FOREST AND STREAM. 



449 



down brightly on the ice we had so long ago wished to cross, 

 as calmly as if there had been no suffering ou Its surface, no 

 disappointment of being absent from anxious friends, no feel- 

 ings of misery and almost of despair, but we looked up at 

 her placid face, and thanked her for the light she was shed- 

 ding on our dangerous path. Each of us, led by one of the 

 fishermen, slowly and carefully crossed the treacherous 

 ice ; but intuitively these men avoided all dangerous places 

 and ice holes, and at five in the morning put, ns on lerrafirma. 

 It was such a relief ^as one experiences when, after being 

 haunted by a hideous* dream, one wakes to rind it but a dream. 

 It was as a reprieve from death. No vehicles could at that 

 «ime be found, but how gladly, though utterly prostrated in 

 mind and body, we trudged our way through the snow, and 

 faced bitter cold to the hotel, none knew better than ourselves; 

 and in writing these words my kindliest thoughts revert to 

 the painstaking and patient fisherman of the cabanne en the 

 St. Charles— Christie Gunner. 



For forest ami Stream and Rati ami Gun 



SPRING AND SUMMER SHOOTING. 



EARLY REMIN1S0EN0E8 OF WISCONSIN. 



Franklin, Wis., Deo. 19, 1877. 



AS long ago as 1848, the late Henry William Herbert 

 (Frank Forester), than whom a touer or nobler sports- 

 mam never lived, called the attention of American sportsmen 

 to the barbarous practice of spring snipe shooting aud sum- 

 mer woodcock shooting in the following words : 



"The shooting of these birds (snipe) in spring, as they are 

 either pairing here preparatory to breeding, or moving north- 

 ward preparatory to pairiDg or even actually breeding, as is 

 the case when they are shot in May, is precisely what it 

 would he to shoot woodcock in February, March and April, 

 ■or quail so late as the middle of May, the destruction of the 

 hreeders aud consequent diminution of the number of the next 

 year's young being the same in both cases. The American 

 snipe lays four eggs ; the death, therefore, of every snipe 

 during spring shooting is equivalent to the death of five of 

 these beautiful and sporting little birds. This, one would 

 suppose, would be conclusive against the practice, but if he 

 venture, to break ground in favor of the abolition by law of 

 this unfair and. I must think, unsportsmanlike practice, he is 

 met aud silenced by some such exquisite reason as this : That 

 if spring snipe shooting were prohibited we should have no 

 spring shooting at all ; and the same exquisite reason is ad- 

 duced against the only step which cau save the woodcock 

 from utter extermination ; I mean the abolition of summer 

 cock shooting." 



Thus spoke that prince of sportsmen, the inimitable Frank 

 Forester, twenty-nine years ago, and the experience of every 

 observant sportsman from then till now, alas ! only too fully 

 corroborates the correctness and truthfulness of his warnings. 

 For it cannot be denied— nay, it is painfully evident — that 

 game of every kind is year by year becoming gradually, yet 

 surely, extinct ; and unless the present system of its indis- 

 criminate and merciless destruction be speedily and effectually 

 checked by the concerted action of all true sportsmen and 

 lovers of animated nature, it will be but a few years before all 

 •of our noble game birds shall have ceased to exist ; the places 

 that knew them shall know them no more; the desponding 

 and grief-stricken sportsmen, while contemplating the melan- 

 choly scene, and contrasting its present gloom and desolation 

 with the glories of departed years, will exclaim, in the 

 anguish of his heart: "Alas! for the aays that are gone!" 

 * * * Gentle reader, forgive my weakness — a tear has fallen 

 on my manuscript ; those recollections were too sad ; the 

 trial was too great ; it lias unmanned me. 



This is no fanes sketch ; would to heaven that it were. 

 I am, myself, a living witness to its absolute truthfulness, 

 and, doubtless, many of your observant and accomplished 

 readers will find its parallel in their own individual sporting 

 experience. When the writer settled here (southwest part of 

 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin,) in 1848, all the ordinary 

 varieties of game were so abundant, and many of them so tame, 

 that any mediocre sportsman could make a very respectable 

 bag (in the proper season) within an hour, and not unfre- 

 quently within the tenth fraction of that measure of time, as 

 it was then an every-day feat for the merest tyro to kill from 

 six to twenty blue-winged teal, scaup-ducks, pin-tails or wild 

 pigeons at a single discharge ! In those halcyon days the 

 woods around my dwelling were musical with the gladsome 

 strains of dear, familiar, beautiful Bob White (Ortyx virgini- 

 ana), the American quail, than whom a livelier, sprightlier, 

 more gamy, or more sporting little bird does not exist on the 

 western hemisphere. They literally swarmed here at that 

 time, every square mile containing at least half a dozen 

 bevies. But now, alas! they are not. 



