FOREST AND STREAM. 



/ / 



we had only eleven miles more to do and had all the after- 

 noon before us. At the top of the real "clove" or ravine, 

 is that which is generally called Stony Clove by the Cats- 

 kill tourists, few of whom ever go up or down to or from 

 the mountains by the ravine up which we had just walked. 

 For about three miles the way, which is here as level as 

 any ordinary country road, passes between ranges of cliffs 

 gome 800 feet in height rising on either hand almost per- 

 pendicularly, and bare from base to summit, with the ex- 

 ception of a few stunted pines and hemlocks, which have 

 managed to find room to take root among the crevices in 

 the rocks. These cliffs are at no point more than a hun- 

 dred yards apart at the base, and in some places there is 

 only room enough for the road and the brook between 

 them. We sauntered along through this pass, stopping 

 every now and then and i eating ourselves at the roadside 

 for a smoke, and talked of the last time we passed over 

 this road some years ago, when a party of six of us boys 

 coming up the clove had been stormbound at Lane's for 

 three hours, but being determined to reach Roggins's that 

 night had started on just at nightfall, when the rain had 

 stopped. By the time we entered this narrow pass it was 

 as dark as midnight, for there was no moon, and the road 

 was ankle deep in mud and water. Ingram and I could 

 well afford to laugh now at our plight that night; but it 

 was no joke then, for at every other step some one would 

 step upon a loose stone, and slip or stumble into a mud- 

 hole, and by the time we reached Roggins's or Gray's, as it 

 was then, we were as used up, wet and dirty a party as 

 ever asked admission at a respectable hotel at midnight. 

 But now all was different. The road was dry and smooth, 

 the air and light all we could wish for, and we arrived at 

 Roggins's at 5 o'clock without the least feeling of fatigue, 

 and only sorry that so delightful a day must have an end. 

 Having"Vefreshed ourselves with a bath, and by putting on 

 white shirts and having our shoes blackened — it's wonder- 

 ful what an exhilarating effect that la«t-mentioned opera- 

 tion has after a day's walk — we ate a tremendous supper, 

 and lighting our pipes sat upon the piazza and enjoyed the 

 glorious moonlight which flooded the valley before us, up 

 which the evening mists were rolling like a silver sea, cov- 

 ering the Hunter Mountains with deep purple and biack 

 shadows. 



We had only one day to spend in the mountains before 

 starting for home, so we were up betimes in ihe morning, 

 and as soon as breakfast was finished were off to revisit a 

 few of the romantic spots we had learned long years ago to 

 love. First we clambered down to the foot of Haine's 

 Falls, and lying on the great moss-covered rock at the bot- 

 tom of the lowest fall, watched the water as it came plung- 

 ing toward us from its starting point, 480 teet above. 

 Down its first leap the water comes for 120 feet in an al- 

 most unbroken sheet, sending out a cloud of spray at the 

 bottom, but over the three lower falls it rushes, a mass of 

 curling, seething foam, and then continues the descent by 

 a smve^ion of rapids until joined by the Kauterskill it 

 forms the Catskill Creek, flows over Fawn's leap, and goes 

 ou down the clove more and more soberly to the lowlands, 

 through which it finds its way to the Hudson with the 

 staid deliberation of mature age. The Kauterskill Falls, 

 the lakes and the Mountain House were also visited that 

 morning, but they are so well known they need no descrip- 

 tion trom my pen. At the Mountain House we met an ac- 

 quaintance, a noted pianist of New York, who was stop- 

 ping at Roggins's, but had driven over here to make a call, 

 an cf with him we drove home. In the afternoon we three 

 played ten pins and in the evening smoked, talked and 

 loated to our heart's content; and when Ingram and I re 

 tired the first unpleasant thoughts that had occurred to us 

 during the week entered our heads, for we knew our va- 

 cation was virtually over and ouly one day lay between 

 us and the city with its work and worry. Next morning 

 we bade adieu to Roggins's Mountain Home and walked 

 down the Great Clove and on to Catskill Village, fifteen 

 miles, much more wearily then we had walked up Stony 

 Clove two days before, for the delightful experiences of 

 the week made us homesick in the sense in which the 

 Dutchman used the words when he meant he was sick of 

 home. 



