FOREST AND STREAM. 



311 



M mH 



QUOTATIONS FROM O. 0. GTJNTHER'S SONS, 



BEAR— "Northern, according to size and quality, prime \ 



Southern and Northern yearlings, prime 



BEAVER— Northern, per skin, parchment, according to 

 size and color 



Western, according to size and color, prime 



Southern, and ordinary, per skin, according to size, 



prime « • • ■ • 



BADGER— Prime 



PAT— Wild, Northern and Eastern States, cased, prime. . . 



Wild, Southern and. Western, prime 



House, ordinary, if large, prime 



House, black, furred, prime 



FISHER— Northern and Eastern, according to size and 

 color, prime 



Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Western, ditto, prime 



Southern, ditto, prime 



FOX- -Silver, ditto, prime 



Cross, Northern and Eastern, ditto, prime. 



Red, Northern and Eastern, ditto, prime 



Red, S. Penn., N. J., and N. Ohio, ditto prime 



Red, Southern axd Western, ditto, prime 



Grey, Noithern and Eastern, cased, ditto, prime . 



Grey | Southern and Western, ditto, prime 



Grey, Southern and Western, ditto, open, prime 



Kitt, ditto, prime 



LYNX-Ditto, prime 



MARTIN— States, ditto, prime 



MINK— New York and New England, ditto, prime 



Canada, Michigan, and Minnesota, ditto, prime, . 



S. New York, N. J., Penn., and Ohio, ditto, prime.. 



Md., Va., Ky., Ind., Wis., and Iowa, ditto, prime. .. 



Missouri, and all Southern, ditto, prime 



MUSKRAT-N. New York, and Eastern, Spring 



Western, including Penn. and Ohio, Spring 



Northern and Eastern, Pall and Winter 



Western., including Penn. and Ohio, Winter 



Southern, prime 



Southern, Winter and Fall. 



OTTER— Northern, Eastern, and Northwestern, according 

 to size and color, prime 



Penn., N. J., Ohio, and Western, prime 



Ky., Md., Na., Kansas, and vicinity, prime 



North Carolina, prime 



South Carolina and Georgia, prime 



OPOSSUM— Northern, ca?ed, prime 



Southern and open Northern, prime 



RACCOON -Mich., N. Ind., N. Ohio, Indian handled, 

 dark, according to size and color, prime 



ID.. Iowa, Wis., and Minn., prime 



New York and Eastern States andN. Penn., prime.. 



N. J., S. Penn., 111., Mo., Neh. and Kan., prime... 



Mrtryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Tenn., prime 



N. and S. Car., Ga., Ark., Florida and Ala., prime. 



RABBITS— Prime cased 



SKUN KS -Prime black, I. , cased 



Prime black, I., open 



Prime black. \ white streak, IP, cased 



Prime black, \ white streak, II. , open 



prime whole streaked III. and IV 



Prime scabs 



WOLF SKINS— Mountain, large 



Prairie, average age, prime t-kins 



JSP"" There will be no change in our fur quotations until 

 January. 



10 00a$15 00 

 5 00 a 10 00 



2 50 a 3 50 

 1 50 a 2 50 



50 a 

 20 a 

 50 a 

 40 a 

 05 a 



15 a 



7 00a 

 5 00 a 

 3 00 a 

 15 00 a 

 3 00 a 



1 50 a 

 1 25 a 

 75 a 

 7Ca 

 50 a 

 40 a 



30a 



1 CKJa 



1 50 a 

 3 00 a 



2 00 a 

 1 00 a 

 75 a 

 50 a 

 00 a 

 00 a 

 23 a 

 20 a 

 15 a 

 12 a 



1 00 

 50 

 60 

 50 

 08 



25 



12 00 

 8 00 

 5 00 



50 00 

 5 00 



1 65 

 1 50 

 1 00 



1 00 

 60 

 50 



50 



2 00 



2 00 

 4 00 



3 00 



1 50 

 1 25 

 75 

 00 

 00 

 25 

 23 

 20 

 15 



10 00 a 



12 00 



8 00 a 10 0) 



6 00 a 



8 00 



4 00 a 



6 00 



2 00 a 



4 00 



18 a 



30 



12 a 



15 



80 a 



1 00 



50 a 



65 



65 a 



75 



40 a 



50 



30 a 



40 



15 a 



25 



02 a 



103 



00 a 



1 30 



00 a 



1 00 



00 a 



80 



00a 



50 



15 a 



20 



00a 



03 



2 00 a 



3 00 



75 a 



1 25 



the middle of 



For Forest and Stream,. 

