FOREST AND STREAM. 



usual, and eighty not uncommon. The quail now being in 

 season, furnished some excellent sport" in fields skirting the 

 timber. The ponds on the prairies were plentifully sup- 

 plied with ducks and brant, and some geese. The thorough 

 knowledge of the country by our teamster united to the ex- 

 cellent working of our dogs, with plenty of game and fine 

 weather, rendered this trip all that could be anticipated in 

 the way of sport. My next trip of the season was not as 

 fortunate, having been sent for to meet a party at a given 

 point on the Alleghany Mountains, Va., in quest of ruffed 

 grouse. Jack was not altogether a novice in this kind of 

 hunting, and the bird requiring a much closer ranging dog 

 than its congener of the prairie, gave me a fine opportunity 

 of experimenting on the merits of the dog. Having 

 hunted in the old world as well as in the new, I am satis- 

 fied that the setter of America must be a very different dog 

 from the setter of England. Here ' he must not only be a 

 fine ranger, drop at shot, never flush a bird, but perform 

 the office of retriever on land and water, and like the 

 Yankee, be ready for any new emergency; while in Eng- 

 land he is used in an open country only. Jack was alive 

 to any situation. Whenever he came to a point on a bird, 

 concealed in the top of a fallen tree, knowing the habits of 

 the game, I first chose my position, then sent Jack around 

 that he might come in on the opposite side. The intelli- 

 gence he displayed in driving it out on my side, was often 

 remarkable, and any one who has hunted ruffed grouse 

 must have observed how often they take advantage of go- 

 ing out the opposite side of the thicket, or tree top, from 

 the gunner. Our success here was not the best; seldom 

 bagging over eight brace a day to two guns; we therefore 

 resolved to try Ohio for quail and ruffed grouse. Among 

 the Buckeyes we found fair sport, bagging as high as 

 twenty brace a day to each gun. Returned home, and 

 after hunting several days on grounds long familiar, was 

 summoned to join a party going to Indiana and Illinois for 

 a quail shooting. Now I had to meet one of the renowned 

 Eastern shooters, with a setter of extraordinary reputation, 

 and I deemed it best to take as an auxiliary to Jack, his 

 game little sister, Flora. I reached the placi appointed 

 for our meeting two days in advance of my friends — met 

 an old acquaintance, who had repeatedly seen my antici- 

 pated comrade and his dog in the field. I had perfect con- 

 fidence in my dogs, and resolved to do as well as I could, 

 though game wae. not very abundant. On the first day I 

 bagged forty-three quail and four ruffed grouse; missing 

 two quail only. I asked my old acquaintance how such 

 shooting would compare with the Eastern party, and how 

 our dogs would compare. "O'Man," he says, speaking in 

 broad [Scotch, "he has nae chance, at a', nor his dog either, 

 nor the quails for that matter." Went out the next day 

 and bagged thirty-six over little Flora and got back to meet 

 my Eastern friend in the afternoon. Early the next morn- 

 ing we started for points farther West, and had the best 

 shooting of the season on this trip, bagging to my gun, a 

 muzzle loader at that, five hundred and seventy-live birds 

 in twelve day's shooting; my largest day being seventy-two 

 birds, the mercury on that morning being 15 Q below zero. 

 . The law having now expired in Illinois, I returned to In- 

 diana, and in twelve and a half days shooting, from Jan- 

 uary 1st, bagged five hundred and eighty-five quail and 

 ruffed grouse, to my gun alone. This was my last adieu 

 hunt with my favorite companion, Jack, as an Eastern 

 sportsman soon after became his owner. 



When reading the accounts of wonderful dogs and their 

 exploits, I will merely say that I have often counted the 

 number of quail in a oovey when flushed, and when drop- 

 ping in the long grass in low prairie, seen him find and 

 pohst every one, and in one instance when the birds had 

 alighted near each other, saw him point six different times 

 in one covey while holding a dead bird in his mouth, each 

 time, and all in a space of time not exceeding fifteen min- 

 utes. Another instance, after losing him. among briar 

 thickets on a prairie, and no response to my repeated call, 

 heard one loud bark, soon found him pointing a fine covey 

 of quail, rigid as a statue. 



