228 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Hocks is only 14 miles from Port Kent. And then the 

 scenery. A large proportion of the travel is directly 

 through the woods, surrounded by primeval trees which 

 are a refreshment and delight to citizens who gaze on brick 

 and stone through all the year. On our way, we saw one 

 eagle and a hawk, partridges and squirrels, all within easy 

 shooting range, and ducks in the distance, but there was 

 no "son of a gun" among the passengers. In the clearings, 

 at Scott's and Keene's for example, the mountains loom up 

 ineffably sublime. Tahawus and his princely neighbors 

 are all clearly visible at the former station, and as the 

 mountains are round about Jerusalem or Home, so do they 

 cluster, of more numerously and majestically around 

 Keene. And then that ride for miles through the wild 

 gorge of Pitch Off and Long Pond Mountains, close by the 

 side all the way of a narrow lake, while waterfalls descend, 

 and caves open wide, far up the heights of rocky slants! I 

 must go there again. And farther on is Breakneck, Owl's 

 Head, Raven Hill, etc. A daily stage passed through all 

 this rich landscape during the last season, as it will again, 

 if sufficiently encouraged, — if tourists will only not prefer 

 distance, expense, and dull monotony, to a direct and fas- 

 cinating route. Amateur. 

 TJtica, Sept. 21st, 1876. 



— ,., , ■«»». . . 



rf 



A DAY ON 



For Forest and Straem. 

 THE RIFTS. 



ONE day to be marked with a red letter in the life of a 

 man who loves the sound of the musical reels, and 

 delights in seeiDg a great trout struggle to escape from the 

 toils. 



A bright June morning, light clouds scattered here and 

 there, and the soft breeze laden with the scent of balsam, 

 pine and spruce, I stood upon the bank of a beautiful 

 stream in the northwoods, preparing for a day upon the 

 rifts. What man is there who has ever shared with me 

 the angler's joy, who does not understand my feelings as I 

 looked at that shining stream, dimpling down over the 

 pebbles, swelling over boulders which blocked its channel, 

 and literally laughing as it ran? 



I am an old fisher. Since the day when I first "bobbed " 

 for eels in the mill-race of my native town, it has been my 

 one solace, when the cares of business or domestic life 

 palled upon me, to take shelter from my fellow man in 

 such a scene as this. I have a theory, a queer one, per- 

 haps, that a man who can take delight in such a scene as 

 this cannot be very bad at heart. Through such natural 

 pictures we look ** through nature up to nature's God," and 

 feel our hearts grow tender and our thoughts more inno- 

 cent than when we are in great cities, where the rich grind 

 the faces of the poor, and the poor nurse in their hearts a 

 hatred of men they regard as more fortunate than them- 

 selves. 



But this is not trout fishing. Imagine me in the coarsest 

 suit of slops which ever came out of Chatham street, 

 crowned with a shocking bad hat, ajd wearing a pair of 

 boots which the most shiftless tramp infesting our happy 

 land would have hurled from him in disgust. I uncoiled 

 my leader, giving over each inch of it with the care of the 

 practiced fisherman, for I knew that nothing so offends the 

 soul as to have your leader part when the best fish is struck. 

 Three flies are looped on with careful hand, two brown 

 hackles for "droppers," and the small salmon for a 

 "stretcher." These are the flies I love; find better, ye who 

 can. All is ready now, and I stepped down into the 

 stream, the first contact of the cold water sending a shiver 

 through my frame, and then comes a sense of delicious 

 coolness; and after that I am happy. Close at my heels 

 comes a man who is taking his first lesson in the art pisca- 

 torial, a student from Union, who has been seduced by my 

 wild arguments to join me in a month on the fishing 

 ground. He has watched my preparations, and under my 

 directions is ready for work himself. An apt student in 

 most things, he has much to learn here, and the first step 

 brings misfortune. 

 "Ha!" 



I do not think that is what he said, but the word is better 

 than the one he really used ; and there he sits upon the 

 bottom of the creek, the water sweeping along up to his 

 breast, and his face expressing the utmost abhorrence of 

 any such proceedings. 



"Get up, Harry," I said. "It is all in a lifetime, but 

 look out for the slippery stones." 



