FOREST AND STREAM. 



99 



of the chase. What trout we had we threw away, and, 

 although the river was alive with them- in places, we packed 

 our. rods, not caring to catch them and have to throw them 

 away again. For the next seven days the juicy steaks from 

 the fat buck was on our bill of fare three times daily, and 

 no one cried "enough." What we could not eat we smoked 

 over our camp fires and preserved, so that the folks at home 

 might have a taste. That night we camped at the Grand 

 Falls of the Allegash, and were lulled to sleep by the roar- 

 ing waters as they came thundering down past our camp. 



The next day we reached the St. John River, having been 

 eleven days on our journey from Moosehead Lake. The 

 settlements commence at the mouth of the Allegash, the 

 hanks being dotted with houses here and there, at first two 

 or three miles apart, but after reaching Fort Kent quite 

 numerous, and about every three mites a Catholic church 

 has been built, while along the shores, near avery house, 

 the wooden dug-out or "pirogue," a craft peculiar to the 

 Canadians, would be pulled up on the shore. We were 

 six days on the St. John in going from the -Allegash to 

 Woodstock. There is but one carry— thai around the 

 Grand Falls, where we loaded everything on a team ready 

 for jobs of this kind. Below the falls the water is very 

 quick, but no rapids. We run forty miles the day we car- 

 ried by the falls, which, considering that it took us two 

 hours to make the carry, was quick time. 



Sunday we spent at the Indian village of Tobique, and 

 Tuesday about noon reached Woodstock, where we took 

 the cars for St. John, while the guide came hack to Bangor 

 on the cars with the canoes, we not caring to continue our 

 journey down the river from Woodstock as we might have 

 done if we had had more time. The expense of the trip, 

 everything included, was about $4-Z each. The time it re- 

 quires varies from fourteen to twenty-four days; we went 

 through in twenty-one. I have never heard of ladies tak- 

 ing the trip, but see no reason why they should not find it 

 a delightful one; and Nalium Smith, of Greenville, has a 

 party from New York engaged for this trip which includes 

 two or three ladies. We wish them pieasant weather, and 

 hope they will be induced to relate their experiences of the 

 voyage, they being the first of the fair sex who have ven- 

 tured on the Allegash. . jDn. E. J. Thompson. 



-^♦*»~ 



For Forest and Stream. 

 NEWFOUNDLAND NOTES. 



WE are now approaching one of the most dangerous 

 parts of our coast. Cape Freels is not far off. 

 That chain of islands, the Wadhams, are in the distance. 

 It was off this coast that we met with our first ordinary 

 gale. Thank heaven it has never been our misfor'une to 

 he in an extraordinary gale, such as a hurricane, or ty- 

 phoon, or a cyclone. We have read of them, but are of 

 the opinion that a. real one would upset our common at- 

 tainments in meterology, in which science we want sailors 

 to take an interest. Not seldom on board ship the din- 

 ner is the prelude to a gale of wind on the ocean. The 

 sun may cross the foreyard well, but two P. M. (observa- 

 tion time) develops yon sky rolling onward in sable and 

 black and burnished gold. The wind dies away from the 

 southwest, the sun's essential brightness becomes dim, the 

 gloom increases, and the rumble of distant thunder is 

 heard; the wind Hies to the north. Brace up the yards 

 sharp, or haul in the sheets, and rumble, bang, clang, 

 clang! goes the thunder, and pierces through the gloom the 

 executive lightning. Ah! how humanity feels its weak- 

 ness, and the heart of the brave sailor is awed in the pres- 

 ence of the majesty of heaven! I pity the man who does 

 not feel awe—not fear, for that interferes with duty. Fi- 

 nally the vessel was laid to for that night and all the next 

 day, and we then laid in bed all day, with the excep- 

 tion of getting up at twelve o'clock to get some cheese and 

 porter and bread. A friendly southeaster took us into 

 Pond, or Green's Pond, on the next morning. It is a queer 

 place; we'd rather make it in our handy little craft than in 

 a brig or big brigantine. There is a succession of small, 

 low granitic and porphorytic islands. "Green's Pond Tickle 

 is a small harbor on the southeastern side of Green's Pond 

 Island," so says the sailing directions. Might I be permit- 

 ted to say that the harbor appears more like a ribbon of 

 water wending its way between the island on which the 

 small settlement of Green's Pond stands, and the opposite 

 island. There are several rocks to be avoided in entering 

 this Tickle. Rocks are ticklish things to deal with, and 

 often make poor people think of kingdom come. Our sea- 

 men and captain are wonderfully fortunate in keeping 

 clear of them. Providence is good; but then we don't 

 race ahead like other people. We are a slow people, at 

 least comparatively. 



