forest and stream. 



them some beef or mutton soup with mush and milk, and 

 after they get to be four or five months old the scraps from 

 the table— meat, bones, bread, vegetables, gravy, etc., con- 

 stitutes excellent food for growing puppies, and, also, for 

 dogs after they are fully grown, provided they get enough 

 of it to keep them in propor condition. One of the most 

 important matters in rearing puppies in order that they 

 may be kept in proper form is that they should be fre- 

 quently fed, and be given about as much food as they will 

 cleanly eat. If puppies are only fed, say twice a day, 

 they become almost famished for food, and eat so rave- 

 nously that they become "pot-bellied" and out of shape, 

 and frequently out of health, consequently they should be 

 fed when first taken from the bitch (until they are two or 

 three months old), not less than five times a day, and by 

 all means late in the evening and early in the morning. 

 After they get to be over three months old three times a 

 day will answer. 



Grown dogs do not require feeding more than twice a 

 day, and we have found from long experience that dogs 

 properly fed once a day, in the evening, can be kept in 

 first rate condition for the field. 



In regard to raising pups wholly upon animal food we can 

 say that, having repeatedly tried the experiment, we have 

 found it by by no means the proper course to pursue. 

 Youngsters thus fed will, if not overtaken by disease, 

 grow to be an unreasonable and undesirable size, and then, 

 having become habituated to eat meat only, it is difficult 

 to induce them to eat sufficient vegetable food to keep 

 them in proper condition for work. All growing pups and 

 grown hunting dogs require more or less meat with their 

 food, but in the case of the former it is better that it 

 should be in the form of broth mixed with their mush. 



Red Iiush Settees. — In our kennel column of adver- 

 tisements wiil be found that of Mr. C. Z. Miley, of Lan- 

 caster, Pa., offering for stud purposes the services of the 

 recent addition to his kennel in the purchase from Horace 

 Smith, our Field Editor, the red setter Buck, one of two 

 braces of deep red Irish setters exported by J. C. Cooper, 

 of Cooper Hall, Limerick, Ireland, for exhibition at the 

 late Centennial Bench Show at Philadelphia, where they 

 not only were awarded medals, but were very highly com- 

 mended for breeding, size, form and color. After these 

 dogs were exhibited at the Centennial show they were 

 sent to the St. Louis Bench Show, where they were 

 awarded first and second prizes. Mr. Miley has secured, 

 through same source, the bitch Floss which took the 

 second prize, although she was out of form, being heavy 

 with pup at the time. Mr. Miley also purchased with 

 Buck and Floss three of her puppies by Buck. 



Buck, Joe, Rock and Floss, the two brace alluded, are, 

 in our opinion, and in the judgment of several of the best 

 -judges of such dogs we know of, quite equal, if not supe- 

 rior, in size and color to any yet imported to this country. 

 Ruck and Joe belong to the "Squire" and Mr. A. L. Phil- 

 lips. The latter is now shooting over them in Illinois, 

 where they are said to be doing wonderfully well; and Mr. 

 P. being a very skillful breaker will shoot several hundred 

 birds to them before the season ends. 



We find that Mr. Miley has fixed the rate of service of 

 Buck at the moderate rate of $25, and we have no doubt 

 that many of the best breeders in the country will see the 

 importance of breeding to such a splendid specimen of 

 the pure-bred imported deep red Irish setter. 



The Baltimore Bench Snow.— We have received the 

 programme and premium lists of the Maryland Poultry 

 and Fanciers Association for their Bench Show of Dogs to 

 be held on the 2d, 3rd, 4th, and 5th January, 1877, and the 

 same can be had at this office, or we will forward them 

 when requested. Mr. Lincoln writes us that the Balti- 

 more & Ohio Railroad will carry dogs free, and if the 

 Pennsylvania Railroad will show equal liberality it will 

 be a great inducement to owners at a distance to send their 

 dogs. 



