Mabch 8, 1888. | 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Ill 



~7~*LLM A N. 

 MiSS M. L. ROESSLE'S ORANQE AND WHITE ENGLISH SETTER DOC "COSSACK." 



Winner of First Prize in Open Class for English Setters. Washington, 1883. 



huge ocean steamers scare all the lish out or tUeir course be- 

 twwn America and Europe? Who has any evidence that the 

 denizens of the great deep have any fear or respect for the 

 floating craft on the surface? 



If the. argument is that by steamer fishing the menhaden 

 arc caught sb rapidly that they are reduced so much in num- 

 ber as to show a lamentable decrease, the folly of such a posi- 

 tion is evident at once, when it is known tha't very rarely, if 

 ever, is a fish caught with spawn, and further, who does not 

 know that the multiplication of these and other fish is too 

 rapid for any manifest depletion by human agency. The 

 spawn of the "menhaden produces 150,000 living fish, and Pro- 

 fessor Baird estimates that 1,200,000,000,000,000 fish are con- 

 sumed by the. bluefish alone in a period of four months 

 of summer and autumn along the New Kngland coast. 

 And yet who notes any diminution of the quantities of 

 fish' 'That billions of menhaden are digested by voracious 

 fishes is undisputed. Every predaceous swimmer feeds 

 upon them. Whales and dolphins feast upon them by the 

 thousand : sharks do full duty in destroying them, one hun- 

 dred having been found at once in a shark's stomach, and the 

 tunny makes horrible havoc, not only killing for food but de- 

 stroying for pleasure. The pollock," the -whiting, the gar- 

 fish, bluefish and bonito — m fact every carnivorous cor- 

 sair that swims in our coast waters, from Casco Bay i to 

 Brazil, gorges itself with the menhaden, and yet the acci- 

 dental scarcity just now is attributed to the terrible fact that 

 man takes from the ocean waters some eight hundred to 

 nine hundred millions annually of these fish. In 1878 the 

 menhaden oil and guano industry employed 64 steamers, 279 

 sailing vessels, 8,33? men and a capital of £2,350,000, and took 

 and consumed 777,000,000 fish. Now allowing Prof. Baird to 

 be within ten miles of the truth in his estimate of the destruc- 

 tiveness of the bluefish, the above number caught by the 

 menhadden fishermen is not a drop in the bucket of what is 

 destroyed. Moreover it is well known to all intelligent men 

 that a free and full catch of fish, especially those hugging the 

 shore, tends rather to their increase than extermination. 

 Whoever studies the science of ichthyology and the business 

 of fishing in the open sea will not dispute this position. 



To sum up our brief statement we aver: 



1. That striped bass do not feed on menhaden. 



2. That the habits of menhaden are not fully understood. 



3. That catching menhaden does not visibly diminish their 

 number. 



4. That steamer fishing does not scare them. 



5. That the number caught by men is of no perceptible ac- 

 count in the vast multitude destroyed by voracious fishes. 



6. And, lastly, that attempt to connect the small number 

 of menhaden with a diminished supply of striped bass is 

 wholly illogical and unworthy of scientilieldiscussion. 

 State of Rhode Island, etc. i 



Newport, fee. f 



Be it known that on this twenty-sixth of December, A. D., 

 eighteen hundred and eighty-two, before me, a notary public, 

 duly commissioned and sworn, residing in Tiverton, in said 

 county and State, personally appeared Gideon Mosher of said 

 Tiverton, and being sworn "according to law, testified as fol- 

 lows: 



How long have you been engaged in the bass fishery? Ans. 

 Forty-five years. 



What from your observation do bass feed upon} Ans. Crabs 

 and lobsters. 



From your observation do bass feed upon live menhaden! 

 Ans. They do not. 



Have you been in the habit of preparing bass for market! 

 Ans. That was part of my business for thirty years or more, 

 and I have prepared tens of thousands of* bass for market, 

 but I have never found any menhaden in them, except what 

 had been fed to them for bait. 



How long a range of coast does your experience cover in 

 taking and observing bass* Ans. My experience goes from 

 Monomoy to Beavertail. My observation goes from Balti- 

 more to Cape Cod. I have found the bass the most numer- 

 ous in Chesapeake Bay, which 1 attribute to the great quan- 

 tity of crabs that are found in that bay. I have always ob- 

 served that bass fishing was best when lobsters and crabs 

 were most plentiful. 



