FOREST AND STREAM. 



213 



perience of another, then he may skip the whole series, for 

 he is much better informed than the writer thereof. 



And if it should seem that too free use is made of the 

 first person singular, then it should also he remembered 

 that one who has nothing but, his own personal experience 

 to draw upon, is of necessity compelled to use it often, and 

 all the knowledge of trout-breeding that I possess can be 

 truthfully said to have been acquired in that school that 

 is reported to be the most expensive of all, and which is 

 well patronized by a certain class of whom it is said that 

 they will learn in no other; but until quite recently there 

 was no other, of any kind. Within the last few years there 

 have been several books published of more or less excel- 

 lence, but there are new discoveries and modes of operation 

 continually claiming attention, so that a book soon becomes 

 old in this new business, and besides this, they are ail defi- 

 cient in details,, and it is in these where men have failed. 



Some of these writers have had but little personal ex- 

 perience, have lived at a distance from their ponds which 

 have been cared for by an attendant, who did all the work 

 and gave the proprietor all the information he possessed 

 about them; and right here it would be as Avell to say that 

 the writer makes no claim to any scientific knowledge, 

 which the much regrets), and as he often has questions of 

 ahat nature asked, he is always obliged to refer them to 

 more competent authority, but having dug and built his 

 ponds With his own hands, taken the spawn and cared for 

 it and the fish, without help most of the time, he feels 

 competent to give advice of a practical nature. 



It was thought neeessary to state these things in order 

 that the readers of Forest and Stream may know exactly 

 how much value can be placed on the statements hereafter 

 to be made. 



Having had many letters from the Southern States con- 

 taining inquiries concerning trout, wherein it was doubtful 

 if the writer thereof knew our brook-trout of the north, I 

 will say : I do not know the exact southern limit in which 

 trout occur. There is a fish called trout everywhere, a 

 chub in the James Kiver is so called, and a variety of bass 

 is known in Alabama by the same name, so that it will be 

 seen that the common names of fish are almost as badly 

 mixed as those of birds, and probabty the inhabitants of 

 those places who have heard their fish called trout all their 

 ■ ives would laugh to scorn the pretentions of our fish to the 

 name, and as this paper is not limited in its circulation to 

 the habitat of the Salmo fontvudis, 1 will merely say, that 

 that is the name of the fish referred to here, for description 

 of which see any scientific work on fishes. It has also been 

 called Salmo m'greseens, and Baione fo-ntenak's, but the name 

 given above is adopted by Eichardson, Kirtland, Mitchell, 

 Ayres, Gill, DeKay, Storer, and other prominent scientific 

 men. 



It is popularly called brook-trout, speckled trout, spotted 

 trout, and mountain trout, in different localities. 



There is a variety called silver trout which is entirely 

 without spots or markings, and whose sides glisten with a 

 beautiful silver sheen, not so handsome however as the 

 spotted kind. This fish is found occasionally in western 

 ISTew York, in Vermont and perhaps in other States. I 

 had both kinds on exhibition at a fair once, and a man 

 from Lycoming Co., Pa., after examining the silver trout, 

 said: " Those are trout, but what are the others?" 



After explaining that they were our common brook-trout 

 he looked them all over and said that they must be what 

 he had heard called "black trout," but had never seen 

 them, although he was breeding the silver ones. Natural- 

 ists who count but little for color in fish, as it is so much 

 more variable in them than in birds and animals, make no 

 difference I believe, between these fish, or it may be that 

 the silver ones are albinos; if so, then it appears that there 

 are sections where the trout are all albinos. I have never 

 thought enough of them to tr^ to breed them, and none 

 have ever occurred among my stock which originally came 

 from streams where they are occasionally found. 



There is a great difference in the markings on our trout, 

 not only in the crimson dot, which often varies on the sides 

 of the same fish, but in the pencilings on the back, which 

 is sometimes mottled, and at others marked with broad ir- 

 regular bands; the latter are my favorites and are known 

 on the trout farm as "mackerel-backs," ti, name that des 

 cribes their appearance exactly. 



