FOREST AND STREAM. 



469 



point, as I never caught a trout east of the Rocky Mountain 

 waters. 1 know thul; many of them are exceedingly lively, 

 and will make a most gallant fight in summer, autumn, and 

 into the winter, even when air and water are freezing cold. 



The season does not begin until in July, after the great 

 hulk of snow has melted and the rush of water is over. 

 There are some streams that can be fished in May and June, 

 but the above applies to all that are really worth visiting. 

 The sport improves through August and September. After 

 that it is uncertain. One day it may be excellent, and then for 

 a number of days hardly a fish can be taken. In July they 

 are in tbe small streams, but begin leaving them by the mid- 

 dle of the month, gradually working down until they reach 

 the rivers before much ice forms. In former years great 

 numbers were caught in the winter from some of the large 

 streams, by cutting through the ice and fishing with bait, 

 which they will then take ravenously. But protective laws 

 and an improved public sentiment have almost put a stop to 

 that kind of wanton butchery. There are many lakes scat- 

 tered through the mountains that are plentifully stocked, and 

 they ;ire favorite winter quarters for the. speckled beauties. 

 Fishing in them is generally less lively sport than in the 

 streams. The fish are less garaey as a rule. But they are 

 favorite resorts for camping parties containing ladies or in- 

 valids, who are thereby enabled to fish from boats. In some 

 of these lakes unusually large trout* can be taken at certain 

 times, the season for them" often lasting but a few days. 

 But then there is magnificent sport. Of such I may speak 

 particularly hereafter. 



In the early settlement of the country, fifteen or eighteen 

 years ago, all the sport desired could he found within from 

 fifteen to forty miles of Denver. My favorite stream was 

 Bear Creek, which comes out of the mountains sixteen miles 

 west of Denver, and joins the Platte six miles south of town. 

 At the mouth of its canyon there were delightful camping- 

 places in box-elder groves. There were no settlements near, 

 and the sport was excellent any distance up the gorge, and for 

 a mile or two out into the plain. The largest trout I ever 

 caught there was eighteen and a half inches in length. A 

 lail way station now covers the ground where I landed him; 

 a large summer hotel crowns the hill above, and a noisy vil- 

 lage clusters around. They say there is fair fishing yet up 

 the stream from ten to twenty miles, but the trout I have seen 

 from there in recent years were small. I know too many 

 better places to waste time catching minnows in Bear Creek. 

 Ten miles south of Bear Creek the Platte leaves the moun- 

 tains. Its canyon was inaccessible until recently, since which 

 time fine sport has been reported. Further in the mountains 

 it divides into a great number of streams, and in nearly all of 

 them trout are abundant. A radway is now building through 

 the canyon, and up along the river into South Park. Eight 

 miles north of Bear Creek, Vasquez Fork leaves the moun- 

 tains. Its north fork is so lined with quartz mills, which dis- 

 charge their tailings into the stream, that the water is thick 

 as slime. Of course trout no longer live there. In the south 

 fork, well up toward its head and near the snowy range, 

 there are yet a few fish. Eastern tourists with nothing to do, 

 and invalid sojourners, think they find tolerable sport from 

 Idaho up to Empire and Georgetown, and sometimes further 

 up, but nobody else agrees with them in that opinion. 

 Twenty miles north of Vasquez the Boulders come out — 

 two of them where they enter the plains, but three a few 

 miles in the mountains. All are yet fairly stocked, though 

 nothing to what they were ten years ago. Twelves miles 

 further north is the St. Vrain. Its upper waters are yet in 

 the solitude of the unbroken wilderness, aud there some splen- 

 did sport can be enjoyed. The greatest, disadvantage is in 

 the fact that nearly all its streams flow through dense forests, 

 making them difficult of access and rough to fish. Sixteen 

 miles north of the St. Vrain is Big Thompson, with better 

 fishing-ground. From twenty to thirty miles in the moun- 

 tains its course is through Estes Park, a meadow valley, in 

 which the stream divides into numerous branches, all well 

 stocked with trout. Here the Earl of Dunraven has bought a 

 great tract of land, stocked it with cattle, built a hotel, and is 

 creating a vast estate on the English plan. In earlier years 

 this park, which lies close up under the shadow of Lang's 

 Peak, was a great winter resort for elk. Herds of five hun- 

 dred or more were not uncommon. 



Sixteen miles north of the Thompson is Cache-a-la-Poudre 

 River — the trout stream par excellence east of the snowy range 

 in northern Colorado. It has nearly a hundred miles of fish- 

 ing water, with mucli open valley easy of access, and many of 

 our best sportsmen still go there, summer after summer, for a 

 camping tour. Trout are still very abundant, and many of 

 them are large. Toward the head of this river there are 

 plenty of elk, deer, mountain sheep, bear, and a great variety 

 of smaller game — auimals and birds. 