If these hastily written letters suggest to any of the 

 thousands of hard-working mortals in our great cities a 

 way 10 occupy their short summer holidays without much 

 expense, I shall be glad I have written them; for I believe 

 that in just such tramps as this can be found more of 

 health and pleasure than in any other way of spending a 

 few days, where the dollars as well as the days have to be 

 counted. Athos. 



in\\ <$mUu\$. 



POLLUTION OF NEW YORK WATERS. 



* Much has been said of late of the filthy state of New 

 York Bay and adjacent waters, yet the facts following will 

 plainly show that the food fishes shun Gravesend Bay, and 

 the eastern shore of New York Bay to *he Narrows, because 

 the immense amount of poisonous matter carried from the 

 sewers to the fishing grounds, and the great amount of gar 

 bage dumped off Coney Island shore makes the waters 

 uninhabitable for the more delicate fishes. During the 

 past few months there has been an unusual amount of offal 

 strewn along our beach from Bath Park to Unionville, and 

 the stench arising from it has driven many bathers from 

 the beach hotels, and prevented excursion parties from en- 

 tering the water. The pound nets soon become a decayed 

 mass of vegetation when south and westerly winds prevail, 

 and it is necessary to change them semi-monthly, and tar 

 them often to prevent decay. If the gaibage was carried 

 outside of Coney Island point and dumped in a tide streak, 

 it would be carried away to sea as there is a very strong 

 current running from the "Potato-patch" seaward. Food 

 fishes have rapidly decreased in our bays for the past four 

 years, and during the present season the fishermen of 

 Gravesend Bay and vicinity have taken in their nets, as the 

 catch of fish will not pay for lifting and cleaning nets. 

 Seven years ago I used to take large bluefish with the squid 

 off Coney Island point, and occasionally in the hay; but 

 now the most of the fish are caught along the outside beach 

 from Long branch to Fire Island, and the still bailers take 

 nearly all their fish outside, or east of the lightship. Early 

 in the seasou, before the water becomes warm, the shad 

 push up the bay as usual, and large numbers are taken in 



April and May with fykes and drift nets, but the catch of 

 summer fish has dwindled to almost nothing. The species 

 taken for market are: weakfish, bluefish, shad, Spanish 

 mackerel, striped bass, butterfish, ! or shiners, flukes, por- 

 gies, summer herring, and greenbacks. Gravesend Bay 

 has always been one of the best fishing ground? on the 

 Long Island coast, but it has now degenerated to one of 

 the poorest, and fishermen who have lived on our shores 

 fifty years, say they can attribute the decrease in fish to 

 the poisonous state of the water caused by the drainage 

 and cleanings of New York and Brooklyn. J. H. Batty. 



OYSTER CULTURE AT NEW HAVEN. 



From New Hawn Journal and Courier. 



The planting of Virginia oysters in our waters has been 

 done for very many years, and what was formerly "useless 

 ground" under water, is now a "fruitful field." There are 

 different kinds of grounds, which have to be treated differ- 

 ently. Some is stony, some sandy, and some is mud land, 

 either soft or hard, and some is covered with "eel grass." 

 That covered with eel grass" is not of much account. The 

 sandy bottom and hard bottom require less laboi than the 

 others. We are told that it used to be considered imprac- 

 ticable to raise oysters upon mud bottom, but here are 

 some of the facts iu that connection, and we will speak of 

 the land upon which the young oysteis are raised where it 

 is mud bottom, and too soft even to bear up an oyster. 

 The bottom is prepared for the cultivation of the "crop," 

 and the first operation is to put on, say a hundred and fifty 

 cubic yards of gravel or sand to each acre of ground, 

 which torms a crust on the top of the mud surficient to 

 support the oyster during the growth to maturity. 



