January 5, 1882-1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



449 



It must not be supposed, either, because some of them 



have titles, thai their respectability or that of the club, is 



thereby enhanced. Ou the contrary, it is well known that 



■■' who are professional ''gun-sharps," and derive 



their income solely from that source. 



I am fully H\yare of all the supposed advantages claimed 

 bytheadvocal.es of the traps on such occasions. I have 

 heard them for years : and 1 am sadly aware of the fact that 

 because of the abolition of finch contests, one State associa- 

 tion, at least, is practically disbanded. 



And I would like it to be known unmistakably that my 

 opposition does not arise from any canting, hide-bound, mock 

 sentimentality, or narrow puritauism. Not at all. 



It arises only because I consider that prize-shooting is no 

 part of the great purpose of game preservation, and game 

 and fish preservation should be the only purpose of the as- 

 sociations which profess to be organized in that interest. 



Let those who want to shoot in public upon any incentive 

 whatever, whether of money, ambition or reputation, organ- 

 ize their clul)3 and do so. But let it be done so that the gen- 

 eral public may understand jt, and then each class can stand 

 before the public upon its own merits. 



WINTER QUAIL GROUNDS. 



GrtKKNSBOEO, N. 0., Dec. 26, 1881. 

 Editor Forest ami Stream : 



1 Bee in the last issue of the Fokkst and Stream au in- 

 quiry as to the location of good quail shooting grounds in 

 the South. 1 would say to my Northern friends that they 

 can find excellent shooting here. I have been at the McAdoo 

 House three weeks, part of the time on a camp hunt, and I 

 have had no trouble in finding all the quail I could shoot at. 

 Mr. McAdoo has all kand of camping outfits, for which he 

 makes no charge other than his regular board rates, and with 

 each party he sends an excellent conk and waiter. 'Our cook, 

 "Josh," is the finest cook I ever saw. He gave us a bill of 

 fare in the camp that few first class hotels can equal. The 

 climate is pleasant and delightful for hunting all winter. 

 The game law here allows shooting until April 1. There are 

 plenty of snipe, woodcock, hares, squirrels, etc., hut quail 

 are mostly hunted. Some of the most prominent sportsmen 

 in the couulry have been here Ihis season and express them- 

 selves as having had a "good time." There are three North- 

 ern parties of us now camping out, and we are very much 

 pleased. Tell your friends who want to find good shooting, 

 to come ahead, and they will be sure to find it. I suppose 

 Mr. McAdoo, the proprietor of the McAdoo House, would 

 take pleasure in giving any information. H. J. Boyojs. 

 . ^.».-_ 



WILD CELERY. 



Tape Grass— Valisneria Spiralis. 



New Yohk, Dec. 30, 1881. 



£!(litor Fovent, and Stream : 



Over a year ago you put me in the way of finding out all 

 about wild rice from Mr. Charles Gilchrist, Port Hope, 

 Canada, and the result is the sowing of ten bushels last fall, 

 "where it will do the most good "—for the Bisby Club. 

 Under an attack of wild celery on the brain, I applied to you, 

 a few clays ago, for light on that subject ; and herewith is 

 the very gratifying result in an exhaustive paper from Mr. 

 I). W. Cross, of Cleveland, which you will be glad to pub- 

 lish. H. H. Thompson. 



Mr. Cross writes to Mr. Thompson as follows ; 



Mr. Robt. O. Morris, of Springfield, Mass., to whom I 

 sent, seeds and roots, Oct. (5, 1881, sent me an extract from 

 Prof. H. D. Butler's history of the wild celery, as follows : 

