FOREST AND STREAM. 



345 



beyond the Rocky mountains, and surrounded by lofty 

 neaks of other mountains, which throw their rugged 

 shadows athwart its deep blue bosom, it lies like a giant 

 basin, elevated 4,200 feet above the sea level, having an 

 area of 2,000 square miles. The water of the "great salt 

 lake" is a nearly saturated solution, being in bulk, about 

 one- third salt. There are also the great salt springs at 

 Syracuse, in this State, which cover many acres, and pro- 

 duce annually more than 300,000 tons, thus largely exceed- 

 ing any other in the world. From estimates which are 

 made from time to time, the total amount of salt contained 

 in the waters of the earth has been computed at 05,000 

 million million tons, or 142,000 million million cubic feet, 

 an amount which our comprehension can scarcely grasp, 

 so enormous is it. Yet, were it not so, these same waters 

 would soon become vast fields of corruption, sending dis- 

 ease and death throughout the length and breadth of the 



laud. 



The processes for the manufacture of salt differ accord- 

 ing to the location and country. In some instances it is , 

 dug and mined like coal, while in others borings are made 

 into the earth, penetrating to certain depths until saline 

 streams are met with, which force themselves above the 

 surface. The water is then caught in large shallow iron 

 pans and evaporated to crystalization. Re-solution and 

 re-crystalization are generally performed until the salt is 

 freed from all impurities in the form of beautiful transpar- 

 ent crystals. In countries where fuel is scarce and high- 

 priced — as in Germany and France — the salt-impregnated 

 water is first subjected to a process called graduation. 

 This is done by placing the brine in large tanks, erected at 

 a suitable elevatioo, from which it is allowed to flow over 

 a series of large files, or stacks of faggots, arranged in suit- 

 able buildings protected from the rain, but freely exposed 

 to the winds. By this means a large surface is exposed to 

 evaporation, until the brine is brought to a high state of 

 concentration, when the process is continued in the usual 

 manner by heat. 



In cold oountries, such as Prussia, Sweden, or Siberia, 

 nature is made subservient to the wants of man. as water 

 in freezing separates from itself all impurities and sub- 

 stances held in solution. Then the salt, evaporating as a 

 strong briny solution, is collected and boiled down to salt. 

 In the salt manufactories of the Mediterranean the "Solar 

 system" is generally adopted; but this can only be done in 

 localities where the sun's rays are very powerful. Numbers 

 of ponds, or "brine pits," as they are termed, are dug along 

 the shore. These pits are divided by loug banks of earth 

 two feet in height and one or two in thickness, communi- 

 cating with each other by means of sluices, the bottoms of 

 which are composed of hard beaten clay. The sea water 

 is first conducted into a large pond, where it attains a cer- 

 tain degree of concentration by evaporation from the in- 

 fluence of the sun's rays, after which it is conducted suc- 

 cessively through the series of smaller ponds, in each of 

 which certain salts are deposited, until finally the water is 

 led into compartments, where it soon begins to deposit 

 pure salt. 



From experiments which have been made it has been as- 

 certained that man can take into his system and assimilate 

 about one ounce of salt per diem, although the amount va- 

 ries slightly in different countries, as for instance, an 

 American is supposed to consume about fifty pounds per 

 annum, a native of Britain twenty-two pounds, and a 

 Frenchman only fifteen pounds. In climes where salt is 

 scarce the natives subsist almost entirely upon meat, which 

 contains a greater percentage of salt than vegetable mat- 

 ter; and even then the Indians of our own country are in 

 the habit of placing a certain kind of stone which con- 

 tains slight saline properties in the pot with the boiling 

 meat. In olden times, in Holland, criminals of a certain 

 class were frequently condemned to be fed ©n bread with- 

 out salt, and their sufferings are said to have been intense, 

 as in a short time the entire human system was taken pos- 

 sessession of by worms, and was covered with the most 

 loathesome sores. Iu this way we are led to realize the 

 importance of salt for the well being of man, and are not 

 surprised that it should have been held as an emblem of 

 purity from time immemorial, or that an old Mosaic law 

 directed it to »e used in sacrifice. The Roman church to 

 this day holds it in high esteem, and places it in the water 

 used for blessing and other church purposes. It has also 

 been put to many interesting ^mechanical t uses, as in the 

 early days of Mormonism, when the followers of Joe 

 Smith are said to have used large transparent flakes of salt 

 as a substitute for glass window panes; while in Caramania 

 and Arabia rock salt is sometimes used for building houses 

 or huts. There are many other curious uses to which salt 

 has been put, all tending to show how little the majority 

 of mankind know about the commonest things which sur- 

 round them on every side, and upon many of which they 

 are actually dependent for a continuance of health and 

 strength, even down to an insignificant looking "grain of 

 salf" 



