106 



FOREST ?AND? STREAM. 



about and festoon all the undergrowth and branches. This is 

 but one illustration of what has been done, and the grounds 

 which it brightens and beautifies oontaia many other group- 

 ings of similar character. Native plants have not been ex- 

 cluded simply because they fail to possess the merit of rarity, 

 but even the every day and common Sumach is to be seen in 

 groups and singly, wherever its bright scarlet tints can be 

 made tributary to the general effect. Probably no one spe- 

 cies presents such a diversity of color as the Red or Swamp 

 Maple (Acer rubrmn). On one leaf we have before now been 

 able to trace ten distinct colors and shades, and all in such 

 harmonious combinations as to create the impression of a di- 

 rect and special design. There are also many of our common 

 native shrubs that can be made objects of beauty by the dis- 

 play of a little taste in planting them. As, for instance, the 

 wild Blackberry with the deepest shade of crimson on its 

 autumn foliage. Examples might be multiplied, but enough 

 has been said to illustrate our idea of a neglected phase in 

 landscape adornment. Now is the time to note all the vary- 

 ing tints for more practical use hereafter, and if the subject 

 receive the attention to which its merits entitle it, the time 

 will come when our foreign visitors will have no occasion to 

 rtpeat what is still a frequent question, "Why do you not 

 make use of the most beautiful feature of your forests?" 



We have heard so much of late years of the quantity of 

 plants and flowers used for decoration at some of the large 

 parties and balls given by some of our millionaires, and the 

 following paragraph from the Gardener's Chronicle, London, 

 will exemplify how they do it in England : 



We are informed that at a ball in Belgrave Square on the 

 9th ult. Mr. Wills supplied and arranged in one day 59 large 

 Palms, Dracamas, etc., from 12 to 20 feet high, including 

 many splendid specimens of Cocos flexuosa, 15 feet high ; 60 

 Palms, from 6 to 15 feet high ; 188 various Palms and foliage 

 plants, from 4 to 10 feet high ; 1 extra large Seaforthia elegans, 

 25 feet high; 292 foliage plants and Palms, from 3 to 6 feet 

 high ; 10 large Phormium tenax, 6 by 10 feet ; 107 plants of 

 Wills' new hybrid Dracaenas, from 3 to 5 feet ; 72 large Ferns, 

 from 3 to 7 feet high ; 84 Cyperus, various, 683 Creeping 

 Jenny (Lysimachia),2,880 Lycopodium denticulatum, 84 hand- 

 some foliaged Begonias, 209 Adiantum cuneatum, 109 A. far- 

 leyense, 50 Sedums, 50,Panicum variegatum, 60 large Ivies in 

 pots, 10 feet high, 20 Cocos Weddelliana for centre of refresh- 

 ment tables,- 1416 choice flowering plants, 150 handsome Liliums 

 (specimens), 72 Crassula coccinea (specimens), 48 choice Or- 

 chids, etc., 72 Isolepis gracilis, 72 Tradescantias, 150 various 

 creeping and trailing plants ; total, 7271 plants, 72 spikes- 

 Tuberoses, handsome ; 6500 cut Roses, Stephanotis, cut Or- 

 chids, etc., 22 tons clear block ice, 5 tons of Derbyshire spar, 

 1 ton of virgin cork bark, 4 vanloads of green moss (equal to 

 1200 bunches). Large grottos were constructed, water for 

 f nun tains, waterfalls, etc., laid on. The total cost of the above 

 considerably exceeded .£1,000. Thus it will be seen that the 

 cost of such entertainments has been much underrated by the 

 general press. Of the taste and good sense that prompts such 

 lavish expenditure we say nothing. 



J. R. — Many thanks. Your asters are very fair, but not 

 up to the mark. They look as if more liberal watering would 

 have improved them. 



J. D. — Dioncea museipula (Venus' fly-trap) can be had 

 from an3^ of our principal nurserymen. As it goes to rest in 

 the winter season it will do little good with you till toward 

 spring. 