 "Tape Grass, which may be had in the Hudson River, es- 

 pecially near Newburgh, or on the Delaware and Raritan 

 ■ Canal, where it becomes seriously abundant occasionally, 

 about Princeton, N. J. [Add : In the Chesapeake, Dela- 

 ware and Sandusky bays; in several of the interior lakes of 

 Wisconsin, and in portions of Lake St. Clair.] The Valis- 

 nsria s/iiivUx came originally from Italy, and is named 

 after Yalisner, an Italian naturalist, who wrote on insects 

 aid plaut6 in the last century. As the male and female 

 flowers of the plant grow from different roots, care must be 

 taken to secure both for propagation. They may be dis- 

 tinguished without difficulty. Tile female flowers are found 

 oa long, spiral foot-stalks, the male ones on straight, 

 short flower-stalks. The female flower ascends by the assist- 

 ance of a coil, and floats on the surface of the water. The 

 male flowers, when matured, gallantly detach themselves 

 from the plant stalk and follow their "feminine relatives to 

 the surface. Here they expand, float among their favorites, 

 aad impart to them the pollen with which they are ladem 

 The female plant then descends to the bottom, and the pro- 

 cess of reproduction goes on agreeably to the order of 

 nature. The wild celery is also propagated by offshoots. A 

 lateral bIiqo! (a rhizonia) branches from the mother plant and 

 Dashes forward until it discovers some suitable spot in which 

 it may strike root. Here it fixes itself at once, and in its 

 turn assumes all the characteristics of the parent plant, and 

 devotes itself to the same functional peiformances." 



While the above is undoubtedly substantially correct in a 

 scientific and botanical sense, yet, by careful observation of 

 the growing plant, 1 have been unable to discover the "straight 

 short flower-stalk" of the male plant. 



IX0WEU5, SEED- POOS, BOOTS ASD BULBS. 



What 1 have observed is this: There are a great many of 

 the. plants that bear no seed. In fact, in deep water there 

 may be found acres of such, while iu water from three to five 

 feet deep, lane patches are found, nearly all bearing seed- 

 pods. Why this is so I cannot tell. It may be that they are 

 all male plants, but as that would appear Unreasonable, I 

 conclude that it is owing to the depth of the water affecting 

 its temperature and the influence which the sun would have 

 in deep water, while in shnaier wa'er it would a,id in 

 warming and maturing the spiral flower stem, the flower and 

 the seed. The growth of the narrow green blades, time or 

 four from each coot, is very rapid They reach the Burface 

 early in August, where the water is from six to eight feet 

 deep. The spiral flower steins, eight to twelve, feet long 

 when the numerous coils are stretched out, also come to the 

 surface in Augusfi, bearing a little three-leafed flower, not 

 bigger than a field-pea. 



Behind the flower the spiral stem (which, at the roo's, is 

 not as large as a common knitting-needle, mid grows slight! \- 

 larger up to the end) enlarges into a seed-pod," which grows 

 to the length of from three to rive inches, and to about the 

 diameter of a clay-pipe stem. Tins seed pod, if undlsinrbi d, 

 flouts ni the Surface until tlie seeds are fully ripe, when it 

 sinks to the bottom, aad as the stem is very brittle is easily 



detached. This seed-pod is also very brittle, and is easily 

 broken into fragments — a wise provision of nature, as each 

 pod contains numerous little black seeds. The seeds are 

 surrounded with a tenacious pulp, transparent and glutinous, 

 extending the whole length of the pod ; and by averaging ten 

 pods, it was found that each pod contained about 412 seeds. 



The roots are similar to those of common lawn grass. On 

 the upper sides of the roots the spiral stem shoots up, and 

 beneath the roots a lateral stem (a rhizoma) shoots out — 

 similar to that from the roots of a potatoe — on the end of 

 which grows a bulb about the size and shape of a small top- 

 onion. This bulb is the principal food of the canvas-back 

 duck. If undisturbed, no doubt a new plant is produced 

 from it. 



To find and secure these bulbs In water from three to eight 

 feet deep appears to he easy enough for the ducks; but so ex- 

 ceedingly brittleare the stems connecting them with the roots 

 that I have found it very difficult to gather them in quanti- 

 ties sufficient for planting. Whether the roots themselves 

 die out every year or are perennial I am not now prepared 

 to say, but I have experiments in progress, which I trust will 

 enable me to determine the fact next fall. 



WHEN TO GATHBB AND HOW TO PLANT. 



