260 



FOREST AND "STREAM. 



PEOTB0T1N8 Shad in thf, Sosqukmanna.— The Joint 

 Legislative Fish Commission, who have concluded an examin- 

 ation of the fishery at the Columbia Dam, are generally of 

 the opinion that the State lias expended enough money on 

 such useless experiments, and that the most feasible way of 

 inducing shad to ascend the Susquehanna River beyond Co- 

 lumbia is to destroy the dam and substitute for it an incline, 

 extending along the stream a few hundred feet, -which would 

 insure a sufficient depth of water to enable boats to puss to 

 tidewater. A sub-eonunitleo has been appointed by the joint 

 commission to consult the officers of the Heading Kail road 

 Company and ascertain their views of the suggested device.— 

 PhOa. Times. 



Fisu TJnmt! Blue Class.— Prof. H. D. Butler, the Super- 

 intendent of the New York Aquarium, lias placed Blue glass 

 sides in some of the tanks containing the lower order of ani- 

 mals and vegetable life. The blue glass has now been in po- 

 sition for several weeks, and Mr. Butler says, that from what 

 lie himself has observed it has benefited the creatures very 

 materially; that it diffuses and softens the rays of sunlight 

 and conveys a mild color to the water similar to the natural 

 light beneath the surface of the ocean. A marked peculiarity 

 ■was, that when the anemones began to bloom or expand their 

 tentacles they invariably leaned toward the side of the tank 

 having the blue glass, and the hermit crabs and other shell 

 fish \vere oftener found next the colored side of the tank, and 

 against the glass, than anywhere else. 



— A laTgc quantity of black bass and other fish have been 

 destroyed in the Jackson River, Alleghany County, Va., bA" 

 the workings of the Lawmore Iron Works having been turned 

 into the river. The company will be prosecuted under the 

 act. 



RE-STOCKING THE STREAMS. 



THE WOE3C OF THE NEW YORK STATE Elsn COMMISSION— 

 A LIST OB THE KK-STOOICED STUF.AMS SIM'K 



v/ April 13th. 



A few weeks since, the Eqprm in an article on the State 

 Hatchery at Caledonia, published an extended list of the var- 

 ious fiBU distributed by the New York Commission in the dit- 

 l'crcnt lakes, rivers and streams of this State during the pres- 

 ent spring ' Dp to that time 58,000 salmon brook trout and 

 whitclish eggs had been distributed, and a total of young fry 

 as follows : " 

 AVhitetish ,J 80. (I00 



aSfcut MW£po 



Brook trout «6.°0Q 



Since that time 434,500 young brook trout have been dis- 

 tributed swelling ttie sum total of the latter to 980,fi00. Ihe 

 following list which is handed us by .Mr. Monroe Green, will 

 show the streams where distributed, and the number of 

 young fry contributed since April 13. 



Brook Trout. 



Oquoquo Creek, Broome county 20,000 



Roq Head, tributary to Kstlklfl .Mountain Creek, 



Dutchess county 5 '22S 



Suugcrties Creek, Ulster county •'(«> 



Creeks in Ulster county »> 



South Oyster Bay deck, Long island rJ.ouO 



(idles in Westchester county ISO.OOO 



Cold Creek, and others in Alleghany County I2,UO0 



Orange county creeks 9.000 



Baldwin Creek, Chemung county 5,000 



Twelve streams, tributary to Sai.dbaiik Creek Tioga 



county : -"-""" 



