FOREST AND STREAM. 



355 



If is perhaps superfluous to say that the inevitable sew- 

 ing machine and agonizing aecordeon are not wanting, 



nd these, with a "base-burner," and a looking-glass, which, 

 ■esting upon a gilt capital from the cabin of some wrecked 

 ship hangs at a threatening aagle over one of the tables, 

 complete the interior. 



The north door is fastened up securely with nails, and 

 tightly caulked with oakum, rags and paper. But the 

 south door is not, so let us open it and step out upon the 



porch. 



From the cob webbed rafters wildfowl hang in bunches 

 or in pairs, and beneath the benches which run along the 

 house lie wooden decoy-ducks of more or less antiquity of 

 pattern and various stages of mutilation and neglect. In 

 the corner stands a rusty eel-spear which has evidently 

 seen much service, and a neighboring hook shares its 

 scanty accommodation between a dilapidated gill-net and a 

 rubber coat. On the fence hang sundry articles of clothing, 

 towels, pails and mops, and here and there a pair of wet 

 boots are stuck to dry upon the pailings. Fifty yards or 

 «o from the house stands the rickety barn half hidden in 

 the low, scrubby brush surrounding it, and, hard by, a 

 fcouple of haystacks lend their mingled sustenance and 

 shelter to the few lean kiue which seek them. But O, for 

 the pen of a Walt Whitman to describe the chaos which 

 rehms in the space between the house and barn! There 

 Aftftnose, I am awaie, to whom Whitman's candy is less 

 distasteful than Whitman's poetry, just as the young lady 

 thought who said that she didn't think much of Wagner's 

 music, but his drawing-room cars were "lovely." 



On every hand the sandy ground is littered with the ac- 

 cumulations of many shipwrecks, miscellaneous trash and 

 lumber, and antediluvian implements of husbandry which 

 have outlived their usefulness. Ah, what a field for 

 Whitman's genius! How vigorously would he handle the 

 prolific subject, and what poetic glamour would he not throw 

 over it! With my mind's eye I can read the unwritten 

 hues of burniug verse wherein he'd clothe in immortality 

 these naked things. 



Something like this, perhaps. Listen :— 



The earth speak* ! 



To me, appreciative, the inanimate objects lift up their silent voices. 



Once the solid forest claimed them, 



Also the bowels of the earth. 



Later tliev emerged from factory, forge and carpenter's shop. 



They announce themselves. 



Eaca announces itself. 



Mast, spar, rudder, spade, axe, 



Shovel, hatchway, yards, plank, crowbar, rake, pitchfork, hoe, 



Anchor, cable, barrel-staves, wagon, cart, wheel Uiirrow, fence-rail, 



.Stanchion, bulwark, bench, bnwy, tub, 



Grindstones, timbers, keel, chain plate, shatter, wedge, sash, stove- 

 pipe, 



Main-truck, kilighthead, hoopskirt. 



Tomato can, bowsprit, cleat, block, flhingle, lee-scuppei , bilges, reef, 

 port-boles, 



Starboard watch, forecastle, binnacle, hawser, 



Bolt-rope, marlinspike, and what not. 



Now I contend that anybody who fails to see in the 

 above the soul of true poetry ought to be made to see it. 

 To that end I would condemn him to a course of Dowden 

 and Rosseti. Should he still be unconvinced (assuming 

 his survival), I would refer him to Mr. Peter Bayne in No. 

 1648 of Littell's "Living Age" for January last, and re- 

 main, pending his conviction, his very humble servant, 



K. 



Goose-Bone Weather Predictions. — The goese-boue 

 is more closely watched in Kentucky than in any other part 

 of the country. It has boen handed down among the early 

 traditious of the State, and may be calk-d the Kentucky 

 weather prophet. It is to be found in nearly every Ken- 

 tucky country home, and in many parts of the State the 

 farmers consult it, and prepare for handling their crops in 

 accordance with its readings. The prophecy of the goose- 

 boue does not extend bej'ond the year in which the goose 

 was hatched, and the prediction is for the three winter 

 months only. Take the breast bone of a last spring's 

 goose and divide it into three equal parts, and the different 

 divisions will represent December, January and February. 

