Feb. 21, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



71 



is out ol 'season in the latter part of April, when the noble 

 bass, comes in for its share of dory. Pressure of business 

 prevents our II y fishers from following up this sport except 

 on Haioidays. when most of our business houses close at one 

 o'clock, and 1 can say with certainty that the half holiday 



would be taken advantage of by hundreds of our young 

 ■Spirants in fly-fishing, T hope the society will take note of 

 this and endeavor to introduce the grayling lOtQ the St. 



Lawrence." 



lire. 



THE MENHADEN QUESTION. 



Edit or Forest and Stream: 



Your correspondent "W. M. EC" takes exceptions to my 

 statements as published in your issue of Jan. :_'4, and refers 

 ii ie :o the hoofe and line' fishermen between Cape Cod and 

 Sandv Hook, and also to some of the fresh lish dealers of 

 Fid I on Fish Market, New York City. In my opinion three- 

 quarters of trie hoot and line fishermen on the OQasfche names 

 Would subscribe under oath to an opinion exactly opposite 

 to his, and as to the Fulton Market fish dealers 1 should not 

 want any better evidence than their hooks afford, that there. 

 is no scarcity of fish on our coast and never has been. He says 

 he has been bass Ashing tor seventeen years, if so where has 

 he tished, up the river among schools of menhaden or off the 

 in L -ks in the surf of the open sea? if it was, as he and others 

 state, that bass depended ou menhaden for their daily food, 

 they would be found in their company, but we know to the 

 contrary, and have meu with over forty years experience to 

 prove it, I have yet to learn that a striped bass w T as ever 

 eaught in the ETatragansett Fay in a purse seine, andashedoes 

 not seem to be posted as to their manner of working, I will 

 state for his benefit that river purse, seines are seventy-five 

 feet deep, nine hundred feet long, and are as effective to take 

 fish in six feet of water as in six fathoms. As to the parts of 

 nine full gro>\u menhaden he found in one bass, it only proves 

 that they were thrown into the water as bait, for bass never 

 masticate their foe. d. Our menhaden boats alwayshave the 

 best of lookouts aloft, and it comes within their observation to 

 know what feeds on menhaden, and they report, that no fish 

 known to our markets are ever seen feeding on them except 

 blueiish and bonitas, and they not often, but sharks and 

 whales and iisli of like species are constantly -preying upon 

 them by wholesale, and it often happens that we cant save 

 menhadou after we eateh them, foi the reason that sharks 

 tear the seines and let tnem out, and if we inclose whales, 

 which we occasionally do, a seine is no obstruction when they 

 conclude to swim awa}^. We estimated that our boats landed 

 in one day during the season of 1883, over one hundred tons 

 of sharks at our Khode Island factory, and their average size 

 was larger than a kerosene barrel," and there were over two 

 hundredmexhadeniu the stomach of each shark. 



His statement that no menhaden could be procured m this 

 vieinitv for love or money during 18s;-! fresh enough for bait, 

 is not borne out by the facts, for there were plentj^ of men- 

 haden in Narragansett Bay during the whole season. Capt. 

 Charles Winslow, with a sail gear, took over 10,000 barrels, 

 and John Brownell with a steamer took over '23,000 barrels, 

 and it has been reported to me, although I know nothing of 

 the truth of the report, that excellent bass fishing lias pre- 

 vailed at West Island during the season of 1883. ~ It is my 

 opinion, after twenty years or more experience as a hook and 

 fine, trap, pound and purse seine fisherman, and from what I 

 have learned of others and read, that there are periods of 

 flood and drought constantly occurring with salt-water fish, and 

 man is no more responsible for the droughts than he is for the 

 floods, and as an argument to prove my opinion I submit the 

 following: 



First— During the winter of 1856 and 1857 most of the tau- 

 tog between Barnegac, N. J., and Plymouth, Mass., were de- 

 stroyed by frost, and on that account that fishery was 

 abandoned during the fishing season ot : 1857: but in four years 

 they were as plenty as ever. The same disaster happened to 

 the"saiue fish during the winter of 1874 and 1875, and the fish- 

 ery amounted to almost nothing during season of 1375, but 

 during season of 1878 they woce as plenty as ever before 

 kno wn, 



Second— Squeteague were plentiful in the waters of Nar- 

 ragansett Bay fifty years or more ago, but they left before 

 the days of traps, pounds, or purse seines, and were gone for 

 many years. During 1870 a flood of that fish prevailed, and 

 before 1878 we had a drought, and since the last date mentioned 

 another flood has prevailed. 