Streams tributaryto Cohocton River in Steuben co... 1...0U0 

 Vauscoys. Tusca'rora and Goodhue Creeks, Steuben 



county- >5,000 



Creeks m Saratoga county '292 



Lutes' trout brook, Saratoga county 5,000 



Creeks in Greene county 8 '228 



Beaver Creek, Oneida county 15,000 



Creeks in Cayuga county 10.000 



Greeks in Montgomery county.. I'i.onO 



Logan Creel;, Monroe county 5,000 



Davenport Creek, Lewis county jT.OOO 



Caledonia Creek, Livingston county oO,t)iio 



'three creeks in Steuben county 0.1)00 



AlUn's Creek. Monroe county B,wQ 



Bullion's " " " 5,000 



Boosevelt Creek, Long Island 1000 



Creeks on Long Island ~ 00 



Lindner and Little Mill creeks and Sponable brooks 



Livingston county 35,000 



Wadsworth Creek, Livingston county 0,000 



Spring Creek " " 8,000 



'tributaries of Allen's Creek, Genesee county 0,000 



lielvnutt and GMloway Brooks, Wayne " 10,000 



Tributaries to Allen's Creek, Monroe " 5,000 



Harper's Brook " " 3,000 



-Mary's Brook, trib. Allen's Creek, Monroe " 3,000 



Culver Creek " " 5,000 



Creeks in Rockland county l*. ,ll > 11 



White Creek. Livingston county 



Spring Creek, Monroe " * 3,000 



434,500 



Salmon Trout 



Canadice Lake, Livingston county.... 15,000 



The distribution of brook trout only fairly began last, sea- 

 son, and already favorable reports have come in from most of 

 H,, streams winch were re-stoeked then, as well as Irom the 

 various lakes and other waters in the State. The fish Oom- 

 mission is a laudable enterprise, and deserves the success that 

 appears to meet its endeavors. 



! » ' »! ■ 



Titv. Mn riir.AN GtiAYLlNG.— The grayling has only of late 

 years been introduced to public notice, and with that introduc- 

 tion has at once, sprung into general favor. Several weeks ago 

 Mr. George II. Jerome, the superintendent of the Stale 

 fisheries, went with a party of six to the head-waters of the 

 Au Sable and Manistee Rivers, pitched their tents on the 

 Manistee, and on April 14th commenced fishing for grayling. 

 They immediately made catches, and handled the fish with a 

 view of procuring the ova, but found that they had all, or 



nearly all, spawned. Of the exceptions, Mr. Jerome stripped 

 three ripe female fish, but was unable to get any milters. Onc- 

 ol' the female fish stripped— a fish of about the average size — 

 yielded, by actual count, 3,555 eggs, ripe, perfect, and nearly 

 of the size of the egg of the brook trout. After she was 

 stripped, Mr. Jerome weighed the fish, and she weighed ex- 

 actly nine ounces. A brook trout of the same size would not 

 have yielded over four or five hundred eggs, thus demonstrat- 

 ing the fact that the grayling can be cultivated ten times as 

 easily as trout. They made the further discovery that this 

 fish inhabits some of the northern central lakes of Michigan. 

 Mr Jerome and his party reached the city recently, having 

 in their possession 285 adult graylings, "which, they took 

 to the hatchery at Pokagon, where they have found a home 

 and will soon be joined by about GOO more, which Mr. 

 Jerome will add to the groun as breeders. It is also his pur- 

 pose to place 10(1 of these fish in each of three streams or 

 rivers and lakes in the southern part of the State, and demon- 

 strate, if it is to be demonstrated, that these splendid fish can 

 live as well in our southern waters as anywhere. Mr. Jerome 

 ascertained the time for spawning, the probable yield of ova, 

 and the practicability of their culture in the waters of our 

 lakes. Mr. Jerome says he regards the grayling as the 

 gamiest fish on the American continent. It fights its captors 

 with greater ferocity than the trout, and in flavor and quality 

 ar excels that favorite fish. 



MICHIGAN SALMON. 



& Niles, May 21, isn. 



Editor Forest and Stream and lion and ion : 



What! Mirhiijan salmon; Yc- mi. verily. .Miehiiran salmon ! None 

 of the common, cheap son that dwell own Bast and uwu.v out West thai 

 in: read about, tun the pure, luscious production "f the jure, Eresti we 

 lers ihui bubble from the valleys and gush Xi-ointhehilisuks.il Mich- 

 igan ! 



Winn ft thing ia this: Not yet four y«ars4gp tfceir embryonic parents 

 were transported by "lightning expreHT" from i..>. . nil i he Sierra Ne- 

 vada to Mlohigan, and now a gentle, bealUry i.r i deanort in theciys- 



h,,, ,,,.,,-uli,,.- waters (if the Mate. Many we Hie witnesses who will 

 attest to the fact that tiny are genuine— "to the manor bora "—no 

 bogus Cunningham affair is tnis, 1 qo most humbly assure you. The 

 "wee darlings "-i has christened by unanimous voire- an- fa outline 

 and feature and shading the very counterparts of their imperial proto- 

 types. 



ii;.-l, limn salmon, indeed! You will search the authors and fauna 

 records in vain to llml the spc.ies, for this is something new under the 

 sun, King .Solomon to the contrary notwithstanding— newer even than 

 the books. Pieuse tally one for Michigan. Gbo. II. Jbikimk. 



of the suae Hi. use. It was; 

 sulmon-eolorotl tail lius am! : 

 of thc<il..,../.ii/..'. It is limp 



nia sahuo ought Into II 



eailglil al Ihe 1'okmion hat. h 



--U.-.-.— ~l"ul in ihe fresh vi.il, 



a purest 

 t The 



.e.l. IIU.I 



PROPAGATING THE BLACK BASS. 