That season alone I killed over two thousand head of 

 game, besides many ducks, etc. 



During the fourteen years I have shot over twenty 

 thousand." Erie. 



Monroe, Michigan, August, 2,. 1875. 



TROUTING IN COLORADO. 



. * 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Five weeks ago when I left New York I did not expect to see you 

 again so soon, nor to be able to say that I have waded and soaked in the 

 finest trout stream in America, and gained, in fact, my first real experi- 

 ence in catching the speckled beauties. As a tyro, my opinion may be 

 open to criticism. I will therefore fall back upon figures. Two of my 

 friends have caught here since the season commenced nearly two thou- 

 sand pounds of trout, all with most ridiculously small fly hooks and fine 

 tackle— in short, they are first-class amateurs, with all a sportsman's horror 

 of ground worms and grasshoppers. For my part, as a heavyweight 

 or a heavy fisherman after bass and Wuefish, pickerel and mascalonge, 

 sheepshead and weakflsh, to which denizens of the deep I feel gratefully 

 indebted for many a well spent day and week, I must confess that I am, 

 perhaps through ignoracc, unable to appreciate the beauty of having 

 such very light tackle as experts choose, which must inevitably, in their 

 hands even, fail to secure b t a very small proportion of the really large 

 trout who rise to their lures. One of the objects of sport is success, 

 and where fish run so very large the pleasure and excitement of securing 

 one monster, thereby displaying one's skill (or luck) cannot compensate 

 for the chagrin of losing a dozen who happen to be smart enough to nop 

 their tails against the troutist's fragile gut. Doubtless many a smile of 

 derision will greet this opinion, but having formed and expressed it, I 

 shall stick to it until the light of other (future) days may perhaps make 

 me an altered man. 



After having attended to certain mining matters which took me to 

 Colorado, and in the course of which i passed several days climbing 

 the mountains on horseback and on foot, investigating various lodes in 

 which I had more or less interest,! started on a three days' trip to 

 Wagon Wheel Gaps in the San Juan Mountains. Here let me, from pure 

 feelings of gratitude, as I have no personal interest in the' matter, as you 

 know, mention my foot dressings. I took with me from New York a 

 pair of Frank Goode's oil-tanned moccasins, gaiter make, with soles and 

 heels, and had hobnails put in them for mountain travel. I found them 

 exceedingly serviceable, and while my horse and self were more than 

 once exhausted, I never became foot sore or weary, though»traveling 

 through mud and rocks and marshes, often almost knee deep; and after- 

 wards, thougu wading for several hours of two days in the waters and 

 on the rocky bottom of the golden Rio Grande, they preserved their 

 softness and pliability. Alas ! as friends I regret them. They are de- 

 parted! into the hands of greedy miners, who allowed me only the 

 choice as to whom I should bequeath them on my departure . I will not 

 write up our fishing trip, as it was short and without special interest to 

 the general reader. To myself it is of course something not easy to he 

 forgotten-at least not just yet-the catching of my first trout. He was 



only a half-pounder, but there was joy in the soul of one member of our 

 family and an unwonted fluttering of the heart and long drawn breath, 

 as he slipped head foremost into my breeches pocket. He was followed 

 there by several others in the course of an hour before the sun went 

 down; but I must confess that my second fish— mine by courtesy— got 

 away from me. He was a beauty and made a bold rise, but I did'nt 

 want him. In the vernacular of the country, "I had no use for him," 

 so I gaped at him and did'nt strike. He thought my gaping rude and 

 left for other flies less artificial. After gaping once, I got up, got over 

 my attack of feverish excitement, and caught enough .fish to go back to 

 camp with a proud air and a happy smile. That night, after a delicious 

 supper, we slept in an old deserted root cellar, with a ton of old hay, the 

 wagon Covers, and some buffalo robes for our bed. 