Where has been your principal locality in taking bass? 

 Ans. West Island, Rhode Island. 



How many years before the West island Club was formed 

 were youJoeated there? Ans. About thirty years. 



What has been your experience as to the plentifuluess and 

 scarcity of the bass? Ans. When there is plenty of feed 

 (lobsters and crabs) there is generally plenty of bass. It feed 

 is scarce, bass are scarce. 



Do you think the absence or presence of menhadeu on this 

 coast affects the bass fishery? Ans. No, except in the differ- 

 ence it makes to the catch by having or not having fresh bait. 



What has been your experience in regard to bass bait? Ans. 

 You cannot catch" bas3 with stale bait. 



Do you think menhaden taken in the vicinity of .Sandy 

 Hook, carried to a factory and from there transhipped, are 

 likely after arrival here to be fit for bait? Ans. No, sir. 



Providing the menhaden in 1883 are as far from this coast 

 as they were in 18S2, how would you proceed to get fresh bait? 

 Ans. I should put an experienced man on board a meDhadeu 

 fishing steamer and ice them alive. The bank fishermen 

 treat them in that way and preserve them in a fit condition 

 for bait for a month. 



Is the bass a rover of the sea or shore fish? Ans. He is both 

 a shore and bottom fish. 



Have you ever been engaged in the menhaden fishery? 

 Ans. Yes. 



What is your observation and experience as regards bass 

 and menhaden? Ans. I never observed or heard of bass 

 feeding on or troubling menhaden. My business has brought 

 me in contact with many of the most successful menhaden 

 fishermen, and have never heard of but two bass being taken 

 in a purse seine. Gideon Mosher. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me, the said George N. 

 Durfee, notary public as aforesaid, the day and year first 

 above written. George N. Durfee," Notary Public. 



We, the undersigned, indorse Gideon Mosher's statement in 

 full. Charles W. Anthony, ] 



Edward C. Smith, 



Benezer Owen, Bass Fishers of 



Edward Smith, \ Newport, 



George M. Crabb, B. T. 



William M. Record, 

 Thomas Record. 



Vlu Mennel 



GERMAN TROUT IN AMERICA.— The North German 

 Lloyd steamer Werra, which arrived on February 24. brought 

 80,000 eggs of two kinds of German trout. They were 

 sent at the request of Professor Baird, and came in care 

 of Mr. B. G. Blackford, consigned to Mr. Fred Mather, 

 superintendent of the New York Fish Commission hatching 

 station at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. One lot of 00,0110 

 is described as "an enormous trout of the upper Rh i ne 

 (Baden),'' and- the other 20,000 is called "that delicious but 

 very smaB mountain trout of Baden highly esteemed by epi- 

 cures.''' - We have at present no further information concern- 

 ing these fish, and think it possible that the larger one may 

 be the common brook trout of Europe, Salmo fario. Whether 

 the small one is a distinct species or only a variety we canuofc 

 say at present. The eggs came in good order, and were pre- 

 sented by that enthusiastic promoter of fishculture, Herr von 

 Behr, president of the Deutschen Fischerei Verein, from the 

 ponds of Oberbiirgermeister Schuster, in Freiburg, Baden. 

 \V*e shall look anxiously to see how these fish thrive in this 

 country, and also to test then - merits. 



CARP IN WASHINGTON TERmTORY.— Seattle, W. T., 

 Feb 16. — We are about to try the experiment of carp culture in 

 this Territory, three cans of the fry having been received at 

 Port Townsend, and one at this place. They traveled all the 

 way from the East in small tin pails, and seem to be none the 

 worse for their long trip, as they are very lively and strong. 

 As they are small, being only about two inches in length, they 

 will for the present be placed in a shallow pond near town, 

 and should they thrive and increase, will afterward be 

 placed in Lake Union, a lake about a mile from town, three 

 miles in length, which is at present inhabited only by trout 

 and a kind of fish which we call chubs, although I think they 

 are not the chub proper. I am not very much interested in 

 the result of the experiment, as the carp, as I understand it, 

 is of value only as a food fish, having no gamy qualities, and 

 we are. abundantly supplied with fish of all kinds tor food.— 

 Alki. 