" Like the clew on Uie mountain, 

 The foam on the river ; 

 Like the bubble on the fountain, 

 The.y're gone, and forever !" 



The drumming of the noble ruffed grouse ( Titrao umbellus) 

 was an unceasing accompaniment of the early years of my 

 Western life, and in the autumn, that most beautiful and en- 

 joyable of American seasons, from five to fifteen of those 

 glorious birds was my usual reward for a day's pursuit of them 

 through the golden and crimson-leaved forests of Wisconsn. 

 I need scarcely remind you, gentle reader, that of all Ameri- 

 can game birds the ruffed grouse is the most difficult to at- 

 tain; not ou account of his wildness, for he usually rises 

 under twenty yards, but by reason of the dense woods, the 

 tangled copses, and the well-nigh impenetrable thickets which 

 t :irs most sagacious bird almost invariably selects for his 

 abiding-place. But when he' does rise — ye gods, what a 

 noise — what a loud and sudden whirr-r-r-r-r-r-r as he plunges 

 through the thicket like a shot from a twenty-four pound 

 howitzer, or (to use an expressive Yankee hyperbole) "like a 

 streak of greased lightning!" Now, gentle sportsman, now or 

 never is the word. You see him for an instant, mayhap for 

 two, and if you do not improve the golden opportunity by 

 stopping him within that very short space of time, woe be- 

 tide you, for he will assuredly be gone, and your shot after 

 him, and you will be left in sad bewilderment, following his 

 devious but rapid course through the tree-tops with your 

 eyes, and wondering to yourself how it was that he did not 

 come down. On the other hand, if you should be so fortu- 

 nate as to stop him handsomely and scientifically, during the 

 infiuitesimally short period of time aforesaid, and repeat that 

 achievement "only a few times daily, great, indeed, will be 

 your reward from admiiing and awe-struck spectators; or if 

 there should happen to be none of the aforesaid gentry pres- 

 ent to appreciate or eulogize your skill, then the ecstatic thrill 

 of joy and pleasure unalloyed, which shoots through every 



fibre of your soul in that moment of supreme happiness when 

 the thud of the noble grouse, now Mien, strikes your willing 

 ear, this thrill of joy will prove your most ample guerdon. 

 In other words it, will be to you a foretaste of heaven ! My 

 home being located in what are here termed " oak openings," 

 and .being contiguous to a prairie which was then well- 

 stocked with that queen of American game birds, the pin- 

 nated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cuyido), 1 had ample op- 

 portunities for studyiug the habits of fhis glorious bird. In 

 early spring, and at an early hour in the morning, large num- 

 bers were wont to assemble in the while and burr-oak trees 

 around my house, while many others would congregate upon 

 the ground, and all would simultaneously commence "boom 

 ing" or tooting their not unmusical notes, the males strutting 

 along with all the inflation and dignity of the domestic turkey- 

 cock, to whose singular movements and imperious swagircr- 

 ings, in their tempus amoris, those of the male grouse bear a 

 most striking resemblance At that time, and up to 18(15. 

 they were abundant in this vicinity, since which date, owing 

 to the barbarous instincts of murderous pot-hunters, who 

 shot down every bird, leaving none for seed, this noble game 

 bird ii; now, alas! extinct within the limits of Milwaukee 

 County, and will soon be so throughout tlje whole Slate, un- 

 less some vigorous means shall be promptly adopted for their 

 preservation. The gamy woodcock, and no less gamy snipe, 

 were then plentiful indeed, the latter abounding in vast num- 

 bers on all the marshes and low grounds, but of late years 

 they, too, are disappearing at a rapid rate. In those ancient 

 times no genuine sportsman would dare to pull a trigger on a 

 cock or a snipe before the middle of September, at which 

 period the birds were vigorous to a degree, and entirely dif- 

 ferent from the half grown, half-feathered, weakly younglings 

 which modern Nimrods delight in slaughtering (as slaughter 

 it most certainly is) ou the glorious anniversary of American 

 Independence, when the thermome er is 90 deg. in the shade, 

 a fact which, alone, should set the seal of condemnation upon 

 the barbarous amusement of summer cock shooting. The 

 practice of spring snipe and duck shooting is still more repre- 

 hensible, as it is the breeding season, and to destroy any use- 

 ful bird or animal at that particular period of time which 

 Providence has wisely ordained for the reproduction of lis 

 species, is a crime against nature, and. therefore, necessarily 

 a crime against the All- wise and Almighty .Being, who, in His 

 infinite bounty, created all those beautiful and useful crea- 

 tures for the benefit and enjoyment of ungrateful man ! Even 

 the untutored children of the forest— the Chippewa and Pot- 

 tawottamic Indians, many of whom resided at Muskego Lake, 

 two miles distant, up to 1855— have time and again, in my 

 hearing, given vent to their indignation against, an occasional 

 spring shooter, in the following quaint but forcible language, 

 to wit: " Mean pale face ! Bad white man! Kill 'em duck 

 make egg ! Kill 'em long-bill same ! Injun no do so ! Injun 

 no like ! Injun mad !" And then, failing wilh English, they 

 would wax eloquent in their native tongue, and pour torrents 

 of the most scathing invective upon every " mean pale face " 

 who would dare to kill a bird or animal in its breeding-lime. 

