88 
FOREST AND STREAM 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 
Devoted to Field and Aquatic Sports, Practical Natural History, 
Fish Culture, the Protection op Game,Preservation op Forests, 
and the Inculcation in Men and Women of a healthy interest 
in Ou"-ldor Recreation and Study: 
PUBLISHED BY 
parent mtd jf trmt\ fltubttshing GjyOinpmitj, 
103 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK, 
and 125 SOUTH THIRD 'STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 
Terms, Five Dollars a Year, Strictly in Advance. 
A discount of twenty percent, for five copies and upwards. Any person 
sending us two subscriptions and Ten Dollars will receive a copy of 
Hallock’s “Fishing Tourist,” postage free. 
-+-, 
Advertising Rates. 
In regular advertising columns, nonpareil type, 121ines to the inch, 25 
cents per line. Advertisements on outside page, 40 cents per line. Reading 
notices, 50 cents per line. Advertisements in double column 25 per cent, 
extra. Where advertisements are inserted over 1 month, a discount of 
10 per cent, will be made; over three months, 20 per cent; over six 
months, 30 per cent. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1874. 
To Correspondents. 
All communications whatever, whether relating to business or literary 
correspondence, must be addressed to The Forest and Stream Pub¬ 
lishing Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 
All communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 
real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 
objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 
Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 
notes of their movements and transactions, as it is the aim of this paper 
to become a medium of useful and reliable information between gentle¬ 
men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other ; and they will 
find our columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 
The Publishers of Forest and Stream aim to m<Ait and secure the 
patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re¬ 
fined intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 
is beautiful in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 
the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 
»end to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise¬ 
ment or business notice of an immoral character will be received on any 
terms ; and nothing will be admitted to any department o the paper that 
may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 
We cannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 
money remitted to us is lost. 
Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, if possible. 
CHARLES HAL LOCK, Managing Editor. 
WILLIAM C. HARRIS, Business Manager. 
REMOVAL. 
The office of Forest and Stream will be removed early 
in April to the Iron Building, No. 17 Chatham Street, lately 
occupied by the Staats Zeitung newspaper, which we have 
leased fo» a period of years. This splendid location in 
Printing House Square we shall occupy jointly with our 
•oopular daily contemporary, the Evening Mail. 
--- 
ADIRONDACK PARK AND THE PRES¬ 
ERVATION OF OUR FORESTS. 
A T almost the commencement of the publication of the 
Forest and Stream, we gave, in a comprehensive 
article, notice of all the localities which the Commission¬ 
ers of the State Parks thought should be embraced in the 
Adirondack Park. 
It is wonderful how in the short space of less than five 
months public opinion has changed, and how it to-day 
fully appreciates and endorses the views expressed by us in 
October last. Our attention has again been called to this 
plan of a State Park by the first annual report of the Com¬ 
missioners of State Parks, together with Mr. Verplank 
Colvin’s very thorough topographical survey of the Adi 
rondack wilderness. With renewed interest directed to¬ 
wards this important subject, the Assembly of the State 
last January ordered additional copies of the original re¬ 
port to be printed, and for full information in regard to 
these reports we refer our readers to No. 9, Yol. I., of 
Forest and Stream. 
If at first these measures, viz.: the preservation of a cer¬ 
tain extended area of lands, which should ever remain the 
property of the State, were somewhat foreign to our Amer¬ 
ican ideas, the reason for it, its necessity, are to-day better 
understood. Our people are getting more thoroughly edu¬ 
cated, and now commence to appreciate that it is not alone 
for to-day they should think, but for the future. Not only 
in State Assemblies, but in the Senate of the United States, 
the preservation of certain extended tracts of country jias 
taken fast hold of our legislative minds, and their attention 
is even being called to timber culture and the best meth¬ 
ods for preventing the waste of our forests. This little re¬ 
turn to common sense begins to make itself seen in various 
ways. 
Last week Mr. Alvord introduced into the New York 
Assembly further measures for the formation of the Adi¬ 
rondack Park. Mr. Alvord’s bill is as followsIt dedi¬ 
cates all the lands owned by the State lying within the lim¬ 
its of the counties of Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herki- 
Ui er, Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Warren to the purposes of 
a public forest park, to be known as the “Adirondack 
Park,” and names as commissioners to purchase such lands 
as may be needed, and accept donations of other lands, the 
State Engineer and Surveyor ex-officio, Horatio Seymour, 
Patrick H. Agan, William B. Taylor, George H. Raynor, 
William A. Wheeler, Yerplanck Colvin, George Dawson, 
and Robert B. Roosevelt. The commissioners are required 
to serve without pay, and vacancies in their number are to 
be filled by the Governor and Senate. The bill also pro¬ 
vides for the appointment of five forest park keepers, 
whose compensation shall not exceed $500 each per an¬ 
num. This is a good commencement. Some day we will 
have a school of foresters in this very region. 
