FOREST AND STREAM. 
181 
introduce tliem in high waters. From all we know, the 
fish live and thrive well together. I have taken particular 
interest in this matter, my father, Mr. J. D. Dougall, being 
a member of the Club, who took considerable pride in the 
introduction of the grayling into Scotland. 
While upon a visit to this country last spring I was 
fortunate enough in being an invited guest of Mr. Andrew 
Clerk to partake of the first dish of grayling ever served in 
New York, at Sutherland’s restaurant, and have happy 
reminiscences of the meeting. 
Yours respectfully, John C. Dougall. 
We should have stated in our last number, as a proper 
act of courtesy to Andrew Clerk, Esq., that the dinner at 
Sutherland’s was given by his invitation.— Ed.] 
—A private letter from an officer of the Massachusetts 
Anglers’ Association, dated, April 28th, says the Smelt 
Law works like a charm with the Boston fish dealers. Not 
one is to be found in all the markets. The dealers not only 
stand in awe of the fine, but most of them heartily approve 
of the law, and will support it. No attention is paid to 
orders. A Rockland fish merchant sent an invoice of smelts 
to Sliattuck & Jones,-Boston, telling them ‘die could supply 
Boston,” and asking for returns. He received returns in 
the shape of a circular from the Massachusetts Anglers’ 
Association quoting the law “that whoever offers for sale, 
or has in his possession any smelts between March 15th and 
June 1st., shall be fined $1 for each smelt.” 
The Lobster bill goes into effect the 1st of May, but 
even now they are much larger than they were a short time 
w Philadelphia, April 25tli, 1875. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In reply to your Philadelphia correspondent, A. M. S., I 
would state that the technical name of the ordinary chub 
or fall fish alluded to by him, is Leucosomus rhothus. It is 
one of the carp family.’ Beside taking a white grub, they 
will rise readily to a fly in clear water late in the afternoon. 
I have taken them thus in the Brandywine, and in the up¬ 
per part of the Fishkill and on the Beaverkill, in the State 
of New York. On the latter stream, in olden times, they 
-were considered a nuisance when fishing for trout, (vide 
“American Angler’s Book,” and “Bethune’s edition of 
Walton.”) In New York State they are known as wind fish, 
sometimes as dace. Thad. Norris. 
--- 
who, I think, understands fish culture and can see how easily thousands 
of salmon and trout can be propagated, of which Mr. T. has both, from 
three years old down to fifteen days. Yours truly, I. Q. J. 
—The Manchester, (N. Hampshire) Mirror says that pre¬ 
vious to the building of the dam at Lawrence both shad 
and salmon were quite plenty during May and June in the 
river, and though they were fished in all sorts of ways> 
with seines, nets and spears, the supply gave few indica¬ 
tions of being exhausted. The year before the completion 
of the Lawrence dam were caught around the falls over fifty 
salmon, the largest of which weighed twenty-four and a 
half pounds. The price then was about twenty-five cents 
per pound. Since that year no shad, salmon or lamper 
eels have appeared there except now and then a stray one 
which has been thrown over the dam by fishermen from 
below. There is a fish-way at Lawrence, but it is useless, 
being built so that it opens into the river several rods below 
the dam, and where no fish will ever find it. 
Mr. Kidder, superintendent of canals and locks at 
Amoskeag Falls, who is an old fisherman, believes that 
when fish are ascending a river and meet with a dam they 
run back and forth the entire width of the river, and then 
if they find no break in the dam, fall back and lie in the 
eddy which is always formed just below where the water 
strikes after falling over the dam. The outlet of a fish¬ 
way should therefore be in this eddy and where the fish 
will feel the stream pouring out of it. When thus made 
and supplied with a proper volume of water and with steps 
a sufficient distance apart to make the turns gradual, fish 
will have no difficulty in ascending them. The fish-way 
here is much better than the one at Lawrence, though this 
might be much improved by making it larger and changing 
its outlet. It is of little consequence, however, what we 
have here until those at Lowell and Lawrence are so im¬ 
proved that fish can reach this place. 
Mr. Kidder has an idea that the fishways in Massachusetts 
have been built upon theories instead of actual knowledge 
of the habits of fish, and will be useless until remodeled, 
which he is confident they might be so as to give us back 
the treasures we have lost. 
T oodhnd, Wmmi mid (Bmdeti. 
