* S£_-~ . 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
THE INTERNATIONAL FIELD TRIALS. 
A LETTER FROM THE SON OP “IDSTONE,” OP THE LONDON 
“FIELD.” 
Faykrsham, Kent, Feb. 24,1874. 
i Editor Forest and Stream.— 
. It gives me great pleasure always to give a brother sportsman any in¬ 
formation in my power, and I regret that I have but little time at my dis 
posal to answer your interesting letter. 
1 do not think that an international match will be of much use till we 
have the same rules in force on either side of the Atlantic. 
Yon are most probably aware that in a field trial here the awards are 
given on a principle based on the distribution of certain points, making 
in the maximum the amount of 100, a total rarely won by any dog. The 
scale of points yon doubtless have by yon. The judges generally give 
them as follows: Nose, 30; Pace and Style of Hunting, 20; Breaking, (as 
%hown in working to hand and dropping to shot wing and fur,) 20; Point¬ 
ing. (style and steadiness in,) 15; Backing, (i. e., dropping or standing 
still on the point wheA the other dog has found the birds,) 10; Drawing on 
game or reading, 5; total, 100. Belle, (Mr. Price’s) got out of these 
points 27*, 30, 20, 15,10, 5; 97*, or in other words, the judges (Mr. Shirly, 
M. P. P.; Mr. W. Lort, and Mr. J. H. Walsh, Editor of the London Field,) 
thought her absolutely perfect except in nose. It must be borne in mind 
that the scent was not good, and her pace is the fastest in .England for a 
! pointer, so that she was^moro likely to put up birds than a slow dog with 
a good nose. . 
Field trials have existed since 1865 in England. There is a certain 
number of entries. In the best stake at Bala £25 was the entrance fee, 
and the first prize therefor was considerable in value. The dogs either 
‘ run in braces or as single dogs; in the former case the braces are tried a 
brace at a time, the two dogs of course belonging to the same owner.; 
and with the single entries two dogs are put down at a time before the 
judges. The order of running and arrangement of competitors being 
drawn for and decided by lot. It is not usual, as in coursing meetings, 
to run off the dogs till only one is left, but only the dogs which have 
pleased the judges are tried again. This caused, bower, some dispute at 
the Bala trials, as Mr.L’.ewellen thought that his bitch “Countess” should 
have been tried with Belle, though this is against all precedent and was 
overruled. 
Retrieving is an accomplishment which would interfere with the elab¬ 
orate and scientific rules of breaking to which English sportsmen of the 
present day are accustomed. It might,- and frequently does, answer with 
a man who does not go in for very highly broken dogs, and shoots over 
perhaps one at a time, but it often makes dogs unsteady and dull on 
ground scent, hnnting with their heads low instead of lifting for the body 
scent. We always use retrievers for winged birds; retrieving is not a 
pointer’s or setter’s trade. They are seldom, if well bred, fond of water, 
soft mouthed, or have any natural aptitude for carrying. 
I do not think a sea vovage would hurt a dog’s scenting powers, if an 
(interval were allowed them to recover from the “perils and dangers of 
the sea.” If I can induce any of my friends to visit America with their 
dogs you may rest assured I will. 
I am not secretary of the Kennel Clnb, but editor of their Stud Book, 
which is not yet out; when it is I will send you a copy. Mr. Shirley, M. 
P.,of Ellington Park, Stratford-on-Avon, England, is the gentleman 
who I believe undertakes the duties of an honorary secretary. 
' Frank C. Pearce, 
Editor Kennel Stud Book. 
BELLING SETTERS. 
Malaga, March 2, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
I notice iu your review of “Sporting Matters from Abroad,” in last 
week’s issue, the following: “About belling our dogs, however, that is a 
.novel point, Ac., Ac.” 
