FOREST > AND '• STREAM. 



26? 



Srst marked success. The earliest efforts were applied 

 liver. This was originally a tine salmon 

 eckless fishing and the erection of impas- 

 waa entirely depopulated, as to that spec.es, many 

 /: the final blow ::.. lb; fishing being given. by the 

 Lawrence. Very soon after it was built, the salmon 

 ppeared from the river. The Lawrence dam is 

 ,. obstruction that they meet in ascending the river. 

 us (seventeen or more), not a salmon was seen 

 tear this dam. Fur i he last seven or eight years a fish- 

 es been maintained, and a constant watch kept for sal 

 ascending it, but not one was seen until this year. On 

 lay of May last, the water of the flshway 

 drawn down for the purpose of examination, a 

 salmon was found hi it. From that time through the 

 mith of June, the water in the fishway was drawn down 

 or twice daily, and salmon found therein every day, 

 hut two or three, and on some days as many as four salmon 

 found. The examination occupied about fifteen m in - 

 each time, and during the rest of each twenty-four hours 

 the water was running constantly, and probably salmon as- 

 cending ali the time. This examination was continued untd 

 July, and salmon still continued to ascend. On the 

 July four were found ; on the 5th five were found at 

 lime in the fishway and more close to the entrance of 



Above Lawrence the salmon passed the dam at Lowell and 



neater, and were seen in large numbers at Livermore 



place on the Petnigevvassett, the principal tributary 



of the kiornmack, where it was a common occurrence for 



iheiii to he seen asceuding the falls. At Manchester, also, a 



nfin.y of them were seen.' There seems to be ground 



limiting the number of salmon in the river at thou- 



unrl be for«j winter sets in they will have laid millions 



in the upper waters. 



There lias been a good deal of skepticism as to the possi- 



of restoring salmon to rivers from which they have been 



.imueil. But the evidence afforded by the Merrimack 



Ifiver is ample to remove all reasonable doubts. The meas- 



i success is very gratifying, and is altogether above what 



conducting the experiment had expected, and has re- 

 newed the interest taken in the subject by the people of New 

 ' e and Massachusetts. 



non came from eggs that were taken at Bucks- 



liatched in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, and set 



i i he upper waters of the Merrimack. Their return to 



[errirnack is strong evidence in favor of tlie accepted 



tueory— that salmon when full-grown will return from the 



ivcrs in which they passed their infancy. 



Another question answered satisfactorily is that of the prac- 



working of the fishway of the Merrimack River, 



especially that at Lawrence, which appears to have answered 



its purpose admirably. In connection with this matter it may 



be remarked that the great fishway at Bangor, built last 



, has also proved entirely successful. There is also now 



no doubt of the success of the attempt to introduce shad into 



the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Several years ago 



g shad were placed in the tributaries of the Ohio by the 



I States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. These 



had to descend the river nearly two thousand miles, to the 



f Mexico, and, having attained full size, returned to the 



river. They actually did this, and not less than 400 grown 



in fine condition, were caught last summer in the Ohio 



River near Louisville. 



Altogether, the prospect of the complete success of fish 

 culture in this country was never more promising. 



> — -©— — 



Growth of Teout — Editor Forest and Stream : — I notice 

 iu your last issue a communication with regard to the growth 

 of trout in their first year. My experience teaches me that 

 trout can be grown to seven or even eight inches the first year, 

 iu my Lodore hatching house I have trout hatched last Janu- 

 ary and February that will measure five inches to-day, and 

 i lie past season has not been favorable for growing trout. I 

 yet been able to make my land-locked salmon keep 

 up with the trout fry in growth. The largest of these will 

 measure about four inches now. In drawing off my fry pond 

 ing, I seldom fail to find yearlings from seven to 

 eight inches long. 



Very sincerely yours, Levi Hodges. 



Turringtvn Mill, Conn., Oct. 31. 



^aadhnd, <$nrm nnd §>nrdm. 



Tins DKIW1ITMENT IS EDITED BY W. ,1. DAVIDSON, SEO. N. T. 

 UORTICVJI/1TRAL HOOTETV. 



NOVEMBER. 



