April 24. 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



249 



clear and cold. A number of years ago the woods which 

 covered the source of the right-hand branch were out down. 

 Now a miserable hog occupies the site. No trout are to be 

 found any more in this stream, but it is tilled with dace, etc. 

 It is a torrent in winter, a mud hole in summer. The land 

 along its course has suffered with it. The other branch has 

 not been injured in this way. It flows with a more even 

 volume, anil is filled with trout. It cools the mainstream, 

 so that tiout are plenty to its mouth, and not a dace is to be 

 found below the fork. 



I did not intend to write so much of au agricultural treatise 

 when I started, but as agriculture is more important than 

 sport, let us sportsmen cry commerce and agriculture with 

 all our might. We will be listened to with an infinitely 

 greater amount of attention, and will gain our own ends at 

 the same time. In conclusion I would only say, take care 

 of the little brooks and the streams will take care of them- 

 selves. Percyval. 



DACE FISHING. 



I SAW an inquiry in your last week's issue in reference to 

 dace rising to a fly. Occasionally in the last few years 

 1 have, in default of good trout fishing in Vermont, taken 

 many a dace in fly-fishing. Last summer, in July and 

 August, 1 had excellent success. My experience is that a 

 medium-sized fly, rather showy than otherwise, is the best, 

 although I found the professor, the brown hackle and the 

 grizzly king very good. Large dace take the minnow in 

 deep pools, but T long ago discarded bait in fresh-water 

 fishing, and can speak of the minnow only from observation 

 and hearsay. The grasshopper in- season is very attractive, 

 and along by the first of September fly-fishing is not as suc- 

 cessful as earlier. But I had no difficulty in taking enough 

 with a fly. 



The residents who fish for count in Vermont make, if their 

 stories are to be believed, prodigious catches of small trout. 

 I was casting for dace in a deep pool last summer, when one 

 of the citizens kindly informed me that I would "never take 

 a dace with that trap," and that I "ought to go Up on the 

 mountain where his boy and another one took seven hundred 

 and fifty-three trout in two days." I asked the weight, and 

 was told they would average nearly two ounces each. Just 

 then a dace of one and a half pounds rose and was soon 

 landed. "Well," said the old gentleman, "I never knew 

 there was any such fish as that in this river, and I've lived 

 on it over fifty years." 



Last summer my companion and myself took them weigh- 

 ing as high as two and a quarter pounds. We found a long 

 cast most successful, as they are very shy. Very quiet fish- 

 ing is required; fully as quiet for good-sized fish as for trout. 

 With delicate tackle I found the sport good. But after 

 having fished the "North Shore" and the Nepigon, with trout 

 seldom below two pounds and up to five and a half, I cannot 

 say dace fishing in Vermont is as good sport as angling for 

 trout in those waters. H. 



Indianapolis, April 14, 1884. 



Trout Fishermen and Their Rights. — When in the 

 course of events the snow, which still "lies in the woods and 

 on the hills, disappears, the trout season will open actually 

 as it has done legally — and illegally, since several persons 

 went out successfully about a week before the law was off. 

 It is said that there will be a great display of bran new signs 

 along the brooks this season, and that some men in this city 

 can tell about how they were placed. For two or three 

 years there has been considerable of this putting up of signs 

 that have no authority to back them, and which operate 

 merely to keep off fishermen who regard what they suppose 

 to be the law, to the benefit of those who do not, or who 

 have reason to know that the signs mean nothing. For in- 

 stance, Mr. X of Hartford has some handsome signs painted, 

 reading: "No fishing; trespassers will be prosecuted to the 

 extent of the law," or whatever it maybe. He goes out and 

 plants them along some brook that has not been protected 

 and where owners of the laud care nothing about the matter 

 or do not care enough to protect the stream. To say the 

 least, the scheme is unfair. It is, however, doubtful whether 

 these signs or a great many others that are put up by land 

 owners' in good faith, are worth anything legally. A notice 

 that fishing is not allowed should specify to what part of the 

 stream it applies. According to common usage, one or 

 three, or four, stuck up near the road seem to be enough to 

 cover the whole brook which may flow through the land of 

 a dozen or fifty owners, none of whom except the man next 

 the road may have any objection to other people taking 

 trout there, 'it is not too much to ask that notices should be 

 signed by the owner or lessee of the property, and should 

 state exactly what the tract is to which the protection 

 applies. It "is fair too, that there should be a penalty for the 

 unauthorized placing of notices by those who have no right 

 in the property. As to the first two items it is said that al- 

 though the law is not explicit it really covers the case already, 

 and that no action brought against a persou trespassing on 

 land defended only in the way just mentioned can hold good. 

 It is certain at least that when a prominent lawyer was asked 

 by a client what he must do to legally protect certain waters 

 he was told to sign the notices and put up enough to make 

 the warning conspicuous all along the water to be protected. 

 The whole matter might very well come up for action that 

 should at least make the law and penalty clear and leave no 

 doubt of what is required on either hand. — Hartford, Conn,, 

 Courant. 