P. W. — The yellow flower is Solidago altissima, a very 

 beautiful and striking species. The purple one, Vernonia nova- 

 boracensis or Iron weed, and the pinkish one with the strong 

 camphor scent, Pleuchea camphorata, the latter you must 

 have gathered in a salt meadow. Please number them in 

 future.— Ed.] 



?#* mut Ewer 



Western Fioea.— The party of scientists, among whom 



are Professor Asa Gray, of Harvard College and Sir Joseph D. 



Hooker, of Europe, who have been making special scientific 



explorations in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada, have 



collected over 600 species of plants. The botanical results of 



the expedition are to be embodied in the report of Professor 



Hayden's survey. 



> . i. . 



The Ivt Gkeen.— A slip of the English ivy, the original 

 slip of which was taken from off Shakespeare's grave, has 

 been planted before the front wall of the Suffield, Conn., 

 Episcopal Church. 



— The Entomological Commissioners who were sent out 

 West by the Government say there need be no fear of grass- 

 hoppers this year. 



— There is a sunflower in Adrian, Mich., the stalk of which 

 is 11 feet 8 inches high and 11 inches in circumference, and 

 bears 99 blossoms.— Ex. 



—A large mushroom is said to have forced its way through 

 twelveiuches of concrete covered with a thick layer of asphalt 

 in the floor of the Savings Bank Department of the General 

 Post Office in London. 



—Peck & Snyder have issued a complete Archery Manual, 

 giving full directions as to the use of the long bow, etc. At 

 their house in Nassau street will be found a full line of sport- 

 ing 



FISH IN SEASON IN SEPTEMBER. 



FKE8H WATEB. 

 Trout, Salmo fontinalis, 

 Salmon, Salmo salar. 

 Salmon Trout, Salmo confinis. 



SALT WATER. 



Sea Bass, Sclamops ocellatus. 



Slieensheail, Archoswrgua proboto- 

 aaimon Trout, Salmo confinis, ccphalus. 



Land-locked Salmon, Salmo ghveri. Striped Bass, Roccun linneatus. 



R-rftVlhrn /.-,.?,-..,. T*r,,i«^ -d..-,.!. *./-„.. . • - 



U r ay 1 i ng, Thymallus tri . . . 



Slack Bass, Micropterus satowndes.- Weakilsli, Cynmcion regalia 



;olor. 



White Perch, Morone annericancu 



M. nigricans. 

 Mascalonge, Esox nobilior. 

 Pike or Pickerel, Esox lueius. 

 Yellow Perch, Pcrca flavescens. 



Bluefish, Pmnatomufi saltatrix. 

 Spanish Mackerel, Cybium macula- 

 turn. 

 Cero, Cybium regale. 

 Bonito, Sarda pdamys. 

 Kingfish, Menticirrus nebulosus. 



Fish is Makket.— Owing to the severe storms of the past 

 week, the stalls do not present such an appearance of plenty 

 as marked them a short time ago. Our quotations are : 



Striped bass, 18 to 25 cents per pound ; smelts, 25 cents ; 

 bluefish, 10 cents ; salmon, frozen, 30 cents ; mackerel, 

 15 cents ; weakfish, 15 cents ; Spanish mackerel, 20 cents ; 

 green turtle, 15 cents ; terrapin, $15 ; halibut, 15 cents ; 

 haddock, 6 cents; king-fish, 25 cents; codfish, 8 cents; black- 

 fish, 15 cents ; flounders, 8 to 10 cents ; sea bass, 18 cents ; 

 eels, 18 cents ; lobsters, 8 cents ; scollops, $1.75 per 

 gal. ; soft clams, 30 to 60 cents per 100 ; Salmon trout, 

 18 cents ; sheepshead, 25 cents ; whitefish, 15 cents ; 

 hardshell crabs, $3.50 per 100; soft crabs, $1.50 per dozen. 



