i zing an association of tlicir own,and have called fc. meeting of those who 
were willing to aid in getting np an Ontario Small Bore Rifle Associa¬ 
tion. A meeting was held in the Temperance Hall, Toronto, on Thurs¬ 
day of last week. There was a good representation from different 
parts present. J. B. Boustead, Esq., was called to the chair, and Mr. 
Cruet acted as secretary pro term. After some little discussion of no mo¬ 
ment, it was proposed, seconded and carried unanimously that a Small 
Bore Rifle Association should be formed, to be called the Ontario Small 
We Rifle Association. A committee of five were elected to draw out 
rules and regulations and to report to an adjourned meeting to beheld 
l 6n March 17th , a report of which I will send you if 1 am present. 
tarn happy to see by your interesting Forest and Stream that the 
•Amateur Rifle Club of New York have made arrangements for a friendly 
■competition at Creedmoor with an Irish Club. I hope that we of the 
Victoria Rifle Club of Hamilton may have an opportunity of testing our 
steel against them on some occasion. We had a similar match with the 
Bristol Club of England, who were the champions at that time, and wo 
beat them. I trust we will be able to give our Irish brothers a pretty 
good shake, if an opportunity occurs. I am, dear sir, Yours, 
Shooter. 
-4-• 
Toronto, February 23. 
EDfrou Forest and Stream:— 
Our club, the Toronto Gun Club, has almost been dis¬ 
banded or broken up since 1 last wrote to you on account 
of those dissatisfied members of whom I spoke, though now 
we have got into first class working order 
The list of our officers and our club rules and constitu¬ 
tion will be sent to you by our secretary, who will also ac¬ 
knowledge reception of the two plates of the celebrated 
pointer Belle, which you were kind enough to forward to 
us. 
We have instituted a series of matches, which are to 
take place each mouth; the prize for each match is a case 
of stuffed birds, (game.) 
A few of our members inaugurated these shoots last 
week. 
The following 
are the handicapped: 
Yards. 
16 
Names. 
R. Morrison 
l 
Hacdicapped. 
n 1 0 0 0 
1 
1 
0 
Total. 
0 4 
18 
Jas. Ross. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 0 
1 
1 
0 
1 
4 
18 
J. Maughan. 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 1 
0 
0 
1 
0 
8 
17 
C. Way. 
l 
1 
1 
0 
0 1 
1 
0 
0 
0 
5 
18 
J. Morrison 
l 
1 
0 
0 
0 1 
0 
1 
0 
0 
4 
18 
A. McGregor 
i 
J 
1 
1 
1 1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
10 
18 
C. Pickering 
l 
1 
1 
1 
0 1 
0 
0 
1 
1 
7 
21 
J. Taylor 
l 
1 
0 
0 
0 1 
1 
1 
1 
0 
6 
The birds were the liveliest lot of snow birds I ever saw, 
and with a stiff breeze blowing from SSW. So in consid¬ 
eration of the day the score was not so bad. 
—Captain Bogardus is backed by Richard Kendall of 
Chicago, for $1,000 to $5,000 to shoot one hundred pigeons 
against any other man in the United States, all birds to be 
trapped from the same cage. 
^nUm[r. 
This Journal is the Official Organ of the Fish Cultur. 
isfs’ Association. 
REPORT OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION¬ 
ERS OF MASSACHUSETTS FOR 1873. 