— The annual meeting of the Missouri State Sportsmen's 

 Association will be held at Jefferson City on January 11th 

 prox. 



«»•»■ 



__ — ^ a w 



-~The Florida Agriculturist says that the late cold weather 

 ^as so severe that a rattlesnake a four feet long was found 

 frozen to death near Chattahoochee. 



—Capt. Boy ton has successfully accomplished his great- 

 est voyage in his life-saving dress by swimming down the 

 River Po from Castel Duovo to Ferrara, 280 nailes, in 

 ninety-six hours, without a break. 



Congratulations.— "Dom Pedro," a Pottsville, Pa., 

 correspondent, who recently became a subscriber to Forest 

 and Stream, writes us a long letter which is most enthusi- 

 astic in its praise of our journal, and earnest in good 

 wishes for its continued life and prosperity. It is not the 

 only one of like character which we have received at the 

 beginning of this new year. It would occupy too much of 

 our space to print the half of them, but we cannot but 

 appreciate the high motives that actuate our friends. We 

 trust that they, too, may "live long and prosper," and that 

 they and theirs may continue in the good missionary work, 

 now progressing, of inculcating in men and women a 

 healthy interest in out-door recreation and the study of 

 natural objects. 



An Invitation. — We acknowledge, with thanks, an in- 

 vitation from the Cuvier Club, of Cincinnati, to be present 

 at this, their third annual New Year's- reception. But for 

 the intervening distance, we should surely have availed 

 of it. 



We desire also to acknowledge the receipt of an invita- 

 tion to the first game dinner of the Hawkeye Gun Club of 

 Clinton, Iowa, which was "given at the Revere House in 

 that place on the 30th ulto. From the very appetising 

 bill of fare which accompanied the invitation we judge it 

 to have been a true "hunters'feast," with all the accom- 

 painments of jollity and good fellowship. 

 — ♦♦♦■ • 



Maine. — Our Portland correspondent writes us under 

 date of December 23d, as follows: — 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Venison has been plenty in this market this month, but 

 the season for deer closes with, the year. It is hoped that 

 with tie constantly increasing public interest in the pro- 

 tection of game, that the slaughter of these innocents 

 annually committed during the deep snows of winter may 

 be prevented. There are many sportsmen in the eastern 

 part of the State who are alive to the importance of taking 

 active measures in enforcing the present laws, and an as- 

 sociation of sportsmen in Machias will do much towards 

 this end. Deer are abundant this season, and for lack of 

 employment many men are hunting who may be tempted 

 to disregaid laws that have not been heretofore observed. 

 But notices of the game law have been posted throughout 

 the State, and let the poachers beware. For several years 

 a business of netting ducks was carried on in Washington 

 county, with the result of some of the resorts of water- 

 fowl being entirely deserted. This year two old offenders 

 made extensive preparations for resuming their nefarious 

 pursuit, by preparing a feeding bed at a secluded sheet of 

 water in the town of Whiting, where they were obliged to 

 carry corn a mile or more through pathless woods on their 

 backs. This coming to the knowledge of the members of 

 the Machias Sportsmen's Club and other parties, steps were 

 taken to trap the trappers. But, owing perhaps to threats 

 made by some persons of driving them off, vi et armis, they 

 took the alarm, and were il ?ion oomatible in &icampo," 

 although the wires were already set to receive the nets, and 

 a large quantity of corn was left uncalled for at a farm- 

 house in the vicinity, the headquarters of the would-be- 

 poachers. 