After the sand or gravel is well settled and the crust 

 formed, the whole surface is covered with dry oyster shells 

 — that is, those without slime — just before the spawning 

 season of the oyster (which is during the month of July), 

 so that when the spawn is thrown off it floats, and hatches 

 upon these shells which have been placed there, and the 

 oyster at once begins to form. At this time (and subse- 

 quently until the oyster assumes some size) if the shells are 

 disturbed the small oysters are destroyed, and not only all the 

 labor lost, but the shells have to be all caught up with 

 tongs, and removed to the shore to dry before they are fit 

 for further use, as alter the shells have been in the water a 

 while they become coated with a kind of slime, and when 

 so coated no spawn will adhere. In ordpr to protect these 

 small oysters trom being disturbed by innocent parties who 

 go to take clams, mussels, &c, the grounds are "staked 

 out," and also to protect the oysters on that and other parts 

 of the grounds from "oyster thieves," watchmen are em- 

 ployed, whose duty it is to patrol day and night the entire 

 grounds, and if any one gets inside of those stakes he is 

 ordeied off. 



After the second year the oysters have grown so that 

 they become very thick and "matted together," and have 

 to be removed. They are now in "ounches," which 

 "bunches" are caught up and scattered on other grounds 

 which have been prepared for them, where they have a 

 chance to "spread themselves," ana get ready for the mar- 

 ket, which is after the third or fourth year. As the oys- 

 ters grow (there being many frequently ou one old shell), 

 the old shell is "crumbled to pieces," and the oysters left 

 are what are called "single oysters." The cultivators of 

 the o>sters in the harbor were very much annoyed in other 

 years by the mud which tiie "mud machines" or "diggers," 

 tor "deepening the channel," caused, as the light mud 

 which floated uii the young oysters destroyed thousands of 

 bushels, and thousands of dollars were lost from that cause 

 alone. The dead oysters had to be canght and the ground 

 "restocked," but that has been remedied in a measure by a 

 law passed by the Legislature, which compels the dumping 

 of the mud outside the harbor. This business of oyster 

 culture is now increasing very rapidly, and all the ground 

 suitable for the prosecution of it is rapidly being made use 

 of and prepared in this way. Tens of thousands of bush 

 els of snells have been scattered over these grounds this 

 season, which, if the "young oysters set," and the shells 

 are not disturbed, will in three or four years furnish for 

 the market delicious native oysters in greatly increased 

 abundance. 



Like any other business, this of oyster culture has its 



disappointments, and from circumstances beyond control. 



8ome years the spawn does not adhere so readily as at other 



times to the shells, and so few young oysters are "set," 



and then it is the "barren year." Then unless a vigilant 



watch is kept, persons go at night and catch them up. 



Then there is the "borer," "star-fish," and other "animals 



of the deep" who destroy them. The borer drills a hole 



in the shell and sucks the lite of the oyster. The t tar-fish 



incloses its numerous legs about the oyster, and also sucks 



hs life, so th t in this way immense numbers of bushels 



are destroyed. 



«*♦+. , 



— W. H. Crowell, the enterprising fish culturist at Lud- 

 low, McKean county, Pa., informs us that he will have two 

 million trout eggs to market this season. 



Jfw md Miier 



FISH IN SEASON IN SEPTEMBER. 



FRESH WATER. 



Trout, Salmo fontinulis. 

 Salmon, tiatmo salar. 

 Salmon Trout, Sulmo confinis. 

 Laud-locked Salmon, kSulino Oloveri. 

 Gra.v ling, ThymaUus tricolor. 

 Black Bass, Micropterw salmoide*; 



M. nigricans. 

 Mascalonge, Esox nobilior. 

 Pike or Pickerel, Esoxluciw. 

 Yellow Perch, lerca Jiavescens. 



SALT WATER. 