All these streams are parallel, flowing from west to east, 

 and forming the South Platte River. All are accessible by 

 rail close up to the foot of the mountains, from which a day's 

 chive will carry the sportsman to the best of the fishing- 

 grounds. The altitude ranges from five to ten thousand feet 

 above the sea ; oppressive heat is unknown ; the nights are 

 always too cool for insects, and there are very few to annoy 

 at any time. Those few are horseflies that are sometimes 

 troublesome in the first half or twenty days of July and then 

 disappear, and mosquitoes that annoy for a few horns in some 

 days, but sunset sends the last of them to roost. B. 



and township where located ; and further, plainly write their 

 name, post-office address and railroad station at which tbey 

 will receive the fry. Persons complying with the above re- 

 quirements will be seasonably notified by the Superintendent 

 of the day and the train wheu the cans of fry will reach the 

 station, and they must be on hand, ■without fail, to receive 

 them when the train arrives." 



1 The Minnesota State Hatches r.— St. Paul, Jan. 8.— 

 The Willowbrook hatchery is all right, and salmon eggs 

 placed upon our hatching troughs, numbering over 200,000, 

 about 150,000 are turned loose in our ponds and are doing 

 well. The grounds, general surroundings, and the buildings 

 are, I think,' a credit to us. We expect to introduce a num- 

 ber of different kinds of fish in the spring. Wm. Golciier. 



v Salmon Breeding in Nokth Carolina.— I am pleased to 

 inform you that according to reports given me by Mr. Wm. 

 F. Page, the Superintendent of tbe North Carolina Hatchery, 

 the success at Swanannoa Gap was even greater than hoped 

 for. Two hundred and thirty-three thousand of the young 

 California salmon were turned loose recently in the various 

 streams of the State, as follows ; Catawba, 50,000 ; Pigeon, 

 10,000; French Broad, 56,000; Linville, 13.000; Yadkin' 

 60,000; Broad, 25,000; and Cape Fear, 20,000. It would 

 appear, therefore, that over ninety per cent, of the eggs 

 packed at the Government hatchery on McCloud River, in 

 California, and shipped to North Carolina, were developed. 



Wagner. 



California Fisheries. — The Senate Committee on Fisher- 

 ies and Game have lately been in consultation with Messrs.- 

 Throckmorton and Redding, the California Fish Commis- 

 sioners. Messrs. Brown, Rogers and Logarda, representing 

 the fishermen on the Sacramento River, were in attendance. 

 The Commissioners asked that the law in regard to salmon 

 fishing, as it now stands, should not be amended. Mr. Brown 

 thought that the season was too long, and that one month of 

 close season was plenty. That the fishermen were in debt be- 

 cause they could not fish long enough. He wanted to know 

 why the fish were allowed to go down the river where the sea 

 lions eat them ? In evidence taken before the committee, the 

 fact wa3 disclosed that the Chinese fishermen never waste any 

 fish. Big or little are all the same. Small fish, no larger than 

 a lead pencfl, are dried and sent to China. Where white men 

 cannot find a living as fishermen, Chinese take their places. 

 Of course, in any argument of this character, poor John 

 Chinaman comes in for all the blame. The fact seems 

 quite clear to us that the Mongolian does not do much more 

 harm to the rivers than the Caucasian. We must side en- 

 tirely with the Commissioners, and believe if the rules and 

 regulations, as provided by them for t the fishingiOf the Cali- 

 fornia rivers, are changed in the least, that all their labors 

 will be wasted. It resolves itself to this : " Catch all you can 

 to-day, and whistle after the fish to-morrow." What with 

 native fishermen, backed up. by Italians, who take what the 

 Americans leave, and Chinamen who fish with nets that 

 knitting needles will hardly pass through, after a while there 

 will be very few salmon in the California rivers. 



\\ 



Stocking State Waters with Fish.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream : I desire to state through your columns that the New 

 York State Fish Commissioners are now ready to receive 

 orders from parties desiring to stock any of the public waters 

 in New York State suitable for brook trout or salmon trout. 

 They will be delivered to any part of the State by the parties 

 paying the traveling expenses of a messenger to deliver them 

 and giving the names and localities of the lakes or streams 

 they wish to stock. All orders must be sent to the under- 

 signed before February 20. 