FIXTURES. 



V5F.NCH SHOWS. 



March M0, 87 and as, INK).— Dominion ot Canada Kennel Club Bench 



Show, at Ottawa. Canada, Entries close March 13. Charles Lincoln, 



April:). 1. and .".. IKs,:). Western IVnusylvauia Poultry Society's 

 Eleventh Annual Bench Show. Pittsburgh, Pa, Entries close March 19. 



Clias. Lincoln. Superintendent. C. B. Elbsn, Secretary. 



May 8. !), Ill an,] it. I*:i, Wesiminster Kennel Clilh. Seventh 

 annual Bench Show. Madison -,,„.„-.. i.aroeu. '(m York City. 



at nigh Point, N. C. Entries for the Dei 



Coster. Secretary, Flnrlutsh. N. Y. 



December, IB*).— National American Ki 

 Trials, at Grand Junction. Tcun. D. L'rys 

 Tenn. 



ntunieafions should be ad- 

 Publish iny Co., and not to 

 m the office matters of im- 



To insure prompt attention am 

 dressed to the Forest and Stream 

 individuals, in whose absence fri 

 portance are liable to delay. 



BEAUFORT AND COSSACK. 



Y\7"E give this week cuts of the pointer dog Beaufort, 

 V V owned by Mr. C. H. Nixon, Leesburg. Vn.. and of the 

 English setter dog Cossack, owned by Miss M. L. Roessle, 

 Washington, D. C. Both dogs won first in their classes at 

 Washington. Beaufort is a hue, large, upstanding dog of 

 great beauty, and one of the best Bench Show pointers that 

 we have seen in a long time. His owner informs us that he is 

 also a capital dog in the held, and that he will run in the 

 Trials next fall. He is liver and white ticked. He is three 

 years old, and is by champion Bow out of Beulah, who is lit- 

 ter sister to Mr. OrgilFs champion Rush. 



Cossack is also an animal of rare beauty ef form with a 

 splendid coat and feather. He comes honestly by his good 

 ii i i .. his sire being Mr. Theodore Morford's Don and his dam 

 Mr. ( 'has. H. Raymond's Fairy. He is nearly white, with orange 

 markings. He is just in his prime, being nearly four years old. 

 The cuts are from sketches by Harry Tallman. 



BEAGLE JUDGING AT WASHINGTON.— Philadelphia, 

 Pa.— Editor Forest and .Stream: I wish to criticise the judg- 

 ing of beagle hounds at the late Washington bench show, and 

 think 1 have just cause for so doing, for, as I understand, one 

 of the principal objects of a bench show is the bringing 

 together of the different varieties of the best dogs in compe"- 

 tition, and to have a dog win alone on its merits, by hoaest 

 judgment, with a judge (who ought to know) what he is to 

 judge by and for, I felt secure in making my entry for the 

 show, that the gentlemen who had gone to the trouble and 

 expense of getting it up would have had a competenl judge. 

 one who would have known the points necessary for a dog to 

 win; such I find, however, has not been the case, and had I 

 been present just after the judging of the class i! entered) I 

 would have entered my protest, but not getting to I he show 

 until the next day, \ was informed I was too late and was not 

 allowed to enter it then, so I requested to be introduced to the 

 judge, and had, for the first time, the pleasure of meeting Mr. 

 C. H. Mason. When after a few moments' conversation I asked 

 him (as an exhibitor I had a right to do) if he woidd be kind 

 enough to show me the difference in value by points of the 



fieient, by so doing he would greatly oblige me, he said, "Mr. 

 A. , I know nothing about beagles, I have made a mess of it and 

 will so state when I make up my rep ort " Xow 1 would ask 

 where the satisfaction is to an exhibitor, who, going to the 

 trouble, and expense to get dogs in proper shape for a show, 

 by such proceedings as that. A gentleman ;aud one who 

 knows), one of my competitors, said tome. "You should have 

 bad first," when I only got an he. It is gross nijii-itec to ex- 

 hibiting to send to shows ami have their dogs judged after 

 such confession by a judge as that, and 1 hens' !n >■ In r when 

 judges are selected they won't have to make such confessions, 

 - VV H AsHftUHNER, 