Large Trout — Editor Forest and Stream : — In your last, 

 Dr. Gin lick criticises Mr. Hasbrouck's statement about the 

 growth of trout. Now I don't know how either of these gen- 

 tlemen measure the length of a fish. My understanding is 

 that the proper measure is from the tip of the nose lo the end 

 ol the tail, or caudle fin. If so, Mr. H. does not tell a very 

 big fish story. For twelve years I have kept my fry separate 

 bom older trout, ancLat the age of nine months', which must 

 have been about the age of those spoken of by Mr. Hasbrouck, 

 have often had them from four to six inches long. I have also 

 sold and put these fish into brooks and ponds where there 

 never was a trout, before, and their growth has been nearly 

 equal to those spoken of by Mr. II. 



From reading Dr. Garlick's article I judge that he kept his 

 ti'uiit in small ponds near the spring. If so, they would not 

 grow as fast as trout in warmer water or larger ponds. My 

 pi-act ce is to sell my trout off for eatmg when two years old 

 —the time the doctor says they begin to g-ow — and they ave- 

 rage about half a pound. There is a greater contrast in the 

 growth of fish than any other creatures, and trout that have 

 been for many years confined in small shallow streams will 

 get dwarfed. I think likely these are the kind that the doc- 

 tor lued from. A portion of my trout come from eggs sent 

 ma by Seth Green in 1865 from the Caledonia ponds (now N. 

 Y. State ponds) and I presume that Mr. II. obtained his stock 

 from same ponds. A. Palmer. 



tioscoM, 117*., Oct. 30, 1877. 



Puce for Oneida Lake.— The enterprising Central City 

 Spoilsman's Club, of Syracuse, have procured from Princeton, 

 Minn., a barrel of wild rice which has been sown along the 

 shores of Oneida Lake. 



*• » — 



SPLIT BAMBOO RODS. 



To our customers and the public :— In reply to the damag- 

 ing reports which have been circulated respecting the quality of 

 Dtit split bamboo rods, by "dealers " who are unable to com- 

 pete with us at our reduced prices, we have issued a circular 

 which we shall be pleased to mail to any address, proving the 

 falsity of their assertions. 



COXROT, BlBSETT & MaIXESON, 



Manufacturers, 65 Fulton Street, N. Y, 



Next was November ; lie full grosse and fat 

 As fed with lam, and that right well might seente : 

 l r '! : Had been a- fatting tioga of late, 

 That yet his brows with Bweat did reek and steem, 

 And .vet the season was full sharp and breem; 

 In planting eeke he took no small delight: 



Whereon lie rode, not easy was to deerne ; 

 For i i , a dreadra.ll Centaure was in sght, 

 The seed of Saturue and fair Nais, Chiron night. 



— Sfenckr. 



be made to look green by the same means, and at some future 

 day so fertile as to produce valuable crops, both for man and 

 for boast. And all this from the operation of causes which 

 have effected great and important changes iu the past, not 

 only in raising embankments to arrest the encroachments of 

 tides, but in elevating brackish meadows to a level more con- 

 ducive to the health and prosperity of whole communities. 

 And so we never look upon such places, bearing their loads of 

 rank grasses and sedges, without being impressed with the 

 greatness of those forces which have hitherto wrought and 

 will continue to work through all time for the accomplishment, 

 we doubt not, of great and beneficent ends. A. Veitou. 

 New Haven. 



ORCHIDS AS FLORIST'S FLOWERS. 



IT has recently been mooted in the Florist, England, by 

 Mr. Anderson, the well-known " Meadow Bank Orclfid 

 Grower," that Orchids are florists' flowers. Notwithstand- 

 ing, be. says, the grotesqucness of form and feature of the gen- 

 eral run of Orchidaceous species, ttiey are being fast elevated, 

 as the florist would say— degraded.asthe botanist might say — 

 to the rank of florists' flowers. However startling the assump- 

 tion may at first sight appear to many, it can, nevertheless, be 

 supported by irrefragable evidence. Take any popular spe- 

 cies, and what do we find? Why, this : that the variety 

 which will best stand the severe scrutiny of a florist's eye is 

 by far the most valuable. The same law that enacts that 

 form, substance, color and general symmetry shall take pre- 

 cedence over the general ruck of florists' flowers holds good 

 among all popular Orchids. Any one can find this out by 

 trying to purchase the rarities among the varieties of species. 