It is quite au interesting sight to see the girls from the 

 islands coming in boats rowed by their beaux, or fathers, 

 or brothers, of a Sunday morning to church, and it was 

 grand to hear the noble, deep, solemn-toned voice and clear 

 enunciation of the clergyman in reading the opening pas- 

 sages of the scripture. A fine, new Episcopal church has 

 been built here. The road from Burkings to the Court 

 House at one time lay over a ravine, surmounted with old 

 and worn timbers. There is now a fine graveled road. 

 The water was, at one time here the coior of tea, but now 

 the people have a fine reservoir. The healthiness of our 

 climate, the fine sea air, and the azone contribute to make 

 many of our settlements healthier than they otherwise 

 would be. 



Here on this island is granite everywhere— f eld spathic, 

 hornblendic. etc., and away over the low hills is the turfy, 

 mossy ground. And there is a fine flock of curlew. We 

 once saw a legal friend of ours knock or shoot, down seven 

 from the wing, with an old rusty gun. We were Yery 

 glad the gun did not burst. We were also glad to partake 

 of the curlew after being placed in the hands of the cook. 

 This island is very small, about a mile square each way. 

 What an archipelago of islands! almost enough to make 

 one think of the lovely Paternos, particularly when the 

 sea is like glass. Green's Pond was, at one time, a most 

 successful place in the seal fishery. Green's Pond men are 

 nearly always first into St. Johns with a heavy trip. Fine 

 vessels were owned there and well to do planters abounded. 

 But alas! now the sailing vessel cannot cope with the 

 steamer. The future of this fine colony of Newfoundland 

 is a problem. We are in earnest about our railway, and I 

 am sure any article on railways in, your valuabte paper, 

 Mr. Editor, would command great attention. To one who 

 has seen the outposts in busy times and in dull times, such 

 as now, it seems as if his pen could never rest until some- 

 thing is done to increase our resources. Well, we have 



plenty of granite in Green's Pond— yes, and yonder land 

 looks copper-bearing, and that, lead-hearing. But up with 

 the anchor and away for Stag Harbor Run. C. 



Harbor Grace, 1875. 



nJttqe. 



Shad in Lake Ontario. — A Syracuse correspondent re- 

 minds us that some five weeks ago we stated that shad had 

 been raised in Lake Ontario, and asks us in what part? 

 We answer that Seth Green has been prosecuting the pro- 

 duction of shad near Rochester for several years, and with 

 so great success that half-grown fish have been seen swarm- 

 ing in the lakes in immense numbers. These have spread 

 to other parts of the lake. Last July, early in the month, 

 vast schools of these fish, about six inches in length, were 

 found dead and floating on the surface near Cobourg, Can- 

 ada. Much speculation arose as to the cause of the mor- 

 tality, but we have never heard a satisfactory explanation 

 given. Our own theory is that shad will not live in fresh 

 water after a certain period in their existence, and that they 

 must reach salt water or die. The solution of the question 

 will come when the first full-grown shad Js taken from the 

 lake. 



■ W*-*- 



FISH CULTURE 



PLANNING, LAY f NO 



OUT, AND 

 PONDS. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OP 



& 



BY ICHTHYOS. — NUMBER SEVEN. 



R. Still Green's arrangement of ponds prohably in- 

 volves less lahor in construction, and is less ex- 

 pensive lhan tho.9p described in my last. 



The cut introduced illustrates a 

 series of pyriform ponds, which 

 are just as efficient for fish breed- 

 ing as any in use. In a springy 

 locality where sufficient water can 

 he found for the hatching house, 

 it often occurs that a series of 

 springs exist, which may be let in- 

 to the artificial rivulet to increase 

 the volume of water in the second 

 and third ponds. The spring is 

 marked S, and supplies the hatch- 

 ing house, II, from which it passes 

 into pond No. I, which is twenty 

 feet long and two feet deep with a 

 race at the head for the fish to as- 

 cend into running water. The 

 second pond is a trifle longer than 

 the first, with a spawning race at 

 the head six inches deep, with a 

 slot, designated by dotted lines, 

 and the third is a trifle longer than 

 the second, with a spawning race 

 at the head fifty feet long; be- 

 tween each pond are screens, and 

 also below the third pond, for 

 catching floating substances, and 

 for separating nshes of different 

 ages, designated by x's. A dotted 

 line also represents slots for nets. 

 In the construction of ponds the 

 material point 'to be considered is, 

 the proportionate size of the banks 

 required to retain the water. This 

 mechanical feature should com- 

 mand more attention than perhaps 

 any other part of the labor invol- 

 ved in the perfection of the farm. 

