24 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[August 11, 1881. 



be loaded on the cars almost at the door, which are lo carry 

 tlifiii in their destination. 



Now that it is known that shad eggs can he so simply and 

 cheaply transported it will greatly simplify the work of 

 hutching, which ran lie done at a central point convenient to 

 railroad, Or other transportation. 



A LOBSTER LAW NEEDED. 



NEW JERSEY and Rhode Island need a law prohibiting 

 I he sale of lobsters under a certain size. The lobsters 

 are getting. smaller year by year, and the catching of them 

 When young cannot he stopped as long as there are markets 

 open to the violators of the laws whose catch is not seen until 

 thrown upon the market. 



Tn former yews, lobsters of five and six piunds weight 

 were plenty, but now are rare. Maine, Massachusetts and 

 New York have laws forbidding the sale of them when less 

 than ten and one-half inches in length. This is very well in 

 its way, but the catchers sort out, the smaller ones and send 

 them to other States. The Newark, N. J., Arivtrti.ier sent a 

 reporter to the market for information, and he learned from 

 a large dealer there "that the gre it demand for this fish has 

 induced fishermen to take, within the last two years, too 

 many young ones from their pots, and as a consequence this 

 has produced a depopulation of the lobster fishing grounds " 

 The fact is that New Jersey gets those that dare not be offered 

 in New York. 



The Rhode Island Fish Commissioners say in their re- 

 port : 



The capture of small lobsters haB gone on in Khode Island 

 ainoe the first lobster pot was put in Khode Island waters, the larger 

 ones Ben) to market, and the smaller ones used for bait for blaek- 

 fUh. Now, uur lobster fishery is a very valuable one. Very many 

 men eke out a living with their Lobster pots, and all know the lux- 

 ury of au abundance of fresh ami cheap lobsters in our cities. For 

 a number t I j I tn 3 1 the catch of lobsters has been steadily de- 

 creasing, not as to numbers but as to size. "All is fish that comes 

 to the net" is tin rule with lobster catchers. Those that are of a 

 fit size to send to market, from half a pound upward, are sent, 

 the balance, from live to si* or seven inches in leugth, are sold for 

 bait fur tan tog fishing, save a few that, go to those most delicate 

 palates that delight iu chicken lobsters. 



Tbe Commissioners recommend the passage of a law forbidding 

 the sale of lobsters less than twelve inches in leugth, and suggest 

 that it would he admirable if a provision could be made forbidding 

 tbe sale oi temalfl lobsters Ion, led with spawn. So far as the limit 

 of size is concerned, the Commissioners are assured the law will 

 be moat popular 



The State of Khode Island is at present the market for undersizod 

 lobsters from Massachusetts. They are sent here in barrels, the 

 catchers on the Massachusetts coast and dealers in Boston, know- 

 ing that it would be unsafe to offer them fur sale in Massachusetts, 

 send them tu tis, and we get tbe full benefit of such poor and 

 illegal supply. 



It would be for the general welfare if all the inland States 

 would pass a law regulating the sale of lobsters, for certainly 

 Western cities are as much interested iu this source of food 

 supply as those on the sea coast. 



dividual? having been seen in Mr. Rich's property supposed 

 to be 20 lbs. in weight." 



A Sensible Exiujession of sentiment was embodied in 

 the resolution of the Illinois State Sportsmen's Association at 

 Chicago, hist week, to the effect lhat trap-shooting should 

 hold its place as an incident only of the annual conventions. 

 Let other associations follow the example. All true sports- 

 men will agree that the pigeon-shooting contests absorb so 

 much lime and attention at the meetings of some of our 

 " game protective " societies that there is no opportunity nor 

 inclination to attend to tbe legitimate purposes of the con- 

 ventions. The time has come for a change of programme. 

 It ought not to happen again, as it did at Coney Island, that 

 such valuable and suggestive papers as were prepared to be 

 read and discussed in the meetings of the sportsmen should 

 go without a hearing because there was no time to attend lo 

 such matters. At one meeting Mr. Ira Wood, of Syracuse, 

 moved that these papers be brought before the convention. 