 The breast bone of a goose is translucent, and if clear 

 "when held up to the light, the weather will be mild and 

 pleasant ; but if covered with cloud-like blots, it will be 

 gloomy and cold ; the heavier the blots, the colder will be 

 the weather. 



A study of this year's goose-bone indicates that the 

 weather for December will be cloudy and gloomy, probably 

 with much lain aud snow, not very cold, but, withal, a 

 very disagreeable month. About the last of December we 

 shall have some cold weather, which will continue to grow 

 colder as January advances. The month of January will 

 be a cold one throughout, with some very severe weather 

 during the last part of the month. On the prophecy of the 

 goose bone, it may be predicted that about the last of 

 January we will have the coldest weather experienced for 

 a number of years. February will be more pleasant and 

 spring-like, betokening an early return of the flowers. 

 During the last of the month, however, there will be few 

 cold days, but no severe weather. 



i^ueh is the prophecy of the goose-bone, and as we have 

 fbe word of a good old farmer up in Woodford county, 

 that it has not failed for fifty years, we may as well pre- 

 pare to meet it, and need not be surprised if we have good 

 skating on the Ohio river during the latter part of January. 

 —Louisville Commercial. 



.^n»» . 



—The Wisconsin State Hatching House is located at 

 Milwaukee, and not at Madison, as was stated in a recent 

 issue of this journal. 



«*•+- ■ 



—We have received the Annual Report of the Fish Com- 

 missioners of Virginia and Maine, and will print an ab- 

 stract soon. 



—The Montpelier Watchman says : 4v The Fish Commis- 

 sioners have been obliged to decline the proportion of land- 

 locked salmou belonging to the State, distributed by the 

 United States, because no provision has been made by the 

 State for hatching the same. This is a reproach on the 

 la ^t Legislature, which neglected to so provide. 



*♦ 



BLACK BASS OF THE POTOMAC. 



THEIR HAUNTS AND HABITS. 



K Washington, D. C, Dec. 30th, 1876. 



Editor Forest and Stream .: — 



The interesting communications of Seth Green and 

 others, recently published in Forest and Stream, in re- 

 gard to the Black Bass of New York waters, prompt me to 

 say something of the species of that game and ravenous 

 fish, now so abundant in the Potomac from tide water to 

 the sources of the river, and in season they afford rare 

 sport for the angler. They are beyond doubt high game, 

 and it is to be hoped that our lish culturists will soon pay 

 more attention to the propagation of this fish, which can 

 be accomplished without much difficulty, as they are able 

 to take care of themselves early in life, and hold their own 

 against the encroachments of all other fresh water tish. 



The bass were first introduced in the Potomac about 

 twenty years ago, by General Randolph, then constructing 

 engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, who brought 

 two hundred from some western waters in the tank of a 

 locomotive, and turned them loose in the Potomac at 

 Cumberland. Similar honors have been claimed for sev- 

 eral other persons, and while others may have aided in the 

 work of stocking the river, there is no doubt that the 

 largest number was put in by General Randolph. Since 

 then they have increased and multiplied so rapidly that 

 not only the Potomac above tide water, but the Shenan- 

 doah, Mouoccacy, and ether tributaries of the river are 

 filled with them. These hsh rarely attain a weight of 

 more than four and one-half pounds, and it is but seldom 

 that one of this size is taken, though they are frequently 

 captured weighing three and three aud a half pounds, and 

 from this down to three-quarters of a pound; indeed I 

 have had a bass not more than live inches long attempt to 

 take a minnow half as large as himself, and thus become 

 hooked; but the true angler of course always returns 

 such small ones to the water, that they may afford better 

 sport in after years. In this locality live minnow is the 

 most desirable bait, though the bass are inclined to be as 

 fastidious at times as to their feeding. Frogs and craw- 

 fish also make good bait, but the difficulty in procuring 

 them renders their use rather meager. Upon one occasion 

 when fishing, at one of the most desirable places on the 

 river, with attractive line bait, I met with no success, 

 although everything seemed to be favorable. Becoming 

 discouraged I put a dead minnow upon a hook, and threw 

 out near the line with the bait, and in this way took four 

 or five fine bass with dead minnows, while they would 

 not notice what I believed to be the more attractive bait 

 within a few feet of it. They have their feeding hours 

 early in the morning and late in the afternoon, being the 

 best time to catch them, though I have frequently taken 

 fine ones in the middle of the day when the weather was 

 not too warm. 