 The fact is it was absolutely dangerous to attempt spring or 

 summer shooting in those primeval times, thanks to these 

 children of nature, whose unerring (though savage) instincts 

 infallibly guided them to guard jealously the gifts of the 

 " Great Spirit " to His children ; a lesson which, may I hope, 

 will be treasured deeply in the heart of every good "pale 

 face" and every true sportsman who leads these lines in 



FOEKST AND STREAM. M. J. EGAN. 



Summary of trie Eleventh Annual Report 

 of Commissioners of Fisheries, State of 

 Maine, for the Year 1877. 



THE Commissioners take great satisfaction in reporting 

 marked success in their undertakings. The salmon 

 fisheries have been largely productive, that of the Penobscot 

 being reported as greater than for the last twenty -five years. 

 The take of alewives, where fishways have been provided, 

 was likewise remunerative. The most gratifying feature, of 

 the year's experience is the widespread interest awakened 

 among all classes, as shown by the extensive demand for fry 

 to stock private enterprises. These demands tax the resources 

 of the Commissioners to their fullest extent. A few thousand 

 ova of the land-locked salmon have been taken by the State 

 Commissioners, but it is thought more economical to unite 

 with the United States Government and the other States, as 

 the united effort gives a greater product at less cost. For 

 salmon, it is necessary that parties should send their orders to 

 the Commission the year before they are wanted, as Ihesefish 

 spawn in October and November, and it takes the whole 

 winter to hatch them preparatory to distributing them 

 in the following spring. Orders for black bass should be sent 

 in early in the winter, that consignments may be mnde for 

 their capture in the spring. It is now time that the inland 

 fisheries should be fostered and increased. Moosehead Lake 

 is cited as a case in point. No one can be found to accept the 

 office of Fish Warden there, for fear of loss of trade or hav- 

 ing their property destroyed. "A good, square law is needed 

 for the whole State, that from the first of October to the first 

 of February, or March or AprU, or May, as the Legislature 

 shall decide, there shall be no fishing of any Irind in any of 

 the fresh waters of the Statej and possession during that 

 season shall be considered evidence of crime, without regard 

 to place where caught. Make expressmen and carriers re- 

 sponsible for the illegal freight they carry. It is not the fish 

 caught to eat, but the fish caught to sell that are depleting our 

 Streams. True, in our previous reports, we have appealed to 

 the Legislature for a law to prevent the introduction and sale 

 in our State of fish that our laws forbid to be caught here. 



" They are caught in violation of the laws of the State where 

 they are captured, and sold here, and J»ce versa. It leads to 

 much perjury and crime, makes it very difficult to effectively 

 execute our laws, and in a sanitary light, allows fish to bo 

 sold here as food that our own physicians have condemned as 

 directly productive of disease. We hope that the Legislatures 



of other Stall's may be induced to unite with us in passing 

 laws that will put an end to this criminal traffic." 



The salmon fishery of the Penobscot is the largest for many 

 years, so much beyond the product of the past as to leave no 

 dOubt that the work of restoration by planting and protection 

 is an entire and unmistakable success. 1 he fish were all 

 larger, some of thorn weighing from thirty to forty pounds. 

 A good run of salmon Las visited the St. Croix. The salmon 

 culture in the Mcdomac River, at Widdoboro, has resulted 

 encouragingly ; a large number hare been turned into the 

 i! i ■ : i,-i'oggin, which .should he full the coming spring. The 

 Penobscol Salmon Breeding Works, at Bucksjiort, have not 

 been m operation ibis year, owing to lack of funds. 

 Of the Bebago Lake salmon the Commissioners say •. 

 " We sincerely hope the inhabitants living on the tribu- 

 taries of SebagO Lake, will unite with US in our endeavors to 

 preserve and increase the stock of these fine fish in those 

 waters. A. wretched custom of taking these fish on their 

 spawning beds, seems to have existed from time immemorial. 

 indeed, no other method appears to have been known or re- 

 cognized. It, is apparently a remnant of barbarism, perhaps 

 copied by early settlers from the Indians. That one can eat 

 fish in the breeding season, is indicative of an indiscriminat- 

 ing appetite, 'Worthy of a Digger Indian, who varies his bill 

 of fare with an occasional relish of bugs, worms, spiders, 

 snakes and grasshoppers. The yellow perch is not eaten at 

 Sebago, because in spring, which is its breeding season, its 

 flesh, particularly around the fins, is full of worms. The 

 same is the case with the Sebago salmon in the breeding sea- 

 son; indeed, with most all fishes." 