 REMINISCENCES QF AN OLD TRAPPER. 



t< 



AST SLA.NCt' and the "South SlaDg!" Since the 

 first Green Mountain boy set up here his house- 

 hold gods and began his "betterments" in the heart of the 

 great wilderness which covered all this fertile plain, these 

 tributaries of Little Otter have borne these euphonious 

 names. Rich fields were they, and for many a year were 

 the haunts of the otter, the mink, and the muskrat. The 

 otter lias long been a thing of the past in these waters, to 

 which he stood godfather even in the aboriginal days, for 

 "Wonakakatuk"— the river of otter— was it known to Abe- 

 naquis. "Riviere La Loutre" the French explorers chris- 

 tened it, and the English only translated the name again 

 to Otter Creek. The last otter seen in this region was shot 

 at by Piatt Gage, in the South Slang, thirty years ago, and 

 the last killed succumbed to the long smooth bore of old 

 George Charnplin, longer ago, in Lewis Creek, hard by. 



Such a fertile trapping ground was this that L., who 

 lived at the falls, when hard pressed by creditors to name 



trapper, and the father of fox hunting here, according to 

 the New England fashion. 



Mink have become scarce since their fine fur grew so 

 valuable, and will soon be numbered with the extinct un- 

 less they fall from gracing the forms of the fair sex, and to 

 such cheapness as they bore in the days of my boyhood, 

 when Bill Berch caught thirty-six one Fall, and was thought 

 to have been on the high road to fortune when he sold them 

 for seventy-five cents eacli. They were plenty as squirrels 

 then, and "their regular tracks = = ==== dotted their way 



through the snow from hollow log to hollow stump all 

 along the shore of this stream. Then C- W. and I trapped 

 with one trap — a double spring one — fit to hold a wolf, and 

 given to me by Sile Baily, having come into his possession 

 in some mysterious way, and we seldom failed to get a 

 miuk for each setting. I remember well how we found 

 where a uiink had dragged a large perch all the way down 

 from Lewis Creek to the Slang, a mile at least, and had 

 left some crumbs from his bounteous feast at the door of 

 his house, which was the hollow stump of a great water 

 maple, standing in the marsh, and these fragments we used 

 for the baiting of the trap, set with such pious care as be- 

 came young trappers, and how upon going next morning 

 to the place I fouud unmistakable signs that the mink had 

 been caught; but he was not there, only the trap, all in 

 pieces, but neatly piled up, and some small tell-tale boot 

 tracks leading away. These I followed, and ran the young 

 thief to cover in his father's house, a mile away, and re- 

 covered my stolen furry. 



The old stump and old trap are gone, and my old com- 

 rade is in the great West, engaged in greater and more lu- 

 crative business than trapping mink at seventy-five cents a 

 skin, but never happier, I'll warrant, nor as free from care, 

 as when he and 1 were vagabondizing on the shores of Little 

 Otter and the East Slang. 



The muskrats— "mushrats" we called them— were innu- 

 merable in those days, and towards the close of a bright 

 April day we would seat ourselves on an old log and see a 

 dozen of the sleek fellows at a time clearing the calm 

 waters on their silent way to a neighboring burrcw, or to 

 some bog or log, on to which they would crowd with a 

 clumsiuess so different from the ease and grace of their 

 movements in the water, that one might think the animals 

 underwent some magic metamorphosis on emerging from 

 their most congenial element. Then we would "sqeak" 