Third— Porgies, or scup, were unknown to our waters 

 before the year 1800, and were called at first Jefferson fish, fer 

 the reason they made their appearance the year he was elected 

 President of the United States. They remained in our waters 

 until 1867. From this time to 1870 there was a drought, but 

 during the last mentioned year there came on a flood, and 

 while it prevailed there, -were days together that the traps 

 were not lifted, although they were overflowing with fish. 

 The reason of their not being lifted was , no market for the 

 tish. I don't know as Mr. Rogers could have bought sixteen 

 hundred barrels for sixteen cents per barrel, but I had ten 

 times that amount offered mc at twenty cents per barrel and 

 did not buy them. The same state of "things existed during 

 the spring of 1882, although the heavy fishing was brought to 

 a sudden close, for a heavy storm with a high sea tore, up the 

 traps and pounds, and stopped all fishing for several days. 

 • After it was over, it was found the scup had left the coast. 



Fourth — Sheepshead used to be plenty in this vicinity many 

 years ago, but left and have never come back, and in my ex- 

 perience I have never seen one east of Sandy Hook. 



Fifth— There used to be on the coast of New England an 

 abundance of Spanish mackerel, a different tish from our pres- 

 ent Spanish mackerel, but not one of that species of fish has 

 been seen in our waters for the last thirty years. 



Sixth — During the mackerel flood of I Sol, ; J »85,55!"> barrels of 

 mackerel were inspected in Massachusetts. During the 

 drought of 1841 only 50,992 barrels were inspected in the same 

 State. During the mackerel drought of 1877 about 100,000 

 barrels of mackerel were inspected in Massachusetts, and the 

 ery went up that mackerel were gone forever, and a stringent 

 law was called for to prevent their being taken with purse 

 seines, for their scarcity was charged to them; but the 

 mackerel flood of 1882 wiped out that delusion, for there weie 

 during that year 200,000 barrels inspected in ' Massachusetts, 

 and the sum total for the. three States of Massachusetts. 

 New Hampshire and Maine was :;?8,;7.i2 barrels. 



Seventh— During the year 1840 a flood of shad made their 

 appearance on the coast of Cape Cod, extending west to Nar- 

 ragansett Bay. They disappeared during the fishing season of 

 1.S4 3, and have never been back. 



Eighth— Zaehe us Maoy in his history says: Bluefish left 

 the coast of Eew England during the year 1765, and we have 

 no record of one being seen for seventy years. They made. 

 their appearance again during the year 1832. 



Ninth— A flood of codfish prevailed between 1875 and 1S7S, 

 and the wnofesale price ruled as low as one cent per pound 

 delivered in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Since then 

 there has been a drought, but at present there is another Hood 

 and the wholesale price in Boston is H , cents per pound. 



Tenth— Twenty Tour years ago there was a flood of sea bass, 

 and they were caught in such abundance that they could not 

 be sold in market for enough to pay the expense of handling 

 and transportation, and as a result thousands of barrels were 

 sold for manure. This flood lasted for several years, and then 

 a drought came on which lasted until two years ago, when 



all at once a flood of this fish made its appearance from Cape 



Malabar to Virginia, Said flood is now in existence, and from 

 appearances there will be a surplus of sea bass for several 

 years to come. 



Eleventh— About forty years ago there was a drought; of 

 menhaden which we kuow exteuded from Bandy Hook to 

 Cape Cod. and the fishery was abandoned by a large number 

 of the fishermen, and it was almost the unanimous verdict 

 that overfishing was the cause of the trouble, as a few sail 

 gangs had been added Co the menhaden fleet the year before, 

 The old croakers figured up the millions of fish that had been 

 destroyed, and their conclusion was that no fish could stand 

 such wholesale destruction. Afterward they made their ap- 

 pearance, and the fishery has been prosecuted with varying 

 success ever since. The most noticeable drought ever experi- 

 enced has prevailed since 1878 on the best menhaden grounds 

 ever known, situated between Cape Cod and EastpOrt, Me. 



During 1883 there was a dearth of menhaden from Cape Cod 

 to Sandy Hook, and it was the current opinion of those that 

 believe that man is responsible for the absence of flab that 

 overfishing had caused them to disappear north of Cape Cod, 

 and that the same influence had driven them from the waters 

 between Cape Cod and Sandy Hook, and if the depletion went 

 on menhaden would disappear from our coast. The calich fell 

 off nearly one-half, and fourteen steamer's and seventy-six 

 sail gangs were withdrawn from the business. But the results 

 of the menhaden fishery for 188-1 have confounded all the 

 croakers, for it is a conceded fact that more menhaden were 

 present on our coast during 1883 than were ever before ob- 

 served, the catch, notwithstanding the large reduction in the 

 menhaden fleet, being over 850,000 barrels larger than in 1882. 