SMALL GARDENS IN CITIES. 
IDENTIFICATION OF THE MICHIGAN 
GRAYLING. 
Here is a chapter of history relating to the Michigan 
grayling, for which we are indebted to our constant friend 
Seth Green:— 
V Battle Creek, Mick., March 31, 1874. 
Seth Greek, Esq.: 
My Dear Sir—I am sorry you gave me credit for naming the grayling. 
That honor belongs to Dr. F. C. Parker, of Grand Rapids, Mich. A let¬ 
ter was written to Lieut. Theodore Gill, of Philadelphia, years ago, de¬ 
scribing minutely this fish, and asking the privilege of giving it that 
name should it prove, as the Dr. thought, to be new. To that letter no 
reply was ever received, but some one described the fish in “Chambers’ 
Encyclopedia,” giving the name as Ihymallus tricolor, it is supposed, 
from three colors of the dorsal fin. T believe that the Dr. (Parker) was 
the first to determine the character of this fish as of the sub-salmon fam¬ 
ily, called Thymallus , as above, and that the description given in Cham - 
bers 1 work was from Parker’s letter; perhaps not. You have perhaps 
given the average of these fish as to size, but specimens grow to 16 and 
18 inches in length. My impression is that we have a true trout here, 
differing greatly from any that you have, but of that we will know more 
when you come Out, as they are found in streams near the habitat of the 
grayling. Before Dr. Parker determined the character of the latter they 
were called by as many different names as there were localities in which 
they were found—“Hersey trout,” “Muskeegon fish,” “Swift,” “Manis¬ 
tee shiner,” &c., &c., &c. I am, sir, very truly, Martin Metcalf. 
“A harbor of delight 
For wren and redbreast, where they sit and sing 
Their slender ditties when the trees are bare.” 
N our last paper, at the request of several lady friends, 
we spoke of a limited extent of ground which was to 
be improved as a small city garden. We spoke of it as 
being of simple principles and of circumscribed dimen¬ 
sions, and we told our lady friends how they could make 
the most of what they had. 
Since writing the plans and directions for a “small city 
garden,” we have received several letters of inquiry from 
our lady friends relative to going one step further, of ob¬ 
taining a little more show, and one lady says—“After the 
summer flowers are gone, all looks so dry, bare, and un¬ 
pleasant, and I want you to tell me if I cannot add some¬ 
thing to my summer garden to make it cheerful in the 
fall.” 
These are just the inquiries we like, and they will always 
be answered with pleasure through the Forest and 
Stream. As your space is of greater or less extent in 
front or by the side of your dwelling, so you are to lay out 
the same, either in the simple, serene taste, or style, or in 
the more elaborate and fanciful. Some persons may be 
Heretofore the credit of identifying the grayling has 
generally been assigned to Prof. Cope, of Philadelphia, 
and to avoid committing an error in statement, we ad¬ 
dressed a letter on the subject to Prof. Cope, and elicited 
the following reply:— 
Philadelphia, April 24, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
^ I have your note respecting Thymallus tricolor , the Michigan grayling , 
with Seth Green’s letter accompanying. I would reply that I had no t 
heard of Dr. Parker, of Grand Rapids, previous to reading Mr. Green’s 
letter, nor am I aware that he has published anything on the subject of 
the grayling. I was a partial editor of the latest edition of Chambers’ 
Encyclopedia (by J. B. Lippincott, 1870-72) in the Natural Science de¬ 
partment, and inserted a short notice of this fish, which I described in 
1864-5. I have no older edition by me, but think Mr. Green will find 
that there is no notice of Thymallus tricotor to be found in any of them. 
I would note that Hayden found this fish abundant in the heads of the 
Missouri (See Am. Report, U. S. Geo. Surv. 1870), and the Smithsonian 
Institute has it from the northwest coast waters. It still remains to make 
a thorough comparison with authentic specimens of T. signifer of Rich- 
ardsou from British America, as American icthyologists are not yet ac¬ 
quainted with it. Yours truly, Edward D. Cope. 
trout culture on long island. 