 ^ NW\ yokk, Maya, isr?. 



Etutor Fokest Jan Stkka.u and Sop ano his: 



I am irlail 10 see in your last issue a warning against the introduction 

 ■ hass into waters Utted foroftterand more impoitaiit ilsh. 



Bome years ago, with several ot hers, I protested against tlie ruge for 

 blaclt Lass, Which, like every other "infatuation wlii.ii takes possession 

 of our impulsive nation, threatened to destroy so many I tout streams 

 or brooks which once were and eouhl be again stocked with trout. 



I know thai such large rivers us the Connecticut and Delaware caii- 



e to see the 



land-locked 



i. trn 



alone, 



t I 1 



not he given up 



sense Of storking rivers with shah ami Salmon— i 



salmon— and then putting in the most proline and destructive Ilsh to 



cat up the young fry. 1 know Ihe gamiucss of Mack hass. hut they are 



worse than pickerel W "clean oul " 9 si ream of every living thing; lor 



pickerel arc limited by their habits to the muddy and sluggish stretches 



of water, but black bass lie In and thrive nest in the very pools and 



rifts frequented by trout and young salmon, fn time .the hass will 



"pervade and Invade" every tributary anil stream running into the 



above named large rivers, even up to their sources, and Itout will cease 



to be. 



I was informed the other day that Ihe black bass (hauled with such 

 Ul-advised labor aud some hardship some winters ago) introduced 

 into Racipieite Lake had begun to show themselves; so the ••cleaning 

 Out" of the trout, ill lids the largest lake in the woods, as well as in Beach's, 

 Forked, blue Mountain, etc., Is only a question of time. Some nuill- 

 emiis guide had already placed piokcrel in Long Lake, and BO Ihe trout 

 , , ml ,,■ Bacquetto I'.iver has gone. Now, had the .New York Com- 

 missioners of Fisheries introduced these blank bass to Long Lake, so 



; ,st.,eii the pickerel, anglers would have rejoiced, hut Hacquctte 



and the other ponds named are the highest waters in the Slate, and 

 separated bv Buttermilk Kails from Long Lake, up which the pickerel 

 coui.i n.,1 go. So these ponds Beamed picked out for trout preserves. 



t'oinl as"l am ol black bass, i am mil prepared lo place them before 

 trout or to go SSO miles to the Adirondack to catch them. 



— Livingston Stone, Esq., Of Chariestown, New Hampshire, 

 has gone to Oregon to superintend lish culture operations in 



thill section. 



. »-.•—« 



-Mark Twain and the Rev. Joseph Twiehell, of Hartford, 



Conn., have gone together on a fishing excursion. 



¥lnttm\l Wfetoty. 



GOSSIP ABOUT THE BLACK BEAR. 



The black hear, or Ursus amerieanus, scientifically speak- 

 ing, ouce roamed over the entire United States, though now, 

 in the Eastern States, it is nearly extinct. In the wooded 

 portions of the West and South are yet In be found numbers 

 of them, and they constitute a leading feature in the expecta- 

 tions of the sportsman who visits the deep forests and mount- 

 ain fastnesses of those districts. The bear is omnivorous in 

 his tastes, and will eat acorns, corn, crayfish, fish, insects, 

 young pigs, and is remarkably fond o£ the acrid bulb of the 

 arum or Indian turnip. Settlers on the frontier not unfre- 

 quently lose their young porkers wandering in the woods 

 and bruin very justly gels the credit. Extravagant sloriea ar 

 told concerning his attacking man, but in ninety-nine cases 

 out of a hundred they are to be taken awn grime salis. It is 

 true that when wounded the bear will savagely attack his 

 persecutor, and the female will fight furiously in defense of 

 her young, hut ordinarily it is disposed to run away. When 

 the bear climbs he does it by clasping the trunk of the tree, 

 and consequently he cannot climb a sapling or very small 

 tree— a hint which the inexperiuueed Nimrod may keep in 

 mind when he and his bear reverse positions and have a race. 

 Although the bear is not remarkable for graceful movement, 

 and Heems rather clumsy, he can run faster than man. He is 

 a good swimmer also, delighting in an occasional bath, and 

 when water is not convenient he rolls in a mud-hole. In 

 walking, the bear uses the whole foot, and is consequently 

 plantigrade. His paws serve him well for overturning logs 

 aud rocks for the insects under them; and overturned stones 

 are good indications of his presence. 