Probably the upper Potomac is one of the most beauti- 

 ful views in the country. The scenery is unsurpassed, and 

 no class of people enjoy the beauties of nature more than 

 patient anglers. Freed from the dust and strife of the 

 city, they fully appreciate the charming scenes surround- 

 ing them, and the health promoting pleasures which drive 

 away care and make us cheerful. The bass of the Poto- 

 mac frequent different currents and pools, according to the 

 season. In spring they are caught at the foot of the Great 

 Falls and Little Falls in large numbers. Later in the 

 season they are found in the numerous rapids and shutes 

 along the river, and the best sport is afforded in taking 

 them from these waters. As warm weather approaches 

 they seek the deep holes and eddies, where they remain 

 until the return of cooler weather, when they may be again 

 found in the rapids and shallow water. In the winter they 

 again seek the deep holes. 



As above mentioned, live minnow is the principle bait 

 used, roach, a small fish of the shiner species, smelt, 

 young shad and sun fish being plentiful. Roach, how- 

 ever, are the hardiest, and more easily kept alive in the 

 minnow bucket, and are therefore the most desirable bait 

 of the several varieties named, besides they remain alive 

 much longer on the hook. Smelt and young shad make 

 attractive bait, but they are very tender and soon die 

 when put in minnow buckets. The bass will often rise to 

 a fly in turbulent water, but they are taken so much more 

 rapidly with live bait that fly fishing is not indulged in to 

 any great extent. They are also frequently taken by 

 trolling, and several times I have found magnificent fishing 

 pools by trolling over them. On one occasion, while thus 

 trolling behind the boat, a friend with me had a finestrike, 

 and captured a handsome fish. We stopped, took sound- 

 ings, found a hole about sixteen feet deep, and fishing it 

 for half an hour had taken half a dozen magnificent bass 

 out of it. This hole invariably yields something for our 

 basket, and sometimes as many as ten or twelve have been 

 taken from it in an hour or two. 



The Potomac bass are very tenacious of life, and their 

 muscular power frequently enables them to escape while 

 being taken off the hook, unless the angler is careful. 

 When hooked they fight bravely^ sometimes breaking 

 water three or four times before being landed. I have 

 known a bass to run under a boat after being hooked by 

 an inexperienced angler, but to one accustomed to their 

 ways such a thing is not liable to occur. I always kill the 

 fish immediately upon taking it off the hooky by inserting 

 my knife blade back of the head, and severing the verte? 



brfe at the base of the brain, thus preventing any possi- 

 bility of escape, besides it is a well known fact that the 

 fish is made more palatable by being killed than if left to 

 die for want of its natural element. 



We have no law in this District in regard to taking basa, 

 neither have the States of Maryland or Virginia yet given 

 attention to the subject, but it is to be hoped that suitable 

 laws for their protection will soon be passed. The spawn- 

 ing season for bass commences about the middle of April 

 and continues until June. The authorities should prohibit 

 their capture before the 1st of June anyhow, but the open 

 season might continue from that time until the first of De- 

 cember. 



Now that I have given a brief history of the bass in the 

 Potomac, their haunts and habits, I have only to say that 

 anglers will always find rare sport in this river, and I am 

 sure visitors from abroad will be heartily welcomed by 

 their brother anglers of Washington, as a more hospitable 

 or generous set of men are not to be found in this land. 

 There are hundreds of places on the Potomac within two 

 or three hour's drive of "Washington, where the rarest 

 sport is afforded. The Little Falls, Dam No. 7, and the 

 basin above it, Stubblefield Falls, the Great Falls, and 

 many other places between Washington and the latter point, 

 are celebrated for good fishing. 



In a future letter I will have something to say about the 

 Great Falls Fishing Club, an organization of gentlemen 

 who own a comfortable Club-house near the Great Falls, 

 fitted up with all the conveniences, and being ardent lovers 

 of the sport, they capture many bass during the season. 



In my last letter I mentioned the fact that an importa- 

 tion of carp had been ordered from Europe to stock the 

 ponds of Maryland and neighboring States. MLe steam- 

 ship Leipzig arrived at Baltimore a few days aj^with Mr. 