"Slippery!" he answered. "Noname forjU; the blamed 

 thing was greased.' 1 



At last we got to our places and my cast came flying 

 back, curved in a graceful loop, and then came sailing 

 over and lighted softly upon the bright water. As they 

 came sweeping down, nerved by the current, there was a 

 flash of golden bodies, and the elastic tip came down 

 almost to the water. 

 Hurrah ! # 



You, who have lived our life, think over your old joys 

 and sympathize with me. Two noble trout at once had 

 seized, the one the gaudy salmon, and the other the first 

 brown hackle. I struck, hard and sure, and they were 

 hooked. Now for sport. Harry paused, letting his line 

 trail useless on the water, and watched me while I fought 

 the battle out. It was a royal one, for they were game 

 fish, and wildly excited by pain and fear. Perhaps you 

 have noticed that a raw hand is generally lavish with ad- 

 vice to a man who plays a fish instead of landing him at 

 once, and if a short-hand writer cou!d have taken down 

 Harry's words as he watched me, it would have given us 

 both a merry time when we made our camp at noon. 



the fools, blockheads, and miserable blunderers upon 

 earth were Solomon's compared to me, simply because I 

 would not hurl five pounds of lively trout over my head 

 with a ten-ounce rod. 



Here they come, dashing out of the water by one im- 

 pulse, and hurling the spray into my face as they shook 

 themselves in the vain effort to break loose. I gave tnem 

 the point, and as they fell upon the slack the strain was 

 on them again, and there was no escape. At last, with a 

 whoop which made the forest ring, I scooped them in, and 

 my basket no longer lacked a tenant. As I again prepared 

 my cast I heard a wild shout, and|turning, saw that Harry, 

 by a dispensation which only green fishers can hope for, 

 had hooked one of the best fish in the stream. The first 

 fatal impulse, the impulse which *ii , takes so long to 

 conquer, prompted him to throw that fish over his head. 

 It is needless to say that he did not succeed, for there came 

 a sharp snap, and Harry's rod was high in the air, and but 

 six inches of his leader remained to tell the tale. 



"Fair and aisy fgoes ?far in a day, my boy," I said. 

 "When you hook a fish you have two things to think of; 

 keep the strain on him all the time, and give him line 

 when he fights hard. And never, under any circum- 

 stances, try to sling him out as you would a bullhead; it 

 won't work ," 



Once more we took to the stream, after Harry had bent 

 on another leader. We had glorious work, and before the 

 sun had reached meridian the baskets were growing heavy, 

 and Harry was doing yeoman's service, and no longer 

 snapped his flies like a coach whip. At last we neared a 

 place which I knew well, where an eddy had worked out 

 a deep pool, and as I made my first cast upon its dark sur- 

 face, I knew that the king of all the trout lurked there. 

 Once more, lengthening the cast, the flies struck just be- 

 side a lily leaf, and instantly the leader sank and the tip 

 went down as a four-pounder took in the salmon. I have 

 seen much joy, but in all my fisher life I can find no ex- 

 perience like to this up and down the stream, now in deep 

 water, now in the shallows, fighting like a hero fo^ his life, 

 went the noble fish. Again and again he leaped into the 

 air, but I met him with the* point, and his strength was 

 spent in vain. At last, seeming to despair, he charged 

 straight at me, and I gave him the but, while Harry, 

 howling like a Dervish, swore by all the heathen saints 

 that he would kill me if I lost that trout. I had little hope, 

 when I thrust out the but to such a fish as that, that the 

 tackle would hold. The tip came down until it crossed 

 my knuckles, but yet I held him, expecting every second 

 to hear the second joint give way. But the hard battle 

 which he had fought before he made his last gallant 

 charge had spent his strength, and the strain of the elastic 

 wood brought him up, gasping and nearly helpless, and I 

 took him in, a fitting finale to a day of noble sport. 



We landed, and in the the shadow of some grand old 

 trees I cooked our dinner, and when we could hold no 

 more we lighted our pipes, and lying on our backs be- 

 neath the bending boughs, we fought our battles over. 

 This was not the end, and some other day you may hear of 

 other deeds we did with rod, reel and rifle, in the grand 

 park of the Empire State. C. D. Clark. 



