FOREST AND STREAM. 



313 



whereby the ground at the trees would be kept open in. 

 i' stead of surrounded by a closely pressed sod, is all that is 

 required. 



There are probably but few farms that have not either 

 a stream of some kind on them or in the immediate vicinity. 

 If the water is running it must come from a point higher 

 than a portion at least of the farm, if not all of it. The 

 amount of fall required to carry water is so trifling as to be 

 almost astonishing. Frequently in California, particularly 

 in approaching a valley which has been ditched for mining 

 or agricultural purposes, the observer is astonished at seeing 

 water apparently running up hill. The fact is that the fall 

 is so slight, perhaps only a few feet to the mile, that this 

 optical delusion is produced. A great fall is therefore un- 

 necessary. We have seen a farmer in California start with a 

 plow from the point where he wanted to tap his stream, 

 run a furrow around a hill, up the valley a little, along the 

 side of another hill to the field which be wished to irrigate, 

 all by the eve alone; returning along the same furrow, the 

 ditch was made and a little work with the hoe and the 

 zawja was ready for water. It would be a very simple mat- 

 ter for most farmers to have a ditch at the head or highest 

 portion of their fields. Where there are inequalities of the 

 land it could be "ditched up" or fiumed over. The water 

 need not necessarily be running in them, but boxes or 

 gales could be constructed ready to lift and admit it. The 

 head of water need not be large. A small spring will irri- 

 gate a considerable piece of land, as the water can be dam- 

 med in the ditch until it accumulates. At first there will 

 he considerable seapage, but if there is aiay clay at all in the 

 soil this will soon stop. When necessary to irrigate the 

 water can be turned from the ditch along, for instance, a 

 row of corn. That one irrigated, a few strokes of the hoe 

 closes the gap and the ditch is tapped at the next, and so 

 on until the whole field is irrigated; or if there is sufficient 

 water a dozen rows can be irrigated at once, A boy can 

 do the work. 



But even if it is not a season of drought there is no bet- 

 ter way in which fertilizers can be applied to corn or vege- 

 table crops than by means of the ditch, particularly if 

 barnyard manure is used. It has only to be put in the 

 ditch and the water carries it directly to the roots of the 

 crop. 



When we buy our farm it shall have a stream of water on 

 it and an irrigating ditch at the head of every field. 

 . -*•«» 



GAME PROTECTION. 



back from what they regard as their unalienable right to 

 fish their streams. But are they their (the fishermen's) 

 streams? No one doubts the right of a man to fish his ow n 

 stream, but has he a riejht to fish his neighbor's stream, 

 particularly against the latter's wishes? It must be a 

 pleasant sight for a man who, at a great expense, has 

 stocked his private trout stream, either for his pleasure or 

 profit, to see its banks lined with fishermen taking out the 

 unwary fingerlings with the seductive worm, and he un- 

 able to stop them. No, "Vermonters," gentlemen both, 

 read the game laws of other States and you will find that 

 you have no bigger grievance than the rest of us. 



.+**, 



PROFESSOR PERICORD'S SPASMS OF 

 WISDOM— SPASM NO. 4. 



■ Pennsylvania. — Our correspondent at Greenville, Pa., 

 Mends us the following: "The latest piscatorial "catch" 

 i is that of seven set nets on the banks of the Shenango — 

 1 there because the stream is frozen up. The fact has been 

 i' reported to the Fish Warden, who will take the proper ac- 

 tion in the premises. 



fo; The Vermont Game Laws.— Apropos of the game 

 laws recently passed in Vermont a correspondent writes:— 



"Although your correspondent, 'a Vermonter,' talks 

 'rather strong' in Forest and Stream of this week, I 

 cannot help sympathizing with him to some extent. Un- 



■ doubtedly every land owner in Vermont has a legal right 

 to recover damages, nominal, at least, ot every man who 

 enters on his land without permission from the owner. 

 But is it worth while for the people of Vermont to under- 

 take to enforce any such right against each other or against 

 visitors from other States when the persons against whom 

 the right is enforced are guilty of nothing worse than 

 w&nuering down a mountain brook and whipping a few 

 trout out of it? And was it worth while to enact a special 

 statute for the purpose of enhancing the amount of damages 

 to he recovered in any such case? 



