"^ THE AMERICAN SPQRTSMAN^S 'JOURNAL- 



TKntered AcoordUig to Act o£ Congress, la tUo .vear isrs, by cue Forpst aaa Stream Publlslilug company, In tne OiUce o£ the Llljiaiian of Congress, at.WasJilngton.] 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1880. 



iXos. 



CONTENTS. 



Editokiai, : — 

 Centra] Fiah Ciiltttval Sociuty ; Tiie Natioii>il BUie Assooia- 

 tion Election i03 



A Chbistsus RKtrniON : — 

 A Vibiouof the Past; "The Spiiit" (irowd; The Sports of 

 By-gone Days. lOi 



NiTUHAI, HlSTOBY : — 



Uiir Waterfowl: Migration of tlie '>Vagtuil ; ProeeecUngs of 

 the National lltweam ; Society of Ambrican Taxidermists ; 

 The Geographical Society Aatray ; Snako Swallowing 

 Snake 406 



Sea and Eivtp. Fismso : — 



Whicli Salmon is Best ? Bass Pialiiag ill Central New York; 

 The FiBherioB QueBtioa ; Give Us a Plain Law ; British 

 Columbia Fisheries ; Trout m Oregon -. . . 107 



Pish Cultdee : — 

 The Central Fish Cultural Society ; The Michigan Fish Com- 

 mission " 407 



Game Bao and Gun :— 



Sportsmen and Farmere : Our Boulienler Letter ■ Our De- 

 troit Letter ; The Ijaokawanna AHsoeiation ; Sijuirrel 

 Shooting ; Texas Christmas Turkeys ; The Southampton 

 Club ; Long Island Asfiociatiou ; The Buffalo Eange ; The 

 Silver Lake Horror ; Pinnated Grause in Delaware ; Fon 

 Du Lac Game Club ; Mooae and Caribou Huntmg ; Shoot- 

 ing Hatches 408 



The Ken!;ei, :— 

 Sensation ; Field Trial Rules ; The Eastern Field Trials 

 Club ; I'ittsl'Urg Dog Show ; Preventing Di;^temper ; What 

 is a Cocker? Tlao Cocker Club; French Truffle Hunting; 

 Gladstone ;, Kennel Management ; Kennel Kotes; Chief.. 412 



The RuxB :— 

 Hon. 0. P. Winchester ; Kange and Gallery 415 



Yaohtinq and OAsoEwa : — 

 Yachting for the Alillion; Hunt's Magazine ; Paddle vs. Oai'S, 

 Cedar ys. Other Canoes 4]fi 



ASSWEBS TO OOBEESPOSDEITTS 417 



PUBLIBHEES' DEPABTaiEST 417 



FOREST 



AND 



STREAM. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, ] 



DECEMBER 33, 1880. 



*,* The FoEKST AND Strkaji qoea to press 

 Oirfi'6S]yj7ichtiti are requested to maU their ■:iimiwinieatio:>is so 

 that they nmy reacli lis before thai day 



Do Not Fobget that a paid smbgeript/m to the Forkst and 

 Hi iiK AM fur om ve<trii a Most apirropriate Chriatmas gift. 



Tbk rRoro.^^AL to riipiire Ucen8e8 from guimers on Long 

 Islaud will meet tlio hijrtrty approval of the better class of 

 sportsmen, iind ;ia liiud-owners are to lie excepted from the 

 requiremeut, farmers will be equally plea-ied with it. 



The Cable brings us the news of the death of Francis 

 Trevelyan Bueklaiid, or rss lie was )ic.«t knov.n, Frank Buck- 

 land, who wa.s perhaps Uie most widely l.novvn -vrjU-r in 

 England on natural history. For.?evL;::.l . ^n , i : !:■ i ■ .lu.'ict- 

 ed the Natural History columns uL' -ii'd 



thvougli that paper and other mediiii:i- i i li:-' i ; - 1; rrp.uk- 

 atily successful in popularizing that study. 



WiiRM the FoKKST AJTD Stkeasi wiis Considering whicli one 

 of mt'.ny riijciinl features, that presented thein.selvc.s, .should 

 lio provided for Its readers this Chri.stmas week, nothing 

 Beenied more plea.sinj; ami appropriate (ban a collection of 

 reminiscencea of that famous cuterie of writers, who con- 

 tributed long ago to the old Porter's Spirit— the^ Forest and 

 Stbe>vm of ita day. And it was most iitiin.-i-, too, that these 

 '' leminiscenseashouldcoinefromthepens of tliose v.Titers ilieiu- 

 selvoa. We accordingly communicrttcd with such of them as 

 we knew to be still living, and our requests have been met 

 by ii most gratifying response, £Uid we present to-day contii- 

 butions from Oen. n. 11. Sibley, iBaac McLeliau, Col. Thos. 