Mt. Kineo House, Moosehead Lake, Sept. 5.— The Septem- 

 ber fishing provinces to be unusually fine this year. I took 

 four trout in North Bav yesterday, aggregating ten and a half 

 pounds. The Kineo House was never better patronized. 



T. 



Monster Turtle.— As Dr. "Walton and the Rev. Mr. Hazle- 

 wood were returning to the city from a yachting cruise, they 

 saw an enormous sea turtle swimming near Naskeag Point. 

 Three men got a rope attached to him, but instead of being 

 able to pull the prize ashore it could easily pull them to the 

 water, and after making their rope fast to a tree they awaited 

 the going down of the tide, which left him high and dry. 

 The doctor made the following measurements. From tip of 

 nose to the tail, 8 feet ; between the tips of the flippers, ll 

 feet ; length of shell, 5 feet 7 inches ; width of shell, 4 feet 

 6 inches ; length of flipper, 3 feet 6 inches ; weight, of flippers 

 40 pounds ; weight of head, 25 pounds. The doctor estimates, 

 the total weight at 800 pounds. The turtle proved to be blind, 

 his eyes having been put out with charges of buck-shot, 

 which he had received at some time. The fact of his being 

 blind is supposed to be one of the causes of his straying so far 

 from the usual haunts of turtles of his kind. It is evidently 

 the largest turtle ever captured on the coast of Maine.— Bangor 

 Whig. 



New Ha.mpshi.ee — White Mountains. — "Josh Billings," 

 who has been a guest at the Glen House this summer has 

 fished every day while there. His catches are large in number 

 — 200 one day and 400 another — of weight there is no record. 



Ferruhurg, Yt., Sept. 10.— Pike, perch and bass fishing 

 very fair at the present time. 



Massachusetts— Nmd Bedford, Sept. 7.— The bass fisher- 

 men have been very successful the past ten days, especially at 

 No Man's Land, where some thirty have been caught, the 

 largest scoring sixty-seven pounds. At Cuttyhunk and south 

 side of Martha's Vineyard also good catches have been re- 

 ported ; fishing at Cuttyhunk has previously been very poor. 



CONOHA. 



Movements op the Fishing Fleet.— Recent arrivals from 

 the Bay St. Lawrence report the mackerel fishery a failure 

 there, as well as on our own shores, and some of the vessels 

 had not seen a mackerel for a fortnight before leaving the 

 Bay. The vessels already arrived, representing the portion of 

 the fleet meeting with the best success, report an average 

 catch of 183 bbls., which would not be more than half a fare 

 in ordinary seasons, and will not pay the expenses of the voy- 

 age, even at present high prices. Unless the majority of the 

 fleet, still remaining in the Bay, find better fishing this month, 

 which is not deemed probable, most of the vessels will be ob- 

 liged to return empty, and the mackerel fishery will prove a 

 lamentable failure this season. The Shore fleet are doing 

 nothing of consequence. Sch. Maud Mullcr met with a streak 

 of luck off Portland a few days since, and took a fare of 170 

 bbls. mackerel at one haul of the seine, but the rest of the fleet 

 have not been so fortunate, and report mackerel scarce and 

 shy. 



The number of fishing arrivals reported at this port the past 

 week has been 69, as follows: Banks, 11, with 600,000 lbs. 

 codfish, 245,000 lbs. halibut; 31 from Georges, with about 

 375,000 lbs. codfish, 6,000 lbs. halibut; 5 from the Bay St. 

 Lawrence, with 800 bbls. mackerel : 22 from Shore trips, with 

 600 bbls. 



The masters of the vessels returning from the Bay St. Law- 

 rence agree in the opinion that the mackerel have left the Bay 

 and that the fall fishery will be a failure. — Cape Ann Adver- 

 tiser, Sept. 7. 



Beach Haven. — Striped bass fishing is to be had here through 

 September. The best time for catching them is during the ^ 

 first two hours of the flood tide. Bait with soft crabs. 