Mr. Chas. Lincoln, Superintendent, writes under date of 

 2d inst., as follows:— 



I beg to announce to you, that the Committee have se- 

 lected for judges Mr. John Davidson, Monroe, Michigan, 

 on sporting dogs; Cape. J. M. Taylor, Beliefonte, Virginia, 

 on non-sporting dogs. The Committee held a meeting last 

 uight, when more special prizes were announced, which I 

 give you below. The interest and enthusiasm in Baltimore 

 over the dog show knows no bounds. I had intended to 

 have scot the specials all numbered, but just this moment 

 received notice that one gentleman has got a list of half a 

 dozen to hand in; however, we shall get them into shape 

 on Monday, and printed in circular form. The Committee 

 on Railroads, reoorts that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 

 will carry dogs free to and from the show from all stations 

 on their lines. Mr. Malcolm also reports through Charles 

 R. Clement, Esq., General Baggage Agent of the Pennsyl- 

 vania Central Railroad, that they will carry all dogs tree on 

 • their road east of Pittsburg. 



The following additional special prizes will be given in 

 addition to those already announced:— 



Grand prize of $100, cash, given by the hotels and pri- 

 vate subscription, for the best dogs or bitch in the show of 

 any breed. 



Dr J. D. Logan offers $25 for the best setter dog or 

 bitch" exhibited, either imported or native, to be determined 

 by its breeding, form and apparent qualities, denoting ex- 



Messrs. Courtney Brothers & Co., give a case of cham- 

 pagne for the best beagle dog or bitch. 



The United States Lounge Company give a camp lounge 

 (combined with pillow and fly net in valise form) for the 

 best Gordon setter puppy, clog or bitch, under twelve 

 months old. . _- __ .. 



$. O, de Luze, agent for Spratt's dog biscuits, New York, 



offers three cases of Spratt's dog biscuits, weight 112 

 pounds each, one to the best native Irish setter bitch; one 

 to the best native garden setter bitch. 



W. H. Holabird, sportsman's clothier, Valparaiso, Indi- 

 ana, offers a shooting coat, value $10, for the best Irish 

 setter dog, native or imported, entered by a resident of 

 Maryland. Messrs. May & Farral, grocers, etc., offers a 

 case of champagne, to be given to the best retrieving 

 spaniel (other than pure Irish), dog or bitch. 



W. A. Lilly, Esq., offers a handsome doghouse, to be 

 given to the best setter or pointer in the show, to be entered 

 and owned by a resident of Baltimore. 



Charles F. Bancroft, Esq., offers a handsome parlor 

 pistol for the best Italian greyhound, dog or bitch. In addi- 

 tion to this, H. Brodhead, Esq., has very generously given 

 a handsome silver collar, to be given to the same class. 



You will see by the above, we are progressing veiy favor- 

 ably, and now rely upon all dog fanciers and breeders to 

 enter and support the show. I beg to again remind your 

 readers of the date of closing the entries, namely : 20th 

 December. 



Mastiffs in'Colorado.— A correspondent writes us, that 

 two years ago Mr. W. H. Churchill brought from Tas- 

 mania a pair of thoroughbred mastiff pups. He took them 

 to his ranch in the South Park, Colorado. Recently the 

 slut "Juno" gave birth to a litter of (14) fourteen pups. 

 This pair of dogs have been the wonder of that part of the 

 country, as the dog "Old Tas" weighs upwards of 150 

 pounds, and "Juno" 100 pounds. They were presented to 

 Mr. Churchill by Mr. S. S. Travers, a wealthy gentleman 

 of Hobart Town. The father of "Old Tas" cost eighty 

 pounds sterling. True bred mastiffs are becoming rare 

 even in England, and finespecirnens always command high 

 prices. 



. -»-»^- ■ 



MINKS KILLING PUPPIES. 



A correspondent sends us from Port Richmond the fol- 

 lowing account of the singular killing of pnppies by some 

 animal, supposed to be a mink. 



" Mr. Louis Rath, who lives on Columbia street, West 

 Brighton, had in one of his kennels, nine foxhound pups 

 belonging to Mr. J. F. Ratbyeu and myself, six of them 

 being only six weeks' old, and only taken from the bitch 

 two- days before, but all of them healthy and in good com 

 dition. On the morning of the 23d November, whenMr. 

 Rath opened the kennel door to breakfast his little pack, 

 he was greatly astonished to find two of the pups dead 

 and all besmeared with blood. Upon a close examination 

 he found a small hole on the side of the neck, and close 

 to the head on each one, where they had betn bitten by 

 their destroyer. A Mr. Houseman, next door neighbour 

 to Mr. Rath.lo.st a number of chickens the same night; they 

 were bitten in the same manner and left lying on the floor 

 of the house. It is a common occurrence for minks to 

 kill chicken, rats, etc., but I never heard of any dogs being 

 killed by them. Of course, it is only supposition on our 

 part, but if it was not a mink, what was it ? Some of your 

 readers maybe ready to doubt this statement; to those I 

 would say, call on Mr. Rath and be satisfied. 