Sea Bass, Scicenopn ocellatus. 

 Sheepbhead, Archosargus probato- 



cephacus. 

 Stuped Bass, Roccus lineatus. 

 White Perch, Motonemnericana. 

 Weakfit-h Cynoscion regalis. 

 Bluensh, PcmatonrtH- mitutrix. 

 Spanish Mackerel, Cybium macula- 



turn. 

 Cero, Cybium regale. 

 Bonito, Surda pelamys. 

 Kinghdh, Meuticirrus nebuloms. 



For list of seasonable trout flies for September see our Issue of July 27th. 



Fish in Market. —Fish of all kinds continue rather scarce, 

 but prices from last week are diminished. Quo- 

 tations give striped bass as selling at 18 to 25 cents per 

 pound; bluefish, 10 cents; salmon, frozen, 50 cents; mack 

 erel, 20 cents each; weakfhh, 12-J cents per pound; white 

 perch, 15 cents; Spanish mackerel, 30 cents; green turtle, 

 15 ceats; terrapin, $12 per dozen; halibut, 15 cents per 



pound; haddock, 8 cents; king-fish, 25 cents: codfish, 10 

 cents; blackfish, 15 cents; flounders 10 cents; porgies, 10 

 cents; sea bass, 18 cents; eels, 18 cents; Jousters, 8 to 10 

 cents; sheepshead, 30 cents; brook trout, $1; Long Island 

 pompano, 40 cents; soft clams, 40 to 60 cents per hundred; 

 soft crabs, $1 to $1.25 per dozen. 



— Sea fishing is slack all along shore, but will brighten 

 soon. A dozen or so striped bass, weighing 15 pounds 

 each were caught a 4 ; Cuttyhunk last week, but there and at 

 Noman's Land they are scarce. 



— Bishop Williams, of the Episcopal Church of Connec- 

 ticut, is stopping at Lake George, and he is said to be the 

 most accomplished fisherman on the lake. 



Hitchcock's Improved Minnow Pail.— Several gen- 

 tlemen who have examined the apparatus for transporting 

 live minnows, which has been seni to us by Messrs. Hitch- 

 cock & Co., of Oconomowoc, Wis., speak of it as a highly 

 useful and convenient apparatus. The fisherman who uses 

 it can carry his bait aud his bread in the same receptacle. 

 He can carry ice cream and ice water as well as cold 

 chicken, and there is a lunch tray also at his service. 

 There is a tin cup included, which is as useful for drinking 

 purposes as it is for changing the water in the pail for the 

 refreshment of the minnows. The water is aerated by 

 means of a rubber tube and bulb. The ice is not put into 

 the water, but in a separate compartment. In a word, the 

 combination is very ingenious and convenient, adapted to 

 the comfort both of the fish and the fisher. Augiers are 

 invited to call and examine for themselves. 



— Our friend C. F. Breeze, Esq , of Patterson, N. J., 

 has been camping out on Bishop's Ruck, Lake Hopatcong, 

 Morris county, for a week or so, with a party of three 

 friends, who have played the very mischief with the pick- 

 erel in that well stocked sheet of water. In a single clay 

 they captured 125 fish, including what Mr. Breeze desig- 

 nates as the "boss pickerel" (pike) of the lake, which 

 weighed 14 lbs. 7^ ozs. Well, this is certainly extraordi- 

 nary luck — and ''it's an ill-wind that blows nobody good,'* 

 whatever the pike think of Mr. Breeze. They may have 

 opinions of their own which we are supposed to kuow 

 nothing about. The fish in Lake Hopatcoiig generally run. 

 from 2^ to 6 pounds. Mr. Breeze informs us that these 

 fish (including the big one, which we forgot to say he 

 caught himself) were taken by still fishing with minnows. 

 They had no success in trolling. The best spot to fish is 

 in Byram's Cove, and the best camping ground is at Bish- 

 op's Rock. Another excellent water for pickerel is Echo 

 Lake, in Passaic county, six miles from CharJoiiesbuig hy 

 Wick ham's stage. Take the Midland Railroad to Char- 

 lottesburg. Good hotel kept by Mr. W ickham. 



