246 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



ac 



Hyacinths fob Winter Blooming.— Nothing can be 

 more charming and attractive during our dreary winter 

 weather than a few glasses or pots of different colored 

 hyacinths. Success in growing them depends upon a few 

 simple rules which, if followed, will beyond doubt give 

 abundant satisfaction. They will bloom equally well in 

 pots of earth or glasses of water. If the former method is 

 most convenient, fill the pot (a five or six inch one is plenty 

 large) with light sandy soil; then press the bulb into the earth 

 n|arly even with the surface; water thoroughly and set 

 away in a partially dark cool place— a cellar or dark closet 

 will do, they should remain there four or six weeks, and 

 need not be watered or cared for. If examined at this 

 time it will be noticed that the roots will have grown so as 

 to fill the pot, while the bulb has perhaps not begun to 

 sprout. 



This is exactly what is needed, for the roots " must get 

 started first, in order that the plant may have strength to 

 throw up a vigorous and well-filled flower shoot. On the 

 other hand, if potted and immediately placed in the light, 

 the top will begin to sprout and flower before the roots 

 have made scarcely any growth, and the flowers, if they 

 come out at all, look sickly and soon drop off. 



After they are brought out to the light they should have 

 plenty of water or the flower buds will wither. They will 

 bloom nicely if the pots are immersed in a vessel of water. 



If grown in glasses the same is true in regard to putting 

 away in the dark; the glass should be filled so that the bulb 

 touches the water, and in four or six weeks, if kept dark, 

 the glass will be nearly filled with beautiful white roots; 

 then if brought to the light they will flower in four to six 

 weeks, and will well repay you for all extra care. 



As to the varieties, the single are usually the best for 

 flowering, and the unnamed varieties, costing only about 

 naif as much as the named, produce as fine flowers, though 

 the range of color is not so great. — Banbury News. 



r jht fflfmuL 



Affection of the Greyhound. — A farmer turned up a 

 rabbit's nest with the plough, containing her young ones. 

 The rabbits's being too young to stand the least chance of 

 surviving, in their exposed situation, they were taken home 

 as a treat for a greyhound bitch that was sucking a litter 

 of six puppies. To their surprise, instead of greedily de- 

 vouring the rabbits, as they expected, she carried them 

 tenderly and carefully in her mouth to her nest, and seemed 

 to consider them a most welcome addition to her family, 

 bestowing upon them the same fondling caresses, and offer- 

 ing them a share of the same support, which nature haci 

 furnished for her own offspring. This the poor rabbits did 

 not refuse, and there appeared no doubt of their doing 

 well. Unfortunately, however, they were doomed to suf- 

 fer death from their young companions, though not exactly 

 in the manner that greyhounds generally kill rabbits. One 

 after another got overlaid by its rude and robust foster- 

 brothers and sisters, and the poor mother with evident re- 

 luctance and regret, saw them carried away, and did not 

 part from them, even when dead, without remonstrating 



against'it as much as she durst. 



*+«*. 



TRAINING SETTER PUPPIES. 



— . 4 



Accomac, Va. , November 20, 1873. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Since my last to you from Northampton county, Va., I 