Yours, &c, C. Trantor." 



A DOG'S ANTIPATHY TO BURRS. 



Ottervijlle, 111 ., November 22. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



An incident of a singular nature has occurred to one of 

 my dogs, and I venture to write to ascertain if any other 

 sportsmen have noticed a similar occurence in their experi- 

 ence. I have a veiy fine setter now being used the second 

 season in the field. He is small, but finely made and of a 

 very nervous and sensitive disposition. He is white in 

 color, except his two ears, which are dark orange. While 

 hunting with him a few days ago, in crossing a patch of 

 corn in the creek bottom, the dog's fine coat became cover- 

 ed with burrs. He refused to hunt and acted as if he was 

 sick, and I returned home. The next day I crossed this 

 same field, the dog again became covered with burrs, grew 

 sick again, and actually had a spasm or prostration of the 

 nervous system. He recovered in a few moments, to be 

 utterly prostrate again in five minutes after. On his re- 

 covery the second time he commenced' pulling tbe burrs 

 ftom his coat with his teeth, nor did he desist until every 

 burr,was removed, and he seemed as well as ever. TVe 

 have hunted with him since, but away from the burrs, and 

 the dog seems all right. 



I have two young pointer dogs just breaking on quail, 

 one of them has a white mattery discharge from the eyes, 

 and is thin, notwithstanding a ravenous appetite. Do you 

 think he has worms? If so, what shall 1 give him?" 



Ans. Your dog undoubtedly has worms, areca nut will 

 cure him. 



«*.«-•• 



— Mr. S. J. Hughes claims the name of " Artful Dod- 

 ger " for his red pup by Squire Smith's Monarch, prize 

 winner at Springfield and out of his bitch May, bred by 

 Waddell, of Edua, Knox County, Mo. 



l mn mid jffi*#gmg. 



MUSKRAT TRAPPING. 



TURNING a deaf ear to the mild protests of the mother 

 of my nephew, I proceeded to initiate the youngster, 

 so far as I can, into the mysteries of muskrat trapping. 



This trapping them in the fall is all wrong, but I will 

 tell you how it is done, and then— don't you do it. 



Let us take a hatchet, and a few traps like those we set 

 for minks, only they need not be so stiff, and find a burrow 

 in the bank of the brook. Here is one, betrayed by the 

 oily water and the sub-aqueous path leading from the 

 shore to the deeper water of the channel. If the water is 

 not too deep, so that the rat can swim safely over the trap, 

 set it at the mouth of the burrow, the pan about an inch 

 and a half or two inches under water, and thrust your 

 tally-pole pretty firmly into the bottom, as far from shore 

 as your trap-chain will reach, where the water is deep 

 enough to drown the rat. If the burrow opens into deep 



water, and you cannot reach up into it far enough to give 

 you water shallow enough, you must carefully uncover the 

 burrow a little back from the shore by chopping out a sod 

 with your hatchet. Here you will find a dry path, in which 

 set your trap, cover it with withered grass or leaves, stick 

 your tally-pole firmly, letting the top of it come up at one 

 side of the opening you made, which you now carefully 

 cover with the sod. When your trap is set in this way 

 there is no chance for the muskrat to drown, and if you 

 are not ?t hand, soon after he is caught, you will find 

 nothing but his foot to reward you for your trouble. 



There, under that oveihanging bank, are some freshly 

 gnawed sedge-roots and a few empty mussel shells, both 

 the work of the muskrat. That is a "feed-bed," and you 

 may set your trap on it, covering lightly with some of the 

 sedge at hand, or, at the side, where the rat comes on to 

 the bed, so that your trap will be under water. Plant your 

 tally-pole in water at least a foot deep. The muskrat will 

 pretty surely get caught the next time he comes there to 

 feed. 



The burrows and "feed-beds" are about the only plaees 

 you will find in which to set your traps along the brook; 

 so, now, we will go to the marshes of the larger stream, 

 where this miniature beaver builds his winter lodge, and 

 finds food, plentier and of greater variety than this narrow 

 brook affords. 