What I wish to say in this connection is, that I have used a medium 
'sized sleigh bell on my old dog Dash for two years past, and find it very 
advantageous, especially in scrub oak bottoms (from three to five feet 
■high), which abound in the lower counties of this State, and in which 
you lose sight of your dog frequently at ten paces. The tinkle of the 
bell is a sure guide as to the direction the dog has taken, and should you 
cease to hear it for any length of time, you may be quite sure your dog 
“has found.” Wm. C. Hay, Esq. of Winslow, N. J., a thorough sports¬ 
man, who has owned some very fine dogs, both native and imported 
stock, belled a bitch that he shot over all last season, and two or three 
other gentlemen of my acquaintance, whose opinions on matters of this 
kind, and all matters connected with field sports are worth having, also 
bell their dogs when shooting in certain localities. Yours truly, 
W. B. Rosenbaum. 
POINTER AND SETTER MATCH. 
Rhwilas, Bala, North Wales, February 24, 1874. 
^Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Allow me to correct one or two 'inaccuracies that have crept into my 
'letters to you, printers’ errors in fact. 
The first I notice is in letter dated January 8; at present the sentence 
reads thus: “They orguniae every Juno a very large dog show at the 
Crystal Palace, with that held at Birmingham, which were the most suc- 
fcessful and best arranged shows in existence.” Now this reads as if the 
! Kennel Club managed the show at Birmingham which is not the case, a 
' large and influential committee in the hardware town manage their own 
show and do it well. The sentence should read thus: “They organize 
every June a very large dog show at the Crystal Palace, which with that 
I held at Biimingham are the most succesful and best airanged shows in 
| existence.” You are also in error when stating that the Kennel Clnb 
manage the show at Nottingham. That is entirely different management, 
and one that is not generally considered satisfactory. Field trials and* 
fthe Crystal Palace dog shows are what the Kennel Club is most particu¬ 
larly interested in. 
I really do not see any way to admitting the points for retrieving. It 
is doubtless a most useful accomplishment on your side of the Atlantic,, 
but our dogs if trained to retrieve would be afterwards worthless for any 1 
j competition in the home country. We have proper dogs for the purpose 
i which are trained to follow at heel, and not to seek for the dead or 
wounded game until they receive the accustomed signal for so doing. 
Good retrievers are never led in leashes, as suggested in your journal. 
The only well known English dog that to my mind would have a chance 
in retrieving in a setter match is Mr. Barclay Fields’ “Daisy,” who 
Bhowed great aptitude for that style of peri ormance at the Ipswich Field 
i trials iu September last. R. J. Lloyd Price. 
SHOOTING, AND THE DOGS WE WANT 
AND DON’T WANT. 
I CANNOT agree with “Leatlierhead” as to the setter 
being the dog for covert. For partridge or other game 
in the open nothing can beat a well-broken setter or point¬ 
er, the former, * perhaps, is most preferable, but this is 
merely a matter of opinion, and depends on the ground to 
he worked, etc. To take your setter into covert must be 
wretched work, poking about after him, especially if the 
underwood he very thick, where it would be next to im¬ 
possible to follow a setter, as whilst you were extricating 
your legs, etc., from the brambles, your dog would be lost 
to view, and if on his point yon would be left hunting for 
your dog instead of your dog hunting for you. Of course 
some coverts might be practicable for the use of a setter, 
but even then it must be slow work. I should consider 
shooting very stupid were one to have all one’s game point¬ 
ed, the great excitement, in my eye, being not to know 
where the next fur or feather will turn up, and then to end 
its career with a good shot ; but t’o see your dog standing in 
covert, and (if a good one) know that on your advance 
something will go out, keeping ^our eye on the spot, quite 
prepared, and killing whatever it may be, is wliat I term 
pot shooting, without any satisfaction. I also think an¬ 
other great pleasure in shooting is to have good dogs, and 
see them work, using the right dog in the right place. For 
rough shooting I agree with “Frank” that spaniels are the 
best and most useful—either good Sussex or cockers under 
proper command—to retrieve, being good for either fur or 
feather. Bassets and beagles are perfectly useless in cov¬ 
ert. Once on fur, they are away with a merry noise, flush¬ 
ing all before them, generally hunting all of a lump; one 
might as well shout at a stone wall as at them to come in. 
