FOREST AND STREAM. 
165 
One fish of half a pound which I opened had 2,000 eggs 
'in her, more than twice as many as a trout; the eggs are 
•much smaller than the trout’s; but as we had nothing to 
•measure with we did not get the average size. Thermome¬ 
ter to-day—6 A. M.: 0 degrees; noon, thirty-four degrees; 
.•sun down, thirty-two degrees. 
Thursday 2d, Leonard and I went to Grayling with all the 
dish, and built a crate there for them; pur them under rail¬ 
road bridge and went back; ice running in river; much ice 
•alongshore; Leonard poled boat and I used, axe on ice, 
brush, &c.; axe and pole handle coyered with ice; going 
baek caught four fish and found that Mr. Fitzhugh had 
forty; saw a saw-bill duck, or hooded merganser, wood- 
buck, three wild geese, red squirrel, bald eagle, white rab¬ 
bit, and pair of sheldrakes. Ducks are much wilder here 
than in districts more thickly inhabited. Water low in 
river every morning and high at night. We kept on fish¬ 
ing, although in addition to freezing in the loop and rings 
the line would be coated with icc where it touched the 
water, this would increase until as . large as a lead pencil 
and make it impossible to get any line out, which would 
necessitate biting it off or thawing by passing it through 
the mouth. But Mr. Fitzhugh was in sight with his over¬ 
coat buttoned up, his woolen comforter about his ears and 
his line solid ice, apparently enjoying it. I did not see any 
one else. We lost many flies to-day by touching the boat 
and freezing fast. I had up to noon to-day caught more 
fish on the red ibis than any other hook, but now they 
ceased to take it, and at the next loss of a dropper put on 
another stone wing, which did well. 
About 3 P. M., Mr. Fitzhugh and Frank came up from 
below and hurried us in shore with the cry, “Ripe fish!” 
we went to the fire to thaw our fingers before undertaking 
itheir manipulation; he said that as he handled one fish the 
eggs flowed into the boat and so did the milt from another. 
There were six fish in the well but none showed ripeness as 
a trout does by a purple vent and soft body; I then handled 
them and they felt hard and I called them unripe, but did 
finally by using more pressure than we generally apply, 
bringthirty eggs; the male milted freely; the eggs “stuck at 
first but “freed” in half an hour; after taking in all the 
water they would I should judge that their diameter was 
about l-7th of an inch or < perhaps less; the yolk appeared 
.small in proportion; that is, there was a larger water space 
between the yolk and outer shell than in the egg of a trout. 
1 had bought wire cloth and bobinett for hatching, but hav¬ 
ing given up all hope of getting any spawn, had taken them 
back to G-rayling. I took an old piece of linen, punched it 
full of holes, and after putting the spawn in it and tying 
it up, made it fast to our fish crate in a strong current to 
keep till morning, but forgetting the fact that there was 
tide water on the upper Au Sable I tied it too high and it 
was out of water and frozen hard in the morning. Ther¬ 
mometer—6 A. M., thirty-two degrees; noon, thirty-two 
degrees; sun down, twenty-six degrees; midnight, six 
degrees. Mouse ran round the tent several times at night. 
Friday 3d, snowing and blowing; fished till near noon; 
the wind stiffening the flies with ice; caught enough to 
make total 190 fish; packed up, bade a long farewell to 
Camp Hallock and started up the river. As an illustration 
of the perils of navigating the Au Sable I will relate how 
as we approached a huge pine lying across the stream about 
three feet above the water which we had gone under several 
times, I being in the bow threw myself back’ as usual while 
Leonard gave a vigorous push; the tent and blankets on 
the seat behind held my head while the pine bark removed 
a few inches of skin from my forehead. 
Arrived at Grayling we put the fish in the crate and got 
the boats and traps to the station. The rest of the party 
left for Bay City at 8 A. M. next morning, but I dared not 
start so late in the week. I waited until the train went 
down on Tuesday morniug when I loaded up 180 fish, (ten 
had died,) and started. The men at the station helped me 
load and were very kind and accommodating while waiting 
among them. The conductor and express man on the train 
carried water and ice for me and all wished the fish success 
on their long journey; at five next morning we were at 
Suspension Bridge but were eleven hours in getting the 
next eighty miles, as we left the bridge at 9 A. M., Buffalo, 
2 P. M., reaching Honeoye Falls at 6, and in an hour they 
were in one of my ponds with a loss of twelve fish. These 
fish are from a quarter of a pound to over a pound weight; 
some are bruised and will probably die; others have lost an 
eye from hooking in the brain cavity, and three are stone 
blind. 