M essrs. Theodore lyman, e. a. Brackett and 
Asa French, the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries 
of the commonwealth of Massachusetts furnish us with a 
well prepared report of the fishing interests of the State 
confided to their care for the year 1873. Commencing 
with the well known case in dispute of the Commonwealth 
vs. the Holyoke Water Power, finally decided in favor of 
the State, it is with pleasure that we find according to the 
statement of the commissioners, that the company have 
given these gentlemen their fullest co-operation and that the 
plans and details of the fishway for the dam, so far as fin¬ 
ished have been faithfully carried out. Next summer it is 
proposed to build a fishway at Turner’s Falls, which it is 
hoped will remove all obstacles to the passage of fish up 
the river. Massachusetts is so situated with rivers finding 
their mouths in her sea-hoard, and flowing through other 
States, that on her depends in no small measure the success 
of pisciculture in other sections north of her. In this in¬ 
terest the commissioners of the New England States voted 
at their last meeting to deposit all the young salmon, 
hatched by them last year, in the head waters of the Con¬ 
necticut. In addition many millions of young shad are to 
be carried this coming summer above Turner’s Falls. From 
the suggestions of Professor Baird, (found in a character¬ 
istic letter of this most distinguished of our ichthyologists in 
the appendix) is shown the necessity of furnishing food for 
the cod, haddock and halibut, which food is the alewife 
(AM. tyr annus) and how the anadromous fishes biing the 
cod and other fishes to the coast because these purely sea 
fishes find in anadromous fish their food. The commis¬ 
sioners have then very wisely paid attention to the intro¬ 
duction of ale-wife. In addition to furnishing food to the 
sea fishes, rendering coast fishing possible once more, the 
ale-wife is quite a good fish, in flavor scarce inferior to the 
shad, its only objection being an over abundance of small 
hones. Of the shad hatching undertaken by Mr. A. C. 
Hardy,- we have a most elaboratedly prepared synopsis, 
showing in a series of carefully prepared tables, the num¬ 
ber of male arid female shad taken, the temperature of the 
air and water, meteorological circumstances, and with it 
the quantity of spawn collected. From the exceedingly 
large number of fish taken, some 2,691, no less than 11,595,. 
000 ova were obtained, which ova in part were hatched and 
turned into the Merrimac, the Neponset, and Monataqnot 
Rivers. In addition to this on the Connecticut River, 
undei the same careful series of observations, innumerable 
shad ova were secured and hatched. Of course though shad 
are becoming more and more plentiful in the New England 
States, it may be three years yet before we shall hear of the 
return of these fish to the rivers, grown sufficient size to be 
marketable. Of smelt the commissioners state that twenty- 
five years ago the lower waters of the Mystic River were 
in the winter season crowded with little tents for the 
protection of persons engaged in fishing, and that two 
to three dollars could be made a day by fnen catching 
smelts with the hook alld line, blit that later the seining 
and netting oh the spawn beds had destroyed the fish, and 
consequently the gains of the fishermen. So completely 
was this the case, that a fish Committee from Winchester 
spent several nights in catching only fifty-two smelts, their 
object being to stock the river above Mystic dam. But 
through good care and judgment and by more carefully pro¬ 
tecting this excellent little fish during the last five years, 
so rapidly have the smelt increased, that last winter the 
little tents made their appearance once more, and the fish¬ 
ing business for smelts became again lucrative. Seven 
eighths of the supply of Boston market in smelts now come 
from Greene Bay, near Portsmouth, and are caught by 
hook and line, and*the commissioners very pithily remark 
“no man would venture upon Green Bay with seine or net 
unless he believed in baptism without benefit of clergy,” which 
little hit of piscatory lynch law if meeted out occasionally, 
we should he inclined to say would bring forward the 
verdict of “serve ’em right,” from all true friends of fish 
protection. Of trout propagation, the commissioners inform 
us that quite a number of establishments have been started 
in the State during the past year. The report states that 
to ensure success the preserve should be a flowed pond of 
many acres with deep and shallow water, that grass, bushes 
and trees should not be removed, because they serve to 
enerate insects, flies &c., which ought to form half of the 
natural food the fish should use. The pond owned by D. 
H. Gilbert & Son, of Plymouth, intended for trout culture, 
the commissioners declare to be a move in the right direc¬ 
tion. 
Of the salmon spawn raised in Maine by Mr. Charles G. 
Atkins, (see an admirable paper on this subject by Mr. 
Atkins in the last issue of the Forest and Stream). Mass¬ 
achusetts received 232,8*00, about 185,000 healthy young 
fish were obtained, and of these 165,000 were placed by the 
New Hampshire Commissioners in the head waters of the 
Merrimack at Woodstock and Thornton, and by other ad¬ 
ditions the total number of young fish amounted to fully 
185,000. There is now no doubt hut that some of the sal¬ 
mon of 1871 have made their appearance in the Massachu¬ 
setts bay, as we are informed that fish of two and three 
pounds have been caught in gill nets used for mackerel. 