A person with more leisure could have easily determined 

 if it were possible to breed these fish "to the feather," as 

 the poultry men say. This is among the possibilities of 

 fish culture and will be accomplished some day. Why not'? 

 Marks are fixed by selection of breeders in all other live 

 stock, and it may require several generations to establish a 

 strain that will be true to pattern. 



The lateness of the season, however, demands that the 

 different modes of taking spawn should come first in order, 

 and therefore we will leave these minor questions and pro- 

 ceed to consider those. 



There are three ways by which trout are increased in 

 ponds and streams; first: by making spawning places and 

 allowing the fish to make their own nests in which they 

 spawn, and the young hatch without further aid from man; 

 second: taking the eggs from the ripe fish, impregnating 

 and hatching them; third: by making nests in the ingenious 

 contrivance known as Ainsworth screens, where the fish 

 lay their eggs in gravel that rests on wire cloth and it is 

 caught on a finer screen below, from which it is taken to 

 be hatched in the same manner as those taken by hand. 



In order to clearly describe the last two processes, it will 

 be necessary to show how the fish deposit their ova when 

 left to themselves. It is always interesting to lie at full 

 length upon the board, covering of the spawning race and 



watch the proceedings below through the cracks, and not- 

 withstanding.the fact that the writer has done it hundreds 

 of times it is not only just as interesting as ever, but as un- 

 satisfactory, for there are some parts of the operation about 

 which there seems to be as much obscurity as ever. Most, 

 if not all efforts at pairing seem to be on the part of the 

 males who often appear on the spawning beds several days 

 before the females, and when the latter arrive and begin 

 the nest-making, each one is appropriated by one of the 

 sterner sex who keeps close to her unless driven off by 

 some more powerful rival. The female pays no attention 

 to these skirmishes, but busies herself in making a depres- 

 sion in the gravel wherein to deposit her treasure. This 

 she docs by turning on her side and whipping the gravel 

 with a succession of short quick strokes of her tail which 

 causes her to move forward and upward until she is beyond 

 its reach, when she again returns to her position to rest. 

 The male fish now renews his attentions by rubbing against 

 her sides, sometimes going clear around her head, all the 

 while trembling with excitement until the spectator can 

 almost imagine he can hear a rumbling sound as he rounds 

 the point of her nose. 



This is kept 'up until a nest is made several inches deep and 

 a foot or more in circumference, which sometimes occupies 

 two or three days. When all is ready she depresses her 

 abdomen by bending her head and tail upward and by 

 gently pressing against the stones as she moves forward, 

 the eggs flow in an amber stream. The male, watchful 

 of every move, seems to know the exact moment, for both 

 seem to move by one impiuse and discharge eggs and milt 

 together, which are then covered up, but whether by one 

 or both, I have never been able to determine. Some say 

 the male alone does this, but there is always a great flurry 

 and a cloud of milt that has prevented close observation. 



It often happens tlAit when two ripe males are battling 

 for possession of a female that the fight ends in the death 

 of one or both. A fin will be torn out, or scratches ou the 

 sides from the adversaries' teeth will have caused a slower 

 death from the fungoid growth with' which the wounds will 

 be covered. 



For ponds and streams where the trout are to be left to 

 do their own spawning, all that is necessary is to provide 

 graveled beds in or near a spring if possible, or just below 

 an eddy formed by a log or stone where the water is not 

 too swift. The beds should be covered over by boards 

 which not only prevent their being disturbed by the sight 

 of persons or animals passing, but also gives the fish a 

 feeling of security. 



The increase is very small by this method'asthe eggs that 

 are laid by one pair are thrown out and devoured by the 

 next fish who may happen to choose the same locality for a 

 nest, still it is much better than nothing if the owner is not 

 able or inclined to do more. The first artificial pond that 

 the writer ever saw was managed in this way, and the 

 owner took many trout for his own use from it each year, 

 besides allowing a limited number of visitors to fish in it 

 at one dollar per pound. 