4Mi §^itm[$. 



PIKING IN THE PINES. 



Greenville, Mercer Co., Pa. 

 Ediior Forest and Stream: — 



You chaps who are in the habit of fishing in big streams 

 and broad lakes, and catch only little fish, may be sur- 

 prised to learn that we, aw T ay out litre in the woods, in 

 what the natives vernacularly call "cricks," are catching 

 almost daily now — and with liook and line, you must re- 

 member—pike weighing from six to twenty-six pounds, 

 and black bass from one to five pounds. But, such is 

 none the less the case. The creeks in question, however — 

 the Big and Little Shenango's, which form a junction at 

 this point — happen here to be divided into several slack- 

 waters, each several miles in length, and of a uniform 

 depth of from five to ten feet, which, you will perceive, 

 constitute excellent stamping ground for these sovereigns 

 of the fresh water fry. And the one thing which grieves 

 us followers of the gentle Izaak, is the fact that the supply 

 is giving out, though the new game law for the past two 

 years has had the effect of stopping the barbarism of net- 

 ting — not, however, until one persistent piscator was forced 

 to serve his twenty-five days in the county jail for catching 

 a twenty-five pound pike in a set net. [The gentleman 

 who prosecuted* in this case (Mr. N. C. Packard), has since 

 very properly been appointed Fish Warden for this local- 

 ity, so that we take new hope for a better enforcement of 

 the law.l 



I don't write this as an advertisement, to induce "tour- 

 ists" to visit our secluded waters on piscatorial pleasures 

 bent. Oh, no! we have none of these gamey fellows to 

 spare out of our limited store. I simply write to ascertain 

 how we ought to proceed to keep the supply up. "Stock 

 your waters, of course," you will say, because it has never 

 yet been stocked. The present inhabitants got into our 

 stream pretty much as Topsy came into existence— they 

 "just growed there." But, about the stock. The State, 

 we understand, appropriated last winter some $16,000 for 

 the protection and propagation of fish within her borders, 

 but that seems to be the end of it. Pike spawn don't seem 

 to be furnished from any quarter— at least not as bass 

 spawn are furnished. Why is this? Because they are 

 scarcer, or because there is not so great a demand for 

 them. For our part, we would rather fish a whole day and 

 catch one eight-pound pike, than fish an hour and catch 

 eight one-pound bass, notwithstanding the declaration 

 made in the National Convention of culturists, that pike 

 made a miserable table dish. There is something more in 

 fishing than the fish. Your true angler is always tempted 

 to put his game back in the water when once he has them 

 All I landed, just to have the pleasure of capturing them again. 



Only yesterday, we succeeded in landing a ten-pounder , 

 and — well, it was fun. 



Would you, Mr. Editor, give us a few words on the pike 

 question, and oblige, besides many others. 



Amateur Angler. 



We know af no person or uersons in any section of the 

 country who raise pike or pickerel spawn, for the reason 

 that these fish have been widely, if not generally regarded 

 as "vermin" to be exterminated, rather than desirable fish 

 to be propogated and multiplied. The pike proper, esox 

 lucius, is an excellent table fish, and often affords fine sport, 

 though his game qualities are exhibited only at the outset, 

 and are not maintained, to the finish. His weight and 

 strength add to his game qualities. Pike, like other fish, 

 vary very much in flavor and color, according to the waters 

 they inhabit. We have seen some pike in Pike County, 

 Pennsylvania (appropriately named), which when first 

 taken from the water were absolutely resplendent with 

 green and gold; the sheen almost dazzled. 



The bad name that has attached itself to the Esox family, 

 arises from the universal prevalence of the little pound 

 pickerel, (esox rekculatus,) and the ignorance which con- 

 founds him with the pike. Comparatively few people ever 

 saw a pike, and how few there are who have ever gazed 

 upon Esox nobilior, the (mascalonge,) which attains a weight 

 of 50 pounds, and, when caught, hauls a boat after him 

 like a Triton, for hours, and is at last dispatched only with 

 harpoon, rifle ball, or axe! It would be comparatively 

 easy to procure spawners of either the pike or pickerel for 

 stocking purposes, without attempting to collect ova or 

 cultivate them. 