In captivity, the bear, if taken young, makes a not disa- 

 greeable pet, though the surliness of an old one has passed 

 into a proverb. They produce from two to six young at a 

 birth— oftener three or four. The hear does not build a den 

 or dig a hole unless Nature has already formed a place par- 

 tially adapted, when he will pull the leaves together for a 

 bed. In the extreme North he hibernates profoundly, seek- 

 ing some log or hollow formed by the uprooting of a lice, 

 and on the approach, of a snow-storm, curls hiinsel I' up, and 

 gets snowed into a warm bed. When in this position he is 

 often caught, his situation being betrayed by the melting of 

 the snow above his nose. A popular error is that during hiber- 

 nation the hear sucks his paws. Tin's is a. mistake, caused, 

 doubtless, by the fact that he does use his big paws to cover 

 the naked tip of his nose to keep it from becoming 1'rnslrd, 

 Like all hibernating animals he goes to his winter's imp 

 loaded with fat to keep up life, and he devotes the autumn 

 months to rooting for acorns and mils. lie will frequently 

 make long journeys from a district ill adapted to his wants to 

 one better provided. It is an interesting sight to obsei vc n 

 bear on his hind feet in a blackberry patch, polling the bushes 

 toward him with Ihe disengaged fore feet and picking ripe 

 berries, neglecting the green ones. But perhaps he is louder 

 of honey, and will go any length for a bee trie, or overturn a 

 hive anil rob it, with thousands of angry bees around him, 

 while he enjoys the combs with perfect inmi'hubiMe. In con- 

 finement he is extravagantly fond of sugar and molasses. 



When hunted, the bear is game in every sense of the word; 

 and when set upon by dogs can wipe them out. .me after 

 another, by a XAow of his strong paws; and it takes an un- 

 common amount of Shooting to put a final quietus to bis 

 vitality. Among the many errors that fasten on the public 

 mind through misrepresentations of natural objects is the 

 representation of a bear light, so often found in Our school 

 books, in which a bear is represented as standing npiigbl on 

 his hind feel, while a man with a drawn knife is lunging ill 

 him. How utterly silly is such a proceeding needs only a 

 trinl to veriiy. If any reader of the Fouest and Stheam ever 

 attempts such a foolhardy feat lie will never read another 

 article from the pen of 



How ALU Sin i.ki:. 



HOW THE OYSTER BUILDS HIS SHELL.. 



Editob Fotiest and Stream axt> Eod asuGi n ; 



The body of an oyster is a poor, weak Iblngi apparently 

 incapable of doing anything at all; yet what a marvelous 

 house an oyster builds around his delicate frame! When an 

 oyster is first horn he is a very simple, delicate dot, as it were, 

 aud yet he is born with his two shells upon him. For some. 

 unknown reason he always fixes himself on his tint shell, ami 

 being ouce fixed he begins to grow, but he only grows ill 

 summer. Inspect an oyster shell closely, and it will he seen 

 that it is marked with distinct lines. As the rings we obsci ve 

 in the section of the trunk of a tree denote years of growth, 

 so does the marking of an oyster tell us how many yews he 

 has passed in his "bed " at the bottom of the sea. 



Suppose an oyster was born June 15, 1870, he would go on 

 growing up to me first line we see well marked; he would 

 then stop for the winter, in the summer of 1H71 he would 

 more than double his size. In 1872 he would add to tills 

 house. In 1873 and 1874 he would again go on building lill 

 he was dredged up in the middle of his woik in 1875, when 

 he would be live, and a half years old. The way in which an 

 oyster builds his shell is a pretty sight, I have wnicln d it 

 frequently. The beard or fringe of au oyster is not only his 

 breathing organ— *. e., his lungs— but his feeding organ, with 

 which he conveys the food to his complicated mouth with his 

 four lips. When the warm, calm days of June come, the 

 oyster opens his shell, and by means' of his fringe begins 

 building an additional story to his house. This bedoesby 

 depositing very line particles of carbonate of lime, till they at 

 last form a substance as thin as silver piper, and exeeclnicU 

 fragile • then be adds more and more, till at last the new shell 

 is as hard as the old shell. When oyjiteis are growing in their 

 shells they must he handled very carefully, as the new growth 

 of shell will cut like broken glass, and a wound on a linger 

 from an oyster shell is often very troublesome. 



San FBAKOISOO, May 7, 1S77. Osoab Spjtzeb. 