 The gem Ionian was ruled out of order. If the gentlemen 

 who have control of the next convention of the New York 

 Association will follow the spirit of this Illinois resolution, 

 and act upon it, we can assure them of the cordial support of 

 all the best sportsmen of the State, in the Association and 

 out of it, Now is a good time to begin. 



OTA GO ACCLIMATIZATION SOCIETY. 



WE have received the report of this New Zealand 

 Society for L6S1, and are p'eased to note that 

 it is upon a sound financial basis from money received from 

 sporting licenses, particularly from fishing licenses, which 

 have incre ,sed. The society has recommended a gun tax to 

 the Government, but uo reply to it has been received. They 

 err in saying that such a tax exists in the United Slates. 



The society not only introduces and protects beasts, birds 

 and fish s, but extends its protection to native species 

 Among the birds and animals introduced were "black 

 game," four cocks and six hens;" pheasants and partridges 

 bred we 1, bu' a e becoming scarce where shot. The poison- 

 ing of tbe rabbits, which had b o.Dine a pest to agriculture, 

 has proved fatal lo many pbeasanis. California quail are re 

 port d nuru rous about Queeustown and Goodwood. Last 

 April eighty Australian minus were purchased and liberated. 

 Starlings arc now numerous, as well as blackbirds. Thrushes 

 are not plentiful, but are oecisionally seen, and many other 

 imported birds, as goldfinches, greenfinches, house sparrows, 

 hedge spai rows, yellow hammers and chaffinches, are nu- 

 merous. Deer, both the red, fal'ow and axis, continue to 

 thrive, while hares are plenty enough for coursing. 



Of fish, the English and Californian salmon, introduced 

 from 1870 to lb78, there is no re'iable information, although 

 there are reports of Heir being seen. American whitefish, 

 t'vi;ytjnm ab'mf, were introduced, but it is too soon to look 

 for results. Sea tr ait are illegally taken before they have 

 become firmly established, but the brown trout are increas- 

 ing, and Enjlish perch and tench are thriving. 



Welnvalso received from tbe Stcretary of the Society, 

 Mr. W. Arthur, bis " No cs on Some Species of Migratory 

 Salmoni iie," read before the Otagi Institute. In this piper 

 he quotes Pro essor Hind, in P"Ott«ST And Stream, on the 

 use of the hook on the male salmon's jaw iu breaking I he 

 hymen and thereby f eeing ihe egis, and suggests that the 

 milt might also be liberated through the fighting of the males. 

 Mr, Arthur gives plates showing the forms of the did. rent 

 species, and also the shape of the opercl s. 



Another paper, "On the Brown Trout Introduced into 

 Otago," by the same author, is at hand, wherein he says: 

 "In no river of Otago have these fish grown so rapidly, are 

 so fat, or have become so heavy as iu the Shag, some in- 



Some Southern Sohneby. — It is our opinion, after a 

 somewhat extensive series of travels over this big country, 

 that in the mountain regions of Virginia, the Carolinas, 

 Georgia and Tennessee is to he found some of tbe finest 

 mountain scenery iu the country. It is a great pity that 

 more Americans do not travel through their own land 

 instead of ru hing off to Europe; it is a shame that so 

 many Northern pe-ple are strangers to the charms of the 

 natural scenery at theSou'h. Some of the Southern railroad 

 managrs are making praiseworthy efforts to make known 

 the attractions .of their land ; and while we are not inclined 

 to puff the railroads, we are very earnest in our hope that 

 travel may set in that direction more than at present. 

 Spoilsmen who go to the States named invariably return with 

 glowing reports of both land and people. Tbe "Associated 

 Itahvays of Virginia and the Carolinas" hsive published a 

 handsomely illustrated hand-book, giving needed informa- 

 tion about routes, distances, fares, etc. This may be bad ou 

 application at the office of the Piedmont Air Line, 229 

 Broadway, this city. 



