miles. Tliere 

 is abundance of pure water and food, and yet they die and 

 the only apparent reason seemed to be that they were pre- 

 vented from returning to the sea to regain the health and 

 energy wasted on the fresh water spawning beds of the up- 

 per streams. 



If the salmon shall become a healthy denizen of Michi- 

 gan lakes and streams, some other cause must be assigned 

 for the great mortality that prevails along the tributaries 

 It lUlnbia river. II. W. T. 



Iluiutrkit,— It is a very well known fact to Pacific coast 

 Ichthyologists, as well as to many in other parls of the 

 World that the salmon enter the streams in fine order, 

 direct from the sea, and grow thinner and more spare as 

 they reach tlic spawning grounds at headwaters, where, 

 Last fulfilled their mission aud deposited their 

 ova iliey die and rot. Not one in a hundred ever return lo 



Bsagc be obstructed or 



in. down to q^ B eamdue time (tw ; 

 more.) and rel^ 



\. FISH CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I am happy to state that, our Fish Commissioners are 

 moving actively and efficiently in slocking our lakes and 

 rivers with various kinds oT fish. They have recently for- 

 warded 130,000 young white fish to the Truckee River 

 bleeding grounds, to be put in Lake Tahoe, near Hot 

 Springs. The journey and transportation was attended 

 with much labor and difficulty, the SHOW being in many 

 places three to six feet deep. The distance was sixteen 

 miles, which consumed more than a dav's time with a 

 stout team l c, pull through the snow and ice. Six men 

 had to attend the operation and take all the necessary care 

 ami trouble. A few days before this, 75,000 young white 

 fish wore placed in Douner Lake, high up anions the snow 

 clad mountains, and 25,000 in Sereno and other lakes, near 

 the Summit Station. Much the same difficulties had to be 

 encountered on the road to Sereno lake, owing to the great 

 depth of snow, it fairing more than six bfurs to get "over 

 the short distance of a mile and a quarter. This lake was 

 covered over with thick ice, and boles had to be made to 

 put the young fish in. They had to be conveyed in a hand- 

 sled drawn by two stout men. The demands from private 

 and other sources for apart of the lot of Eastern trout sent 

 here, and which were in the hands of our State Fish Com- 

 missioner*, had nor, only caused the supply of these youue 

 fish to become exhausted, but the Commissioners have had 

 to disappoint many others who have made applications for 

 them, as they have been informed by their correspondents 

 in the East that they were unable to forward as many as 

 they had hoped to do, aud which wc here were rather led 

 to expect. These were for the purpose of slocking free our 

 public Waters and streams. 



Our energetic and efficient Commissioners have entered 

 into an advantageous agreement with Myron Green at the 

 United States Fishery, at MeCloud river," to purchase some 

 California mountain trout eggs, with a view to hatch out 

 and place the same in some of tho exhausted slreams of 

 the State. Mr. Green has sreured some 300,000 trout eggs 

 at McCioud river, which he has to dispose of. These eggs 

 were taken from tish averaging about two pounds weight, 

 and of a different variety fiorn those found in the coast 

 si i earns which empty directly into the Pacific Ocean. 



We have now the saiisfaction of knowing that tho young 

 shad planted in the Sacramento river about three years 

 since, have borne fruit, many of them having been taken 

 accidentally in seme nets used for other purposes. The 

 closed season for these fish will expire in December, 1877. 

 Prof. Baird is about to send 8,000,000 more the coming 

 season, to be placed again into tho Sacramento river. 



During the past year, the Commissioners have had 

 hatched out and placed in the Upper Sacramento, Pitt and 

 McCioud rivers, and their tributaries, 2,500,000 young sal- 

 mon. They intend doing this every year, but they need 

 larger appropriations from the Legislature than thev now 

 receive for their piscatorial operations, yet these failing 

 they intend doing the best they can, under tho circum- 

 stances, and they are very active aud judicious, and de- 

 serve great credit for their exertions, especially too, the 

 most practical and industrious of them. I would not be 

 surprised if, either next season or a year or two hence, 

 young salmon Will be so numerous in our bay and rivers 

 that they will be caught in as great numbers as smelts used 

 to be taken on Oakland Long Wharf, and Long Bridge on 

 the San Francisco side of the bay. They will probably by 

 and by go even beyond the i.eeded consumption by our 

 people. 