"'Vermonter' is clearly right in saying that such a law 

 will be generally disregarded. The Vermonters are a stub- 

 born sort of Yankees— many of them very fond of trout 

 fishing— and they cannot be held back from the exercise of 

 what they regard as their inalienable right to fish their 

 streams by any such law, especially when they feel, as 

 'Vermonter' does, that the law has been imposed upon 

 them by a class that assume to look down upon the com- 

 mon people. For my own part I prefer to cbey the law. 

 I have spent a great many summers in Vermont, and have 

 caught a gi eat many trout there. I believe that none of 

 my good iriends there have complained that 1 was illib- 

 eral in the expenditure of the money which they have 

 richly earned in proviuing for the entertainment of myself 

 and family among them. I hope to spend more summers 

 in Vermont, and catch a good many more trout there. 

 But if I should find myself annoyed in my sport by the 

 law in question I shall, of couise, give up Vermont (with 

 most sincere regret) and go where I can wade down a 

 brook without making myself a criminal. 



'Honest anglers' obey the laws. Many honest anglers 

 frequent Vermont who will stay away from that beautiful 

 State if they cannot practice their innocent art without 

 violating the law. It seems to me, therefore, that the 

 legislation in question will practically do no good, while it 

 may do much harm. 



** 'Vermonter' hite the bullseye when he declares that the 

 tr ue policy of Vermont is to enact some suitable law, 

 and spend some li' tie money, for the purpose of stocking 

 Jwr 'splendid streams with fish,' and then let everybody, 

 nek and poor, high and low,' fish them at all reasonable 

 times and in a reasonable manner, 'Vermonter' will please 

 accept the compliments of 



"A Connecticut- Vermonter. 



■new Raven, Conn., Dec. Uth, l87i>." 



We expressed our views regarding the new game law in 



Vermont last week. Our correspondent scarcely states the 



ca se fairly. No trespass is committed nor can a land 



owner secure even nominal damages for trespass unless he 



*? boards posted in conspicuous places warning persons 



off - It rests entirely with the farmers themselves, whom 



we presume to be the principal land owners, whether the 



W shall be obnoxious or not. Our correspondent says 



&at Vermonters are a stubborn race au4 cannot be helcl 



Professor Pertcord on the Derivation op Words. 

 — "The significance of words," remarked the Professor, 

 as he mopped his forehead after an animated and 

 protracted debate, "is contained entirely within their 

 meaning. Elegance of language— eloquence of diction — 

 depend in an incomparable degree upon the choice of 

 words; but how much more does the meaning that is intend- 

 ed to be conveyed depend upon their careful selection . A 

 postulate is a postulate, and an axiom is an axiom, bat a 

 postulate is not necessarily an axiom, nor can an axiom be 

 always considered a postulate, no matter how positive may 

 be the assertion or declaration on the pait of the respond- 

 ent. This is a fact that cannot be controverted. Facts are 

 facts, and two and two make four. [The Professor was in 

 the habit of using the phrase "two and two make four" as 

 a clincher, whenever he arrived at a conclusion satisfactory 

 to himself, just as Euclid employed the cabalistic letters 

 "Q. E. D." at the end of a problem supposed to be con- 

 clusively solved.] In literature, continued the Professor, 

 the most graceful writers will be found to be industrious 

 students of synonyms. Words that are synonymous convey 

 meanings quite different according to the connection in 

 which they are used. That which maybe wholly appro- 

 priate here, may seem ridiculous there. Hate and dislike 

 are synonymous words. You may hate a man and dislike 

 jalap; but to hate jalap, which is often man's be3t friend, 

 would not only be absurd but unreasonable. 



In the selection of appropriate^words, nothing assists so 

 much as the study of their roots— the origins from which 

 those words are derived. It is for this reason, young gen- 

 tlemen, that I have always encouraged the study of the 

 Latin and Greek languages among you, although I have 

 never dared to hope that you would become classical schol- 

 ars. Ksiudent is one thing, aid a scholar is another. Here 

 is an example of my instruction — I should rather say an 

 illustration of what I am now attempting to inculcate. Of 

 course, as I intimated, I can only hope the attempt will 

 succeed. Some men's brains are set further back in the 

 cranium than others, and the cerebum is not always con- 

 spicuous in the os frontis. By "conspicuous" I do not 

 mean prominent — another instance of the case in point. 