This pond was 80x100 feet, and from one to nine feet 

 deep. It was simply scooped out with a plow and scraper 

 below a, couple of small springs which were made into 

 spawning beds, and a ditch plowed around the pond to carry 

 off the surface water. 



Fred Mather. 



— There are 1,500 vessels engaged in the Baltimore oyster 

 trade, which in season average 1,200 bushels of oysters 

 each trip. These have mostly suspended operations. A 

 short time since pungymen bought oysters at 40 cents per 

 bushel at the beds, brought them to Baltimore, expecting 

 to realize 60 cents, the price paid when they left, and were 

 compelled to sell for 10 to 15 cents. This has had the effect 

 of intimidating the oystermen, and hence receipts are light. 

 Some of the packing-houses which a* this time are usually 

 very busy, are doing nothing. A few others again who in 

 busy seasons employ 500 and 1,000 men, have from one- 

 third to one-sixth this number now at work. It is estimated 

 that over 12,000 persons are engaged in the oyster trade, in- 

 cluding the dredgers. 



— A lot of minstrels went to a town not far from Boston 

 lately, and advertised to give a performance for "the benefit 

 of the poor — tickets reduced to ten cents." The hall was 

 crammed full The next morning a committee of the poor 

 called upon the treasurer of the concern for the amount said 

 benefit had netted. The treasurer expressed astonishment 

 at the demand. "I thought," said the chairman of the com- 

 mittee, "you advertised this concert for the benefit of the 

 poor." Replied the treasurer: "Didn't we put the tickets 

 down to ten cents so that the poor could all come!" The 

 committee vanished. 



—The Emperor said to Nelaton (the famous French 

 surgeon, who has just died), when he cured his Prince Im- 



iny reputati 



-"If you arc unlucky enough to sever a man's carotid 

 artery," said JSTelaton, the French surgeon, recently deceas- 

 ed, "remember that about two minutes must elapse before 

 syncope takes place, and as many more before death super- 

 venes. Now four minutes are just three more than is 

 needed for binding a ligature, provided , that you do not 

 hurry." 



—The funny man on the World says that "seven cars full 

 of eggs were sent to tlie Milwaukee and Northern Railway 

 in one train last week— an unparalled instance of ova-load- 

 ing." 



—A hundred thousand salmon, the eggs being received 

 from California, have been hatched at the State Hatching 

 House, and will soon be placed in the tributaries to Lake 

 Ontario, 



—A Sophomore at Lewisburg University describes an 

 ellipse as "a circle kinder rounded at both ends." 



"Wanted", says a country paper, "young ladies who can 

 play at croquet without cheating." 



§oadhnd f %mvn mid §zrdm. 



THE tALUE OF FOREST TREES, 



"Woodman, spare that tree." 

 E are much gratified to know that more of an inter- 

 est is beginning to be taken in the preservation and 

 cultivation of our natural forests, and that a consciousness 

 of the necessity of planting out large tracts of hitherto 

 waste lands with timber and forest trees, is beginning to be 

 appreciated. All this is a step in the right direction and 

 deserves our thanks. So great has been the destruction of 

 seme of our large forest lands, that in some sections of our 

 country its effects have already been seriously felt. 

 Droughts of long continuance, great dryness of the atmos- 

 phere, and the drying up of quite a large number of streams 

 — some of them not inconsiderable streams, have in fact 

 disappeared altogether, while some streams of water, 

 which once made sweet music in their serpentine meander- 

 ings through the forest, are dry, and they, like the green 

 sheltering forest over their heads, have become a shadow of 

 what they once were. We behold no tall green forest with 

 its deepening shade making glad the heart of man; no peb- 

 ly brooklet murmurs over its many-colored mosaics; its di'- 

 versified channel lies bare, and a universal dryness of the 

 atmosphere has taken the place of the former cooling mel- 

 low climate. We sigh in vain for the cooling breeze that 

 once swept over these hills, that coursed through these 

 vales, bringing comfort and cheer to the weary traveler. 