The canvas-back ducks and the innumerable mud-hens 

 begin to dive for th* bulbs and to pull up the roots of the 

 wild celery about the 10th or loth of October, in Sandusky 

 Bay, Ohio, but generally the bulbs are not all then fully 

 matured. They grow on until the heavy frosts come. The 

 seed-pods generally complete their growth about the 1st of 

 October, and continue to float on the surface, or near it, 

 until fully ripe, and until severe cold frosts set in. Then 

 thev sink to the bottom, and to gather them then is a very 

 difficult task. It is almost necessary then to gather the seed- 

 pods during the month of October, and generally in the early 

 part of that month. If the proper means could be con- 

 trived I have no doubt that both seed-pods and bulbs could 

 be gathered from the bottom at any time before ice comes, if 

 the water could be found clear enough to see the bottom. 

 Wilh us at our club grounds (bays) the water is seldom clear 

 after the fall storms set in and the tops of the celery have 

 fallen to the bottom. As long as the tops stand up there is 

 little or no sea in our bays, and the water does not get roiled. 



To plant the seeds, the pods, I think, should be broken 

 into sn.all sections and planted where the water is never less 

 than six inches nor more than eight feet deep. It is be- 

 lieved (it is so in our bay) that generally it thrives and goes 

 to seed the best when the water is pretty still and about 3£ 

 to 4i feet deep. 



It does not matter much how hard the bottom may be, 

 whether of clay, gravel or solid rock, provided there be, un- 

 disturbed by currents or waves, a deposit of mud from two 

 inches to two feet deep. I do not think the plant will thrive 

 in sand. It may do so, but, as yet, I have never seen it. The 

 common mud of the marshes, mostly formed from decayed 

 vegetable matter deposited on hard clay deep enough for the 

 plant to take root, and in water so still that the deposit of 

 mud will not be removed, is probably the best place to plant, 

 the wild celery. I think warm water is best, and should the 

 lakes or ponds or marshes selected for the experiment be 

 very deep and cold, or supplied from cold brooks and springs, 

 it might be found best to look for some shallow bayous where 

 the wild rice and the lily-pods will grow, and where the 

 warm sun will have the most influence on the water, away 

 from shade trees and cold springs. If there be any set and 

 swift currents or swift tides avoid them if possible. If cur- 

 rents are moderate plant up stream. The current will then 

 help you scatter and extend your growth. 



The wild celery is exceedingly prolific and will crowd out 

 nearly all other water vegetation, although its leaves are 

 brittle and tender and the roots easily pulled up. 



It is difficult for me lo give the best mode of planting the 

 seeds, roots or bulbs, whenlhave no experience myself in 

 the business. But I would suggest that several ways be 

 tried, and among them the following i Drop some of the 

 seed-pods in the water and let them sink and bury themselves 

 in the mud, as nearly as they would naturally be deposited 

 as possible. Be sure that they sink tc the muddy bottom. 

 Break the seed pods up into small sections and scatter them 

 broadcast over the grounds selected. I think they will sink. 



But what I think is the surest and best way to plant both 

 seeds and roots is as follows : Prepare a tin tube a foot longer 

 than fhe depth of the water; prepare a plunger a foot longer 

 than the tube. Make the tube 14. to 2 inches in diameter. 

 Place the seeds, or bulbs, or roots in one end of the tube ; 

 run the plunger down close to them ; plunge the tube in the 

 water, and the pressure will hold the seeds against the 

 plunger until the tube reaches the bottom. Then gently 

 press the seeds into the mud with the plunger, and your 

 plant is safely deposited just where you want it. A little 

 mud or clay might be put into the mouth of the tube to pre- 

 vent the seed from falling out before reaching the bottom, if 

 thought best. 



If I have omitted anything material please call my affec- 

 tion to it and I will freely impart all 1 know. 



If you will come to our club house in October next, or ad- 

 vise me to whom and where to ship them, 1 will endeavor to 

 see that you have such a supply as will enable you to try the 

 experiment of raising wild celery in the "North- Woods." 