 Piuton and S. C Clarke. 



These are the few who are left ; the members of that band 

 who have not passed away with their generation. 



Tills reunion of famous writers, after the lapse of a quarter 

 of a century, is a notable event in Amerieau sporting liieni- 

 tuve, 



CENTRAL. FISH CULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE meeting, wliicb is partly reported in another column, 

 was a most interesting one, and was characterized by 

 several important and highly interesting papers, which were 

 followed by equally interesting discussions. We have urged 

 the members to put their views in form of a "paper" which, 

 prepared at leisure, fully represents their ideas, and is always 

 correctl}' rendered in the local and otiier papers as well as in 

 the Society's reports. This will be remedied ne.xt year, as a 

 resolution was adopted which authorizes the executive com- 

 aittee to call on members for a paper, and then to prepare a 

 programme in accordance with this plan. 



Among tlie papers read was one by Prof. Forbes on the 

 food of fishes in their early life, which has an important bear- 

 ing upon flshculture and the intelligent stocking of waters ; 

 one by Jlr. Fairljank on the breeding of California salmon in 

 fresh waters, Bomelbiiig which has been done by him in 

 Geneva Lake, Wis., where his salmon have not only lived 

 but have actually spawned in the lake ; one by 3Ir. Ballou on 

 protection of fislies in Lake Michigan ; one by Mr. 3Iather on 

 tlie growth of carp in America, wherein he proved by many 

 witnes.sos tliut in their new home their growth exceeded that 

 of their native land three or four times: and oae by Mr. 

 Shaw I ai fishv.-aya, besides letters and communications from 

 others. 



One of tbe humors of the meeting wa.s a joke on Commis- 

 sioner Shaw, of lovi'a, whose resemijlance to General Garfield 

 is so strong that stratigers looked after him. One of the 

 wags told a waiter at the hotel that the gentleman dining at 

 the next table was the President-elect, and that the one with 

 him (Commissioner Bartlett, of Illinois), with the huge mous- 

 tache, was General Logan, and the fun lay in seeing the pro- 

 cession of darkies tile by to get a look at die celebrities, and 

 the astonishment of Shaw to see the pyramids of dishes con- 

 taining all the delicacies in the house piled in front of him 

 until no space was left for more. 



We will publish the papers and dlscusaionS in full, from 

 week to week, and afterward issue them in pamphlet form. 

 The niembers C'l tbe Society recognized the labors of Pokest 

 ASD Stkkam in the line of fishculture, and the few who had 

 not formerly taken it ordered it sent. It may be that the 

 Society will never get the legislation it seeks from the gen- 

 eral Government, but if it never accomplishes legislation of 

 any kind it lias a sulllcient reason for existence in the diffu- 

 sion of fishcu'tural knov.Iedge, the exchange of ideas and 

 the general wakhig up of the public to the value of flshcul- 

 ture through the press, wliich gives, as the Chicago local 

 papers did, columns of discussions and extracts of the papers 

 read and comments upon them. 



THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION 

 ELECTION. 



w 



ITHIN a few days the life members of the National 

 Rifle Association v.ill be given an opportunity at the 

 annual meeting of the aseociaiion to fill a numlier ol places 

 in the Board of Directors. Common sense would seem to 

 dictate that a change be made from the old plan of compli- 

 mentary re-election of retiring nieiubevs, and that an effort 

 be made now if ever by the actual shouting men of the asso- 

 ciation to make the Board of Directors soraetliing more than 

 a mere parcel of iSgure-hcads, at lea.st as a large majoritj'. 

 The affairs of the association have now reached a stage 

 where it becomes an absolute necessity that somebody should 

 do .something. From being a live, healthy organizatiou, lead- 

 ing rifle practice and infusing life into the sport, the National 

 Rifle iVssociation ha.s degenerated into a mere empty shell. 