The sluggish stream moves with a scarcely perceptible 

 flow between broad marshes, a rank growth of succulent 

 rooted water-plants, arrowhead, pickerel weed, white and 

 yellow water lilies, marsh marigold, sedges, and rushes of 

 many kinds, furnishing a supply of food so endless that, 

 with half a chance for their lives, the muskrats would fairly 

 swarm in these marshes. As it is, in spite of the war 

 waged upon them three-fourths of the year, there are 

 enough left for a young trapper to learn on. 



For trapping here, we must have a boat, a sharp, narrow 

 one, of high draught, in which we stow our traps, each 

 with its chain-ring slipped on to its tally stick. You see 

 what all the tally-sticks are: slender sapplings with a fork 

 at the top, and a hook a foot or two from the butt. A trap- 

 hook, our hatchet, or am axe, and a couple of paddles, 

 complete the furniture of our craft, and seating ourselves 

 in her, off we go down the winding channel. 



This hay-cock-looking structure of sedges, sticks and 

 mud, eet in a nook of the marsh, is an unfinished muskrat 

 "house.'* Here is material so lately put on that it is not 

 yet dry, and here, or at the least finished part, we might 

 set a trap if this "feed-bed" at one side did not show a 

 surer place. Whichever we choose, we will set our trap 

 under water, cover it slightly, perhaps, and stick our tally 

 in deep water if we can. If we could look inside this house, 

 we should see a sunny little chamber, the passage to and 

 from which is a hole in its floor, leading to the water. If 

 the marsh were frozen, so that the muskrats could only 

 get above the ice in their homes and the corresponding 

 burrows in the bank, we should have to set our trap in this 

 chamber and cover it with a little of the loose material in 

 it, fastening our tally-pole inside, with the upper end 

 sticking up through the top. Of course, to set the trap 

 thus, we must first carefully remove a portion of the wall, 

 which, when all is ready, we as carefully replace. Indians 

 and Kanucks often spear the muskrats in the houses ia 

 winter, using a one-tined, strongly barbed spear. They ap- 

 proach the house noiselessly, and drive this spear with a 

 strong, sudden thrust, through the wall into the chamber, 

 sometimes transfixing two or three of the occupants at 

 once. 



Continuing our voyage along the stream, we shortly espy 

 a "feed-bed" in the edge of the marsh— a small, raft-like 

 collection of weeds— on which are scattered the crumbs of 

 a recent feast. We set a trap here, and at every house and 

 feed-bed we find, and such are all the available places there 

 are at this season. To enable us to find our traps readily 

 when we come around to them again, we tie a white rag to 

 the top of each tally-pole, or slip a strip of white birch 

 bark in a cleft at the end; or, if we wish a blinder mark, 

 tie a knot in the rushes near by. Many of the muskrats 

 caught row are "kits" — young ones so small as to be almost 

 worthless— hence, as I said in the beginning, trapping them 

 at this season is all wrong. 



As I told you, winter trapping is done in the houses. 

 Spring trapping differs considerably from the methods I 

 have described. We shall use the same* boat, traps and 

 tally-poles, but a good axe will then be one of the most im- 

 portant parts of our outfit, as you will see, and we shall use 

 a setting-pole more than a paddle to propel our skiff, for 

 these broad marshes— our trapping ground— then, will he 

 covered with water. The lower end of the setting-pole is 

 armed with a crescent-shaped piece of iron, like a very 

 widely spread two-lined pitchfork, to prevent its sinking 

 too deeply into the soft bottom. We will also nave a gun 

 on board, for toward nightfall we may get a few shots at 

 the desired furries. 



Coasting along the shore, we shall find on certain logs 

 and pieces of drift-wood, "sign" or the excrement of the 

 muskrat. Wherever we find much of it, and that, or most 

 of it, fresh, we may be sure is a good place to set a trap; 

 so with our axe we chop a notch in the log, broad enough 

 for the trap and deep enough, so that, when set, it will be 

 the right depth under water; that is, one to two inches. 

 If tbe notch shows the fresh wood conspicuously, cover it 

 with a handful of dead weeds dragged up from the bottom 

 with the trap-hook, and set the trap thereon, the tally-pole 

 stuck in the bottom a foot or two away. Sometimes it is 

 handy to fasten the trap by a strip of leather passed through 

 the ring, nailing the ends to the log with a shingle nah. 