 Rudolph Hessel, an eminent fish culturist on board. He 

 had forty-four live carp out of two hundred with which 

 he started from Germany, one hundred and fifty-six having 

 died on the voyage. These fish came from ponds border- 

 ing on the Danube in Hungary, and include several varie- 

 ties of the carp family. On shipboard they were kept in 

 large tanks, and were frequently supplied with freshwater, 

 but the vessel encountered very rough weather, having 

 been at sea twenty -three days, and it is thought this proved 

 fatal to so many of the fish. The forty-four survivors 

 were taken to the ponds at Druid Hill Park, near Balti- 

 more, for propagating purposes, and it is thought they will 

 breed next spring. Occasional. 



« 



Stocking South Jersey Waters with Salmon.-— The 

 waters of southern New Jersey have been stocked with 

 40,000 California, salmon under the auspices of the West 

 Jersey Game Protection Society. The work has been per- 

 formed by Capt. Milton P. Peirce, South Jersey Fish Cul- 

 turist who writes to one of the local paper as follows: — 



"The salmon eggs were obtained from the U. S. Gover- 

 enment by the West Jersey Game Protective Society which 

 assumes the expenses from the time the eggs leave the Gov- 

 ernment encampment, on the upper Sacremento river, un- 

 til the young fish are old enough to be placed in their new 

 home. The stocking of the streams of South Jersey with 

 this "King fish of the world" has been entrusted to the sub- 

 scriber, who is almost constantly engaged in distributing 

 them, preference being given to neighborhoods that are 

 willing to iclieve the Society of the few dollars of expenses 

 attending the same. The distribution will be very general 

 throughout South Jersey, as the plan pursued is radically 

 different from that in vogue elsewhere. The plan gener- 

 ally pursued after the great expense of taking and hatching 

 the eggs is to select some pleasant day, and take the entire 

 lot of young fry (Sometimes two or three hundred thousand) 

 to one or two large streams, and turn them all in at once. 

 The almost inevitable result is that such a cloud (or school) 

 of young fish is sure to attract the immediate attention of 

 their enemies (the larger fish), and a very large proportion 

 of them are destroyed. The plan pursued by us is strictly 

 in accordance with the instruction of Prof. Baird, the TJ. S. 

 Fish Commissioner, viz. : to go to the small tributaries of 

 the large streams, where the water is of but few inches in 

 depth, and put a few hundred fish in a place. This of 

 course entails a heavy expense as compared with the plan 

 of "dumping" the entire lot at one time and place. Another 

 feature which we have adopted, under Prof. Baird's in- 

 struction, and which I have omitted above, is that of plac- 

 ing the young fry in the water after dark. The advantages 

 of our plan are various. When young salmon are placed 

 in a stream they will go no higher if suitable spawning 

 places can be found. When placed in the head waters of 

 a stream they will come there again and again if there is 

 enough water to' float them. When placed in after dark 

 they have ample opportunities to hide. If a glaring light 

 prevails they are frantic, and will rush to destruction, 



Milton P. Peirce, 



Aquadale Ponds, Wenonah, N. J. 



THE WISCONSIN STATE HATCHING 

 HOUSE. 



ar 



Milwaukee, Dec. 22d, 1873. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Your paper occupying a prominent position in our establishment 

 here, and noticing your zeal and the interest you have m fiish culture, I 

 take the liberty of encroaching upon your time, and the columns of 

 your truly valuable paper, by giving a description of the Fish Hatching 

 Establishment of the State of Wisconsin. Last year' (1876) the State 

 appropriated the sum of $10,000 for the purpose of restocking the 

 waterB of tlie State, and five commissioners were appointed to carry out 

 the project. Messrs. Welch, Hoy, Palmer and Dousman and Gov. 

 Ludingtou ar« the Commissioners. A few acres of land, with build- 

 ings, etc., were purchased at Madison, Wis. At that point nothing but 

 brook trout are raised. Here in Milwaukee, through the kindness of the 

 Board of Councilmen and Water Commissioners, the large basement of the 

 Pumping Works has Deen given to tbe Fish Commissioners to further 

 their work and project. The hatching room is about 40x80, well lighted 

 by the means of large windows— five in number— placed upon a level 

 with the ground; it is also heated by steam, supplied by the boilers 

 which supply the huge engines that pump water for. the city. The 

 watei ia brought into tue hatchery by the means of a pipe four niches i^ 