The Paradise Fish.— We give this week a life-like cut of 

 this Chinese fish. In Guenther's Catalogue of the Fishes of 

 the British Museum we find it described as inhabiting the 

 fresh waters of China and Cochin-China, with a note saving, 

 " This may prove to be a domestic variety of a species of 

 Polyaaanthus.'" It is described by Lacepede under the name 

 of Maaropodus mridi-aurnlus. Mr. Mulertt has reared this 

 fish and gives a most interesting account of Iheir habits in 

 the deparlment of fish culture. Prom bis long acquaintance 

 with pet fish he is naturally observant of the habits of them, 

 and he regards the paradise fsh as a great addition to Our or- 

 namental fishes. The plant which accompanies the fish in 

 the drawing is claimed by Mr. M. to be superior to Yalis- 

 neria spiralis as an aquarium plant. 



Mr. Henbv Bergit might with reason devote his attention 

 to the museum at the corner of Broadway and Ninth street, 

 this city. Iu a cage in the basement of that institution are 

 confined three monkeys, two pigeons, a bob-tailed hen and 

 two rabbits, with a pair of young. The monkeys vary the 

 usual indecent antics, which are common to their kiud in 

 captivity, by worrying and tormenting the other inmates of 

 the cage. They pull the feathers out of the pige ns, gouge 

 the eyes of the old rabbits and pinch and claw the young 

 ones. The old hen has no tail feathers, knows how to use 

 her beak and appears to be unmolested by the monkeys. A 

 number of tortoises stolidly ho!d the fort within their shells, 

 the monkeys evidently thinking them too hard nuts to crack. 

 The small boy— outside the cage— enjoys tbe mimic wild 

 beast show; and an eagle pent iu a wire coop near by gazes 

 fiercely at the sea lion and longs to take a hand in the fun. 

 Six days in the week Mr. Bergh, or one of his agents, may 

 find this show in progress, the monkeys gouging, the eagle 

 glaring, the sea lion growling and the small boy grinning. 



The Yellow Dog, which followed President Garfield's 

 carriage in tbe inauguration proce-sion last March, has come 

 to the front again ; this time, too, in a sensational way. Ac- 

 cording to the Alexandria, Va., Gazette the dog went to that 

 city after the inauguration, where he remained until the 

 Thursday 7 before the President was shot, when he disap- 

 peared from Alexandria, to return one week later with a 

 bullet wound in his back. The course of the ball, says the 

 Qntetle, was distinctly marked, and au examination has re- 

 vealed the fact that the animal still carries the bullet. All 

 the circumstances point to the bullet as the first oue shot by 

 the assassin at President Garfield, and of which all trace has 

 been lost, Tbe Washington papers chronicled the yellow 

 dog's appearance at Washington just before the would-be 

 assassin's assault on President Garfield. The famous and 

 mysterious animal now wears a brass collar and enjoys im- 

 munity from the wiles of the Alexandria dog-catchers, Miss 

 W A. Penn, of that city, having paid his license fee. 



The Niagara Dogs.— In a letter published elsewhere our 

 Suspension Bridge correspondent tells ns how " Old Bull" 

 was out to welcome his new companions on the island in the 

 Niagara, and how the two castaways fought it out over their 

 Sunday dinner. In a later note Mr. Lewis says that there is 

 no truth in the report, to which we referred last week, that 

 the dogs were purposely placed on the island, nor that at- 

 tempts to rescue them have been interfered with by in- 

 terested parties ; but any one who wishes to capture them is 

 at perfect liberty to do so. Well, a New York dog-cathcer 

 would have those dogs off the island and into his wagon be- 

 fore a crowd could co. lect to see the fun; and he would 

 yank them up in much quicker time if he could be induced 

 to believe that he was stealing them. The dog-catcher 

 works quickly when he is also conscious of being a dog- 

 thief. 