 them up to us, simulating the cry which they utter in the 

 season of their amours, which resembles the whining of 

 -g puppies. When our victim was within easy range 



we would blaze away with our charge of BB's . Then our 

 rat, if he was ours, riddled through and through, and done 

 to death, but struggling bravely to the last gasp, would 

 splash and spatter furiously for a moment, turn on his 

 back, and with a few final kicks give up the ghost; or per- 

 haps dive, and when he had been lost to sight until hope 

 had died within us, would pop suddenly to the surface 

 stone dead, with his jaws full of the bottom sedge and 

 rushes, to which he had fastened with a death grip. But 

 too often, alas, for the satisfaction of our thirst for his in- 

 nocent blood, he would disappear at the flash of our gun, 

 and as instantaneously would go his way under water, 

 and we would see no more of him till he was far out of 

 range. Then it was the gun that hung fire, or the shot was 

 too light, or anything but the flurried aim of the too cer- 

 tain shooter. And so we would continue blazing away till 

 the shades of night came down, and the sw 7 imming rat 

 could not be seen; only the bright wake, at which we would 

 shoot just where its brightness clove the darkness of the 

 shadowed water. And then, when sights were undistin- 

 guishable, we would gather up our dead and wind our way 

 homeward, splashing through puddles, stumbling over 

 logs, tired, happy, and hungry. Here, now, is a log — an 

 ancient log — Darkless, mossgrown at its landward end, 

 smooth and water-worn towards the stream in which its 

 smaller end lies, at right angles with the shore, and notched 

 all along at intervals for half its length, on the upper side, 

 by the axe of the trapper. Here, nearest us, is a water- 

 worn trap notch, made thirty years ago, perhaps, by the 

 axe of old Josh, who said "the rats were decreasin' faster 

 than they diminished." It was high water that Spring, 

 and the water was over this notch then, as the brown turf 

 is now over the man who cut it. There towards the farther 

 end, where you see a forked stick in the water, is a trap 

 set now, in a notch iikethis, about two inches underwater, 

 and into that forked stick is slipped the ring of the trap 

 chain. Just this side of the trap you see a little "sign," 

 showing that the favorite old log is still in favor with the 

 few surviving members of the house of Musquash, and no 

 doufet when our friend, the trapper comes to-morrow he 

 will be rewarded by pulling to the surface the humped up 

 and water soaked body of a "drownded" rat. If the trap 

 is not so set that the rat will drown, he will leave the trap- 

 per nothing but his toes as a memento of his brief cap- 

 tivity. But there comes the trapper now, making his daily 

 round, poling his "tottlish" craft through the tangle of 

 button bushes and the sprouts of the water maple. Now 

 his quick eye detects signs on that old log; he levels a 

 place for his trap, sticks his tally pole, has his trap set in 

 five minutes, and goes on his way towards that remnant of 

 muskrat house. There is a feed bed, and a trap set in 

 it, and, see, he has taken a rat there. Now he comes to- 

 wards us, and hauling up alongside our log he sees his trap 

 is not on it, as we supposed it was, so he takes out his trap 

 hook — much like a gaff, only with a longer handle — and 

 groping on the bottom soon gets foul of the trap chain, 

 and directly brings up a muskiat, stark dead and dripping, 

 with one forepaw in the trap and his scaly tail curved 

 downward, shaped like a cimeter. 



"What luck?" 



"Only seven to-day out of twenty traps I've been to; 

 thev haint no rats." 



These fellows are always grumbling that there are no 

 muskrats, while it is their own fault that the animals are 

 not plentiful, for they trap for them in the Fall, catching 

 many worthless "kits," and in Winter aud Spring they also 

 trap them, leaving the poor, persecuted brutes unmolested 

 only during the Summer, and they would not give them 

 even that respite if the skins would then bring five cents 

 each. 



The trapper will land to chat with us, and skin his rats 

 while the feast of reason is progressing. You see that he 

 begins at the head, ripping from the chin to between the 

 fore legs, and, skinning the head, he strips the skin off 

 whole to the tail. How readily he does it. He will have 

 the seven skinned in twenty minutes. Those rods of 

 "nancy bush" in his boat are bows for stretching these 

 skins. He will bend them into the shape of a snow shoe 

 and draw the skin on, flesh side out, and then fasten it at 

 the ends of the bow by cutting a cleft therein with his 

 knife, into which the skin draws and is held. This he 

 will not do till he gets home, as the stretched skins would 

 make an awkward' bundle. And now our trapper goes his 

 way, leaving the carcasses of the muskrats lying on the 

 ground; and a royal feast will they make for those hungry 

 crows cawing in the tree tops yonder. 



Make a note of the fact, in case you should ever wish to 

 catch a mink, that there is no better bait for him than a 

 bit of muskrat. It will attract him quicker than fish even. 



Awasoose. 

 «***. > 



How to tiiap Foxes.— The trapper selects a spring as 

 near as may be to the line of travel followed by the foxes. 

 This is dug out so that the water may occupy a pool at 

 least four feet in diameter. The brook or streamlet issu- 

 ing from the spring should be so arranged that the trapper, 

 approaching the latter, may do so by walking in the water, 

 for if a human foot track is ever found about the premises 

 no fox will come near it, save with the greatest suspicion. 

 The trap— the common steel one — is placed in the water of 

 the spring, just so deep that the pan of the trap is under 

 it not more than half an inch. The position of the trap, 

 in reference to the margin of the spring hole, is about that 

 of the distance of the length of the trap spring. The bait- 

 is placed in the water beyond the spring, in the direction 

 of the middle of the spring, about the same distance from 

 the trap that the trap is from the margin. The trapper 

 then cuts a little pole about six feet long, and, balancing 

 it upon his finger, to find the middle of it, drives into it 

 there a staple, and thus fastens the chair of the trap to the 

 pole. The best bait is a piece of a skunk with the hair 

 on. This is placed upon a stone so that the hair side shows. 