Rochester, Jan. 17, 1873. Seth Green. 



at 



Fish Fry eroh Michigan. — The Fish Commission 

 Michigan request the publication of the following notice: 



" The Fish Commission expect to be able to furnish for the 

 inland waters of the State during the winter and spring the 

 fry of whitefish, lake trout, and to a limited extent California 

 salmon, brook trrut, and possibly eels and grayling. Parties 

 who desire to stock water, and who will become personally 

 responsible for the plant, should address the Superintendent, 

 George H. Jerome, Niles, Michigan, and particularly give the 

 name of lake or stream, size and depth of water, and county 



\ Carp Culture. — In the Petaluma (Cal.) Argus, of a recent 

 date, Mr. Levi Davis, the carp culturist of Forestville, Cal. , 

 gives the following estimate of the increase of these fish : 



"A mathematical calculation on the subject might be of 

 interest to those who contemplate this business. With these 

 conclusions I submit the following, which is, in reality, a 

 "fish story," and will probably be considered as such in the 

 sense of exaggeration. In 1876, five carp (three females), two 

 years old, raised 2,010 young, being an average of 680 to each 

 female fish. This, however, is a very small estimate, and this 

 year the same fish will excel the number several fold. Taking 

 this average, which will he a small one, after deaths, etc. , 

 are allowed, «nd trace the results for seven years, allowing 

 one-half the youug females, and allowing the young two years 

 before spawning, and our results are almost beyond the limits 

 of reason : 



For instance, in 1366 the increase from three females was 

 2,040. In 1877 the increase the same. . In 1878, 1,020 fe- 

 males increase 695,640, and so on; and the result of the 

 seventh reaches the enormous sum of 81,698,234,240. The 

 total of the seven years will be 82,648,177,480 or thereabouts. 

 Average these at one pound each and we will have 41,324, 

 088.4 tons. Beyond this time the increase is so rapid as to 

 seem too far beyond reason. And while these figures seem so 

 far from possibility, those who are more familiar with the 

 subject know that the spawning of a siugle fish, of some 

 kinds, has been known to outnumber this total by far. These 

 all go to show what can be done, and in consideration that 

 carp, instead of consuming their young, care for them, show 

 that the figures are not so far out of the way, and what could 

 be done with proper facilities and care." 



iK * — *~^ 



1 Fish Culture in Colorado. — We are much indebted to 



our special correspondent and agent, B. B. Porter, Esq., 



formerly of the Crystal Spring Trout Farm, in Bergen County, 



N. J., for the following report of the Fish Commissioner of 



Colorado for 1877: 



State of Colorado, ") 



i Office of the Fish Commissioner, > 



' Brookvale, Nov. 28, 1877. ) 



To Hte Excellency John L. Routt, Governor of the State of 



Colorado: 



Sir i In compliance with the law I herewith submit the 

 following report for your consideration : 



I am in correspondence with parties in the Eastern States 

 in regard to the food fishes deemed most suitable to the waters 

 of this State, and hope to ao with the very limited amount of 

 funds placed at my disposal all that can be done the coming 

 year by way of their introduction into the lakes and streams 

 of Colorado. 



I have adopted measures to have proper fish ways erected 

 wherever I had a knowledge of the existence of artificial ob- 

 structions in the streams. I have also caused to be prose- 

 cuted and fined several parties for a refusal to comply with 

 the law, aud hope to have many obstructions removed from 

 the streams by the coming summer, thereby giving to the fish 

 free passage to the upper waters of the different streams. 



Respectfully, Wilson E. Sisty, Fish Commissioner. 



Commissioner Sisty's report will do very well for a be- 

 ginning. It is business-like and concise. When he has any 

 results to promulgate he will doubtless make them known at 

 the proper time. As the report now stands it is the- shortest 

 on record. Mr. Porter, in a letter dated at Ogden, Utah, 

 Jan. 12, says s 



Mr. Sisty informed me that the brook trout of Colorado 

 spawn every month in the year, but that the males were only 

 ripe during the summer months. Mr. N. A. Baker, a practi- 

 cal fish culturist, who, by the way, has some very fine fish 

 ponds near Denver, well stocked with the speckled beauties, 

 says that he has taken spawn and hatched them in the 

 months of May, June, and July, and is sure that that is the 

 true spawning season for Colorado. Other parties who were 

 well acquainted with the mountains and fish that are found in 

 the different streams say that the trout spawn in the months 

 of July, August, and September. Some one should make a 

 thorough investigation to learn the proper time for the close 

 season. From what I could learn the habits of trout arc en- 

 tirely different hero from the same species in the Eastern and 

 Northern States. Colorado must be a sort of sportsmen'^ 

 paradise at the proper season. Good guides can be had for 

 $2.50 per day. Should any parties wish I o make a pleasure 

 trip to Colorado for sport or scientific research they should 

 try and secure the services of S. W. Vance, of Denver, who 

 is a practical taxidermist, and is capable of any" scienti lie- 

 developments they may wish to make, as well as a first 

 guide, being thoroughly acquainted with this part of the 

 country. A letter would reach him through tbe care of J. P. 