Treatment of Goldfish. — Rice paper is the best food for 

 goldfish, with a crumb of raw meat now and then, minced 

 as small as meal seeds. A piece of the rice paper the size 

 of a fourpenny bit for every fish, cut small, once a day in 

 summer, and every other day in winter; fresh water every 

 second day in summer, and thrice a week in winter. In 

 frost, the water should be drawn from the cistern and 

 allowed to stand a while in a room where there is a fire in 

 it before placing the fish in it ; this takes the chill off the 

 water, which might kill the fish. If the fish becomes 

 mouldy, the mould may be taken taken off by a gentle 

 touch of a bit of sponge or soft muslin cloth. The globe 

 should never stand in the sun. For each quart of water 

 only one fish, as goldfish cannot thrive if crowded. Do 

 not change the source of water, whether from well or 

 hydrant. In summer renew it daily; in winter, only every 

 second or third day. Shallow glass dishes should not be 

 used. They should be deep, and kept in the shade, strong 

 light and a heated room being detrimental to the fish. The 

 bottom of the globe should be covered with smooth gravel 

 to absorb the excrements and keep the water clean. In 

 changing the water for cleaning the globe, take out the 

 fish with a fine net, but never with the hand. Do not feed 

 them with bread or cake, or any food containing tannin, 

 but give them wafers and eggs, flies, yolk of eggs, water- 

 cress, etc., but only once in three or four days, and then 

 sparingly. In the months of November, December, Jan- 

 uary and February, the fish should not be fed at all, as 

 this is their hibernating season, and food in this season is 

 unnatural. In March, April and May, they should be fed 

 little. 



So says the 'Western Rural. We assent, except as re- 

 gards the matter of changing the water. We believe that 

 the water should never be changed. Certain plants, such 

 as the Myriophylium and Yalisneria O eralophyllum Spiralis, 

 plants which can be purchased of any dealer in aquaria 

 goods, possess the faculty of throwing off the oxygen ne- 

 cessary for the support of animal life, while they them- 

 selves breathe carbon. With the requisite amount of 

 one or the other of these plants, so that the proper balance 

 may be kept up, gold fish may be kept in globeo for an 

 indefinite time. For an interesting and valuable article on 

 aquariums, see our issue of July 6th, Vol. 6. 



Anglo American Brook Trout.— The Yarmouth (Eng.) 

 Aquarium contains several fine specimens of American 

 brook trout which were reared by Mr. C. L. Buxton in his 

 private ponds near Aylsham, England. 



— W. H. Crowell, of Ludlow, McKean county, Pa., in- 

 forms us that he has already secured from his fish hatch- 

 ing operations 700,000 ova of brook trout, most of which 

 have been disposed of through orders secured by adver- 

 tisement in Forest and Stream. 



FISH FOR FARMERS. 



3k 



» * * 



Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I have frequently read in agricultural and other papers, 

 what I considered very crude answers to would-be fish cul- 

 turists, and now I have in Forest and Stream, of October 

 19th, with its apparent approval, an article taken from the 

 New England Farmer. There the question is asked, if fish 

 can be raised with profit in a pond 15 by 60 feet? 



Now, the man was ignorant of the business, as acknowl- 

 edged by his question, and the fish breeder, instead of 

 telling him with a sigh, "raise pickerel," should have 

 asked him what his flow of water was, and what his show 

 of making other ponds below or above it. Certainly the 

 pond was of convenient size, and for all that appears in the 

 article, he may have had sufficient supply of water to keep 

 a dozen of such ponds fresh and sweet. 



It should not be taken for granted, that every one who 

 asks questions about fish culture intends to support his 

 family from it, or build up a fortune off it, but many farm- 

 er's in the northern and middle States have water that they 

 would like to utilize by raising fish — it may be for their 

 own family, or a few to sell, as they do chickens and 

 turkeys, when they can spare them. I speak from the ex- 

 perience of twelve years as a fish breeder, and much longer 

 as a farmer, when I say that fish under favorable circum- 

 stances can be produced cheaper than any other meat 

 food. Whilst we thank many scientists, as well as many 

 liberal spirited gentlemen, for wnat they have done to in- 

 troduce and encourage fish culture, yet, when made a. 