 In the first place, moving earth by 

 mechanical means is very expen- 

 sive, aud'as in road engineering or 

 road making, every cubic yard un- 

 necessarily removed is money out 

 of pocket to the proprietor, while 

 if the banks are not substantially 

 built, the whole enterprise will 

 collapse and end in disaster. 



r rencii engineers 



suggest the following proportions, 

 which in every case has proved entirely satisfactory in con- 

 structing artificial banks, viz. : the widtn at base must he 

 three times that of the height, and the width at top equal 

 to the height. Thus, if. the height of embankment is ten 

 feet, the width at base must be thirty feet and width of top 

 ten. This holds good in the construction of all artificial 

 banks, and is none the less applicable, when the action of 

 water keeps up a constant erosion until protected by grass 

 and the roots of trees. These are the proportions of ordi- 

 nary earth banks, but if stiff clay is employed the thick- 

 ness may be diminished, and if soil of sandy loam, or 

 gravel are used, the width at base and top must be increased. 

 The ordinary water line should be within one foot of the 

 top of the bank, never nearer. 



The great enemy of the fish culturist is the muskrat; 

 not so much on account of the alleged offense of killing 

 trout as from burrowing propensities. If the fish farm is 

 located where these pests abound, it may be necessary to 

 build a wall of brick or stone, and fill in each side of the 

 wall with earth, meantime forming the proper slope. Sheet 

 piling of inch boards or plank is used by some, and driven 

 down the centre of the banks, but this means will not ar- 

 rest their passage, for they rather enjoy gnawing through 

 a wooden barrier. Raceways for the same reason should 

 be lined with brick or stone, either being effectual, and the 

 cheapest course is advised. Where brick is cheap and 

 stone plenty, it will perhaps pay to outline the ponds with 

 walls of these materials and fill in with earth as directed; 

 then burrowing is out of the question, by mink or musk- 

 rat. The mink is much more given to eating fish than the 

 muskrat, for it lives exclusively upon animal food. As 

 soon as the banks of the ponds have become solid and firm 

 by settling they should be thoroughly sodded, then planted 

 with weeping willows (Salix babylonica) as they soon form, 

 from their rapid growth, abundant shade for the trout, 

 and keep the banks from washing By binding them together 

 with myriads of roots, which penetrate the soil in all di- 



rections. The willow not only adds beauty to the farm 

 view, but is the first tree to show its leaves in Spring and 

 the last to shed them in Autumn. 



In the arrangement of the bottoms of ponds it mat- 

 ters but little of what materials they are composed. "Clay, 

 mud, or moss— anything," says Mr. Green, "except gravel, 

 for the fish will spawn upon it and the eggs will be lost 

 for artificial incubation." The pond where only trout are 

 kept one year may be bottomed with gravel, but the bot- 

 tom of the others in the series should not be gravelled. 



The ponds in all cases should be so contrived that they 

 may be completely drawn off at any time, where the slope 

 of the ground is such as will permit; otherwise much la- 

 bor and expense will be involved in pumping and bailing. 

 This may be obviated in arranging the sluice-ways, which 

 may be constructed in the form of a flume, and reaching 

 from below the bottom of the pond to the top, with care- 

 fully fitted sluice-gates, that may be raised at the top by a 

 lever, and the screens made so as to correspond with the ' 

 size of the gates, and carefully adjusted in slots, the upper 

 one to incline down stream at the top, while the fish 

 screen proper may be inserted perpendicularly in reference 

 to the flume. The screens may be made of common iron 

 wire, painted or tarred, or of galvanized iron wire. The 

 latter is the best as it will last longest, while the expense is 

 but a trifle greater. The screens for keeping the small fish 

 in this pond should be of wire, fourteen strands to the 

 inch; for fish one year old, eight to the inch; for two-year 

 olds, five to the inch, and for three-year olds, three or four 

 to the inch. In all cases incline the screens to the angle of 

 forty-five degrees, the top down stream. In most fish 

 ponds the screens are too small, consequently they become 

 clogged, stop the water, and thus the ponds overflow and 

 the trout eagerly pass down into the next pond and get 

 mixed. Screens should fit snugly, but so accurately that 

 they may be easily removed. Extra screens should be 

 made and kept on hand that in case of failure of one, it 

 may be readily replaced. 