 The fact is that so innumerable are the importations of re- 

 cent years, and so very numerous the varieties of species, that 

 two-thirds of all the poor varieties — poor from a florist's point 

 of view— are all unsaleable ; at least, if people buy them, it is 

 only to get rid of them as soon as possible after they have 

 proved themselves. When he began cultivating Orchids, he 

 was most anxious to secure anything in the way of a species, 

 no matter whajj. Nowadays, collectors find it to be both to 

 their interest and satisfaction in every way to secure first- 

 class varieties, many times at whatever cost. Take Odonto- 

 glossums for instance, no. matter whether it be Alexandra?, 

 Pescatorei, triumphant, grande, citrosmum, cirrhosum, or 

 any down the line of species in any catalogue, some sorts 

 will bring as many, dollars at a sale, if they be known to be 

 super-excellent, as others will bring cents. And so it is with 

 Cattleyas, with Yandas, with ^Brides, with Saccolabiums, and 

 with every popular Orchid. It may be form, or substance, or 

 color, or exquisite symmetry, or all combined; but the individ- 

 ual that possesses all these in the greatest degree will be run up- 

 on by the savans in the matter of flower- value. "I have there- 

 fore," he adds, "to congratulate the General Assembly of flor- 

 ists for the good work they have done, are doing, and doubtless 

 will continue to do, in bringing together the above races of 

 plants, from the commonest border flower to the most aristocrat- 

 ic Orchid, so as to subject them 111 to severe eye-criticism. It is 

 only in this way that the best can be taken and placed, and the 

 worst left and uncertificated." There is doubtless much truth 

 in this view of the question, notwithstanding the sneers with 

 which florists' flowers are sometimes visited. 



MUSHROOM HOUSES AND MUSH- 

 ROOMS. 



* CALAMAGROSTIS ARENARIA. 



SOME grasses which are of little value to the agriculturist 

 have yet their uses, and many of them perform most im- 

 portant parts in the economy of nature as well as supply vari- 

 ous wants to which man is subject. This is true of O. armaria, 

 a grass which grows by the seashore, more especially on sand 

 beaches, both in Europe, and America, and is known by its 

 strong running roots, harsh leaves and compact spikes of 

 nearjy white flowers, which are objects of mucli interest to 

 the collector of grasses for winter ornaments, as well as to the 

 botanical student. But it is more for its utility in fixing shift- 

 ing sands, and thereby forming barriers against the encroach- 

 ments of the sea that it has been esteemed both in Europe and 

 America. So fully has this property been understood that its 

 destruction has long been prohibited by legislative enactments, 

 in some countries in Europe, and I believe measures some- 

 what similar have been resorted to in this. And nowhere 

 perhaps, have more favorable results been obtained from 

 planting it than at Cape Cod, where inroads of the sea have in 

 some places been stayed, and the streets of a city once liable 

 to be covered with drifting sand now entirely exempt from 

 this scourge. 



But examples of this character are to be met with nearer 

 home, and nowhere, perhaps, in a more striking manner than 

 on the East Haven shore, Conn., where for a distance of about 

 a mile a huge embankment of sand has been reared, just 

 above tide level, and backed by long stretches of swampy 

 flats, which might in some parts be overflowed, or encroached 

 upon by the ehaling of the tides, were it not for this natural 

 barrier. This ridge has been formed by drifting sand findinsr 

 a resting-place among the grass, and as it has increased in 

 height, the grass also has continued to rise and maintain itself 

 atop. 



We have also seen this grass performing good service on 

 ancient river terraces where steep precipices lead up from 

 river beds to cultivated fields, which but for the roots being 

 woven into a net work sufficiently strong to keep the materials 

 in place would, from the action of the weather and other 

 causes, tend toward a lower level. 



These facts suggest the advantages to be gained by planting 

 the Calamagrostis where it does not now exist— on the brinks 

 of rivers or other places exposed to the innovations of floods, 

 or where runs might be caused by heavy rain storms. We 

 have also seen sand flats in jjood neighborhoods wluch might 



Me. Editor— Your article on m u shrooms was excellent and 

 most seasonable, the points well taken and the advice good ; 

 yet, with your permission, I would like to add a few words. 

 No crop is more likely to give satisfaction in a family than a 

 good supply of mushrooms. They can be used in so many 

 ways, their flavor is so grateful in so many dishes, and their 

 culture so easy, that they should be grown by every one who 

 can find room and time enough to attend to them. And if we 

 consider the fact that mushrooms spring up most abundantly 

 on old pastures, more especial!}' in a season like this, while 

 the earth retains its heat and the nights begin to lengthen and 

 become cool, and are highly charged with atmospheric mois- 

 ture, we have some guide to their treatment under artificial 

 conditions. Without this kind of atmosphere, however care- 

 fully the beds are made and attended to, the results will not 

 be satisfactory, more especially as a good deal of fire heat may 

 be required to keep the temperature up to its proper height. 