 have been doing very little shooting, waiting for the geese 

 and brant, but have occupied some of my leisure in training 

 a brace of setter pups, some short account of which may be 

 interesting. My experience about breaking dogs is that, 

 with the assistance of an old dog who can play the part of 

 Mentor, the puppies have their natural instincts brought 

 out quite rapidly. In this case you may remember my old 

 dog, Hero, an orange and white setter (you can see him 

 for a mile from his peculiar brightness of color, in the scrub 

 oak), and Hero was "coach" and school master. About 

 the beginning of this month I received an invitation to go 

 shooting with Colonel J. who, I think, is the best 



At his re- 



quail 



general sportsman in this section of country, 

 quest I brought Rapid and Punch, my two youngsters, to- 

 gether with Hero, their father. I stopped overnight with 

 Colonel J., and in the morning early we started for the 

 birds; with my friend's setter we had four dogs. In the 

 first ground— a cornfield of some fifteen acres— the two old 

 doss taking to the right and left, quartering cleverly, the 

 pups followed each one straight, after the old dog their father 

 keeping their heads well up. Suddenly Hero stopped 

 short and it was wonderful to see the two little fellows 

 backing up their sire, their back-bones and tails as stiff as 

 pokersr their fore feet daintly raised, the living pictures of 

 old Hero, and as perfect in every respect as if they had 

 been in training for years. I knew by the look of the old 

 doo- that there was a bevy of quail ahead. I walked up 

 steadily, all the dogs remaining staunch; the birds rose and 

 I killed three with a left and right. Keeping the pups to 

 heel I told the old dog to fetch and he returned the birds 

 one by one without ruffling a feather. The Colonel, in th e 

 meantime, had found birds, his dog pointing, so he told me, 

 at two cock quails fighting, one of which he killed, missing 

 the other Over a fence we came to a wood and hoing on 

 the dogs Hero again came to a point. The conduct of 

 Punch and Rapid had been, so far, admirable, and they 

 were backing the old dog, when suddenly Punch, getting 

 impatient, made an unlucky plunge, running in and 

 flushing the birds. Though not prone to whip dogs m the 

 field in this present instance, as the puppies were at 

 school I was forced to inflict a slight castigation on the 

 spot which Punch was the recipient of. I believe I never 

 lose my temper on such occasions, but I could not help 

 suppressing a smile at the contrite appearance of the father 

 and brother of the offending puppy, and the amazement 

 with whiclfthey seemed to appreciate the flagellation of a 



member of their distinguished family. Here Hero did 

 something which was quite wonderful. He seemed for a 

 moment to hesitate whether my action in the premises was 

 exactly proper, and having after mature thought come to 

 the conclusion that it was, with the utmost deliberation, he 

 walked up to the contrite Punch and knocked him com- 

 pletely over. 



As I was keeping a dog school and the Colonel was 

 shooting, his bag far exceeded mine. After this first dis- 

 cipline Punch was a trifle shy and hesitating for a while, 

 and was not anxious to place himself too much in promi- 

 nence, and no longer backed the father but backed his 

 brother Rapid. The next three points of the puppies were 

 in good style. On going through a swale the old dog got 

 his fore feet in a hummock, his hind-quarters being in the 

 water, pointing at what I thought must have been an En- 

 glish snipe. Rapid and Punch did not exactly understand 

 this, but nevertheless attempted to back him, which was 

 highly meritorious and duly appreciated by me. I how- 

 ever called the puppies to heel, which order they obeyed, 

 when, holding up my finger, I cried "Down charge." I 

 walked into the swale and kocked up a pair of j ack snipe, 

 of which I shot one, winging the other badly. The 

 wounded bird flew about sixty yards, I suppose, and fell. 

 Hero retrieved the dead bird, and on sending him after 

 the wounded one he soon got on the trail, and in ten min- 

 utes, after quartering all over the ground, brought it to me. 

 All the dogs now were very wet, and I waived them back 

 to the ground we had been shooting over, in order to give 

 them a run and to keep up their circulation, as it was getting 

 cold. In the meanitme the Colonel, on the other side of 

 the wood, had failed to find any more bevies, and on join- 

 ing him, we turned our steps towards home. Just before 

 we came to a cotton field within three hundred yards of 

 the house, near a clump of persimmon trees, the old dogs 

 both stood on a point, the puppies backing as usual. I told 

 ColonelJ. to shoot as I wanted to try an experiment with 

 Rapid, as he seemed to be the stauncher dog of the two 

 young ones. The Colonel killed two birds I 

 sent in Rapid to retrieve them. Rapid had 

 had two months' instruction with dead quail and with old 

 gloves, and was a fair pup retriever. The old dog did not 

 appear to like this usurping of his privileges, so they both 

 started together, the pup leading. He seemed, however, to 

 understand it, and it was a beautiful sight to see the old 

 sire allow his son to go ahead and retrieve his bird, the 

 father following close every one of his son's movements. 

 After picking up the bird, Rapid seemed in doubt what to do 

 with it. Here Hero became the tutor, and led the way up 

 to me. As Rapid raised his muzzle to my hand, with the 

 bird daintily held in his mouth, Hero was apparently tell- 

 ing him what he should do. My companion here remarked 

 to me, "that he had often seen first-class academies, with 

 their instructors, but had never seen a teacher yet who had 

 such facility in imparting information as my good old dog 

 Hero." Our combined bag was five jack snipe, twenty- 

 eight quail, one rabbit, and a plover. I am going to see 

 my old gunner Jake about geese, as he is painting some 

 stools especially for my benefit, and may write you again 



in a few days. Sincerely yours, C. B. 