^So far in the description of ponds, and advice regarding 

 their arrangement, the work applies to fish farming on a 

 large scale. In case, however, of amateur fish culture, or 

 the breeding of them by agriculturists, the arrangement of 

 ponds may be simple and inexpensive, indeed may consist 

 of one only, into which small fry may be placed, where in 

 the main they will shift for themselves, grow and thrive, 

 until they are sufficiently large for the table. It is true, 

 feeding will rapidly promote their growth, and in an eco- 

 nomical point of view the artificial food may be more than 

 balanced by their rapid growth. Farmers may construct 

 ponds where there are a number of springs, or they may 

 connect several together, and by scooping out a pond of 

 considerable size, and conducting the water into it, may 

 have a pond of no mean capacity, where trout in abund- 

 auce may be grown for family use. In such a case the 

 bottom may be laid with gravel, for trout thus confined 

 will spawn there in any event, and the gravel bottom be- 

 comes a fit receptacle for spawn and their subsequent 

 hatching. A pond of this kind should have shallow bor- 

 ders constructed, that the small fish may escape, after be- 

 ing hatched, from the large fish, or the pond may be so ar- 

 ranged that after the fish have spawned they may be re- 

 moved into another receptacle or pond, leaving the eggs to 

 hatch out and the little fish to grow. During the next 

 spawning season the small fish may be again reproved into 

 another pond and the parent fish let in again to' spawn. 



.*•+. 



Pisciculture. — Few of our readers are aware of the 

 extent to which Mr. George Jelliff, on the old Paul Taylor 

 place, near Poplar Plains, has carried his fish breeding en- 

 terprises. He has not more than an acre of ground cover- 

 ered by his ponds and sheds, and yet he has propagated 

 many millions of young brook trout and salmon. Last 

 vear he placed 50,000 young salmon trout in the Saugatuck 

 River, 15,000 in Mill River, Southport, 5,000 in Lake Wara- 

 maug, and 300,000 in the Upper Connecticut. He put 50,- 

 000 in Housatonic near New r Milford, just before Christ- 

 mas, 100,000 in the Farmington Rivei> near East Hartford, 

 and 50,000 again in the Saugatuck. This spring he has 

 placed 200,000 in the Farmington River, 500,000 in the 

 Housatonic, 50,000 in the Shetucket, 30,000 at a stream in 

 Guilford, 20,000 at Southport, and 10,000 in Saugatuck. 

 He has also placed several thousands of land-locked salmon 

 from Sebec Lake, Me., into a number of the larger ponds 

 about the State, all of which is accomplished under State 

 authority and directed by our State Fish Commissioners. 

 It will repay auy one to take a ride to Mr. Jelliff's trout 

 propagating ponds. — Normalk (Ot.) Gazette. 



Sandusky, O., Sept. Iitb, 1875. 

 Editor Forest And Stream: — 



The Fish Commissioners of this State will meet in this city on the 21st 

 in St., with a view of making exploration through the islands, for the pur- 

 pose of testing the practicability of establishing a State Hatchery for the 

 breeding of white fish. It is supposed that the waters of the mid lake is 

 better adapted, from its clearness, for the propagation of white fish than 

 the waters near shore, or even the waters of Detroit River. This idea 

 is advanced by H. JST. Clark, of Michigan, whose services are secured by 

 the Ohio Commissioners, and who will accompany them in their survey 

 of the islands in and around Put-iirBay. I understand they have se- 

 cured a small stream for that purpose, and will be accompanied by many 

 scientific gentlemen from different parts of the State, who have been in 

 vited to participate in the investigation. jj. 



A Shell Holder.— Take a dry pine board two inches 

 thick, eight inches wide and long enough to hold the re- 

 quired number of shells. Mark it in 1£ inch squares for 10- 

 gauge shells, or a little less for 12 gauge. Bore a hole of 

 the right size for the shell to tit snugly through the centre 

 of each square. Fit a thinner board on one side of this, 

 and hinge it there so it can be thrown back to put the 

 shells through. Bore half inch holes through this just op- 

 posite those in the thick board. Now, supposing the shells 

 are empty, with the old caps on, throw back the light board 

 or lid, put the shells through from that side, close it, lay it 

 lid side down on the table and each shell stands ready to 

 have the cap punched out. Turn it, open the- lid and re- 

 cap. Close the lid and turn again and they stand muzzles 

 up ready to be charged. Of course this contrivance is not 

 intended to be carried while in the field, but it is a great 

 convenience in loading, and is just the thing far carrying 

 them in a wagon. If desired a neat box can be made to 

 inclose the whole. O. H. Hampton. 



«m » r » 



One of the Saratoga hotels has nine gunners, supplied 

 with ammunition, constantly on the mountains kiling 

 birds for the table, which are paid for at the uniform rate 

 of 75 cents apiece. 