 We sit again upon an old and w T ell known seat — a pile of 

 rocks amid the hemlocks — once covered with moss and vio- 

 lets springing at their bases. Alas ! the hemlock's shade has 

 departed with the hemlocks, the green moss and violets 

 have become dried up and withered, and they have left no 

 trace'^ behind, where all this beauty had been. 



We might cite many interesting scientific and philosoph- 

 ical facts to prove that, wherever a thorough investigation 

 of atmospheric and other phenomena attending the cutting 

 of our forests has been fully and thoroughly studied, a 

 great dryness of the atmosphere in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood was always the result. To an observing mind of 

 only moderate capacity, the life study of such an one has 

 given ample proof of the necessity of preserving our forests 

 intact. Said a man of only ordinaiy intelligence: "I have 

 had no opportunity for studying these occurrences in the 

 way you have, I know but of the reason why it always 

 follows that when you cut off the wood from a swamp, 

 you dry up the brooks; but I know it is so in nine cases 

 out of ten. I am satisfied there is something in it more 

 than accident." 



" Of what tracts do you speak now in particu- 

 lar, and what proof do you give that these swamp 

 grounds are not to-day in the same condition as to mean 

 temperature and density of atmosphere, as they were at the 

 first period of which you speak ?" 



"Why, sir, I used to be quite a sportsman once; twenty 

 years ago, when I was a younger man, I used to go into 

 these Ilenny swamps, as they were called, and in six hours' 

 time, with a good dog— Dash — and myself, used to bag- 

 twenty woodcock, and then we were not tired in the least. 

 I could, had I been so minded, have easily made my twenty 

 birds twice twenty in number before five o'clock." 



"Why did you not keep on shooting, if you relished the 

 sport ? I should have found it hard to have stayed my 

 hand." 



"And this was the case with myself. I confess to the 

 wish to have kept up the 'banging away ' until night, but I 

 never was a pot hunter or 'slaughterer of birds or fish,' for 

 the mere sport of killing the same. I shot what I then 

 wanted, as all good and true sportsmen do. I never com- 

 mitted bird or fish murder." 



"You once made these Henny Swamps your game 

 ground. You would find it difficult now to flush much 

 game there." 



"You are right," answered my friend. "You would be 

 as likely to find black duck on a July pasture as a woodcock 

 in these dry barrens, once fine, damp, shady swamps just 

 the best of feeding grounds for the woodcock. They arc 

 gone never to return again, and the brooks are dried up."* 



Of what benefit, therefore, may or may not be a knowl- 

 edge of the temperature of the earth in forest or open 

 lands ? 



Ebermaye, a celebrated Bavarian physicist, passed many 

 months of his active life in the study of external influences 

 upon the atmospheric temperature of forest and plain. 

 Among his conclusions pertinent to the discussion of our 

 paper, we would n6te that, upon causing very careful no- 

 tices to be made of the temperature of the ground by 

 means of thermometers sunk from the depth of from one to 

 six inches, and of one, two, and three and. four feet, he 

 found in the upper layer of earth, within one foot of the 

 surface, the minimum monthly mean temperature, occur- 

 ring both in open and in wooded regions, in the month of 

 January; and only on the high mountains does the lowest 

 temperature occur in February. He also found an increase 

 of temperature from February, or until its maximum in 

 July; at the high stations only does the maximum occur in 

 August. All our observations have convinced us that from 

 the months of July or August the temperature decreases to 

 January or February, 



These facts, to the common understanding, may seem 

 very trivial or scarcely worth the mention, yet, my friends, 

 to the agricultural interests of a country they are of great 



^LT/A^ C ^iS^ ent !i 0r the preservation of forests we do not 

 ^$£&$&tSlSit y : although we are in potion of many 