 The trap being in its place, the pan of it is to be covered 

 with a bit of moss so arranged that while it covers the pan 

 it does not touch the jaws. The jaws are to be covered 

 with leaves, and the chain also, if it cannot be hid in the 

 mud at the bottom of the pool. The whole spring should 

 have its bottom strewn with leaves. A few drops of the 

 musk of the skunk should be left on the ground, within a 

 foot of the pool, on some hard dry spot. In all the work 

 which these directions involve, the utmost care is necessary 

 that the human hand shall touch nothing except that whicn 

 is under water. The bait has to be handled with sticks. 

 The pole should be, if possible, sunk in the mud of the 

 outlet. Neither the hand nor the foot of the trapper should 

 touch the ground around the pool for twenty rods, if possi- 

 ble. The trap should be visited once in tw 7 o days. If the 



trap is gone the track of the game can be easily followed 

 in the snow. In any case the fox cannot go far before the 

 toggle catches and brings him up. He commonly goes 

 down hill.— Eutkmd (Vt.) Herald. 



No Notice Taken of Anonymous Communications* 



F. F. J , Springfield.— To obtain "Fur, Fin and Feather," forward 50 

 cents to Chas. Suydam, No. 149 Chambers street, thiscily. 



E. M., New York.— Mr. W. P. Pape has returned to England, but, we 

 understand, will be here again in the Spring. 



Batter, Port Hope.— The Bazar oflice. 32 Wellington street, London, 

 have just published a six penny work on ferrets, with instructions con- 

 cerning their breeding, management and working. It is well spoken of. 



Conn, Danbury, Conn.— Please inform me where I can get a safe and 

 good gun for $25, what make; breech loading? Ans, There is no good 

 safe breech loading gun made at that price. We have a good second- 

 hand gun for sale at $35. 



D. W., Chicago.— I would very much like to get your opinion as to 

 which gun would have the greater recoil, a large or small bore, every- 

 thing else being equal, as length of barrel, weight of gun, same style 

 and material, same charge each of powder and shot, etc., with reasons 

 therefor? Also, would it follow that if either bore has greater recoil that 

 it shoots the stronger, or the reverse? Ans. The larger' bore would, in 

 all probability, have the least recoil, and shoot equally as strong, if not 

 stronger. 



G. S. J.,Keene.— 1. Is a Remington gun, 10 bore, Si pounds, per- 

 fectly safe with 4 drachms of good powder as its charge? 2. I am about 

 to buy a rifle; want one that I can use at the tragel 500 yards; want the 

 ball as small as possible, yet to be death to a deer, if well directed. What 

 will be the right thing? Ans. 1. Yes. 2. We cannot recommend any 

 particular rifle. You have half a dozen to choose from among those ad- 

 vertised in our columns. 



F., Pike county.— Do the Sharps sporting rifles correspond with your 

 ideas of a short range iifle? If not, whose make does correspond in the 

 twist and penetration? What is the objection to the old-fashioned 

 Sharps rifle that used paper cartridges and caps? There must have been 

 some, or they would not have quit makihg them. What is the address 

 of the maker of the sporting rifle? Ans. Yes. The objection to the old 

 style was the use of the cap, whereas in the new rifle, fixed ammunition 

 is used. Messrs. Mervvin, Hubert & Co., are the makers of the Phenix 

 rifle. 



Blue Jay.— Is such an article manufactured for gun barrels as lami- 

 nated steel, and will you please state process of manufacture? Ans. 

 Laminated steel is used for all the best gun barrels; the process may be 

 briefly described as twisting narrow strips of metal spirally round, and 

 welding them together. 2. Can you tell me the season of the year the 

 worm flsh (called fall fish) spawn? Ans. Don't know. Has Blooming 

 Grove Perk lately suffered by forest fire? Ans. Up to last month it had 

 not. 



W. Livingstone, Rutland, Vt.— 1. Where would I be most likely to 

 sell a case of Vermont birds, containing over 100 kinds, mounted by my- 

 self? Ans. Advertise in Forest and Stream, or write to C. J. May- 

 nard, Newtonville, Mass. 2. Write m reference to employment to the 

 Secretary of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., 

 or to the Society of Natural History, Boston, also stating your wish to 

 coliect in the South. 3. Your liability to fevers in the South will depei d 

 on various localities and other circumstances, and cannot altogether be 

 decided beforehand. 4. Do you know of any rifle shooting a single B 

 shot that I could get cheap? Ans. We know of no rifle of so small a 

 calibre, unless it is the Hobert parlor rifle; price $10 to $15. 