In conclusion, we will say that we have the most skillful 

 fishermen, aud. as it was proved at the London Fishery Exhi- 

 bition last year, the most perfect fishing apparatus on earth, 

 which bespeaks their pluck, energy and ability. They furnish 

 to our farmers guano at a low price, equal in value to Peruvian; 

 they are educating and disciplining youug men to theknowledge 

 and hardships of practical seamanship, who can, if necessity 

 calls, fight on the ocean the battles of their country, or com- 

 pete, when a chance is given them, for our part of the carry- 

 ing trade of the world. Their- calling at best, through the un- 

 certainties of fish, dangers of storms, and perils of navigation, 

 is hazardous aud uncertain, and should be encouraged and 

 fostered, Most every other business in the country is pro- 

 tected, but the Government of the United States affords none 

 to its fisheries, but allows the importation of oils and fish 

 duty free to our markets. Daniel T. Church. 



Tiverton, K. I. 



CARP IN SOUTH CAROLINA.— The following note on 

 making fish ponds in rice fields would suggest that the fish 

 arc more profitable than rice: "Columbia, Jan. 18. — The 

 State Fish Commissioner expects to establish, about Feb. 1, a 

 carp hatchery at Donaldson's plantation, on Winyah Bay, 

 opposite Georgetown, the place recently so favorably reported 

 on by Superintendent Huske. Twelve and a half acres of 

 rice field will be flooded and converted into fish ponds, and it 

 is expected that the ponds so formed will be admirably 

 adapted to the breeding of carp. The ponds will be stocked 

 with 150 four-year old and 400 two-year-old carp. The Com- 

 missioner expects to supply the young carp for the next sea- 

 son's distribution from these ponds. After the first year of 

 cai-p culture in this State the number of fish distributed 

 yearly has doubled annually until this year, when 18,000 carp 

 were sent out, making a distribution four times as great as 

 last year. It is expected that these Georgetown ponds will 

 yield, at the lowest estimate, 10,000 young carp annually per 

 acre, and if the anticipations of the Commissioner are ful- 

 filled there will be 125,000 young carp ready for distribution 

 next winter. When it is considered that a thousand ponds in 

 the State were this winter stocked with carp, it- will be seen 

 that the raising of this fish must become a large industry in 

 South Carolina." 



AMERICAN FISHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION. -The date 

 of the next annual meeting has been fixed for May 13, 14 and 

 15, in Washington. It is expected that there will be a good 

 attendance aud many valuable papers. 



Ihe Mmnel 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 



March 1, 5, 6 and 7.— Cincinnati Bench Show, Melodian Hall. En 

 tries close Feb. 35. Charles Lincoln, Superintendent, care of B. Kit- 

 tredge & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 



March 12, 13"and 14.— New Haven Kennel Club's First Annual Beuch 

 Show, Second Regiment Armory. Edward S. Porter. Secretary. Box 

 057 New Haven, Couu. Entries close March 1. 



March 26, 27 ana 28.— The Dornfcuon Kennel Club's Second Annual 

 Bench Show, Horticultural Gardens. Charles Lincoln, Superinten- 

 dent. ( '. Greville Harston, Secretary. Toronto. Canada. 



April 3, i and 5. — The Cleveland Bench Show Association's Second 

 Bench Sbow. Charles Lincoln, Superintendent. C. M. Munhall, Sec- 

 retary, Cleveland. Ohio. 



May 6, 7. 8 and 9.— The Westminster Kennel Club's Eighth Annual 

 Bench Snow, Madison Square Garden. Entries close April 21. Chas. 

 Lincoln, Superintendent. R. C. Cornell, Secretary, 54 William street, 

 Krvv York. 



A. K. R. 



npHHJ AMERICAN KENNEL RECiSTEH, for the ttiftfet&tibii of 

 - pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists oi: all shows and trials), is pub 

 hshefi every month, Entries close on the 1st. Should be in early. 

 Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed, envelope. 

 Registration fee (25 cents) must accompany each entry. No entries 

 inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription $1. Address 

 "Amerieau Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New York. Number 

 of entries already printed 869. Volume I., bound in cloth, sent 

 postpaid, §1. 50. 