In Washington last week Mr. Sprague, of Rhode Island, 
in the Senate, called upon the House to amend the act to 
encourage the growth of timber on the western prairies, 
which was passed, and later the House concurred in the 
Senate amendments to the bill providing for the encourage¬ 
ment of the growth of timber on the western prairies, and 
passed the bill. 
It happens that just at the present moment several of 
the largest western lumber dealers are in Washington, and 
they state that the most productive of the western lumber 
districts are being rapidly denuded of pine timber. These 
gentlemen are supporting the recommendation of the Pres¬ 
ident for the appointment of a commission to inquire into 
the causes and means for the prevention of the destruction 
of pine timber. 
All this is most encouraging. Some months ago we gave 
the names of several gentlemen, distinguished for their 
thorough acquaintance with arboriculture, who, keenly 
awake to the many great interests of the country which 
were suffering from the dreadful waste of our own re¬ 
sources, had gone to Washington, and we are pleased to 
notice that the measures proposed by them have claimed 
the attention of the President. “Great oaks from little 
acorns grow.” This being a true motto for those interested 
in these subjects, let us hope that these first efforts to direct 
the public mind to our forests and their preservation will 
in time bear fruit. 
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 
FISHERIES OF THE STATE OF NEW 
YORK FOR 1873. 
I T was natural to suppose that the work of pisciculture 
in this State would be well done, and the report of the 
Commissioners of Fisheries of the State of New York for 
the year ending December 81st, 1873, explaining the char¬ 
acter of their labors, is fully equal to what was expected 
of them. From the geographical position of the State, 
with its noble rivers, its broad expanse of lakes, and from 
its being the most prominent as to wealth and population, 
New York might be considered as exactly the State where, 
as far as fish culture went, the crucial experiment would be 
tried. 
Our most worthy commissioners, Messrs. Horatio Sey¬ 
mour, Edward Smith, and Robert B. Roosevelt, with Seth 
Green the superintendent, all gentlemen well known for 
their intimate acquaintance with the interests confided to 
their care, have evidently made the subject of the State 
fisheries a labor of love. Not alone is New York indebted 
to these gentlemen for the wealth of fish she must gain, 
but the whole of the United States is incited thereby to fol¬ 
low her example, and to give due attention to what are 
questions of vital importance. 
What is wanted in all such reports is that they should 
be perfectly practical, and the one under review is eminent¬ 
ly so. Subjects of this character it is essential should be 
so written as to be readily understood. Many of our peo¬ 
ple regard State pisciculture in the light of an ornamental 
science, which has no further aim or end than to produce 
some few rare or expensive fish. Too many practical men 
seem to look on aquaculture with the same indifference as 
they would the subject of fancy horticulture. They may 
admire the rare hot house exotics, but have a decided pref¬ 
erence (and we do not gainsay their likings) for cabbages 
and turnips. Pisciculture to them means “educated trout,” 
worth a dollar a pound, and they will not comprehend, or 
are not yet informed, that State pisciculture has for its end 
and aim the production of shad, good big ones, at twenty- 
five cents apiece, such as no poor men buy because they 
now cost seventy-five cents ora dollar, and to make salmon 
cheaper even than pork. This is exactly what State pisci¬ 
culture is striving to accomplish, and what the fish com¬ 
missioners are endeavoring to encompass. 
The sixth annual report for the State of New York states 
that last year 5,410,000 shad were successfully hatched and 
turned loose, the majority in the Hudson and a smaller 
number distributed in other localities, where it seemed to 
be advisable to attempt to colonize them. The operations 
on the Hudson were commenced on the 20th of May of 
last year, and ended on the 30th of June. Warm weather 
setting in just then, the water being at more than eighty- 
two degrees, the fishery was stopped. The total number 
of shad caught was 1,643. Of these 293 were ripe fish, 
and from them almost five and three quarters of a million 
of spawn were taken, and some 5,041,000 young fish hatched 
out. It may be seen that the loss then was most insignifi¬ 
cant, about twelve per cent. 
The work of last year was supplementary, then, to the 
labors of 1872, when upwards of seven and a half millions 
of young shad were put into the Hudson. This quantity 
of young fish must in time (providing any sensible laws are 
made in regard to shad fishing) render the Hudson fruitful 
in fish, because the ordinary catch of shad in the Hudson 
from its mouth to the dam at Troy, does not exceed to-da' 
a million of fish. One might even at first suppose that the 
number of young shad in the Hudson would be almost in 
excess of its capacity, but the pooi shad have a hard time 
of it. On the Hudson, from its mouth to Troy, there are 
barriers of nets after nets; for 160 miles the river, in shad 
season, is one huge fabric of meshes. Gill nets and seines 
encompass the fish. For some distance above New York 
floating or stationary gill nets are all the time in use during 
the season. The quantity of engines of destruction em¬ 
ployed have had the effect of militating even against the 
interest of the fishermen. 