It is reported that the200,000 young salmon placed in the 

 Truckee and Little Truckee rivers, Donner lake and Pros- 

 ser creek, are doing well also. Exchange fish from Japan 

 and Hawaii have not yet succeeded well for us, but the 

 salmon we sent them have prospered. We are not dis- 

 couraged, however, and will still try to obtain some of 

 their ova, (some 15 pounds in weight), mullet aud carp. 



We have received 300,100 white fish eggs from Michigan. 

 We arc now hatching them at Berkeley, near Oakland, 

 wdiere is the Stale University. We are next year going to 

 attempt success with the famous Dolly Varden trout found 

 in the northern part of this State and in Alaska. They at- 

 tained a large size. They spawn at. a different time trom 

 our brook trout. They only thrive well in ice-cold waters. 

 We intend also obtaining the eggs of graylings, the produce 

 from which will be planted in some of the highest and 

 coldest slreams of the Sierras.' I will only add to my, per- 

 haps, too tedious narrative, that the Schuylkill catfish, the 

 Mississippi cattish, and black bass are doing well in our 

 waters. E. J. Hoopeh. 



PLANTING FRY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: — 



In Mr. Thompson's reply (last week) to Mr. Clapp, re- 

 ferring to the proper time for turning out young salmon, 

 he says: "Any one seeing them eat should not advise their 

 being lurried out lo die as soon as the sac Is absorbed." 

 Having "turned out" a large portion of ihowe hatched by 

 Mr Thompson, the past season, and also missing many 

 thousand hatched elsewhere and given tho subject the 

 most careful attention, I am most decidedly in favor of 

 turning them out as soon as the sac is absorbed, and be- 

 fore they have been fed. Reasons in future if desired. 

 Milton P. Peuice. 



Wenonah, 2f. J., March 12th, 1877. 



0^ For Forest and Stream. 



HALF HOURS WITH AN AQUARIUM. 



OUR aquarium was not governed by the stringent rules 

 which are in force at the corner of Broadway and 

 Thirty-fifth street, hence] I could enjoy my after break- 

 fas! pipe and llie study of our pets and their habits at 

 one and the same time; and to follow a little fur- 

 ther on this lead, hence again it is very possible that our 

 neglect of the stringent but wise rule "no smoking allowed" 

 may have contributed more or less to I ho briefness of the 

 period doling which we were able to cultivate each other's 

 acquaintance. 

 Fishes are not partial to tobacco, however good, and as 



a general rule it does not improve tbeir condition to feed 

 them at odd times with whatever may seem a dainty. 

 It is not always the fly that tickles the fancy of a verdant 

 fisherman in a store, that finds the most favor with a trout 

 or bass, and it is quite possible that crumbs of cracker, 

 cheese, ham, eggs, and sundry other articles gleaned from 

 the debris of breakfast, did not, in all cases, agree with out- 

 prisoners So their lives in general were short, although 

 science did ail it could to prolong them. Our sea water 

 came to us in a constant stream. Like Tennyson's Brook, 

 it went on forever — that is, except in case of calm weath- 

 er, when, deprived of a motive, the fans of our windmill 

 stood idle, and caused us many an an>ious foreboding of 

 increased mortality. Each tankreceived its supply through 

 an ingenious tube which, working on the principle by 

 which I once colored a meerschaum, drew air with the 

 stream that nature would not have added to the natural 

 supply. So far as suiting their appetites for air went, 

 our plan was somewhat of an improvement on nature 

 for the more you opeued the valve and let the bubbles 

 accumulate thicker and faster, the more our pets would 

 come to that corner and imbibe. 



We did not deal in whales nor sharks, but the small fry 

 furnished us enough to study. I would not disparage the 

 curious and quaint creatures which at the Aquarium delight 

 daily so many; but it is not necessary to accumulate 

 strange or rare fishes to make an aquarium an interesting 

 study. I propose to tell you about several of the most com- 

 mon of common fishes a little that I fancy will be novel to 

 many who from boyhood have captured thousands. 