Bismarck, Hackettstown.— I have a very fine Bismarck pup eight 

 months old. When about two months old I washed him with carbolic 

 soap to destroy fleas, and three days after he went blind in both eyes and 

 remained so for two weeks, when the right eye came to and the left eye 

 remained blind four weeks, and when the left eye came to, the right eye 

 went blind again, and enlarged twice the natural size, and remains so 

 yet. I would like to ask your opinion, whether it will make any material 

 difference in his hunting or not; and if there is any cure for him, and 

 if so, what? Ans. We have doubts if your dog can be cured; but the 

 loss of an eye will not materially affect his hunting. The famous San- 

 cho, belonging to Mr. Forman Taylor, has but one eye, yet it has been 

 offered to hunt him against any dog in the country. 



Ontario, Cleveland, Ohio.— 1. In your issue of Nov. 11th you have 

 an article headed "Pistol Shooting Extraordinary," which induces me to 

 ask your opinion of the enclosed target, made by myself with a Colt's 

 navy, 5 consecutive shots,- 100 feet. What do you think of it? 2 What 

 is the cost of the Wesson rifle, and where is it manufactured or sold? 

 Ans. 1. We have never seen better shooting than that represented by 

 the target you sent to iis. 2. The Wesson rifle is manufactured at Wor- 

 cester, Mass., and is sold by the gun dealers advertising in our columns. 

 Prices vary according ta size and finish; the rifle mostly used is sold for 

 $27. 



B. M. R , Danbury, Conn.— 1. Will you be kind enough to inform me 

 in regard to the points of an Irish setter? I bought one, which was rec- 

 commended to me as such, but have been told that he was not. Mine is 

 large and high standing; color, red, except the chest and toes, which 

 are white; he has soft silky hair and curly around his shoulders; nose 

 not very broad; large, fine formed head— a fine-looking dog in every par* 

 ticular. 2. Another question I would like to ask:. Did the Irish Rifle 

 Team, the first time tney came over here to shoot, bring with them an 

 Irish setter for breeding purposes? If so, who had the dog, or who did 

 they leave it with when they returned? Ans. 1. We cannot tell from 

 your description if he is an Irish setter or not. 2. We have no knowledge 

 of the Irish team having brought out any dog with them. 



T.H. M., New York.— A friend of mine, a few weeks ago, had 

 knocked down to him at an auction sale, a fine 12-bore, top snap, re- 

 bounding hammer gun marked "Wm. Moore & Co.. London," for the 

 sum of $72. On taking it to a practical gunsmith, however, to be looked 

 over with admiration, he was somewhat disconcerted to be assured that 

 the gun not only never came out of Moore's shop— if there is any such 

 place— but was never made in England at all, being evidently of Belgian 

 manufacture; that the gun wa*, however, a good piece, and worth the 

 money. Is there really such a firm as Wm. Moore & Co., and if so, how 

 do their guns stand, and do they have an agent in this city? Ans. There 

 is no such firm now in existence, but if your friend has a gun worth the 

 money paid for it, why should he be dissatisfied? We should not, how- 

 ever, consider, an auction sale as the place to pick up a really fine gun, 

 unless, indeed, it was a sale of the effects of some sp orteman gone to 

 the happy hunting grounds, or otherwise Jwrs du combat. 



Aleck, Hannibal, Mo. — I am troubled with bronchial and throat dis- 

 ease, and have been advised by my physician to go to Colorado next 

 Summer and "rough it." Please state if the enclosed list is a proper 

 outfit, etc.? Ans. Forty pounds, in addition to a rider of average 

 weight, is all that prairie travelers are willing to pack on a horse's back. 

 Blankets, extra clothing, etc., are strapped on the counter; the saddle 

 bags contain little conveniences; it is quite practicable to carry your 

 flour, etc., in bags, as yon susgeet, if you can only keep it dry. On the 

 plains good horses can be bought for $40 each, and an extra animal is 

 usually taken along for a pack horse. The best mount yon can have is 

 a mare, and a mule to follow. Matches are often carried in a bottle to 

 keep them from the damp, but a bottle may break. A vulcanite 

 rubber box will not break, sink, get wet, or burn. A gun and rifle are 

 necessary. For a trout rod, cut a sapling in the mountains, whenever 

 you require to use it. It would be quite unwise to travel alone, but there 



are generally parties that you can attach to. Holabird's clothing makes a 

 very desirable over-suit, and is becoming much ia vogue, 