 A thing conspicuous, is not always or necessarily promi- 

 nent—that : s, projecting, sticking out. Take now, for in- 

 stance, two synonymous words that are often substituted 

 the one for the other, but which, used in certain connec- 

 tions, produce effects diametrically opposite: I mean the 

 the words "incident" and "circumstance." The first is 

 derived from the Latin words in and cido— to cut in, while 

 the latter is derived from sto (or stare) and circum — to stand 

 around. Imagine for one moment the difference between 

 a mob of men merely standing around, and a mob cutting 

 in. In the one case they are passive and harmless; in the 

 other active and destructive. Take your own selves, for 

 example. Here you are, young men, standing around, 

 gaping at me as if I were a hippopotamus in a menagerie. 

 Just suppose, now, that you cut in to prayers as quick as 

 you can get. The lecture is finished— and the class dis- 

 missed !" As the students rushed pell-mell out of the door 

 the Professor in his enthusiasm at the success of his ef- 

 forts could not resist letting fly an old lexicon after them, 

 just as a housewife throws an old shoe after a departing 

 guest — for luck. — Reported exclusively for Forest and Stream. 

 -♦.*. 



A Golden Gift. — We are in receipt of a box of oranges 

 from the celebrated grove of Alfred P. Jones, Homosassa, 

 Florida. They are of exquisite flavor and far superior to 

 the fruit grown on the east coast of the peninsula. Mr. 

 Jones has many hundred trees in his orchards, which com- 

 prise a great variety of the Citrus family, among which 

 may be enumerated the sweet and sour lemon, the bitter 

 and sour oranges, the Bergamot and Mandarin orange, 

 the lime, shaddock, grape fiuit and citron. One of his 

 trees was planted thirty years ago by old "Alligator," head 

 chief of the Seminole Indians. Mr. Jones has also several 

 immense fig trees, whose trunks measure three feet in di- 

 ameter. The fruit of Homosassa is one of its principal 

 attractions to Northern visitors who go there to spend the 



winter. 



■#»» — — 



Mr. James Watson, the well-known aquatic and ath- 

 letic writer and authority, sailed for Liverpool last "week in 

 the steamer Nevada of the Williams & Guion line. Unless 

 Mr. Watson finds permanent work for his talents on that 

 side of the water he will return home in the spring. In 

 the mean time some of our sporting papers will probably 

 be in receipt of his interesting and valuable letters. 

 ■♦«♦- — \ 



—The "Acme" club skates, for which Messrs. Fish & 

 Simpson, No. 132 Nassau street, are the agents, is the 

 correct thing this season. It is a self-fastner, requiring no 

 key, and will be used by all the first families, 



OUR WASHINGTON LETTER. 



PROTECTION OP GAME — THE BILL NOW BEFORE THE SEN- 

 ATE—SPORTING MATTERS AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. 



Washington, D. C, December 11th. 

 In my last letter I referred to the necessity of stringent 

 game laws in Maryland and Virginia to protect the birds 

 against pot hunters, and prevent their destruction out of 

 season. As Washington affords a market for most of the 

 birds trapped and killed in those States by those who fol- 

 low that business, a wholesome game law for the District 

 of Columbia, forbidding the sale of birds, except in proper 

 season, will do much towards the protection of game in 

 this locality. Unfortunately the District is entirely de- 

 pendent upon Congress for all legislation looking to its 

 welfare, and as subjects of so much national importance 

 will engage the attention of our legislators during this 

 short session, it is not likely that our bill for the preserva- 

 tion of game, which was introduced in the Senate last ses- 

 sion by Mr. Edmunds, will become a law at present. This 

 bill contains some very sensible provisions, among them 

 one for the protection of dogs. In this District a dog is 

 not protected by the law, not being recognized as property, 

 and as a result may be stolen, killed, or injured, and the 

 owner has no redress at law. The bill, when introduced, 

 was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, 

 and it has been allowed to quietly rest in one of the pigeon 

 holes in that committee room since, though it would prob- 

 ably have been heard from this session had it not been that 

 the complicated questions of the Presidential muddle ren- 

 der it impossible to act upon measures of minor import- 

 ance. It forbids anv person from killing, exposirg for 

 sale, or having in possession, either dead or alive, any par- 

 tridge between January 15th and November 1st ; pheasant or 

 ruffed grouse between February 1st and September 1st; 