Whether they will spawn this year or not after their ex¬ 
hausting ride I cannot say. The next day they were tame 
and would not stir for any one, they were so fatigued, but 
they second day they showed a proper degree of wildness. 
That they are a “game” fish I do not doubt, as they fought 
nobly with a few exceptions, but Mr. Fitzhugh says they 
were not near as gamey as in summer. He is a most 
enthusiastic fisherman and that he has the welfare of the 
grayling at heart is evinced by his earnest efforts for their 
protection and his endeavors to introduce them to the fish 
culturists. 
It is useless for any one to attempt fishing the Au Sable 
without boats, and a good pusher is indispensible as the 
stream is so rapid and full of snags, there is no floodwood, 
but it is too deep and cold to wade, and there are but very 
few spots where a line can be thrown from the shore. 
I have not cared to discuss their merits as a table fish in 
comparison with trout; an epicure would shut his eyes and 
then after putting on a look of profound wisdom proceed 
to explain that they were not alike in the least particular; 
-fi 1 ^ P a ^ ate not so nicely graduated, and I will leave 
the fish to be gastronomically described by a more epicur¬ 
ean pen, merely recording my opinion that they are “not 
bad. The flesh is nearly white. The stomachs that I 
opened contained cases of caddis worms and a few traces 
ot shrimp; the latter, however, are like the worms quickly 
digested but have no cases to leave behind. 
The grayling is essentially a bottom fish and in six feet 
or water will be found within a few inches of it, and in the 
clear water of the Au Sable they can often be seen to start 
fi u, 1 u P war( l l° r Ike fly; on this trip they took most of 
the bugs” below the surface simply making a swirl on the 
water with the tail, some few took it from the surface, but 
Idzhugh says that in summer they often leap in the 
air * kas fished this river for the past three years, al- 
most every month in season; is an old trout fisher and an 
artistic fly caster; but since he has made the acquaintance 
or the grayling lie seldcm cares for other fishing; this fact 
more fully establishes its rank as a game fish than anythin 2 : 
that I might say. J 
Sir Humphrey Davy says:—(Salmonia, p. 175,) “they 
cannot stem rapid streams and are gradually carried down 
lower and lower, and at last disappear;” but the Au Sable 
is swift with rapids about four miles below our camp. He 
also says:—“He is to be fished for at all times, for he is 
rarely so much out of season as^to be a bad fish.” 
The only flies that I noticed upon the water were of the 
genus ■ehironomus , an insect not larger than a mosquito; 
some days the grayling rose freely at them. I did not see 
an insect in this stream that I am not somewhat familiar 
! with in my own water. 
! While waiting at the settlement two Indians came in with 
pickerel (esox,) to sell, they were dressed and heads off, said 
they “catch ’em m Sawble;” they had been speared and, 
when I 4sked if they did not get them in the lake, said, ‘ ‘No, 
Sawble.” They had eighty pounds and some of the fish 
would have weighed fifteen pounds alive; they sold them 
for six cents a pound and said they caught them ten miles 
below; and yet there are grayling there among these 
sharks ! The old dispute is kept up here as to what is a 
pike and what a pickerel; they have both the pike of 
Europe and of Canada, (esox,) which is called a pickerel in 
New York, and the pike-perch, (Lucioperca,) which is the 
pickerel of Canada, or the wall-eyed pike, yellow-pike, &c. 
of the eastern States. 
Next day a party came with black bass, of three to four 
1 pounds, from Portage Lake, where they are reported plenty; 
they sold, undressed, at same price as sharks. 
I failed to find any stream where the speckled trout and 
1 grayling are reported to dwell together. Sir Humphrey 
says that they do in England, and Tennyson makes the 
brook sing:— 
“I wind about, and in and out. 
With here a blossom sailing; 
And here and there a lusty trout, 
And here and there a grayling.” 
But it may be only poetical license in his case, but there 
seems to be no good reason why they should not, as they 
require about the same temperatures, food, spawning beds, 
&c. The trout might eat grayling but a grayling of a pound 
weight cannot swallow a fish larger than your finger, and 
as they spawn at different seasons, they seem well adapted 
to inhabit the same waters. Filed. Mather. 