ALMOST A DOUBLE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A sentence in the letter of your West Virginia correspon- 

 dent, in Jan. 17 issue, recalls' a little incident in my own 

 experience that, if not unusual, at least serves to point a 

 moral. 



"1 don't like to hear a sportsman say that he shot a quail 

 and partridge at one rise," and yet I came very near accom- 

 p fis hin g that feat some years ago, and only failed through a 

 severe, attack of the quail ''agne." 



My old slow setter and I (he is mentioned first because he 

 had more Hunting: sense than I shall ever be able to acquire) 

 had been hunting for an hour or two in the afternoon, 

 anxiously looking for quail and partridge, with fairly good 

 success on his part, and the usual indifferent result? on mine, 

 when we came upon a small clump of trees and undergrowth, 

 in the middle of a large salt meadow, which we had never 

 explored, and as a forlorn hope 1 whistled to "old high head" 

 and waved him toward it. Hardly had we stepped inside the 

 fringe of shrubbery surrounding it, when the old dog "froze" 

 with hts head well twisted to the right, but as I neared him, 

 his tail trembled a little and he very cautiously turned his 

 head equally as far around to the left, and solidified again, re- 

 maining so for perhaps a quarter of a minute, he as carefully 

 returned his head to its first position, and remained steadfast, 

 true to his first love. 



As uo amount of coaxing or force could ever make the 



staunch old fellow go on, I stepped a few vards ahead of his 

 nose, and up boonied an old cock partridge, which I surprised 

 myself and the dog by stopping with the first barrel, and at 

 the first boom of his wings away went a big bevy of quail at 

 my left, startling me SO that [ shot the. remaining barrel at 

 the bunch and killed the usual number. 



Perhaps many sportsmen can recall just such instances, but 

 1 pen this simply to call attention to what rnv old (dog) friend 

 said to me at that time as plain as dog could speak: "I was 

 broken on partridge and learned to love them when f was a 

 little fellow, and although a big; bunch of quail smell very 

 nice to me 1 still like my oldest friends the best." 



Wc afterward worked the place thoroughly, and got ten or 

 eleven of the quails, so the bunch in the meadow proved quite 

 a corral. 



Moral : First, stick fast to your old friends? second, always 

 break your dog on the game you most desire to hunt, as "Old 

 Tom Bu«ldey," once a noted duck and woodcock shooter of 

 this city, used to say: "You gitde woodcock snuff in his nose 

 de fust bird he smells, and he'll neber forgit it if he lives a 

 hundred years." Slow Dog. 



New Haven. Conn. 



THE DOG TAX AND THE GAME LAWS. 



Editor Forest and .stream: 



1 have long I 'bserved that while thousands of sportsmen are 

 calling aloud for efficient game laws, and equitable dog laws, 

 none seem to advance any practical plan for their execution 

 were they enacted. Even the laws we have would do pretty 

 well if enforced. I beg leave to submit a plan for the enforce- 

 ment of such laws in the hope, that a discussion may be 

 aroused and the sportsmen led to fix on some one good plan 

 and work together to carry it out. 



The only way to get laws enforced is to pay somebody for 

 doing it. ' Now, where is the money to come from? I say from 

 ourselves mainly. Let the taxation of sportsmen pay for their 

 protection. Let all money obtained from the taxation of dogs 

 be devoted to the execution of dog and game laws. Dog laws 

 should provide for the taxation of all dogs over six months old, 

 at a given sum per head. It is improper to tax the bitches at 

 a higher rate , because it is not right to legislate against dog 

 breeding. Counties should be divided into districts of con- 

 venient, size and in each district a dog constable appointed who 

 should also be game and fish warden. This constable should 

 assess and collect the dog tax, and destroy all dogs for which 

 no tax is paid, or in case such dogs are valuable, he might be 

 permitted to sell them, in a manner to be prescribed bylaw, 

 and turn in the proceeds to the dog tax fund. In case persons 

 harbor dogs of which they deny the ownersliip, the constable 

 should be required to procure from the justice of the peace or 

 other judicial authority, a warrant empowering him to enter 

 the premises of such person for the purpose of securing any 

 untaxed dogs. The constable would, in the execution of the 

 dog law, be enabled to have an eye on all persons who would 

 be probable violators of the game law and thus be all the more 

 efficient as a game warden. 