Brooklyn, April 24,1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Having taken a great interest for the last few years in artificial fish 
culture, and read many glowing accounts of the number of trout 
latched and the small percentage of loss, I expected before this to have 
seen our markets stocked with the speckled beauties. As it is not the 
case, I made up my mind fish culture was a failure, until being in mar¬ 
ket a few days since I saw some exposed for sale, of which I bought 
some (and never saw finer), and was told that they came from Ingham 
'j-Pnng, Newhope, Pa., and hearing such a splendid report of the Spring, 
1 Paid it a visit, and I now say fish culture, in proper hands, is no failure. 
1 belong to a club on Long Island, where trout are not plenty, and I wish 
Kecoider Hackett, who is president of one of our best clubs, and others 
who are interested in fishing on Long Island, before Mr. T. markets his 
8h would pay him a visit to Ingham Spring, and see if Long Island can¬ 
not be stocked with trout and salmon the same as Mr. Thompson is doing 
or a club there, which, in a short time, is destined to be the most suc¬ 
cessful club for fishing in this or any other country. It is the only place 
ever visited where you can see large quantities of fish. They all bad 
inem, but were down yonder out of sight. If you visit Mr. Thompson 
j u will find he knows Long Island can throw a fly, and is an amateur 
found in every large city who will say that to obtain any 
good effects under such disadvantages of location is an im¬ 
possibility in small city gardens. The mistake lies not in 
the city, but in the citizens themselves. We often find our¬ 
selves compelled to stop by the way and correct just such 
errors of opinion. Gardening may have to be carried on 
under adverse circumstances. It frequently is; yet why 
should any sensible man entertain an opinion so absurd. 
The subject may, with a very few, lose its interest. They 
may say that it will not pay; and then, their ground is so 
small that they cannot make anything pretty or elegant out 
of it. This is not a good excuse for not cultivating flow¬ 
ers. You have, you say, only two square rods of green 
sward in your front yard; not large enough for anything. 
Two years ago just that remark was made to me by a lady 
in Massachusetts. She was quite intelligent upon most sub¬ 
jects, but unfortunately her success was not perfect in rais¬ 
ing even a few flowers. Said she:—“Pray tell me what to 
do with this little poocket handkerchief piece of green?” 
Turn it to account, was our answer; why should even the 
smallest courtyard be suffered to run to waste, become a 
nuisance, an eyesore, and not a thing of beauty and joy? 
Turn it to the best account. What if it is small; a little 
thing is a mere trifle; but many little things, many trifles, 
make in the end no trifle. 
Our opinion is strengthened every day in the belief that 
no open space is so insignificant as to be susceptible of no 
improvement. What a new creation comes over the face 
of this old familiar courtyard by the addition of a green 
tree, a few shrubs, and some bright flowers to ornament 
and give life to it. Why, the very birds gratefully recog¬ 
nize this new creation by singing tlieir sweet te deum within 
their branches. Away with sucli unbelief. Go into your 
cozy parlor, look out of your gorgeous bay window, be¬ 
hold God’s sunshine, look at the green trees, the shrubs, 
and the plants, and listen to tlie sweet birdsong; and if you 
know of one poor soul, sitting in tlie dense shade of pov¬ 
erty and want, shake one scale from your drowsy soul, be¬ 
stow upon him one single copper, and if you cannot do 
this give him or her, in the name of your great Master, a 
little sunshine, a single sweet word. If you cannot do 
this God help you; you do not love flowers. 
But we speak for the benefit and instruction of such as 
do love flowers, and to them we love to talk, and for such 
the Forest and Stream makes its weekly chit chat upon 
the beautiful things of earth. Why should the back draw¬ 
ing rooms of so many city mansions, we ask, look out 
upon dirty walls and dirtier pavements? Why such a 
starved, aching void, as it were, of life, of beauty, and of 
sweetness? Under the baneful influences of the densest 
London fogs turf grows. There is a greenness seen, an in¬ 
fluence felt, struggling up for life amid all this smoke and 
under circumstances the most adverse. Why not cover all 
that old decayed window with a lattice work of green ivy? 
It costs only an hour of labor, a few pence, a couple of 
ivy plants placed upon a little shelf, and you have let in a 
whole flood of sunshine upon these dismal surroundings. 
In this connection of screens for unsightly objects which 
you cannot remove, we will add that the nasturtium will 
soon cover a large space with its bright green leaves and 
its golden and scarlet blossoms. We have often used it, 
commingled with the dark green leaves of the Russian ivy, 
in preference to any other plant. Here are two plants that 
may be reliably used as screen plants when many others 
fail. To these you may add the tropeeolum and canariensis. 