.+*>- 



— The sale of mastiffs on Saturday last attracted a good 

 deal of attention. The dogs were sold by auction at Baker 

 & Chase's. The mastiffs belonged to Mr. McHenry, of 

 Sudbury, Maryland, and were of a fine breed. The old dog 

 was imported and fetched $60. The female and whelp 

 brought $50 and $35 respectively. The male whelp brought 

 the highest price, $80. Mr. Williams, of Williams & Guion, 

 owns the purest breed of thoroughbred mastiffs in this 

 country, purchased, or presented by a member of the 

 Mastiff Club in England. One of his sons is owned by Mr. 

 Clay of Hackensack. 



-*-»-». 



THE DOG OF MONTARGIS. 



unpleasant dog eternally flying at your cravat and anywhere 

 else lying open to his fangs, may be seriously regarded as 

 the reverse of cheerful. The Chevalier Macaire probably 

 thought so! The conduct of the dogtowardsthis particular 

 man — he being notoriously of a gentle disposition and kind 

 to every one else — quickly became the talk of certain circles 

 in Paris. It was known to the court; it reached the ears 

 of John, and then the king ordered the dog to be brought 

 before him, and the Chevalier to be placed among the 

 courtiers as one of them at the same time. Being at court, 

 the dog conducted himself with perfect propriety for a short 

 time, until he saw Macaire mixed up among the Courtiers, 

 and then, dashing at him furiously as usual, with an awful 

 growl out of his great red throat, he pinned him against the 

 wall. In those days the judicial arbitrament of baltle was 

 in full force; the popular belief being that the "judgment 

 of God" would be manifested in favor of the innocent and 

 against the guilty. The known enmity of the Chevalier to 

 Aubrey, thefact of Aubrey's murder, the dreadful antag- 

 onism of the murdered man's dog— these settled the ques- 

 tion with King John, and it was directed that the man must 

 fight the dog, as the only way to justify himself in the eyes 

 of Paris and purge himself of the suspicion of murder. It 

 was. the custom in the middle ages occasionally to try the 

 lower animals for offences with much of the parade and 

 ceremonial bpstowed in the cases of their supporters, and 

 from this we may understand that a combat between a man 

 and a dog was not so strange an occurrence after all, away 

 back in the fourteenth century. There was no cathedral 

 of Notre Dame in Paris in 1861, and so the open space of 

 the island served as a capital place in which to pitch a ring 

 for the combatants. The Chevalier Macaire was armed 

 with a strong heavy stick, and the dog of Montargis had his 

 teeth and a tub. This last, which might more properly be 

 called an empty cask, was an ark of refuge for the dog to 

 retreat to and make his springs from. But the dog of Mon- 

 targis had no use for the tub. He scorned it. He flew 

 with astonishing activity and fury at his opposer, first on 

 one side, then on the other, he dodged under the cudgel, 

 and finally with a terrible bound, fastened his deadly grip 

 on the murderer's throat, and there was an end of the 

 Chevalier Macaire, who lived just long enough to confess 

 his crime before King John and the court. Of course every- 

 body in Paris cried, " Well done dog," and was more than 

 ever satisfied of the truth and justice of " trial by battle." 

 We can readily understand that the faithful clog, having 

 nobly avenged the death of his master, took up his quarters 

 with his master's friend, looked after the rats and was made 

 comfortable the remainder of his days. This is onty con- 

 jecture, however, because he may have been put in the 

 dog-pound for non payment of the tax; but what is not con- 

 jecture is the fact that over a chimney in the great hall of 

 the ancient chateau of Montargis, in France, there is a 

 curiously carved representation of this memorable combat; 

 and as long as the old chateau stands, and the wrought oak 

 wainscoting is spared the inroads of the worm, that carving 

 will stand as the monument of the fidelity of a dog.— 

 Exchange. 



IN October, 1801, there occurred a memorable right be- 

 tween a man, who was known as the Chevalier Mac- 

 aire, and a dog, which has passed into tradition as the dog 

 of Montargis. * The contest took place on the Isle of Notre 

 Dame, in Paris, in the presence of King John. The tradi- 

 tion formed the plot of a play which was presented at the 

 Bowery Theatre a few years ago. The story goes that M. 