 Lower, Denver, Col. I was informed that Mr. E. Coster, 

 Brecken ridge, Summit Co., Col., has the finest collection of 

 birds west of the Missouri River. 



Yours truly, B. B. Portij:. 



CAN EELS BE BRED IN OHIO? 



\X Jefferson, O., Jan. L3 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Feeling anxious to add to our sport, as well as our larder, we are de 

 bating the question of stocking the tributaries of Lake Erie with eels. 

 Within the last forty-five years there only two eels have been caught 

 west of Virginia Falls— one at. Erie, Pa., and the other at. Cleveland, O., 

 and speculation was rife aB to how they got there, all dually conclud- 

 ing they came via the Canal. Grand Elver would, -be a perfect 

 paradise for eels if we could procure them, and persuade them to stay 

 with us. There are two mill ponds that run back for miles. The water 

 clear generally is deep at one point-said to be sixty feet. To give you a 

 idea of the water, it is only necessary to name our native ash— catfish, 

 bullheads, muscalcnge, pike, pickerel, black and rock bass, mullett and 

 suckers, and several other kinds of leBser Importance. It is argued 

 here that the common eel is strictly a salt water tlsh, only visiting fresh, 

 water for breeding, and surely returns in the fall, if that Is so we arc 

 on the wrong side of Niagara Falls to bucceed in eel culture. 'The sole 

 object of the communication is to get light upon this subject. 



Septuagenarian. 

 We are only too glad to give our correspondent what light 

 we can on the eel topic. In the year 1875 the Fish Commis- 

 sioners placed some 36,000 young eels in Buffalo Creek, 

 which stream empties into Lake Erie, above the falls of 

 Niagara. No positive result can yet be deduced from the 

 experiment. ■ Eels are very difficult of transportation, dying 

 in a few hours unless the water is changed. When eels are 

 young and have to be carried any distance an assistant should 

 accompany them. Eels may he procured in myriads in all 

 the streams around New York, and almost anywhere near 

 salt water. Until lately it was supposed that eels bred in 

 salt water, probably in the fall of the year, but a series of 

 careful experiments conducted by R. B. Roosevelt, Esq., 

 President of the American Fish Culturist's Association, and 

 one of our leading icthyologists, inclines him to the conclusion 

 that eels spawn in freshwater in the spring. As to the 

 propagation of species in the eels, that is a hidden secret. 

 Even the sex of the eel has not been well determined. Any 

 one who will determine the two facts — as to sex and method 

 of propagation— will make a distinguished name for himself 

 in icthyological science. 



— There are now twenty-seven States whose Commissioners 

 of Fisheries receive, hatch and distribute the eggs of fishes 

 furnished by the United States Fish Commission. 



^jjfctnml Jps/urg, 



HABITS OF THE RUFFED GRQUSE. 



New Haven, Conn., Jan. 1, 1STS. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Having been intimately acquainted with the ruffed grouse for several 

 years, the frequent remarks concerning him in Forest and Stream 

 have naturally attracted my attention. 



Lately, some of your correspondents have been much concerned i . . 

 the disparity in the sex of these birds. Now, I don't believe t 

 one can determine by plumage, the sex of the grouse when under eight 

 months of age, for then the raff in both male and female is of the same 

 Bize and color, and nearly as dark as in the old male In examining a 

 great number of specimens, I Had that three and three-hfths of ai: tho 

 birds killed are young, so you can easily see where yie mistake lies— all 

 of the young of She year, besides the old males, have been counted as 

 males. For the last five or six years I have noted the proportion ot 

 male, female and young of all the game birds that I have either kill en 

 myself or seen in the markets, and find that the numbers of males and 

 females are very nearly the same. 



In October and November the young grouse weigh from is to 22 ozs., 

 while tne old birds weigh from 20 to 38 ozs. Occasionally, you Hnd aa 

 old grouse very much larger than the normal size, and weighing two 

 pouuds or over. Within the last two years three or four suci 

 have been brought to our taxidermists to be staffed. 



Several authors have noticed a larger [roportkm of theEastern ruffed 

 grouse with the red-plumage. I have hunted ouly in Connecticut, an" 



in Eastern and Western New York, but can see no tUff 



the birds la this respect in these places', more of them being iu the gray 

 plumage whenever shot. 



Only on two occasions have I been able to get a view of cock 

 drumming, aud then not a very satisfactory one. On rea i 

 of your correspondents who Believed the bird w strike the log/rock ot 



