192 



RECREATION 



the coldest nights, a few big barrels, which 

 stand up on end when not in use, are laid 

 on their sides on the floor. They are deeply 

 bedded with hay and a burlap bag is tacked 

 over the open end. Two dogs of medium 

 size crawl into them and curl up together, 

 keeping quite warm. This I call pampering 

 them. 



Give a dog too much care in any weather 

 and he loses his natural ruggedness. If he 

 is given a warm cellar to sleep in and arti- 

 ficial heat to lay by his eyes become af- 

 fected, he hates the cold and stays close to 

 his warm spot. A dog that is so treated 

 can never do a day's work in the field. My 

 dogs get a dog's care, but they cannot live 

 in the same house with me. 



Small yards are easily raked off once a 

 week and the refuse buried. In some places 

 it is very easy to keep a dog clean. Where 

 a fancier can stretch a wire from tree to 

 tree or from post to post he can then chain 

 the dog to it where he can take a goodly 

 amount of exercise. Every animal should 

 be thus chained to a wire or yarded. My 

 yards are large, and occasionally I spade 

 them up and sow to rye, oats or some grass. 

 Before spading them, air-slaked lime should 

 be well and thoroughly sifted all over 

 them. 



Cleanliness is worth a deal in the care of 

 dogs. In summer, wash them often or let 

 them swim in the river or a clean creek. 

 Take a bar of soap along and do a good 

 job while you are at it. I use a stout 

 brush with a mighty stiff bristle also. If 

 you do the job gently, the dog soon learns to 

 like it. 



Feeding is quite an item if two or more 

 dogs are kept. I keep about a dozen ! When 

 one was kept he had his feed from the meat 

 cuttings and table scraps, but now a rough 

 dog bread, made of corn meal principally, 

 forms the bill of fare. In late fall and 

 winter many fresh bones from the butcher 

 are given them to play with and crunch on. 

 Some meat is added to the corn bread. 

 During spring and summer corn meal bread 

 straight is the ration, with only a bone oc- 

 casionally to keep the teeth in trim. It 

 does not cost much to feed a dog if one 

 goes at it right. 



A good dog is one largely deriving his 

 quality from careful keeping. "Half is in 

 the feed and half is in the breed — but the 

 biggest half is in the feed." One often 

 hears this among dog fanciers and breed- 

 ers. 



A great amount of pleasure is derived from 

 a good dog, while one poorly cared for 

 bothers neighbors and is an eyesore to the 

 owner. When a dog goes sniffing about the 

 neighbors' and "gets into things" they have 

 a right to do away with him. Keep * the 

 dog at home and always give him kind 

 treatment, 



A BEAR HUNT 



Editor, Recreation : 



Since Recreation has changed hands it is 

 more interesting. I am one of the oldest 

 hunters and trappers in this country. I 

 trapped and hunted in the Adirondacks fifty 

 years ago. I have kept a kennel of hunting 

 dogs fifty-five years. I have got a prize 

 winning English bloodhound, fox, bear, coon, 

 rabbit, bird dogs, greyhounds. 



My last hunt was a bear and coon hunt. 

 Two hunters from Vermont came to my 

 place to buy bear and coon dogs. We had to 

 go about thirty miles to get where the bears 

 were. We started the day before the hunt, 

 got an early start in the morning. As soon 

 as the dogs found a fresh trail we turned 

 them loose. They took the trail, old and 

 young dogs. Away they went full cry. The 

 dogs came up to a bear and two cubs in 

 the big timber, composed of large trees. 

 The bear had a fight with the dogs before 

 she treed. The dogs were all baying when 

 we got here. Some of the young dogs were 

 jumping against the tree. Some were try- 

 ing to chew it down. I climbed a small tree 

 that stood next to the big tree.. I got up 

 even with the bear. I could almost reach 

 her with my gun. The men held the dogs 

 when I shot her down. When she struck the 

 ground the dogs pulled away from the men. 

 The old and young dogs had her by the hind 

 legs. Each one had a good shake at her. 



When we started to take the bear away 

 the dogs went back to another tree, where 

 the two cubs were. One of the Vermont 

 men said he wanted a live cub. He fixed a 

 harness out of some ropes he carried in his 

 game bag. He climbed to where the cub 

 was; with a club he hit the cub a crack on 

 the nose. Down he came. The dogs were 

 all chained to trees. We pounced on the 

 cub and had him in the harness in short order. 

 The other cub went higher up the tree, out 

 on a big limb that reached to a large lean- 

 ing tree with the top broken off. He went 

 in the hollow tree. It being a very large 

 tree and we having no axes with us, we con- 

 cluded to leave him. On our way back to 

 the road the dogs took a trail from a creek ; 

 followed to a coon den in the rocks. We 

 soon had the coons out. The Vermont men 

 said those dogs beat anything they ever saw 

 for coon and bear hunting. We had all the 

 game we could take with us and the live 

 cub, which took two men most of the time 

 to manage. When we got to the mountain 

 road a man came along with a two-horse 

 lumber wagon. We loaded in the game ; got 

 to where our rig was already waiting to 

 take us to Saratoga. We had a good sup-, 

 per and lots of hunting. We related adven- 

 tures that evening. The two Vermonters 

 started home next morning with their two 

 bear and coon dogs — their cub in a stout 

 box — two happy men. 

 O. F. Blanchard, Saratoga Springs, N, Y. 