To get to this paradise of the trout fisherman, and I may say of the 

 hunter of bear, deer, grouse, wild ducks, ed id genus omne, the valley 

 and river of the Rio Grande, in Southwestern Colorado, it is only neces- 

 sary to take a ticket to Denver, thence by rail to Canyon City, thence 143 

 miles over one of the finest of mountain roads in Concord coaches to 

 Del Norte, which place should form the base of operations. Here saddle 

 horses, or mule wagons, can be obtained at reasonable prices for future 

 movements. It was with extreme regret tha t I have hastened back, but 

 my partner has "struck it rich' ' on a gold and silver lode, and he was 

 anxious that I should in person report progress to some Eastern friends 

 and capitalists. I propose to astonish you in a day or two by some 

 apecimens of quartz bearing free gold. I have seen a mountain of such 

 mineral, with gold enough almost in sight to build a first-class rapid 

 transit road for our suffering fellow citizens, or to furnish capital to 

 some of our millionaires for a dozen gigantic charitable schemes. 



At Wagon Wheel Gaps, near where we were fishing, are also hot sul- 

 phur springs of undoubted value and efficacy in many diseases. These 

 springs are respectively 10?°, 122° and 135° in temperature. The water 

 contains also soda and iron. Some twenty or thirty families were in camp 

 in tents and covered wagons, having traveled from fifty to two hundred 

 miles for the benefit of the waters. I was informed of many ca^es of 

 cure of rheumatism of long standing, and from the character of the 

 waters there is little doubt but that their action would be enrative in 

 many chronic cases of dyspepsia and female diseases. When the rail- 

 road shall have penetrated these mountain fastnesses, and it is now only 

 a matter of time, many an invalid will delve with advantage in this 

 mine, and give new proof of. the inexhaustible greatness of Colorado's 

 wealth. Warren. 



J*4 §nltuiti!. 



♦ 



^Tiie United States Fishery Commission at Wood's 

 Hole. — Mr. B. F. Bowles* of the Springfield Republican, 

 recently paid the Fishery Commission a visit at Wood's 

 Hole, and tells us all about it in a letter to his journal. 

 From him we learn that one of the most important conclu- 

 sions reached through the examinations of the commission 

 is, that the great decrease in codfishery on our coast is due 

 to the obstructions placed in our streams and rivers, such 

 as milldams, pollution of water, etc., thus preventing 

 ascent of alewives and other small fish to spawn, these 

 small fish being the natural food of the cod. 



Of Capt. L. A. Beardslee, who has charge of the Gov- 

 ernment steamer, the Bluelight, that is used for dredging, 

 &c, the letter says: — 



"This officer now represents the navy on the commission 

 for the examination and test of iron and steel, but he 

 takes such a- lively interest in the work of the Bluelight, 

 that he prefers to be detailed to superintend its movemonts, 

 although it is a duty far beneath his rank. In short, he 

 spends his summer vacation, as some of the professors of 

 science above mentioned do, in promoting the investiga- 

 tion of the fish commission, because it is for him a congen- 

 ial and interesting occupation. Capt. Beardslee also keeps 

 a large part of the outside world informed of the discov- 

 eries of the Bluelight in his letters, partly gossip and partly 

 science, and altogether agreeable, to the Forest and 

 Stream, over the signature of "Piseco." 



Piseco has already told us of the plaster casts of the fish 

 that are being taken for the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. 

 Bowles says:— 



"If any novel specimen of fish is brought in, it is imme- 

 diately photographed, and, as soon as possible, its colors 

 carefully taken on paper, two skillful water color artists, 

 Mr. J. H. Richard and Mr. Wakeman Holberton, being- 

 employed for this purpose. This work has to be done 

 quickly, as there is nothing in nature which fades as soon 

 as the bright hues of a fish out of his native element. After 

 this is done, a plaster cast is made of the fish. To-day, a 

 big horse-mackerel, four or five feet long, was undergoing 

 this operation. Later and more leisurely the plaster cast 

 is mounted at the Smithsonian Institute, and colored to 

 life according to the portrait made on paper here. Tliis 

 cast and painting is done with such faithful exactness that 

 every scale and ray is shown precisely as in the living fish. 