Einsey's Ashley House, Barnegat Inlet, Sept. 8. — Storming 

 past three days— 2d, 3d, and 4th. From 50 to 200 bluefish 

 for a day were taken by yachts outside the inlet. One party 

 of ladies and children caught 78 on the 2d in front of the 

 house. 



Pennsylvania— Edzriburg.— A. Harris, of New Castle, re- 

 cently captured a salmon weighing nine pounds eleven ounces. 

 This 'is the first salmon taken in this vicinity for twelve or fif- 

 teen years. 



Clearfield, Sept. 8. — Bass fishing is at its height. Famous 

 strings are made by amateurs and experts. The river is still 

 infested with dam builders, who are now, however, likely to 

 come to grief as the Sheriff and District Attorney have taken 

 them in hand. 



Phoenteville.— A bass weighing five pounds was recently 

 captured in the Schuylkill. 



Delawabe.— The Q-ermantown Telegraph gives welcome 

 news of a new and more expeditious route to the perch fish- 

 ing grounds of Betterton. Leaving Broad and Prime streets, 

 in the Baltimore Railroad's fine cars at 8 a. m., or 5J p. m., 

 you get off at Still Pond, which is about six miles from Bet- 

 terton, where you take a conveyance, which is always to be 

 had, and in an hour you are at Betterton, making 5£ hours in 

 all. There are generally many boats every day on the " fish- 

 ing ground," but there is room enough and to spare for all. 

 Storms are to lie provided against by up anchor and scudding 

 in a bee-line for the shore. Perch are more numerous this 

 season than for several years past. 



BJBHXtJeKT— Louisville, Sept. 10.— A party of city anglers 

 are at Keller's Island, Lake Erie, where bass fishing is re- 

 ported excellent. Gen. Geo. B. Hodge is spending his vaca- 

 tion, shooting and fishing, at English Lake, Ind. Hal Grif- 

 wold and Geo. James leave to-morrow for Fourteen-mile 

 creek to spend several days. J. Val Cowling, H. M. Gri«- 

 wold and others will spend six weeks camping on the Kant a- 

 kee, hunting and fishing. They leave the last of the month. 

 R. M. Cunningham and several other gentlemen left to-day 

 for Lawrence on "White River, Indiana, to fish during the 

 week. Fishing is reported excellent there. Mi'. J. R. Mid- 

 dleton returned Wednesday from an extensive fishing excur- 

 sion in Wisconsin. He caught one pickerel that weighed 

 twelve pounds. 



^ Detroit, Sept. 8 — E. W. Reynolds, Charles Tves, William 

 Radcliff and Robert Baker arrived home on Tuesday last from 

 a ten day cruise at the St. Clair Flats. They had very fair 

 success, getting 103 blass bass, and 67 pike. On the 3d inst. 

 L. W. Hallock caught 32 black bass and 2 pickerel. The 

 pickerel weighed 12 pounds each. E. O. Dunfee and L. W. 

 Hallock, on Sept. 4, caught 24 black bass ; H. D. Potter 

 caught 26 black bass on the 5th inst ; Hon. S. Chandler, Geo. 

 Jerome and Alfred E. Brush caught, on Sept. 6, in one hour, 

 50 perch, Mr. Brush catching also a ten pound pickerel. r\i 



feovER^ ^r 3 



California, Watsonville.— The citizens of Watsonville to 

 make the Pajaro Valley a favorite resort for hunting and fish- 

 ing, have organized a Piscicultural Society, and the pretty lakes 

 toward the foothills are to be stocked with fish. 



— " Going a fishing " is the Californian editor's way of an- 

 nouncing the suspension of his paper, from and after date. 



Labrador Fisheeies.— After a scientific exploration of the 

 coast of Labrador by Professor Hind, it was found that the fish 

 on the southern shore of the peninsula have alarmingly de- 

 creased in number since 1870, and the result of the salmon, 

 cod, mackerel, and herring fisheries this season fully sustain 

 the Professor's opinion. Immediately on his return to St. 