The experiment of stocking some small lakes with black 

 bass, was made in the vicinity of Machias, this year, by 

 several gentlemen of that town, who purchased two sheets 

 of water, apparently well adapted to the purpose, and 

 which they intend to guard zealously, hoping thus to ob- 

 tain a few year's henee good sport, both fishing and duck- 

 shooting. May they well succeed, is the wish of 



Roamer. 

 ^«»» 



rarting Jftftes S'l am $btan&. 



* 



from our own correspondent. 



London, Dec. 18th. 



Now that racing, at least on the "flat," is over until the 

 early spring handicaps chase shall again inaugurate the sea- 

 son, it is in order to count up the winnings and see how 

 much the successful owners are to the good. Not that the 

 figures given represent all profit, for the expenses of a 

 first-class racing stable must be enormous. Winners of 

 large stakes are also apt to be prodigal to trainers, jockeys 

 and all who have contributed to the victory. Nor do the 

 amoants named include what has been won in bets, for in 

 this country the odds given frequently determine whether 

 a horse will start or not, and the bets are of far more 

 consequence than the stakes. Strange to say, a French 

 stable, that of Count de Lagrange, heads the list with 

 the handsome sum of £17,650. Next comes LordDupplhij 

 with whom rumor mentions as confederate a gentleman of 

 your city once prominent in Pacific Mail ; he wins £14,- 

 310. Lord Roseberry, a frequent visitor to your side of 

 the pond, is third, with £13,190. Mr. A. Baltazzi, who 

 carried off the Derby, is credited with but little more than 

 the value of that stake; yet the "Mineral Colt" is a 

 bonanza with which most owners would be satisfied. And 

 so the list goes down until a modest three figures is 

 reached. Perhaps some day we may see Mr. Sandford's 

 name higher up— all Americans hope so, and congratulate 

 themselves that so worthy a gentleman is representing 

 them on the British turf. 



This is the last day of the Birmingham annual dog f how. 

 Last year there was an immense amount of grumbling 

 among the press representatives and this time it was almost 

 as bad. The judging is done in private, not even the 

 reporters being admitted or furnished with catalogues; the 

 latter, indeed, being kept from the judges until their work 

 is done. Rather in contrast is this with your Bench shows 

 where owners are allowed to "buzz" the judges to their 

 hearts content and the awards are not made until every- 

 body has gone home. As you will get a full report from 

 the English papers, I will not go into detail. The show 

 was a success in every respect, there being even less than 



the usual amount of grumbling at the awards. The point- 

 ers were a very fine lot and it is astonishing the improve- 

 ment made in these dogs since the days of the rough old 

 Spanish breed. The champion was Mr. Whippell's Wog, 

 who only repeated his former successes. Although Wog 

 is of a color I am not partial to, liver and white, the award 

 was the right one. The second in the open grip class, Mr. 

 Bagnoll's Blair, would have been a prize for some Ameri- 

 can breeder, being ticketed at only six guineas. The 

 setters were a very fine lot, many of the celebrities of the 

 day being present. Mr. Llewellin's kennel was in strong 

 force, taking four prizes, with Phantom, Countess Bear, 

 Remus, and Puzzle. Old Paimerston, the champion red 

 Irish setter, as usual, headed his class. 