- -< 
" —Seth Green writes to us respecting the propagation of 
the Michigan grayling:— 
Rochester. April 18th, 1874. 
There will be no trouble in hatching them, but it will 
take a pretty close observer to raise the young fish. They 
will be so small that it will require great care. There wiil 
be a great many difficulties to overcome. One is, to fix a 
place so tight that they cannot get away, and give them 
water enough, and another will be to feed them an 1 not 
foul the water. The above hints may help those who ever 
undertake to hatch them. I expect to go to Michigan as 
soon as I hear that- the fish have commenced spawning. I 
will give you a sketch of my trip. Yours, 
Setii Green. 
Our readers will greatly appreciate the addition of Mr. 
Green’s observations to those of Mr. Mather’s, and we have 
no doubt, now that the season for spawning is known, that 
Mr. Green will succeed in obtaining spawn, which Mr. 
Mather could not do because he went too early. 
—The Legislature of Minnesota has passed an act “to 
provide for the reception and disposition of the quota of 
fish and spawn allotted to that State by the United States,” 
and appointing three Commissioners, who are to serve with¬ 
out compensation. The following gentlemen have been 
appointed, viz:—Ex-Gov. Horace Austin, and Dr. David 
Day, both of St. Paul, and A. W. Latham, of Excelsior, 
Hennepin County. The appropriation of five hundred 
dollars is made for the necessary expenses of said Commis¬ 
sioners. We print section 2 of the act, as follows:— 
“It shall be the duty of said commissioners to apply to 
and receive from the United States commissioner of fish¬ 
eries 'such quota of stock, spawn, or fry as may be allotted 
from time to time to this State, and to plant such spawn or 
fry in such lakes and streams in the State as shall in their 
judgment best serve to stock the various lakes and streams 
of the State, aud to make such investigations and inquiries 
on the subject of fish culture as they may deem best, and 
report recommendations for legislative action that will best 
promote the useful cultivation and growth of fish within 
the State on or before the third day of the next session of 
the legislature.” 
—All who saw Seth Green’s great display of live fish in 
aquariums at Rochester last week pronounced the exhibi¬ 
tion truly wonderful. The fish are all of the most beauti¬ 
ful species, and are shown at various ages from a few 
weeks old up to several years. The eggs in process of in¬ 
cubation attract much attention. The fish are all marvel¬ 
lously tame, although they were taken out of the ponds at 
Caledonia and placed in aquariums for the first time for 
this exhibition. The gold fish in globes are of very large 
size, and are also very tame. Seth Green puts his hands in 
the globes and pats them on the back without appearing to 
frighten them in the least. 
-- ? 
—S. W. G. writes from Grafton, Vermont:— 
Grafton, Vermont, April, 1874. 
Editor Forest and .Stream :— 
I wish to bring to the notice of the Commissioners of 
Fisheries in New England a nuisance in the Connecticut 
River at Bellow’s Falls. In former years we are told that 
the eddies below Bellow’s Falls were a great resort for the 
salmon. Since their day all the river fish have resorted to 
them, and it has been fine fishing therefor pike until within 
a few years paper mills have been built there, and they are 
in the constant habit of throwing their waste material from 
their bleaching works directly into the river. The most 
experienced fishermen say that the fish from this or some 
other cause have left, and are very seldom taken there. 
How is this going to affect the salmon? 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
New Hope, April 18, 1874. 
I received, on the 17th March, through the kindness of Professor 
Baird, 10,000 salmon eggs from Mr. Atkins, Buck sport, Maine, whose 
mode of packing I think perfection . On arrival there were but eleven 
dead, on the 27th were all hatched out, with a loss of only 131. As there 
is much controversy as to the best mode of conveying water to the eggs, 
I will state that I take it through terra cotta pipes, underground, 150 
feet from the spring; use no filterer; float them on glass grills attached 
to wooden frames. I have used them this year with perfect success, and 
have discarded gravel. ' Jas. B. Thompson, 
tffoodhncl, J |!mvn and (garden. 
APRIL WORK AMONG THE FLOWER 
SEEDS—THE ANNUALS AND HALF 
HARDY ANNUALS. 