Merely for rabbits, where paths are cut, a pack of good 
curs (say half a dozen) are very killing. For a man who 
has rough shooting, and can shoot, and perhaps cannot 
afford to keep liis setters, pointers, spaniels, and terriers he 
will find a brace or so of spaniels, taking them all round,, 
the most useful. For one who shoots for the pot, and can¬ 
not hit a hay stack if it got up, unless he were prepared, 
let him keep his setters. It seems to me the pleasure and 
aim of many sportsmen of the present day are to bring all 
they can to bag, and this is their boast.— Bell's Life. 
--, 
—An officer at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, in writing to 
.us, mentions an instance where a dog of liis, whilst bring¬ 
ing in a bird, came to a point on another without dropping 
the first, which is certainly something quit^e unusual. 
|forsq m\d the (£oui[sq. 
A New Driving Park in Philadelphia.—A number 
Meeting of the Amateur Biflk Club. —In our last 
issue we gave the details of the correspondence between 
Colonel Wingate and Major Leech, with the programme, 
in regard to the international rifle match. At a recent 
meeting of the executive committtee of the Amateur Rifle 
Association the following resolution was passed:— 
“ Resolved, That the programme, as at present proposed 
by Mr. Arthur B. Leech, is acceptable to the executive 
committee, with the exception of the first paragraph,which 
relates to the number of men of which the teams shall 
consist, and that it is the sense of this committee that this 
{ paragraph should be amended sons to read, ‘that the teams 
| shall consist of not more than eight nor less than six 
j men.’” 
j Major Leech’s programme limited the Irish team to no 
j less than four or more than eight men. We appreciate 
j fully the difficulty Major Leech pnay have in getting all liis 
; men to come over here, but at the same time the match 
j would be of greater interest providing it was possible to 
| increase the number of men from four to six. We sin- 
i cerely trust the matter can be arranged. Tbe Amateur 
Rifle Club, made up as it is of the best rifle shots in the 
United States, should of course ta^e all prominence in this 
forthcoming match, and will select those riflemen who, in 
their opinion, are the most skillful from all parts of 1 he 
United States, in order to compete with the crack marks¬ 
men of the world. 
—On March 4tli the Germantown, (Pa.,) Telegraph entered 
upon its forty-fifth colume, and during all this period of 
publication, it has been under tbe editorial manas'ement of 
its present editor in chief. It is a most excellent paper for 
the general reader, and is made especially valuable to sports¬ 
men through its appropriation of a department to the sports 
and sporting interests of Pennsylvania. May its success 
continue. 
—The Florida Press states that $200,000 have already 
of wealthy gentlemen of Philadelphia have associated with 
a view of establishing a Driving Park and Club House near 
the city. They are about purchasing a traqt of land within 
a few miles of Fairmount Park. It consists of eighty acres- j 
peculiarly adapted for the purpose intended, and when im¬ 
proved upon the scale marked out will be one of the most j 
complete and magnificent Driving Parks in the world— 
certainly not equalled iu this countiy. The situation is 
finely elevated with a remarkable breadth and beauty of 
scenery, overlooking Germantown and Chestnut Hill, with 
the Schuylkill and Hills of Manayunk in the near fore- • 
been subscribed for the Jacksonville and St. Augustine 
railroad, and that the road will be built immediately. 
The old wooden railroad from Tocoi on the St. John’s 
River, to St. Augustine, is represented as being in capital 
running order and furnished with new and elegant cars. 
It now makes the 16-mile trip in something less than two 
hours. 
—Florida green peas and strawberries are now brought 
to our market by nearly every steamer from that genial 
clime. 
ground. It is within fifteen minutes’ drive from Fairmount. 
Park by Turnpike and well ordered summer roads. The 
gentlemen of the association are of wealth and undoubted 
standing and intend to guard their club against all influences 
that tend to degrade the “Sports of the Turf.” 