The "Roast Beef of Old England" is likely to be trans- 

 ferred into the "Roast Beef of Yankeeland;" American 

 beef is in such demand here that it sells for the same price 

 as English. In fact it is said that some of the fashionable 

 butchers of the West End keep no other as their aristo- 

 cratic customers will have it. Unquestionably some of the 

 well selected of your beef, which has been seen at Smith- 

 field, is quite equal to the English, but it is rather a drop 

 from his extreme conservatism for John Bull to come 

 down to imported beef. Suppose he was to swallow some 

 republicanism with it, what might not happen ? The high 

 tariff men would have to take it in hand. Beef reminds 

 me of the markets, and the markets begin to show that 

 Christmas is at hand. Soon there will be another exodus 

 from London for those country houses in the possession of 

 which England has no rival in the world. For an account 

 of one of the real old-fashioned, unpretending kind read 

 Dickens' description of the Wardles and Mr. Pick- 

 wick's visit there. A good book for the holidays by the 

 by, and one that will bear reading again and again. If 

 Mr. Dickens did lie in a most unmitigated manner about 

 our country merely to pander to a morbid taste on the part 

 of certain of his countrymen, such humor as is found in 

 "Pickwick" is inevitable and will be immortal. There are 

 many less interesting things than a walk through Leaden- 

 hall or Covent Garden markets at this season, albeit the 

 walking at these presents is something simply fearful. At 

 the former are displayed long rows of poultry and game in 

 most tempting array. As it may be interesting I will give 

 you the prices of some of the latter that you may compare 

 them with your own. Pheasants are worth in your money, 

 from $1.25 to $1.50 per brace, but this is an unusually low 

 price and is caused by the large supply. When you read, 

 as you will presently, of the large bags of game made on 

 this or that nobleman's or gentleman's estate, you must not 

 imagine that all the birds go to his lordship's larder or to 

 his friends. On the contrary, from His Grace the Duke to 

 the simple Squire, one and all ship the bulk of their birds 

 to *a London poulterer ; as I have known gentlemen at 

 home who sent the surplus roses from their greenhouses 

 sub rosa, so to speak, to New York florists. Partridges are 

 worth anywhere from thirty to fifty cents each and hares a 

 dollar ; the latter in strong contrast to wild rabbits which 

 are about twenty-five cents. With the exceptien of grouse 

 from the Northern moors, which sell for 75 cents to $1, 

 these are about all the game there is, (and rabbits and 

 hares are not called game), for the few woodcock and snipe 

 which find their way into market are scarcely worth men- 

 tioning. There are wild ducks to be sure, generally under- 

 stood to mean mallards, but not in such profusion as with 

 you, and the succulent canvas back is, of course, known 

 only by tradition, But Covent Garden, so celebrated for 

 its boquets, is where the eye may feast on good things. 

 Magnificent hot-house pineapples worth from $5 to $10 

 each, but sold here by the pound weight ; grapes, melons, 

 pomegranites and bananons from the Mediterranean, and 

 in fact nuts and fruits of almost every known description * 

 and America comes in again with her Newtown peppins, 

 considered here the choicest of apples, as well as Spitz- 

 bergens, Greenings, etc. There is no question, however, 

 but that nearly everything in this line is much dearer than 

 with you. How would you like to pay $6 a dozen for 

 cucumbers ? 



I mentioned just now that English sportsmen send their 

 game to market. If not, what did the Maharajah Duleep 

 Singh do with the 8,141 head recently killed at Elvedon in 

 three days ? The following is the paragraph, it may be 

 interesting :— "The following is the return of game killed 

 on the Elvedon Estate, Suffolk, the following guns shoot- 

 ing :— H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, H.H. the Maharajah 

 Duleep Singh, the Duke of Athole, Marquis of Ripon, Earl 

 de Grey, Lord Walsingham (two days), Lord Holmesdale, 

 Lord Powerscourt, Marquis of Bowmont. December 5~ 

 Pheasants, 2,352; partridges, 127; hares, 304; rabbits, 246; 

 woodcock, 1; ducks, 22; home beat, nine guns. December 

 6-Pheasants, 2,204 ; partridges, 75 ; Hares, 251 ; rabbits, 

 283 ; Albemarle beat, nine guns. December 7— Pheasants, 

 1,462; partridges, 10; hares, 230; rabbits, 254; woodcocks] 

 8 ; Warren Wood, eight guns. December 8— Pheasants, 

 50 ; partridges, 237; haies, 1; rabbits, 6; ducks, 18 ; Thet- 

 ford beat, eight guns. Total— 6,068 pheasants, 786 hares, 

 789 rabbits, 9 woodcocks, 40 ducks ; aggregate total, 8,14l! 

 The Maharajah certainly does things in style. The Duke 

 of Hamilton was not far behind for "during six days 7 

 shooting at Hamilton Place, the Duke and party bagged 

 5,000 head of game. On Lord Hill's Estate at Hawkstone, 

 Shropshire, his lordship and party, a few days since, shot 

 a few short of 1,800 pheasants in three days, and many 

 other bags almost equally large are reported. 



I bad many other items of interest that I proposed to 

 communicate to you, notably some remarks on the Ameri- 

 can College challenges to Oxford and Cambridge, but as I 

 have already exceeded my space they must remain over 