The Flounder is not. a very interesting creature, unless 

 you are fishing for flounders; it irritates you to have one 

 take the bait so carefully arranged for his betters; in the 

 market you can hardly find a cheaper or more common 

 fish, yet a little one lying quietly on the bottom, or slowly 

 slidingalong by an almost imperceptible motion, has a 

 point of interest— two of them. Apparently an inert mass, 

 two little eyes are in constant motion, noticeably so, for 

 they are not, as with ordinary fish, sunk in their sockets, 

 but placed on the top of little horns, somewhat resembling 

 those of a crab or snail; and with these lifted fully an 

 eighth of an inch above the plane of their sockets and con- 

 stantly turning watchfully, a complete circle, they can, as 

 they lie, detect the approach of food or danger from the 

 rear as well as front, and from either side. This is not, 

 however, the normal position of the eye; it is only for oc- 

 casions when belies low and looks out; stir him up, and 

 as he glides away the eyes retreat to a more natural posi- 

 tion, and the peculiarity is no more to be noticed than in 

 case of a larger one on the fish stand. 



We had a little Turbot two inches long. I never saw 

 his eyes so elevated, but he strongly resembled the flound- 

 er in many respects, differing however, in the situation of 

 his mouth. To this difference we may add an excessive 

 one in his name, for Bean told me that he was a Lophoretta 



something, and the flounder— wasn't. (I find my memory 

 at fault, and must content myself with negative evidence). 

 Either or both would make a pretty has relief for a paper 

 weight, and I tried to put one in plaster for that purpose. 

 I failed. Palmer said I "had him too wet," but as shortly 

 after he accounted for my failure on a Scup {Stenotomeas 

 argyrops) by saying that I "had him too dry," I am not 

 fully convinced that to cither one cause or the other can . 

 be wholly attributed my failure. I told you about Palmer 

 and his work in my Bluelight letter. He never failed till 

 he got hold of a fish (remora, I believe,) that had on top 

 of his head a sucking apparatus to hold on by, that fel- 

 low didn't let go the plaster worth a cent; all the world 

 went to the "Exhibition," and had a chance to seethe 

 splendid collection made by Palmer. I did not send mine. 



The Tautog has very curious habits when little; when 

 big they simply bite, and you pull them up and throw in 

 again. But a little one long enough in his prison to be- 

 come accustomed to it is like Artemus Ward's kangaroo — 

 aK. K. Sneaking around among the alga?, peeking through 

 tho mimic forest of tbeir stems, with stealthy, cat-like 

 action, he searches for his dinner. Finding a snug, well- 

 concealed cavern, he hides himself as completely as possi- 

 ble. If the side of his retreat is a sloping rock, it is all 

 the same to him, for he will lie over against it for all the 

 world like a pig against a post, and completes the resemb- 

 blance by an occasional rub to and fro, no doubt enjoying 

 a most satisfying scratch. He looks lazy and harmless, 

 but let an incautious cunner heedlessly approach his lair; 

 in an instant he is right side up, and in another shoots out 

 at the intruder, and but that the latter makes a most inglo- 

 rious retreat, there would be battle waged. By-the-way, it 

 is a curious thing, but the attacking fish always whips; a 

 little tautog will drive a big one, if he makes the onset. 

 It may be that it requires tho preliminary hiding and 

 watchfulness to develop their pugnacity. 



Our little Sea Bass (Centroprittus atrarivs) had a curious 

 habit. Drifting slowly along and passing over a stone, 

 they would settle down and perch on it like a bird, tho two 

 pectoral fins being extended downward and acting as feet, 

 aud I think as legs, for I could almost assert positively that 

 1 saw one one day walk along tho stone. But the gentle- 

 man (in Bermuda) who supplied me with his Latin name 

 is equally sure that I was mistaken ; so I'll just say that I 

 thought so. 



Our File fishes (AlenCera cvspicanda), were a never failing 

 ssurce of amusement: odd in shape, odd in action, and 

 at rest, they were constantly doing things differently from 

 other fish. 



To properly appreciate a cusptcanda, he must be viewed in 

 pioille: a bird's eye viow would be very unsatisfying. W» 