D. W. Caoss. 



States Island. — The Richmond County (Staten Island) 

 Game aud Fish Association held its annual meeting last 

 Monday. The following officers were elected .- Francis 

 Endicott, President; Thomas E Gill, Eirst Vice-President j 

 J. H. Tanderbilt, dr.. Second Vice President; Robert W. 

 Hopkins, Secretary and Treasun r. Directors: SoUthfield, 

 James H. Clark; Norlhfield, Thomas J. ConcCy; Middle- 

 town, Harry C. Jones: Castleton, Jeremiah E. Sullivan: 

 Westfield, George R. Weir. The association received one 

 hundred live quail Monday from Tennessee, which are to be 

 turned loose on the Island for breeding purposes. This is 

 the first installment of five hundred birds ordered. The 

 Supervisors of Richmond county have passed a law pro- 

 hibiting the killing of rabbits after January 1. 



Virginia Shooting -Mr. E. L. Mills, of the Treasury 

 Department, Washington, D. 0., who has just returned from 

 an extended shooting trip through Virginia and North Caro- 

 lina, reports game, especially partridges very scarce in 

 Virginia where they seem to have been nearly exterminated 

 by the extreme cold and deep snows of last winter, [n A (1 1 b 

 Carolina, along the Coast, they are very numerous In seven 

 days Mr. Mills bagged three hundred and four partridges, 

 average of forty-three per day, and in one day's 

 Church's Island, Currituck Sound, he bagged fifty pairs of 

 oanvas-back and red-head duck. — Homo, 



LOADING FOR GAME. 



El Paso, 111. 

 Editor Fore-it and Stream : 



la your issue of December 15 I notice you invite dis- 

 cussion upon the subject of loading for different kinds of 

 game. I think " Birrio" does not put in enough shot for 

 squirrels. I use two and a half drachms powder, and one and 

 one half ounce of No. 4 shot with the best results. It does 

 not take so much powder to throw coarse shot as it does to 

 throw fine. This is a score I made down in "Egypt" last 

 October— I 1 011101011110110101111 

 1. I could not bit the grouse to any great extent. Perhaps 

 I did not load right (three drachms of powder, one and one 

 quarter ounce of No. 7 shot). If so, will some one set me" 

 aright? In shooting ducks and geese I sometimes use this 

 method when the birds fly high — four and one-half drachms 

 of powder, one and one-quarter ounce shot, No. 2. Put the 

 shot in the shells, then pour a small teaspoonful of melted 

 tallow over each load of shot ; shake gently, in order to make 

 it penetrate the shot thoroughly; let cool before putting wad 

 over shot. I have loaded in this way for some time when 

 shooting large game. I do not think it is generally known. 

 It does not wear a gun as wire cartridges do, and gives as 

 good a pattern at the target. The gun I use is a No. 12, and 

 you would not know whether it had been shot by the inside. 



I took the breech-pins out of an old favorite double-barrel 

 muzzle-loader of mine recently, and after I had wiped it out 

 it was as bright almost as new. There were no freckles in 

 the barrels at all, and the breech was only slightly burned. 

 How do you explain this, " Wanderer?" More anon. 



No. 12-Boeb. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



As this is a question involving a long series of trials and, 

 indeed, thoughtful considera'ion, it i3 with reluctance that I 

 give my own views and experience. Nor would I now do 

 so, were it not that you had invited an expression of opinion 

 from your correspondents on a novel subject. Novel, be- 

 cause I venture the assertion that not one in a hundred men 

 who use the breech-loader, full choked, dreams of its possi- 

 bilities when loaded exactly right. 



The muzzle-loader, with its smooth cylinder, certainly 

 offers a tube for the transmission of shot, which, at first sight, 

 fills all the requirements of the most exacting sportsman. 



But given a breech loading gun, the conditions of the prob- 

 lem are entirely reversed. The, loss of gas, and, indeed, the 

 general loss of power made the first breech-loading shot guns 

 detestable in the eyes of every lover of the gun. They scat- 

 tered abominably, and, worse than all, there was a want of 

 range, which term I shall use as synonymous with the word 

 penetration. For a long time the croakers and sneerers had 

 everything their own way ; and as an " open confession is 

 good for the soul," let this writer acknowledge that, while he 

 looked at his costlv gun with rueful glances, he had to sing 

 very low when a Westly Richards or a Manton took the 

 field against him. "Punkin slinger," "scatter gun," "old 

 rattle box"— such were the unsavory, not to say unkind epi- 

 thets that were showered upon my unfortunate first breech- 

 loader. 