 Aubrey de Montdidier, a gentleman of Montargis, in passing 

 the forest of Bondy, was murdered and buried at the foot 

 of a tree. His dog was with him at the time, and remained at 

 the grave till driven away by hunger, and then found his 

 wav to Paris to the house of an old friend of his master. In 

 Paris he did nothing but howl. At intervals he would 

 catch the pantaloons of his dead master's friend, in his effort 

 to drag him out to where poor Aubrey was buried. Por 

 some time, the dog was not understood, but at length, con- 

 necting Aubrey's absence with the inseparable companion- 

 ship of the man and dog, and the violent pertinacity of the 

 animal in attempting to draw them after him, they follow- 

 ed and after a time he le\l them to the foot of the tree in 

 the forest of Bondy, where they dug the earth away and 

 found the murdered man. There was no doubt that Aubrey 

 was murdered, but there was no evidence to convict any 

 livin» being with the crime. The eyes of God had seen, 

 and the dog had seen too, but dogs are dumb. A certain 

 Chevalier Macaire had been the enemy of M. Aubrey. 

 Perhaps in consequence of the knowledge, somebody, the 

 friend for instance, had his suspicions of the Chevalier, and 

 confronted the dog with him, thinking, very likely, if the 

 dog had reason enough to lead them to Aubrey's grave, he 

 would have enough to detect his murderer if he saw him. 

 In these conclusions they were right. The dog, directly he 

 saw Macaire, attacked him with an almost invincible fer- 

 ocity. Wherever he saw the Chevalier he attacked him; 

 and as the friends of Aubrey took care, as may be sup- 

 posed to throw the dog as much as possible into the 

 company of the now suspected man, the life of the Chev- 

 alier came to be diurnally uncomfortable. To have an 



fatal ^istorg. 



PECULIARITIES OF ANADROMOUS 

 ^ FISHES . 



ONE of these characteristics is the infallible instinct of 

 finding their way back from se,a to the river, the 

 tributary of a river or even a small affluent brook where 

 they emerged from the ova. It has been pretty well ascer- 

 tained that however they may mingle on their marine feed- 

 ing grounds, when they are impelled by the reproductive 

 impulse towards fresh water the Connecticut shad ascend 

 that river, the Hudson shad again passes up between the 

 New York and New Jersey shores, and that those of the 

 Delaware are again and always will be Delaware shad. So 

 also with herring and salmon. 



At Little Russia, a point on the Bay of Chaleur, ten oi 

 twelve miles above Bathurst, the stake nets set off from 

 shore sometimes take salmon seeking the mouth of the 

 Restigouche as well as that of the Nepissiguit, and the 

 habitans who attend these nets will point out a fish of each 

 river with as much confidence as a stock fancier would an 

 Alderney or a Durham cow. The salmon— and it is so a]so 

 with shad— of some rivers are inherently small, or of some 

 known conformation — short or long — of others very large. 



Another peculiarity of these fishes, which enter fresh 

 rivers only to spawn — for the sea is their pasture ground 

 where they acquire growth, fat and flavor — is that they are 

 invariably found without food in any process of digestion 

 in their stomachs after entering the fluvial portions of a 

 river. That organ, after they have been in the rivers a few 

 days, becomes a contracted cord, in appearance not thicker 

 than a pipe-stem and filled with a hard cheesy substance, 

 mixed, perhaps, with a little, bit of yellow fluid. It is cer- 

 tain that the young of both of the fishes mentioned, until 

 their first migration to sea, feed on flies, their larvse and on 

 aquatic insects, which may be found in their stomachs; but 

 on returning from sea to their native streams, it is solely 

 that they may carry out the law of their nature to continue 

 their species. 



"Why then," the reader may ask, " does a salmon or 

 shad rise occasionally to a natural fly or the counterfeit of 

 the angler." We can.only refer such fact to a remnant of 

 an old instinct or recollection of the food they fed on before 

 their first migration to sea and their predatory habit. But 

 the few natural flies they may devour do not, however, 

 appear to distend the stomach in the least; no effete matter 

 is pressed from the vent in handling them. 



A young shad, according to Mr. Theodore Lyman, of the 

 Massachusetts Fish Commission, during its sojourn in fresh 

 water from the time its yolk sac is absorbed until it descends 

 the river, is provided with teeth, which the adult shad has 

 not. The naturalist mentioned has even found one or two 

 small species of flies, and the larvaj on which they feed in 

 the stomachs of shad fry. 



A young salmon, in its parrhood, in its habits, its food 

 and manner of taking it, scarcely differs from a trout, and 

 ■ 