The money arising from the rigid collection of the dog tax 

 would be ample for the purpose in view. At present 1 do not 

 believe that one-fifth of the possible yield of the dog tax is 

 collected. I am aware that the claim of sheep-owners to pay- 

 ment from this fund for sheep destroyed by dogs is a difficulty 

 to be overcome. But, in my opinion, the sportsmen will do 

 best to admit that claim as the first to be paid from the fund, 

 and avoid arousing opposition in that quarter. In the practi 

 cal working of my plan it would be found that the horde of 

 ill-bred curs owned by irresponsible parties, and who do more 

 than nine-tenths of the cheep killing, would be exterminated, 

 and dog owners paying taxes would be more careful to look 

 after them. Again, the constable, in the course of his duties, 

 would come to know which dogs were addicted to sheep kill- 

 ing, and would generally be able to fix the damages on their 

 owners. 



On the whole, we may conclude that the sheep damages 

 would make but a slight inroad on the fund. I believe such a 

 law could be passed in any State if sportsmen were to press it 

 earnestly, and if passed it would put a different complexion 

 on their interests. I hope my scheme will be carefully con- 

 sidered and amended in every desirable way. That my fun- 

 damental idea is the right one I do not believe can be denied. 



In urging the passage of such laws we always meet the 

 objection of the uninterested. "Why," say they, "should the 

 class of sportsmen be allowed to burden us with laws for 

 their benefit." Never have I seen or heard a satisfactory an- 

 swer to this question, but I shall endeavor to give one. "With- 

 out game there would be no sportsmen, and sportsmen are 

 absolutely necessary to the national defense. The introduc- 

 tion of breechloading . and repeating long-range rifles has 

 changed the art of war. The lines of battle and the massive 

 columns, and the field artillery of a few years ago are no 

 longer to be used. The rapid fire and long range of the rifle 

 forbids it. Dynamite torpedoes with electric batteries are 

 corniug in to augment the difficulty of maneuvering soldiers 

 in any sort of approach to a close formation when in the 

 vicinity of the enemy. It will become well nigh impossible to 

 maneuver a large force at all. As Skobeleff said: "Batteries 

 must now be fought by skirmish lines, and the reserves must 

 be a tremendous distance to the rear to avoid destruction, by 

 reason of the target they present." Now the skirmish line is 

 nearly impossible to control, as the men are so far apart; 

 therefore, men of intelligence, nerve and skill enough to act a 

 good deal for themselves are necessary for this work. 



What is the difference in efficiency between a thorough/ 

 skillful and courageous man, and an average man, both armed 

 with repeating rifles? The history of the James boys, "Wild 

 Bill," "Billy the Kid," Rande, and a good many similar char- 

 acters, is most instructive on this point, as also the various 

 recent Indian wars, It appears that a man who is a crack 

 shot and is versed in field craft, j. e. , can find his way any- 

 where, and take advantage of the nature of the ground he 'is 

 passing over, if courageous and well supplied with ammuni- 

 tion, can defy almost any number of ordinary men similarly 

 armed. It is not for nothing that the hardy people of our 

 frontier towns often submit to the rule of a mere handful of 

 desperadoes. The power of a Slade or "Billy the Kid," or 

 other such worthy is as real as any that ever was, and people 

 submit because they must. The disparity between the power 

 of the desperado to kill aud that of the citizen, is as great as 

 was that between the mail-clad knight of the Middle Ages and 

 the burghers he was wont to plunder. We have got back to 

 something very like the conditions that existed in the days of 

 Hector and Achilles: Battles will be dt cided by the skill and 

 courage of individual soldiers. We shall see armies of ten to 

 thirty thousand men instead of hundreds of thousands. 



A small army of intelligent, highly skilled men, to whom 

 handsome salaries will be paid, and whose social position will 

 be so good as to make the service an object of ambition, such 

 is what we. will see in the future. 



To-day, by reason of the prevalent interests in field sports, 

 the United States could raise such an army more easily than 

 any other nation. 



But twenty years hence, when the game shall have been 

 exterminated, we shall be at the mercy of any nation wise 

 enough to preserve its game and encourage Geld sports. Our 

 isolated position will not save ns, for with the small armies 

 required and steam navigation the transportation of troops 

 wil I be a bagatelle. Let nobody imagine that military drill 

 of any kind can educate men to the proper degree. Shooting- 

 quail and woodcock, still-hunting deer, etc.. give one au alert- 

 ness, the power to take advantage of the unexpected, and the 

 great art of finding one's way and a close habit of observa- 

 tion, all of which are to the full as necessary as marksman- 

 ship for the soldier of the future, and these can only he. ob- 

 tained by held sports. Again, were it eveu possible for this to 