 A large number of these casts, embracing nearly all the 

 varieties of fish known to exist in the United States, are 

 already constructed at the institute, and it is the intention 

 of Prof. Baird to have the collection complete, if possible, 

 for exhibition at the centennial, next year." 



The personnel of the commission, as at present repre- 

 sented here, comprising both officers and volunteers, is as 

 follows: — 



'Trof. Spencer F. Baird, United States Commissioner of 

 Fisheries, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C. ; Prof 

 A. E. Verril and S. I. Smith, and Tutor J. K. Thacher of 

 Yale College, S. F. Clark, Assistant in Zoology at Yale- 

 Prof. Theodore Gill of the Smithsonian Institute; Prof 1 

 Alpheus Hyatt of the Institute of Technology at Boston- 

 Sanderson Smith, geologist, of New York; G. Brown 

 Good and Tarleton H. Bean and J. H. Richards, artist, of the 

 United States National Museum at Washington; James H. 

 Blake, artist, in the Museum of ComparativeZoology at Cam- 

 bridge; C. Hart Merriam of the Sheffield Scientific School 

 Mr. Simons, assistant in the Boston Society of Natural 

 History; L. A. Beardslee, commander, United States 

 steamer Bluelight; Passed Assistant Surgeon J. H. Kidder- 

 Acting Master S. G. Cook; H. E. Rockwell, Secretary of 

 Commission and Disbusiug Officer; C. L. Dana, J.Paul 



Wilson and Herbert Gill/ stenographers; J. w! Smillie 

 photographer; William Palmer, modeler. Amonp- the 



work. Capt. H. C. Chester, one of the heroes of the 

 Polaris, is also here, having general charge of the govern- 

 mmt yard. 



Transportation op Frozen Fish Eggs,— Here is a sug- 

 gestion for the transportation of fish eggs, which appears 

 in Land and Water. It is worth noting. Mr. Fred Mather, 

 now in the employ of the United States Fishery Commis- 

 sion, wrote an article on this subject for Forest and 

 Stream some time since. We quote: — 



"It has been proved by experiment that no amount of 

 cold will destroy the vitality of the eggs of insecets, pro- 

 vided the principle of life has not been previously awak- 

 ened; and I have a conviction that the same rule holds 

 with the eggs of fish. I have known salmon redds exposed 

 in Winter, by the falling away of the water, to the weather, 

 and frozen throughout, eggs and gravel forming one mass 

 of ice; the young fish would, nevertheless, hatch out at 

 the appointed time. I believe that whether the suspen- 

 sion of animation caused by the frost endured for one day, 

 or one month, or almost any period, the effect would be 

 the same, if thawed in a natural and uniform manner. The 

 frozen ova, however, must not be "broken up by a crow- 

 bar." I would propose that a portion of eggs, duly im- 

 pregnated, or, which is better, taken from the redd with- 

 the gravel in which it lay (the contents of a pint pot would 

 stock every river in New Zealand), should be placed in a 

 cavity between two blocks of ice, which would instantly 

 freeze into a solid mass. The simple problem would then 

 be to convey that lump unthawed to its place of destina- 

 tion — not a very difficult matter, I should suppose. That 

 done, let what remains of the block be as once submerged 

 in an appropriate position in a bed ot gravel, over which 

 a few inches of water run ; and 1 will wager the expense 

 that in due time the samlets would appear and stock the. 

 waters abundantly. 