 The best of all situations, when available, in which to grow 

 mushrooms, are underground caves, such as .supply the Paris 

 markets with such vast quantities. [See following article — Ed.] 

 These conditions are a still humid atmosphere, and where a 

 succession of beds is constantly in course of formation, the 

 air becomes charged with ammonia, which wonderfully assists 

 the growth of the young mushrooms. When such situations 

 are not available, the best plan for securing the required 

 amount of humidity is to keep a heap of fresh fermenting 

 manure in it, and frequently turn it over. This will*e found 

 superior in effect to any evaporating trough or steaming appa- 

 ratus, and the beds will continue in bearing for an unusual 

 length of time. The method of making the beds was des- 

 cribed so fully that I need not enter upon it further than to 

 say that we mix a good quantity of fresh loam with the stable 

 manure, which moderates the heat and makes it more lasting. 

 A temperature in the beds of 80 deg. at spawning time, and 

 an air heat of 55 deg., we find to suit admirably. Another 

 and important point is a good clayey loam with which to 

 earth up the beds. This shquld be beaten down as hard as 

 mallet and spade can make it, and wetted so that a smooth 

 spade will slide over it. One of the many advantages of a 

 firm surface to the beds is that the mushrooms form on the 

 surface, and are easily gathered without injury to the bed; 

 but with soil of a loose texture the majority will form on the 

 manure, and cannot be gathered without disturbing the growth 

 of many of the successional ones. J. G. 



Mushroom-Growing in Paris. — Mushroom-growing, as it is 

 carried on in some parts of France, is one of the most extra- 

 ordinary examples of culture in the world. In the vicinity of 

 Paris are extensive stone-quarries, long since abandoned, from 

 which the stone has been extracted as coal is obtained, leaving 

 extensive caves sixty or seventy feet under ground, and ex- 

 tending great distances, in some instances fairly under the city 

 itself. Jn these caves the temperature is very equal, and the 

 atmosphere moist; and here mushroom-growing has been 

 brought to its fullest development. The floor of the cave is 

 carefully swept, and the beds are then made of the dust from 

 the stone-cutting yards above, mixed with stable-manure. 

 These beds are about twenty-two inches in height and the 

 same in width, ranged in parallel rows, between which there 

 is just room to walk, The temperature of the bed is carefully 

 noted, during the fermentation of the manure, and the spawn 

 of the mushroom is not sown until it is below 76 deg. Fahr. ; 

 since, if it is above this, the layers of spawn are liable to be 

 burnt. The spawn when sown is covered with manure, which 

 is removed as soon as vegetation begins, and is replaced ^ by 

 earth. The details of making the beds, watering them, pick- 

 ing the crop, and renewing the spawn vaiy in different locali- 

 ties, but the general system is everywhere the same. The 

 mm broom caves at Montrouge, just outside the fortifications 

 of Paris, on the southern side, are reached by descending 

 well-like, pits by means of a ladder, which is simply a single 

 pole with sticks run through it to serve as steps. From the . 

 bottom of this pit little passages radiate. They are sometimes 

 narrow and often very low, but every inch of available room 

 is made use of, and as many beds are crowded together as 

 possible. Everything is kept scrupulously neat, and no litts r 

 is left strewn about, as one would naturally expect. Another 

 type of mushroom cave is to be found at Frepillon, Mery-sur- 

 Oise, where are the quarries for the building-stone and plaster 

 so largely used in Paris. The excavations here are not in 

 small, narrow passages, as in those previously described, but. 

 form large, vaulted apartments. The beds are arranged iu 

 rows, in such a manner as to make the most of the space, and 

 here, as elsewhere, the practice of planting a certain number 

 of beds every day in the year is observed, so that the supply 

 is unfailing. An idea of the magnitude of the mushroom 

 business may be f owned, when it is known that one proprietor 

 has twenty-one miles of beds, another sixteen, another seven, 

 and so on, through a long list. Among numerous localities 

 in which the mushroom culture is carried on, besides the two 

 mentioned, the principal are " Moulin de la Roche," Sous 

 Bicetre, near St. Germain, and at Bagueux. These caves, 

 like mines, are under government supervision, and vary in 

 depth from twenty to one hundred and fifty or sixty feet. 

 Coal-mines arc not adapted for growing mushrooms, and the 

 smallest particle of iron in the beds of manure is avoided by 

 the spawn, a circle around it remains inert. It is said to be 

 the same with coal. 