“Three years ago”—we quote the report—“the shad fish¬ 
eries of the Hudson were so run down that very few of 
them were paying, and many fishermen had discontinued 
their labors.” For the last two years, however, the fishery 
has improved, “and,” add our commissioners, “with the 
assistance of a proper law, establishing a weekly close time 
there is no doubt that the fisheries can be restored to their 
original condition.” 
What is it, then, the commissiohers ask? The least bit 
of jurisdiction possible. They prayr that the shad shall 
have only the shadow of a chance, and they beg that in 
shad fishing time an act shall be passed forbidding the use of 
nets from Saturday night until Monday morning of every week 
That is all, only time enough to allow some few harassed 
fish to escape the labyrinth of nets, so that they can run up 
stream to their spawning grounds and reproduce their kind, 
If the State, then, gives a certain amount of money, no 
matter how large or small it may be, for the specified" pur¬ 
pose of producing fish, it seems rational to suppose that it 
should pass certain measures for their proper protection. 
Our fish commissioners have also been able to find out 
this year whether shad, a migratory fish, living alike in 
fresh and salt water, could exist entirely in inland waters. 
In 1872 experiments were made with young shad intro¬ 
duced into the Genesee and rivers flowing into fresh water 
lakes, and in 1873 shad were caught in lake Ontario fully 
seven inches long. Last year, we are pleased to state, a 
more thorough essay was inaugurated, and 54,000 young 
shad were deposited in Canandaigua and the same number 
in Cayuga Lake, and the commissioners, in order to test 
this most interesting subject, have distributed the shad 
widely in various sections of the country. During the 
spring of last year, under direction of Professor Baird, Mr. 
L. Stone took 85,000 young shad to California. So it may 
be seen how the principle of exchange comes in; we take 
the California salmon for our own rivers and send them in 
return our shad. 
The honorable Robert B. Roosevelt, in his opening ad¬ 
dress to the American Association of Fish Culturists, gave 
a thorough resume of the prior work of the commissioners, 
and stated that at the incipiency of their labors the dearth 
of shad was so great that the commissioners were never 
able to obtain as many matured fish in the spawning 
beds as they desired, and hence had effected much less good 
than they would have done if a sufficient number of eggs 
could have been procured. However, thanks to the com¬ 
missioners, matters have much improved since that period 
in regard to shad. 
A most interesting portion of the report is that deyoted 
to the description of the State hatching house at Caledonia, 
which serves mainly for the maturing of the ova of the 
white fish and salmon trout eggs, and full details of a per¬ 
fectly practical character can be found in the pamphlet in 
regard to the transportation of the eggs or of the young 
fish, and advice to those desirous of stocking their ponds. 
In the appendix we notice a regular account has been kept 
of all shipments of eggs of the white fish and salmon trout 
sent to various parts of the world, some going to England, 
and also of the young fish—black bass, Oswego bass, and 
rock bass—delivered. 
We have declared the report to be distinguishable by its 
practical character, and this is evident from the fact that it 
is shad culture on the Hudson and other rivers which is the 
all important subject. Before w r e may expect to have the 
venison and the ortolans let us be satisfied with plain beef. 
The people and the legislature want to see shad in quan¬ 
tity, and cheap at that, and then they wall be glad after 
awhile to give their money for the production of rarer fish. 
The memory of a well beloved king of France went down 
to posterity because he said he wanted “every man in 
France to have a chicken in his pot,” and the commission¬ 
ers, by working might and main to produce for us shad in 
quantity, will, we believe, at no very distant period, by 
their success, be considered as benefactors by those who 
suffer in this city and in the State from the want of a cheap 
and wholesome fish diet. 
One most difficult time for all our fish commissioners has, 
we believe, almost passed away. It is what we might des¬ 
ignate as the “period of popular expectation.” The good 
people of this country having in the most inconsiderate 
way, for the last fifty years, consumed and destroyed fish, 
expect the fish commissioners in a magical way to bring 
back all the fish in a fortnight, forgetting that to restore 
our rivers must occupy years. We believe that popular 
impatience has but a very short time to wait. What has 
been done with salmon in England, and with shad in the 
Connecticut, will be repeated in the Hudson. 
Mr. Roosevelt’s paper, before alluded to in this article, 
has so many interesting points in it as supplementary to 
this general report, that it will shortly be produced by us. 