 woodcock between January 1st and August 1st; snipe or 

 plover between May 1st and September 1st, under a pen- 

 alty of $5 for each bird so killed or in possession. Wild 

 ducks, geese or brant are not to be killed, exposed for sale, 

 or had in possession between April 1st and October 1st, Un- 

 der a penalty of $5 for each fowl killed, and during the 

 period in which the killing is not prohibited they shall 

 only be shot on Tuesday, Thursday and S aturday of each 

 week. It fixes the close season for ortolan and reed bird 

 from February 1st to September 15th, and it is made un- 

 lawful to kill robins and smaller insectivorous biuls, or to 

 rob birds' nests. The penalty for trapping, netting or en- 

 snaring any bird or waterfowl is $5 for each bird or fowl 

 trapped, and $20 for having in possession the net, trap, or 

 snare. It further prohibits the use ot any gun in killing 

 waterfowl, except such as are habitually raised at arm's 

 length. A penalty of $25 shall be paid for every bird or 

 waterfowl shot at night. Any persou trespassing on the 

 lands of another for the purpose of shooting or hunting 

 thereon, after due notice to quit by the owner or occupaat 

 of the land, shall be liable to such owner or occupant in 

 exemplary damages to an amount not exceeding $100, and 

 also be liable to a fine of $10 for each and every trespass. 

 Shooting or hunting on Sunday is forbidden, under a pen- 

 alty of not more than $25 nor less than $10. The clause 

 designed for the protection of dogs provides that any per- 

 son stealing, or maliciously killing or injuring the dog of 

 another shall be subject to a penalty of not less than $20 

 nor more than $100. The bill also provides for the taxa- 

 tion of dogs and for the destruction of sheep killing dogs. 

 There are some few amendments to it which will be ac- 

 ceptable to the sportsmen of this locality, and it is to be 

 hoped that it will be passed by Congress at the next session 

 anyhow, if not at the present one. 



One great convenience to the sportsmen of this vicinity 

 would be the existence here of a first-class establishment 

 where a large assortment of guns, fishing tackle, etc., 

 could be found. There is but little doubt that such a house 

 would have a profitable trade. There are several very re- 

 spectable though small establishments where a limited sup- 

 ply of gunning implements and fishing tackle may be ob- 

 tained, and occasionally a breech-loader or two, oftentimes 

 of some unknown maker, may be found; but there is 

 nothing like an extensive establishment here where a sup- 

 ply of breech-loaders of the different manufacturers are- 

 kept on hand from which a sportsman may make his se- 

 lection,and His oftentimes the case that such selections are 

 made from assortments in our neighboring city of Baltimore 

 though more frequently from the extensive stocks in New 

 York. The Remingtons have an agency here, where guns 

 of their own make can be obtained; but a gun of any oth- 

 er maker must be ordered from abroad. In a few instances 

 I have noticed one or two fine breech-loaders of some well 

 known maker in one or two prominent jewelry establish- 

 ments, but I doubt very much that there is a store in Wash- 

 ington where half a dozen good breech loaders can be 

 found for sale; if so, the proprietor would do well to make 

 the fact known through the advertising columns ©f Forest 

 and Stream. 



A magnificent farm on the Virginia shore of the Poto- 

 mac river, about seventy-five miles below Washington, 

 which would make a perfect paradise for sportsmen, was 

 recently purchased by a Virginia gentleman for a very rea- 

 sonable sum. The property consists of 650 acres, improv* 

 ed by a large and comfortable dwelling, necessary out- 

 buildings, etc., and the price paid was but $7,000. The 

 farm is located directly upon the bluff above the river, and 

 throughout the adjoining country partridges, pheasants, 

 wild turkeys and rabbits are plentiful, while upon the 

 river immediately in front of the house, and upon a large 

 creek in tlie neighborhood, geese, swan, and all kinds of 