 The iniiitary .-Jhooling on the one hand is entirely removed 

 from tiie jiirisdictiou of the Board, and on the other hand the 

 most popular ail-comers' match of the year 1880 has been car- 

 ried out not only without the actual co-operation of a major- 

 ity of the Board, but with expres-sious of the liveliest di-sgusi 

 and opposition on their part. The fact now is that those who 

 contro! affairs in t!ie National Rifle Association are not in ac- 

 tive and earnt.st accord with the men who do tbe shooting on 

 the range. Every important step which has been taken has 

 been forced upon the Board, and this unwieldy force of in- 

 incapables have been rather a hiudrauce than a help lo rifle 

 shooting. A single energetic man could easily run the Creed- 



mrjor range, and the only function which the present Boai'd 

 of Directors seems to fidfill is thatof passingridiculous resolu- 

 tions^at inopportune moments. The Falnia has been virtutdly 

 shelved through the weight of conditions laid upon it, and 

 the whole question of international small-bore shooting has 

 been draggedintoaquagmireof confusion, and there dropped. 

 Having the opportunity to become the dictator in all matters 

 connected with rifle shooting in this country, the association, 

 by an annual turn-over of its rules and regulations, has man- 

 aged to make a match .shot " under the rules of the National 

 Rifle Association" considerable of a risk unless everything 

 passes off exceptionally smootii. Tlie financial management 

 of Creedmoor might couie in for no small share of sharp 

 criticism were we inclined to venture into that field. 



The whole remedy fur this state of affairs lies with the 

 shooting men among the life member.s. There are enough 

 sucli to select a good, live contingent at once, and ultimately 

 to the weeding out of every fossil from the Board. There 

 has been growling and grumbling enough, both on and off 

 the range, at the neglect of those in conlroL The whining 

 ones can now put tiieir cry for reform into practical shape of 

 ballots. Let them decide upon a list of men who thoroughly 

 understand th« needs of modein rifle practice, men who 

 themselves know somewhat of tbe seemingly slight causes 

 which may cause a man to turn with indifference from one 

 range and seek another. Our plea for a "change" is no idle 

 one, for affairs in the N. R. A. cannot well be worse than 

 they are now, and in face of the fact the coming shooting 

 season will determine whetlier the N. R. A- is to live or die. 

 The infusion of new blood uito the Boai-d must be a help to 

 its deliberations. 



Bankers and buntings and streamers, the boom of cannon 

 and the flare of skyrocket, these are the attendants of oiu- 

 niid.summer anniversary, the symbolisms of our national 

 pride and patriotism. Each recurring holiday is marked by 

 its distinctive and approved material expression of the seiiti- 

 meuts which prompt to its observance. 



And Christmas has its greens. This week our homes are 

 decorated with the simple boughs brought in from the wood- 

 land and fragrant with the spicy odor of the forest. 



There is much of significance in tlii?, that for the memorial 

 of that day which the Christian world has set apart for the 

 commemoration of the one momentous event in its history, it 

 rejects the decorations of art and finds in the .simple gifts of 

 nature its fitting and eloquent symbols of joy ajld cheer and 

 hope. 



It matters little when or where this custom arose. That it 

 has lived and is year by year more widely adopted is an uii- 

 ctuiacious, perhaps, but none the less emphatic: and true, ex- 

 pression of man's sympathy with Natiue. It is the unerring 

 token of her children's affection lor ijlother Etu-th. 



Massachusetts Game Pboteotion. — The Ma-ssacliuaetts 

 Fish and Game Protective Association have apiwintcd Messi'S. 

 Iris W. Adams, John Fattier, Jr., and F. R. Shattuck, a 

 committee lo .superiutcnci, if necessary, a revision of the 

 Game and Fish laws of tiic State doi-ing the coming session 

 of the Legislature. This coiumittee invites correspondence 

 from other sirnihu- committees of the different State Associa- 

 tions, or from individuals interested in the subject of flsh 

 and game protection, and will welcome iuiy suggestions 

 which may bear on this matter. Letters may be addressed to 

 any member of the committee, in care of the Association. 



WuuDfi, WuRTin, Words. - When Carver was Setting oUt 

 for Europe, li.j iiierai.'il t!,e w'.y- Ijy a grandiloquent ex- 

 change of wortiy ciialleiiges to rej!;;ii(lus; and when the 

 flood of newspaper notoriety thus secured was at its height 

 the " Doctor" mounted the crest of the wave and rode into 

 fame across the sea. After a prolonged absence abroad 

 Carver appears again in the d;'.iiy paiici .^ with more cliallengea 

 to Bogardus. This means, we presume, that Carver ia 

 thinking about coming back to America. He is preparing 

 another wave of new.spaper notoriety, and when the sound- 

 ing-line shows the recpnsite depth of water on the bar we 

 may look for the redoubtable marksmau to come sailiug 

 gi-andly into port. 



Tides— moon— moonshine. Carrer challenges — ^wowis— 

 words— words. 