They Nailed Him, — A correspondent writes to us of the 

 exploit of two country boys which deserves a niche iu our 

 columns : In the fall of '45 or '46, near Mr. Robertson's, 

 twenty-two miles west of Catskill, two lads saw a bear in tbe 

 woods and shot him with fine shot, of which he took no 

 notice; and when they came to load again, they found that 

 they bad lost the shot bag. Having been to the store, they 

 had bought a paper of heel nails (country boys had to, then), 

 and after putting in a good charge of this novel shot, one of 

 them blazed away and bagged the bear. This recalls the 

 story told in these columns some months ago of the buck, 

 in whose head were found some copper and silver coins, 

 evidently having served as ammunition. 



A Rare Sportsman's Volume was shown to us the other 

 day. It was a book made up of the papers on sporting top- 

 ics which have appeared in Harper's, Scribner's and Lippin- 

 cott's ; the series extending back for many years to the time 

 when Mr. Charles Hallock wrote his famous sketches from 

 Canada and Labrador— examples oi tourist sketches which 

 are perfect in their way. The papers collected and bound in 

 this novel hook cover a wide variety of subjects, and fire 

 written by many different authors, most of them illustrated, 

 and all readable. Why cannot the publishers of Scribner's 

 or the Century — give us uich a votume from their magazine ? 



The Sketch or a Southwest Virginia Deer Dkivb, 

 published in another column, the writer tells us is a tran- 

 script from life, a faithful picture of just the experience nar- 

 rated. Into it is woven some of the quaint superstition and 

 some of the slang of the Southern backwoods' hunter, and 

 many of the phrases will be recognized as more firmly fixed 

 in the common vocabul iry of the people than are tbe more 

 scientific terms affected by the sportsmen of some oilier lo- 

 calities. The story is thus something more than a mere re- 

 cital of sport — it is a study of peculiar idioms and of some 

 peculiar notions. 



Plated 'Possum. — It will be conceded that that one par- 

 ticular 'possum has been played — to use a slangy express! tn 

 —for all it is worth. The original seeker after truth on the 

 subject expresses himself as fully satisfied, and returns thanks 

 to us ; we are satisfied, and also return thanks to those of our 

 fiiends who have so acceptably responded to our call. One 

 or two communications on the subject are still unpublished, 

 but they will be given in due time- 

 When the 'possani 

 Is In blossom. 



^^»^^. 



Old Fort MoPherson, Neb., was sold at auction the other 

 day, and so passes away another landmark. Many of our 

 readers will remember tbe fort, and many a romantic story 

 is connected with its history since it wa3 built fifteen years 

 ago. The town of McPherson. will still preserve Ihe name 

 and memory of the gallant officer who fell before Atlanta in 

 1866. There is much of romance and of local history in the 

 names of our towns in America, antl au inquiry into the 

 origin and meaning of such names will almost al ways repay 

 the study. 



In last week's issue we published in our kennel columns a 

 paper from an old and esteemed correspondent relative to 

 the castration of dog->. Since the first article of this writer 

 appeared in the Forest and Stream, June 0, 1878, he has 

 never lost an opportunity of observing the effects of castra- 

 tion on the dog. He now says that he is fully persuaded 

 that what he then presented is a truth, which, if put in prac- 

 tice by those interested and influential, would save for the 

 country thousands of dollars annually. 



Rifles and Glass Balls.— A correspondent suggests that 

 when a club his become so expert at shooting glass balls 

 with a shot gun that there is no longer much excitement 

 about the sport, they take up a 22 calibre rifle and try the 

 balls with that. Rifle shooting at the trap has been prac- 

 ticed to some extent, and many of the Boston marksmen ai e 

 experts. It is an excellent form of practice for quick shoot- 

 ing. We indorse the suggestion of our correspondent. 



"The Magio Northland" is the title of a manual of infor- 

 mation about the health, pleasure and game resorts of Min- 

 nesota, Wisconsin andDakota. It ishandsomely illustrated, 

 and is full of practical directions for the sportsman tourist. 

 Published by Hoppin, Palmer and Dimond, Minneapolis, 

 Minn, 