—The Maryland Jockey Club have decided on the 
weights for the mile-heat handicap stakes for four-year-olds 
to be run for at the spring meeting on May 26th. John F. 
Chamberlin’s Survivor has been honored with the top 
weight, 112 pounds; Joe Donahue’s Artist comes next with 
109 pounds, and W. H. Gordon’s Jack of Trumps, and H. 
B. Blandy & Son’s Fannie Boston, both handicapped at $5 
pounds, bring up the rear of a string of eighteen. 
—The Buffalo Trotting Association have arranged the 
following purses for the different classes:—For the 2:20 
class, $7,500; 2:24 class, $6,000; 2-26 clas.s, $10,000; 2:21 
class, $10,000; 2:81 class, 4,000; 2:34 class, $3,000; 2:3S 
class, $3,000; 2:45 class, $1,500, making a total of $45,000; 
$5,000 is to be reserved for special premiums, if thought 
advisable to offer them. All races are to be mile heats, best 
three in five, in harness. 
—The spring race meeting of the Virginia Riding Club is. 
announced to take place on the 26tlx of May at the grounds, 
of the State Agricultural Society. The Scotland Farm 
JtiuswaS go @ortc.<>ftoit(huf$. 
[We shall endeavor in this department, to impart and hope to receive 
such information as may be of service to amateur and professional'sports¬ 
men. We will cheerfully answer all reasonable questions'that fall within 
the scope of this paper, designating localities for good huntina. fish¬ 
ing, and trapping . and giving advice and instructions as to outfits, im 
plements, routes, distances, seasons, expenses, remedies, traits,' species 
governing rules, etc. AU branches of the sportsman's craft will recei.ce 
attention. Anonymous Communications not Noticed.’ 
W. H. P.—’What would be the probable expense for a good setter pup 
say two or three months old. I want a native pap of good pedigree? $ 30 . 
C. L. W.. Weston. Vt.—Where can I purchase a township map of New 
Brunswick? Ans. From J. A A. McMilla'n, St. Johns, N, B. Price $2. 
L. McIntosh, Pittsburg.—No object whatever in oiling fishing rods. 
Some manufacturers oil the wood before the varnish is laid on. Well 
tied flies never come to pieces, and the gut lengths do not pull out. 
J. P.—The Fancier's Journal of Philadelphia, the Live Stock Journal 
of Buffalo, and the Agriculturist of this city all devote much space to 
pigeons and domestic fowls of all kinds. 
^Ha*rry White, Syracuse.—Can you inform me through the columns 
of your paper the prices of a Rob Roy A Baden Bowel canoe of the 
larger size, and oblige? Ans. Write to the Hon. Secretary of the Canoe 
Club, S. Roosevelt Schnyler.care of Messrs.Roosevelt, Maiden Lane.N. Y. 
J. R.. Baltimore.—I see that yon allude to the Andaman Islands in 
your article speaking of “Men with Tails.” Where exa tlv are these 
islands? Ans. The Andaman Islands lie in lat. 4 deg. to 10 deg. N. and 
long. 93 deg. East, in the Bay of Bengal, and are about 300 miles to the 
westward of the Malay Peninsula. 
Club will unite in the festivities. 
Watering Horses Just After Eattng. —At a recent 
meeting of the Formnrtine Agricultural Association of 
Scotland, Mr. Cassie, V. S., of New Machar, in a paper re¬ 
lating to this subject, truly stated that a full drink of water 
immediately after being fed should never be allowed to 
horses. When water is drunk by them, the bulk of it goes 
directly to the large intestines, and little of it is retained in 
their stomachs. In passing through them, however, the 
water carries considerable quantities of their contents to 
where it lodges in the intestines. If, then, the contents of 
horses’ stomachs arc washed out of them before they are 
digested, they are in a manner lost, no nourishment being 
derived from them. * * * As was well known, the horse 
had a very small stomach, and experiments had often been 
tried which went to prove what he had said. In Edin¬ 
burgh, old horses had been fed with split peas, and then 
supplied with water immediately before being killed. It 
was found that the water had carried the peas from fifty to 
sixty feet into the intestines, where no digestion took place 
at all. 