Last summer one of eight or nine pounds was caught near 
Boston, and in Buzzards bay in July 1873 it is pretty cer¬ 
tain that a salmon of eight pounds was captured. These 
facts show quite positively that the few young salmon 
placed in the rivers some three years ago, true to their na¬ 
ture after having gone to sea are returning. This spring 
the commissioners believe their share of young salmon to 
be put into their waters will be fully 600,000. Of the Sahno 
Quinnat , Sacramento salmon, some 48,000 eggs were 
obtained, from which 27,000 young fish were produced. 
A further supply is expected by the commissionsers, which 
they propose placing in two small rivers, in order to study 
their growth and habits. Of land locked salmon the com¬ 
missioners of Massachusetts united with those of Connecti¬ 
cut in ^forming a hatching house at Ship Pond Stream, one 
of the tributaries of Sebec Lake, and as soon as in order a 
fair stock of spawn may be expected, to be distributed in 
the States. 
Of fishways, one of the most important subjects in pisci¬ 
culture, and one involving the greatest trouble and expense, 
the commissioners have planned and ordered eighteen dur¬ 
ing the last year of which fifteen have been completed in¬ 
cluding the one before mentioned at Holyoke, and we have 
the assurance that this spring all of them will be completed. 
One most interesting chapter in the report, is that treating 
of the Leased Ponds, in accordance with the passage of an 
act of 1869, and under authority of an additional act granted 
in 1873 twenty-six great ponds have been leased by the 
commissioners for the cultivation of fishes, and of these 
four to the towns near which the ponds are located. Under 
certain carefuly prepared leases, when a town appropriates 
money to stock a pond, every citizen of the town has a 
dirrect interest in the success of the enterprise. Sufficient 
time has not yet in every case elapsed so that the benefits 
of the system can he fully judged, but enough has been 
ascertained to demonstrate its success. Appendix B. (Page 
30) of the report is a most interesting document, referring 
as it does to the condition of the leased ponds; the advan¬ 
tages of the plan can be readily seen; from the testimony 
of those leasing the ponds, in every case the fish have 
thriven wonderfuly, and the new stocks introduced into 
them seem to promise exceedingly well for the future. The 
report concludes with a thorough review of the lobster 
question, given by a Boston firm, where the same reason¬ 
ing is carried out, for the preservation of lobsters, as was 
mentioned by us in former reviews. The total expenses of 
commissioners for the year have been $4,056.37, which 
small amount of money, we believe to have been carefuly 
and judiciously spent. We have every reason to be well 
satisfied with the report of Messrs. Lyman, Brackett and 
French, of the Massachusetts Fish Commission, as it evinces 
not only care in its preparation, but may develop new facts 
from a study of the tables showing the effects of tempera¬ 
ture of the air and water, and weather on the soawning of 
fish. 
Mr. J. S. Robinson, at Meredith Village, New Hamp¬ 
shire, has some 40,000 young lake trout, just hatched at his 
fish nursery, with which he proposes to stock Lake Winni- 
pissiogee. 
Fisli PiVcAection in Maine.— The work of introducing 
sea-fish into the rivers of Maine, and hatching spawn fof 
other States, undertaken six or eight years ago, has proved 
remarkably successful. There has been a good deal Of op¬ 
position to the erection of fish-ways and the laVs flgflihsl 
throwing the waste of mills into the streams, but it lias 
been partly overcome, and already the Penobscot and Ken 1 
nebec are well stocked with salmon, while the Androscog¬ 
gin has received a large lot of young fish. The catch of 
salmon on the Penobscot since the work began is estimated 
at 15,000, worth $50,000, while the whole gain from the 
efforts of the commissioners cannot be less than $100,000. 
But the work of breeding shows the most remarkable re¬ 
sults. Mr. Atkins, one of the commissioners, bought the 
first eggs in Canada at $44 80 per thousand, or nearly 44 
cents each; now he sells the same sort at $3 50 a thousand. 
He lias in five troughs 2,500,000 eggs, and can increase the 
number to 4,000,000. The hatching of shad is a minor in 
dustry, and 100,000 young ones have been placed in the 
Kennebec, and the same number in the Penobscot, the past 
year. 