— A correspondent, "P. N.," noi icing our reference to 

 Dan. Parker's having taken two blackfish on one hook, at 

 Baruegat, says: — 



"My friend Mr. Amos Burhans, did the same thing, tak- 

 ing two frost fish (instead of blackfish) in the same manner 

 in the fall of 1873." 



V/Maine.— Sherman Mills, August 19th, 1876. — Here 

 anglers can catch just as many trout and togue as 

 ihey want, weighing from half to thirty pounds. 1 spent 

 two months around these lakes last fall, and could get just 

 as many as 1 wanted. There are plenty of luffed grouse 

 and ducks. There are some moose. Caribou are very 

 plenty, and so are bears. A good guide can be obtained 

 for a fair price. By referring to me ai any time, any in- 

 formation will be freely given. Edward A. CusHman. 



X Massac rtjsktts— Boston, August 2\Sih.— The smelt fishing 

 under proper protection, promises to be good at Cohasset 

 this season. 1>. T. C. 



Cohassett, August ith. — The emelt fishing promises to be 

 good at CohasseU tins season. The bay has Dei u well sup- 

 plied with large schools of young fish of various kinds. 

 Piotection tells, wiih tree ruus aud good fish ways. 



Fishing Movements —The number of fishing arrrivals 

 reported at this port the pa^t week, has been 84, 11 from. 

 the Banks, 4b* from Georges, and 27 trom, mack, re.ing trips. 

 The receipts for the week have been about l,0u0,000 pounds 

 Bank cod, 550,000 pounds Georges cod, 145,000 pounds 

 halibut, and 3.900 oarrels mackerel Schooner Herbert M. 

 Rogers, Capt Richard Warren, of this port, brought 105 

 barrels of large mackerel, which were caught in one hattl 

 off Block Island. They sold readily for $2.3 a barrel, the 

 gross receipts of the trip amounting to $4,125. bchooner 

 Fleetwing, Capt. Amos RiCkliife, of this port, has landed 

 1,700 bairels of mackerel since the 17th of April. This 

 is the highest number we have yet reported. — (Jape Ann 

 Advertiser, Aug. 2bth. 



i^New York. — Lake George, August 20th. — I am located 

 near Bolton, with wife and children in tents, and have been 

 having a glorious lime. The islands of the take are dotted 

 with camping parties, and the fishing is first rate. 1 caught 

 a black bass to-day not twenty rods from the door ol me 

 tent weighing 5 pounds 7 ounces, which is a »out as large 

 as they ever become here, although theie is now aud then 

 one taken weighing 6 pounds, but they are the exreption; 

 the general average is lrom half a pound to two pounds. 

 8ome visitors complain that the fishing here is played out, 

 but you will generally find such parties anchoreu on the 

 rocks hauling in sun fish, with worms lor bail. There have 

 been seveial pickerel caught at Bolton this summer, weighing 

 from 16 to 21 pounds. Ij'or bait they use minnows, grass- 

 hoppers, crickets, frogs, and !he spoon, but I have hau the 

 best success with grasshoppers and minnows. Lake trout 

 are becoming plentiful, and some very fine ones were taken 

 this season. And taking it altogether, with its daily mail,, 

 and facilities for procuring ice, milk, vegetables, audoLher 

 necessaries, Lake George is the campers paradise. 



Fritz. 

 New York — Greenwood Lake, Orange Co , August 2Mh. 

 —The easy access hy the new Moniclatr and Greenwood 

 Lake Railroad, has suddenly made this a moss popular 

 place of resort, the hotels being ovei crowded. The fish- 

 ing is hard to beat, and black bass weighiug three pounds 

 are caught every uay. 1 can assure good sport to ad who 

 come. The iake is only 4.2 miles from the city by rail . 



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