 John's, N. F., where he was to report to Sir John Glover, the 

 Governor, he published a warning to the merchants and out- 

 fitters of that island, that if they did not employ larger vessels 

 to sail to the extreme northern coast of. Labrador, one 

 of their most valuable resources would soon be in a condition 

 of hopeless decay. The extreme northern waters are, accord- 

 ing to Hind's report, teeming with fish, which would Buffer no 

 perceptible depletion after twenty years' successive fishing ; 

 while on the other hand the fishing grounds of the southern 

 coast would recover their ancient yield, if the Colonial Gov- 

 ernment were to legislate against fishiDg in that part of Labra- 

 dor for ten or fifteen years. 



Halifax, Sept.9. — The Fishery Commission, it is understood, 

 gave a decision on Friday, previous to adjourning, which 

 completely destroys the idea that the Washington treaty put an 

 end to all disputes relative to the North American fisheries. If 

 the report is correct— and it seems to be well founded — counsel 

 acting for the United States asked the Commissioners to rule 

 that the commission do not consider it within their province 

 to award compensation or take into consideration the advant- 

 age to American fishermen of transhipping cargoes, or buying 

 bait, ice, and supplies Two nays were spent in argument of 

 this question, nearly all counsel of both sides taking part. The 

 counsel for Great Britain took strong ground against the 

 propositions. A large part of the British case was devoted to 

 pointing out the advantages to American fishermen of being 

 in a position to purchase bait and supplies, a claim for large 

 compensation being founded thereon. The American counsel 

 contended that the Washington treaty gave no such privileges 

 to their fishermen, and that the present commission should 

 not take them into consideration. The i ilea of the Americans 

 seems to be that a large number of our people, being interested 

 in trade with American fishermen, will prevent the Dominion 

 Government from interfering with the hitler it they can under 

 present laws, or introducing new legislation for such a pur- 

 pose. The Commissioners gave unanimous decision that they 

 were incompetent to award compensation for transhipment of 

 cargoes in British waters, or for purchase of ice, bait and 

 supplies. 



— "Far be it from us to doubt the word of a brother editor," 

 says the La Crosse Sun. "We believe them all to lie truthful 

 men ; but when the Durand Times says that the water is so 

 low at the mouth of the Chippewa River that catfish have to 

 employ mud turtles to tow them over the bar, we feel as 

 though the editor must be away, and some local minister 

 filling his place." 



—Brandon House, Watterstone & Barton Proprieters, 

 Greenwood Lake, Orange Co., N. Y. Black bass biting well. 

 The cool weather gives excellent opportunities for fishing. 

 Reduced rates; now is the time for sport. Take. Montclair 

 and Greenwood Lake Railroad, foot of Desbrosses St. 



Query. — I like fish stories and have myself caught sharks, 

 and without being captious, and for the purpose of general in- 

 formation, I would like to ask the contributor of "Red Snap- 

 per Falling in the Gulf of Mexico," in Aug. 30th issue, if he 

 intended to infer that the indications of getting the second ten 

 gallons of oil from the one hundred and twenty-five pounds of 

 sharks' liver were real good. Oil weighs about seven pounds 

 per gallon, and that liver was rich in oil and would not leave 

 any scrap. 



So long as your correspondent confined himself to fish, I had 

 nothing to say, for fish caught by myself have never lessened 

 either in number or weight when relating the circumstances of 

 their capture afterward ; but oil is a slippery subject. B. 



Austin, Texas, Sep. 7, 1877. 



Fishing fob Rats.— Recently several lads were seen to 

 enter the main sewer on the left bank of the Seine at Paris 

 by one of the barred outlets to the river. A policeman, curious 

 to know what they were about to do, followed them, and 

 found them seated by the edge of the turbid current fishing 



