47° 



RECREATION 



2,000,000 and 3,000,000. In 1904 the number 

 reached 6,326,000 and in 1905, 7,669,000. It is 

 expected that oven this astonishing record will be 

 exceeded in 1906. This continuous fish propaga- 

 tion insures the angler first-class sport for years to 

 come. The 1905 distribution in detail is shown on 

 the accompanying sheet. 



To Preserve Mianows 



Editor Recreation: 



I would like to ask for a receipt for a prepara- 

 tion to keep small minnows (for trout bait) from 

 getting soft in hot weather. It has been my ex- 

 perience that you put minnows an inch and a 

 half long in bait box for four hours on a hot day 

 and they get bloated and so soft you cannot keep 

 them on a hook. Have used dry salt, but do not 

 like it although it makes them tough. They seem 

 to get hard and dry crooked and do not look 

 natural in the water, so do not seem to soak up 

 when vou get them wet. Enclosed find stamp for 

 reply. E. A. Kersting. 



Alcohol or formaldehyde might suit. — Editor. 



the future and understood the speech of animals. 

 So don't bite your thumb at Seton's stories. 



On Photographing Fish 



The photograph published in the April num- 

 ber of Recreation of a cusk is a most remark- 

 able photograph, inasmuch as it was taken of the 

 fish while the latter was free in the waters of 

 Lake Chelan. All of those who have attempted 

 to photograph fish in the water will appreciate 

 the difficulties which our correspondent, Mr. 

 James W. Nichol, had to overcome to secure 

 this picture. It is one thing to photograph a 

 fish in the aquarium where you can arrange your 

 light to suit yourself and take a side view, but it 

 is entirely a different proposition to photograph 

 a fish from above when it is down in the natural 

 waters. 



Good Fishing at Manistee 



Editor Recreation: 



The fishermen are having great sport here on 

 Portage Lake catching perch, ciscoes and herring 

 through the ice. Ciscoes and herring are caught 

 near the surface with hook and line; hook with 

 white bead being used. Some fishermen have 

 caught as high as three hundred per day. Some 

 good strings of large perch" are being taken, and 

 occasionally a grass pike. C. R. Harris. 



Manistee, Mich. 



The Salmon of Knowledge 



We have at last discovered how Ernest Thomp- 

 son Seton learned the language of animals. It is 

 said he is descended from Fion, of the Magic 

 Thumb. Fion got his peculiar thumb from a 

 creature called the Salmon of Knowledge. This 

 fish gives prophetic and poetic genius to him who 

 eats it. Fion was ordered by his master to prepare 

 such a fish for the table, but, being an awkward 

 cook, he burnt his thumb and thrust it into his 

 mouth to cool it. Immediately the servant received 

 the gift intended for his master. He at once knew 

 all that was past and all that was to happen in 



Commissioner Whipple Recommends 



Commissioner Whipple, of the New York State 

 Forest, Fish and Game Department, suggests in 

 his annual report submitted to the Legislature 

 that the leasing by the State of camp and cottage 

 sites within the State forest preserve would ac- 

 complish two things without injury to the park 

 lands. 



Under the constitutional provision no one is per- 

 mitted to erect a permanent structure on these 

 lands. Commissioner Whipple suggests the leas- 

 ing will bring an annual revenue into the State 

 treasury of nearly $300,000; would make every 

 camp owner a protector of the forests from fire, 

 and would make the Adirondack Park accessible 

 to the masses. 



He also suggests that the law prohibiting the 

 pollution of streams be strengthened; that the 

 right of the State to close inland waters be more 

 clearly defined. 



During the year the State propagated at its 

 fisheries 171,000,000 fish, as compared with 111,- 

 000,000 in 1904. The large proportion of the in- 

 crease was in game fish, particularly in trout. The 

 fines collected during the year aggregated $58,548, 

 an increase of $34,911 over 1904. 



Difference in Pounds 



Jessie Mondie, of Quincy, caught a catfish 

 which weighed, when dressed, 100 pounds. We 

 know some girls that cost more than £100 when 

 dressed. 



This Reminds Us 



Of the tradition that if a cat gets on a person's 

 breast while that person is asleep he will breathe 

 in the sleeper's face and the victim will die. But 

 a little kitten in a New York police station got on 

 the breast of the sleeping captain of the precinct 

 — and the kitten died! 



Fisherman's Luck 



BY IRENE POMEROY SHIELDS. 



The very best fish of the season's catch 



Is "the one that got away"; 

 The biggest bass and the gamiest trout 



Are cooling their sides to-day, 

 And telling the tales of their narrow escapes 



To the crony across the way. 



The very best "catch" of the season's beaux 

 Is the one that escaped the lure; 



The witching wile and the tempting bait, 

 And now, with a heart secure, 



Sits placidly smiling at Cupid and Fate, 

 And dreaming of maidens demure. 



But courage is high and hearts are strong 



While life lasts hopes remain; 

 Miss Simon-Peter and gentle Old Ike 



Next season will try again; 

 And given a year for devising fresh lure, 



Their efforts may not prove in vain. 