A S you have already progressed to the point in which 
you are to make your selection for the adornment 
and decoration of your future small garden plot, your 
more extensive border bed, or your annuals or perennials, 
you should now be able to know the different natures and 
peculiar characteristics of those flowers. A few words, 
therefore, upon the different flowers comprising these beds, 
in city or country, is absolutely necessary to be known by 
every one who would have good success in the cultivation 
of flowers. First, we speak of the annuals. Annual is 
the common term applied by florists and cultivators of 
flowers to such plant seeds as are sown in the spring, which 
come up and blossom and mature and produce their seeds 
in the season of summer, and, having performed their 
work, perish. There are a few other plants that are classed 
among these annuals on account of their blossoming the 
first year; among them we place the Marvel of Peru, etc. 
These are not in the strictest sense annuals, but they are 
often well treated by cultivating them as annuals. We 
shall follow the well known formula of the cultivator, and 
divide them for convenience sake into three distinct 
classes, viz:—hardy, half hardy, and tender annuals. 
In our papers upon the subject of large and small gar¬ 
dens, their arrangement and treatment, we shall endeavor 
to be understood, and shall avoid all technicalities, choos¬ 
ing to use plain language except in giving the botanical 
names and their classification, which in no case should be 
omitted. The seeds of the hardy annuals do not, as a ne¬ 
cessity, require any artificial heat at any period of the 
growth of the same. You can therefore plant them out in 
the border garden or the city plot as early in April as the 
ground is tolerably warm, and in the condition heretofore 
spoken of as fit to receive them. You will find them hardy 
enough to endure any ordinary weather, such as we usually 
have during the months of April to November. Even a 
slight frost will not injure them, and I have seen quite a 
smart frost in May, and the beds quite white from the 
chill. In such instances I have taken, before sunrise, a pot 
with cold water and sprinkled a whole bed of annuals 
through a fine rose jet, and you would not notice the least 
retrograde movement or check from the frost. It is always 
safe to do so. As an usual thing, when you find the seed 
leaf has been passed, and the third set of leaves well set, a 
considerable degree of cold will not affect annual flower 
plants. Of the annuals, many of them should be sown in 
the autumn months, and young plants will make their ap¬ 
pearance early in the spring. This is an advantage, as the 
flowers will always be found much stronger than those 
planted in the spring. Remember, here, that the very best 
soil for the growth and perfection of either annual or bien¬ 
nials is a light rich loam, not sandy nor stiff, but a nice ad¬ 
mixture of the two. 
As I have remarked, in the different States of the Union 
different times for sowing is required. As a general rule, 
from the middle of April to the first of June may be called 
a good time. In the southern States the months of Janu 
ary, February, and March will be found the best to sow 
seeds in, as these months will more nearly correspond in 
geniality, heat, and other similar circumstances with 
the April, May, and June of the more northern States. 
Our southern ladies are, as a general thing, quite accom¬ 
plished and well versed in floriculture, a taste for the beau¬ 
tiful seeming specially characteristic of those reared 
’Mid the sweet reasons of the southern climes. 
As we can give no certain or unerring rules as to the best 
time either in the weeks or days, we must urge upon < »ur 
lady friends careful observation and attention to certain 
facts always patent to certain times, and observable always. 
According to Robert B. Thomas, the good old almanac 
maker, ‘ ‘sowing may be made when the weather is warm 
and favorable, and you are pretty sure you wiil have no 
more frost.” The object to be obtained is a vigorous 
growth of the plants sown, and this will in all cases insure 
a vigorous bloom. Hence, in the making of small gardens, 
such as I have heretofore spoken of under the name of 
“small city plots,” I deem it necessary to state that among 
the choice flowers, such as would be quite likely to make 
one or more among your list of plant seeds, there are some 
which, being impatient of removal, should be planted in 
the place in which they are to blossom. Among such 
flower seeds we note the lupines, sweet pea, escholtzia, 
and various kinds of poppy seeds. You will here do well 
to notice that many kinds of seeds which bear what are 
designated as “tap rooted,” or straight rooted plants, are 
not so easily transplanted as are the fibrous foi m of roots 
In transplanting, as a rule remove with your trowel singly 
all large growing plants. The smaller plants can be lifted 
with safety by means of a small thin flat she v el, inserted 
below the roots, and the plants in patches are as safely re 
moved as are single ones. I have removed qui>e large sizes' 
linnias by this means, and astors, together with balsamf 
and marigolds. Care and experiments will give you con 
fidence in yourself, and you only need this to make you. 
floral efforts a source always of pleasure to yourself and 
friends, and not unfrequently of profit. 
Having thus well established your anm ?ls in the bed 