—Efforts are about to be made to establish a Fish Com¬ 
mission for Newfoundland, and it is almost certain that 
Michael Carroll, E.-q., of Bona vista, through his scientific 
qualifications and the efforts of prominent officials, will re¬ 
ceive the appointment of Commissioner. Prof. Baird of the 
Smithsonian Institution, has specially recommended him. 
The creation of a Fish Commission for that island would 
seem to be very desirable, not only because of its vital im¬ 
portance to tbe Nefoundlanders themselves, but co-opera¬ 
tion for mutual benefit could thereby be more readily es 
tablished between the maritime portions of the Atlantic 
coast of America. 
--— 
Fish Ponds for Sale. —We refer our readers who are 
interested in aquaculture to the advertisement of “Imson 
Fish Farm,” for sale, in this paper. 
W. A.—Can yon mention ‘any stream in the vicinity of New York 
where good trout fishing can be had and the entire trip there and back 
made in 30 hours? Ans. The most accessible streams answering (he con¬ 
ditions are on Long Island. Take South Side Railroad to Oyster Bay as 
soon after March 15th as possible. First comers after the season opens 
make good baskets. 
R. K. A., Mount Vernon.—“Bismarck” is a strong, muscular dog, and 
works in tbe season all the time. As a general rule too much animal 
food is bad, except when the dog is in training for a hunt; then give him 
the day before a good meal of horse flesh if possible. Feed him but onco 
n day, always after he has earned it. You can procure back numbers of 
Forest and Stream at this office. See Dec. 4th, No. 16., “Food for 
Sporting dogs.” 
W. S. S.—Where in Philadelphia are the rubber inflated bay bird de¬ 
coys to he obtained, manufacturer’s name, price, Ac. Ans, Rubber hay 
bird decoys cannot he had; were made formerly, but were found to crack 
in using, Inflated rubber decoy ducks can be bought at John Thornley’s 
in Philadelphia. Improvements have been made in the ducks, so as to 
prevent, cracking; but the bay birds have never been improved upon. 
M. F. B., Phenixville, Pa.—Where can I get, black bass for stocking a 
fish pond and for breedmg. There are a great many bass here (in tbo 
•’Schuylkill), but it is against tbe law to catch them ? Ans. Having re¬ 
ceived several inquiries after the eggs and live specimens of black bass for 
stocking ponds, we have endeavored to inform om selves thoroughly on 
the matter by extended inquiries, and find that the fish are difficult to 
obtain, while we cannot learn that the eggs of black bass have ever neon 
taken and artificially hatched, much less sold for hatching. State Fish 
Commissioners seldom sell or give anything away to private parties for 
stocking private ponds. We once obtained through J. A. B. Campbell 
453 Niagara street, Buffalo, some bass from Lake ]fcrie for stocking a 
lake.in Blooming Grove Park: by writing to him or to Henry Curtis 
Willow Boat House, North Buffalo, N. Y, you may get some definite in¬ 
formation. Fred Mather, Esq., of Honeoye Falls, N. Y., informs ns that 
he intends stocking a pond with Erie bass, micropterus nigricans 'his 
year, and propagating them for sale. 2. How can a stop be put to 
catching bass. There is a heavy fine, but no one wishes to make ene¬ 
mies by informing on them? Ans. The only practicable way to stop H 
legal fishing in a place where it is openly practiced, and where no one 
wishes to incur the displeasure of the law-breakers by enforcing 1 he law 
is to form a club, educate public opinion on this point, show the fisher¬ 
men that their interests are at stake, and then give public notice that 
after a certain date all persons taking fish contrary to. law will be proso 
cuted. * , 