Mais nous awns change tmtt cela. By a modification of 

 the bore, the breech-loader no longer scatters ; it no longer 

 hits a duck at fifty yards, which, stunned for a moment, de- 

 liberately gets up and flies away through the ether blue, 

 quacking his triumph over all new fangled notions, breech- 

 loaders especially. No; the trouble is now that the game is 

 mauled. If I shoot a quail with No. 7's by mistake at 25 

 yards, it is not eatable— every bone in the , body broken, and 

 the feathers driven through "and through. Even with No. 

 10's I often allow them to get at least 40 yards before firing. 



I have mutilated quail in swamp shooting, which is entirely 

 snap shooting, with No. 10 shot, so that I had to throw them 

 away. A muzzle-loader is far better in swamp shooting, for 

 your game is then fit to eat. 



When I got my first breech loader, printed instructions for 

 loading accompanied the gun. "From 2 J- drams to 3 

 drams of powder and one ounce shot, No. 8." I laugh 

 as I recall my first trials with my gun. I know that my 

 garden fence, if vet standing, has had a pound of shot iu 

 each plank. 1 shot ducks, quails, rabbits, snipe, and, on 

 two occasions, turkeys with that load. That most of them 

 flew off unharmed, 'if I except an occasional feather, or a 

 bunch of fur, can well be believed. Yet, I banged away 

 persevering! y, and though failing to make large bags, I was, 

 on the whole, well satisfied. In the meantime, an inventive 

 American genius, Roper, I believe, conceived the brilliant 

 idea of choke-boring guns. Now, the powder could be in- 

 creased to make up for the loss in power, and the hard bit- 

 ing, close shooting American gun soon came into general use. 



Well, all this is preliminary. " How do you load for 

 game ?" The following table is the result of years or careful 

 practice and observation : 



For quail, snipe, rabbits or woodcock — o] drams coarse 

 powder, l| oz. No. 10 shot in first barrel ; same load, No. 7, 

 in second. 



F.ir ducks, squirrels or pigeons— 4 drams coarse powder, 



I I ■ z. No. (i shot in first barrel ; same load, No. 4, in sec- 

 ond. 



If the same game rises wild use No. 8 in first barrel and 

 6's in second. Remember that chilled shot, in all cases, will 

 kill cleaner and give a much closer pattern and much greater 

 range. Use a No. 11 wad on powder (pink edge) it the gun 

 is 12 gauge. If a 10 bore use a No. 8 wad. This will give a 

 much" better penetration thau if you use two wads of same 

 size as the bore of your gun on powder. Use a mallet and 

 give the wad on powder two or three bard blows. See that 

 the wads are sent, home square and straight, for remember 



tal a poor grin will Shoot belter than a good one if the latter 

 is badlv loaded. Try your gun with these loads, and if 

 your second barrel will put from 160 to '-TO No. 7's in a 

 three-foot circle at 40 yards you have a choice field gun. 

 Pay no attention to the wonderful targets of 275 to 315, for 

 such gunfl are practically worthless lit you fi rgamc shooting. 

 Tull are not glass ball hunting; you are shotting swift flying 

 birds, and you need a gun that will disclose some amiability 

 in shooting, not exacting a central aim through bushes, 

 briers or tree?. The great trouble with most sportsmen is a 

 disire to use too orach shot. For a long time I used 1 oz- 

 shot. H "is plenty. Certainly the penetration is better, but. 

 for snap shooting of all kinds U oz. is far better, as giving a 

 greater spread. Ano' her worse thing is using shot that are 

 too larsre. Any good bum will fill a ihree foot Circle at from 

 :!5 to 50 yard* fullof No 10 shot. IE.JOU cannot aim true 

 en aigli to cover that space, certainly the addition of h oz. of 



lq il b coarser kind will not enable you to k i 1 1 youi a 

 A iu, if vour eun will not kill clean with No. 10'8 at a dis- 

 tance wider 00 yards, write to me and I wUl give you my 