—The recent meeting at Little Falls, for the purpose of 
stocking the Mohawk River with fish, was largely attended 
and resulted in the appointment of a committee to solicit 
subscriptions, a committee to receive and take charge of 
the fish and to visit Rochester for the purpose of obtaining 
from Setli Green the necessary information for the success 
of fish culture. 
In the Maine Legislature a bill was reported from the 
Committee on Fisheries, which amends the present statutes 
so that any person who shall have in his possession any 
fresh salmon between September 1st and April 1st, or any 
fresh land-lccked salmon or trout between October 5tli and 
January 1st, which he has obtained by gift, purchase or in 
any other way, is to be held liable to the penalties of the 
law. The bill was ordered to be printed. 
*-♦- 
Cleveland, Ohio, February 16. 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
I notice iu your list of Fish Commissioners for several 
States, that you have not those of Ohio. They are as fol¬ 
lows:— 
E. Sterling, M. D., Cleveland; J. H. Klippart, Columbus, 
J. H. Warder, Cincinnati. They were appointed by Gov. 
Noyes in pursuance of an Act of the General Assembly 
passed in 1873. Under the law, the Commissioners made 
a report, and Gov. Noyes, the retiring governor, in his 
annual message, said as follows:— 
“When laborers are out of employment, when times are 
hard and money scarce, the minds of men naturally and 
properly turn to the consideration of matters affecting the 
price of subsistence, the cost of living. Certainly there is 
no food more healthful or more palatable than the best 
varities of fish which are found in our lakes and rivers. 
Yet the suppty has been growing less year by year, until it 
can no longer be regarded as a common and cheap article 
of diet, but should be classed with the luxuries, which 
only the rich or those in comfortable circumstances can 
afford. It is no longer a question whether or not it is pos¬ 
sible to restock our inland waters with fish. Experiments 
in vaiious parts of the country have been made on so gen¬ 
erous a scale, that it is now certain we can repair the waste 
and consumption which have produced the present scarci¬ 
ty. And this can be done with comparatively little cost. 
The delicious white fish of the lakes, instead of costing 
ten cents per pound, as they now do when placed upon our 
tables, ought to be afforded for four cents at most. But 
to effect this there must be a more plentiful supply. 
The General Assembly, at its last session, authorized the 
appointment o*‘ three fish commissioners, who were to act 
without compensation, hut whose actual expenses while 
prosecuting their investigations were provided for by a 
small appropriation. These commissioners were not ex¬ 
pected to undertake the actual work of fish culture, other¬ 
wise a larger appropriation would have been made. The 
board are now ready to commence restocking our waters, 
and are satisfied that an almost unlimited supply of fish 
can be furnished, within three or four years from the time 
when the work is entered upon in earnest. In the interest 
of both comfort and economy, I recommend an appropria¬ 
tion of at least $5,000, for the purpose of erecting hatching 
houses on Lake Erie, in our reservoirs and rivers, and to 
pay the expense of propagating the most desirable kinds 
of fish.” 
Whether the recommendation will be headed by the pre¬ 
sent General Assembly^ remains to be seen. The chances 
are that it will not, for I observe that a bill has been in¬ 
troduced to repeal the law of 1873, and thus a backward 
step is to be taken, instead of one forward in the right 
direction. Nevertheless it will be only a question of time, 
when the subject of propagation of fish will revive due at¬ 
tention in this State, as public attention is being directed 
to it more and more every year. 
Our lakes, resevoirs, and rivers can be easily stocked 
with an abundance of good fish, and then, “cheap food for 
the millions.” Yours Truly. 
Allan T. Brinsmade. 
[If the waters of Ohio are not speedily restocked with 
fish, it will not be through the neglect or indifference of 
Governor Noyes. He evidently appreciates the importance 
of the measures which he recommends, when he urges an 
appropriation of at least $5,000. The appropriations of 
most of the States are too meagre to accomplish much, and 
not at all commensurate with the grand results sought to 
be obtained. When we know that the judicious planting of 
fish ova will yield returns many fold greater than the seed 
corn that is put into the earth, it is penny-wise for Legisla¬ 
tures to be parsimonious in the appropriation of the public 
money for the use of the Fish Commissioners. We trust 
that the present General Assembly of Ohio will be taught 
to attach such importance to the measures recommended 
by Geo. Noyes as they deserve.— Ed.] 