Occasionally watered, these plants give satisfaction. 
To return to our courtyard again, we find we have two 
rods square only, and our lady friends are troubled with 
green grass and no variety; so in order to diversify this 
plot we cut from the centre a circle of five feet diameter, 
and carefully removed the sods and made the soil fit for 
the reception of plants. Ascertaining that with a very 
little pains an abundance of water could be introduced, I 
gave to my small circle a somewhat sub-tropical arrange¬ 
ment of plants. I placed near the centre three large sized 
canna plants, and near the o^ ter edge three large sized 
plants of the castor bean, and four large sized plants of the 
calladium eseulentum. These, and a few zonal geraniums 
interspersed, were all that were used in this collection, and 
the effect of the same was exceedingly fine. This may 
be considered as one of the simpler forms to be used 
in garden courts where but little ground is to be 
had, and the principal object desired is the placing of a 
pleasant object before a bay window. There is quite a va¬ 
riety of objects that are pleasing and appropriate for such 
situations, all of which admit of beautiful and artistic 
illustrations, and even classic allusions may sometimes 
with propriety be introduced. The vase upon a pedestal, 
when filled with appropriate plants, is a very fine ornament 
for a small court, and when well cared for by the mistress 
of the mansion will relieve the tedious hours of ennui. 
This kind of ornament, however, requires considerable 
taste as regards the proper kinds of flowers to be placed 
within the vase, and also some knowledge of the particular 
kind of attention they require afterwards. 
As before observed, this was a sub-tropical garden, the 
dimensions of which, you will notice, can be much im¬ 
proved upon both by the introduction of a large number of 
plants and the enlargement of the garden plot. 
. Among other plants that can be judiciously introduced 
in such situations we suggest Japanese maize, Tritoma ,■ 
Yucca fiilimentosa, and Ricinus communis. The castor oil 
been is a very luxuriant, hardy grower, and I always use it 
sub-tropically. The R. Sanguineus is quite picturesque. If 
you require plants for groups you will find that a selection 
from the following will afford you a good study as to taste 
and cheapness—begonias, ferns of the different kinds, 
Lycopodia , Amaryllis , Eucharis , Peperomias , Ficus elastica , 
Bambusa , etc. These are some of the plants you may ven¬ 
ture to use with a good degree of success. The following 
seeds may now he sown within your hotbed frame, as they 
will soon come up, and make a portion of your garden 
stock of plants. ‘New tri-color geraniums, dianthus, hed- 
dewegii, balsam, rose flowered; aster, large flowered; vic¬ 
toria, heliotrope varieties; mignonette, nigella, panza, new 
variety; petunia, double variety; stock royal gem, verbena 
liybridii, whillava grandiflora, tropoelem, hollyhock, mes- 
embra antbemum, clyanthus, coix lachryma, zinnia, and 
sweet pear. These are all very fine growing seeds, and any 
or all of the twenty varieties can be obtained for a trifle 
by those who would like to experiment with the same. In 
our next we shall answer question second. 
Ollepod Quill. 
-- 
—Aphis, or lice on house plants, may he destroyed by 
enveloping the plant in a cone or form of paper, and then 
filling the cavity with tobacco smoke, after which they 
should be thoroughly syringed with clean water, the plants 
in pots being laid on their side so that the aphis may be 
washed away, and not on to the soil, whence they would 
again crawl on tlie plant. 
Various plants and trees have their peculiar slug or false 
caterpillar, the larvae of various saw flies. Those, infesting 
your roses are probably Selandrice Roses. Wash the plant? 
with carbolic soap, or whale oil soap snds, and afterward 
thoroughly rinse with clean water, unless you prefer to 
pick them by hand. 
If you cannot get these soaps, use ordinary soap suds, to 
which add one part in seventy or eighty of carbolic crys¬ 
tals dissolved in spirits of wine, cleansing wfith pure water 
afterwards. What remains of the liquid mav be used for 
washing the walls and roosts of your poultry house or 
other places apt to be infested with lice.— Western Rural. 
Scaly legs on fowls, which are confined in close, damp 
quarters, can be cured, it is said, by removing them to 
clean, dry yards, and by one or more applications of an 
equal mixture of turpeutine and sweet oil. Lard and sul¬ 
phur are also recommended. 