-^♦♦» 



Clarke. Prof. Milner, Assistant Commissioner, whose 

 operations at South Hadley this Summer, in the hatching- 

 and distribution of shad, your readers are familiar with is 

 staying here for a few days, completing the details of his 



Fish Culture in Tennessee. — This State is becoming 

 much interested in fish culture. Prominent among those 

 who are aiding in this work, is Hon. Joseph S. Fowler, of 

 Nashville, who has written a letter to the Columbia Herald, 

 from which we make an extract. He says: — 



"Since the first settlement of the country, great changes 

 have taken place in our streams. The removal of timber 

 and the cultivation of the land, have affected the waters 

 and also the fish. Some of our finest food fishes, as the 

 black bass, spawn about the time our Spring freshets bring 

 down from the ploughed lands large quantities of earthy 

 matter which settles on the young spawn in quantities 

 greater than the parent fish can clear off, burying the 

 spawn entirely. Animals of kinds which flourish in a 

 state of niture, meet with many casualties in a state of 

 civilization. Our intelligence and care must provide 

 against such injurious consequenees as follow changes in- 

 troduced by us. 



The people will also sustain a prudent, efficient and 

 judicious, system for the propagation and protection of 

 fish. 



There are but few States in the Union that enjoy greater 

 advantages so far as fresh water is considered. The Ten- 

 nessee is fed from a vast extent of surface by numerous 

 streams furnishing a body of water that would cover many 

 hundreds of square miles of land abounding in nourish- 

 ment for our own fish. To care for this domain and have 

 it devoted to useful purposes is at once the duty of the 

 Stale. I trust then that the next Legislature will make 

 such provisions as the experience of the times and the 

 practice of other States warrant. The results of intelli- 

 gent care for fish have proved so satisfactory in many of 

 our States that there can be no doubt of its advantage." 



■♦♦<*• 



. Trotjtdale Fish Farm.— We lately had the pleasure of 

 visiting this fishery, one of the oldest and best conducted 

 in the country. It is situated in the beautiful valley of the 

 Musconetcong, near Bloomsbury, N. J., in the midst of a 

 fine farming country whose high rolling lands and pure 

 cold springs are a guarantee of the perfect healthfulness of 

 the location. The site was originally selected by Mr. Thad- 

 deus Norris, the well known author of "The American 

 Angler," but was afterwards sold to the late Dr. J. H. 

 Slack, who extended the grounds devoted to the ponds, 

 and beautified them. 



The hatching house is long enough to do the work of the 

 fish commissioners of New Jersey, as well as that of the 

 farm, and the past season has turned out many thousand 

 California salmon, from eggs presented by the United 

 States Commission, as well as the salmon trout for the 

 State, without at all interfering with the hatching of 225 - 

 000 brook trout. Since the death of its talented owner 

 nearly a year ago, it has been successfully managed by 

 Mrs. Slack. The ponds are well stocked, and the fish 

 appear healthy and well cared for. Attached to the 

 hatching house is a boiler where food is cooked, 

 principally the heads and lights of beef; they are then put 

 into a chopper run by water power and brought to the re- 

 quisite fineness. The cooking renders much food availa- 

 ble that would otherwise be wasted, but as to the compara- 

 tive amount of nutriment as contained in cooked and un- 

 cooked food, we are not prepared to give an opinion, never 

 having seen it thoroughly tested side by side. It seems to 

 be conceded that cooked food is best for cattle, but that is 

 vegetable matter, and reasoning from analogy is not always 

 sound. 



There are nine ponds in fine condition and beautifully 

 arranged, audit was with a feeling of regret that we learned 

 that the failing health of Mrs. Slack would compel her to 

 give up their care, if not to sell her elegant residence and 

 abandon the work of fish culture altogether.— Live Stock 

 Journal. 



[Why does'nt New Jersey purchase it for a State Hatch- 

 ing House? — Ed.] 



TROUT AS VEGETARIANS. 



— — — + _ 



X Rutland, Vt., August 19th, 1875. " 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



• Mr. Hale, of this town, to whom I sold, before going abroad, my trout 

 farm, has succeeded in solving a problem in trout culture which, it seems 

 to me ; is of the greatest importance. His trout are fed, and have been 

 for some months, upon bread made of Indian corn. He adds to the 

 meal a little sugar or molasses of the cheapest sort, and the trout eat the 

 bread thus prepared with as much avidity as they do chopped liver or 