The demand for black bass has steadily increased from year 

 to year. The applications are now mostly to stock depleted 

 waters. Meddy hemps Lake, and numerous other waters, have 

 be 'ii stocked From all these waters good reports have been 

 received, excepting Newport pond, which was stocked seven 

 years since. >% 



The large fishway at the dam across the Penobscot, at 

 Bangor, has proved successful, and the plan of it is here 

 gives : 



" The structure is of two stories of the winding-stair pat- 

 tern ; it is 4S feet square, with 1(5 compartments in each story. 

 These compartments are 13 feet square, with a rise of one 

 foot in each compartment. The fish enter at the southwesterly 

 corner, and havinggone twice around the structure, find them- 

 selves at the entrance to the flume, 10 feet above the poiut of 

 entrance. Gateways about four feet square admit the water 

 from the flume to the compartments of the fishway, iuto the 

 flume and raceway, and thence into the pond above the dam. 

 The flume is eight feet wide, extending across the the upper 

 side of the fishway. The raceway is 12 feet wide, and ex- 

 tends from the face of the dam to the flume, one wall of 

 which is formed by the shore abutment of the dam ; the other, 

 by a pier ol logs and stone. This floor of the raceway is three 

 feet below the crest of the dam, and is protected from ice and 

 drift by a wooden pier, situated some 25 feet above the dam. 

 The. floor of the different compartments is of six inch plank, 

 overlaid with a coating of common shore, stone, one foot in 

 thickness. The compartmeuis are divided into two sections 

 by means of bulkheads, in which four feet space are left of 

 eighteen inches in width, admitting the passage of the fish 

 from one compartment to another, and at the same time 

 breaking the force of the current and forming eddies 

 in which the fish can rest. _ The gates are about 3A by 4 feet, 

 and are eight in number, and so arranged that they may be 

 opened to any desired width, to admit the quantity of water 

 required for the passage of the fish." 



The report closes with a sub-report on supply of Schoodic 

 salmon in the Grand Lake stream, which have this year shown 

 themselves forty per cent, more numerous than in 1875. 



Mb. Mather at the Centennial. — A correspondent ia 

 desirous of knowing why the aquaria at the Centennial Exhi- 

 bition were not successful, and seems inclined to find fault 

 with Mr. Fred Mather for their failure. We beg to state, as 

 we have already stated, that Mr. Mather is to be held perfect- 

 ly blameless for any want of success at the Centennial, as 

 may be seen by the report of the judges of Group V. The re- 

 port distinctly states that want of proper machinery for aerat- 

 ting the tanks killed the fish. In fact, in Agricultural Hall, 

 where the tanks were placed, the commissioners gave Mr. 

 Mat her hardly any of the necessary facilities. A tank would 

 have trout placed in it, and when the temperature would rise 

 to 90 deg. all the fish would die. The simplest precautions, 

 such as of netting to prevent the fish from jumping out of 

 their tanks, Mr. Mather could not obtain. If failure there 

 was, it is quite positive that Mr. Mather is quite free from 

 blame. It has been pretty well determined by this time that 

 aquaria caunot be constructed at short notice. In order to 

 maintain an aquarium of the least importance as to size, many 

 months must be passed in the study of all the details before 

 it can be made to work properly. The aquaria at the Centen- 

 nial were constructed only to last during a few months, and 

 if not satisfactory, such faults as they had must be placed to 

 the account of the commissioners aud not to that of our most 

 competent flsh eultuiist. Mr. Fred Mather. Professor Baird 

 had no more to do with the maintenance of the aquaria than 

 had the editor of this paper. 



We slated all these facts, pretty much as we give them 

 now, in our paper last summer. 



Meeting of the American Fish-oulttjrists' Association. 

 — The President of the American Fish-culturists' Association 

 is in receipt of the following courteous letter, proffering to 

 the association the use of the rooms of the Fulton Market 

 Fishmongers' Association for the annual meeting to be held 

 on the 26th and 28th of February : 

 Hon. R B. Roosevelt : 



Dmr Sir— At a regular meeting of the Directors of the Fulton Mar. 

 ket; Fishmongers' Association, Hold Jan. i, it was unanimously resolved 

 that "This association do cordially ana respectfully Invite the Ameri- 

 can Fish-culi.urisis' Association to hold their annual meeting in the 

 Directors' ttonm of the Fulton Market Fishmongers' Association." 



In compliance with the above resolution, 1 have the honor to commu- 

 nicate i tic same to you with the assurance that every effort will be made 

 on the part of our association to make your visit to us a pleasant and 

 agreeable one. Respectfully yours, F. B. Miluk, Ties. 



mo York, Jan 9, 18T8. B. W. Wess, Secretary. 