Hallock, Minn., April 10. — The fish are beginning to 

 run up stream, though the ice is only just breaking up. 

 The time for pickerel is not yet, but when they come the 

 youngsters are in high glee. The golden eyes will come 

 with the spring weather; then we expect to try the flies 

 once more. The speckled trout will get a rest this season, 

 for we can find none without taking a long wagon ride of 

 ninety miles, or going up into Queen Vic's dominions to get 

 to Lake of the Woods. — Norman. 



<$w]\tulttm. 



Rainbow Trout in Salt Water.— Among a lot of 

 flounders aud mixed fish caught in East Bay, a portion of 

 the Great South Bay, Long Island, and sent from Moriches 

 to Mr. Blackford in Fulton Market, last week, was a rain- 

 bow trout of half a pound weight. The water there is 

 brackish, and the fish is supposed to be one of those planted 

 in the streams of that vicinity in 1881 by Hon. R. B. 

 Roosevelt. 



The Accident Policies of the Travelers, of Hartford, Conn., in- 

 demnify the tesui^s or professional ui^n for iys profits, tlie wage- 

 worker toy tis waj*es, lost from accidental injury, and guarantee 

 principal sum in case of death,— Adv. 



MIGRATION OF HERRINGS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The appearance and disappearance of fishes on our salt- 

 water coasts, as intelligently described by Daniel T. Church, 

 in Forest and Stream of Feb. 21 , must certainly attract the 

 attention of all who take interest in the harvest of the sea. 

 The "flood and drought" or the coming and going of fishes in 

 their season and in their peculiar waj r , the cause of which we 

 have little knowledge, must yet be studied out. Man, in addi- 

 tion to other enemies, may cause much destruction of fish 

 life, but nevertheless they appear at times after seeming ani- 

 hilation in greater numbers than ever before, as is well illus- 

 trated in Mi-. Church's eleven articles. To add to this experi- 

 ence allow me to make some extracts from L. Lloyd's "Swe- 

 den and Norway" accounts of floods and droughts of the 

 herring on the Scandinavian coast during a period of over 250 

 years, which, perhaps, may interest many of your readers 

 who have not access to the book. 



The Sw r edish herring fisheries were at one time the largest 

 and most flourishing in Europe, but owing to the disappear- 

 ance of the fish from the coast for the past sixty years, they 

 have dwindled down to almost insignificance, and at the pres- 

 ent day there is little to remind one of them except the curing 

 houses and other buildings, now in a state of decay. These 

 fisheries along the coast of Bohus Skargard may not be with- 

 out interest both to those connected with similar establish- 

 ments and to the naturalist. Though for ages previously 

 herrings had been most plentiful, yet during the first half 

 of the sixteenth century, beyond which it is needless to 

 go back, they in great measure deserted the coast. In 

 155(5, however, there was a "land stdtning," as it is called, 

 that is, the fish having emerged from the deeps, their 

 usual place of resort, appeared in incalculable numbers along 

 the snores of the Skager Rack, and they continued until 

 1687, a space of thirty-one years, when they for the most 

 part once more absented themselves. During the period of 

 glut (flood) from 1556 to 1587, the fisheries are described as 

 having been more productive than at any other on record. 

 We learn from the old chronicles, indeed, that for the space of 

 fifty or sixty miles the shores of the mainland and adjacent 

 islands were studded with curing and salting houses, many of 

 them two and three stories high, and inhabited by vast multi- 

 tudes of people, who had congregated there from various and 

 distant parts, and whose sole occupation was in connection 

 with the fisheries. "Herring were then so very abundant 

 that thousands of ships came annually from Denmark, Ger- 

 many, Friesland, Holland, England and France to purchase 

 the fish, of which sufficient were always found for them to 

 carry away to their own and other countries." This would 

 not seem to be an exaggerated account, as from the small 

 town of Marstrand alone some 2,400,000 bushels were yearly 

 exported. The disappearance of the fish from the coast in 

 1587, which reduced many people to poverty and misery, was 

 attributed solely to witchcraft, which was quite as plenty in 

 those days as herring themselves. 



From 1587, the concluding year of the glut (flood), to 1660, a 

 space of seventy-three years, the herring only appeared in 

 small numbers on the Bohus coast ; but in 1660 there was 

 another land st5tning, though not equal to that of 1556. But 

 as diming the dearth of fish most of the people connected with 

 the fisheries had deserted to them distant homes, and the fish- 

 ing houses had fallen into decay, few beside the inhabitants of 

 the province were enabled to avail themselves of the oppor- 

 tunity, and these men, .having now the fish all to themselves, 

 so to say, soon became comparatively rich. This continual 

 until 1675, when the war put an end to the fishery for that 

 time. Subsequently the fish appeared at intervals on the coast, 

 especially in the year 1727 ; but there being a want of people, 

 and also of proper fishing gear to enable them to take advan- 

 tage of tne opportunity, no very great captures were made. 

 In 1747 there was again a land stotning, though much less 

 abuudant that that of 1556, and the same continued until 1808, 

 when the fish once more departed. In this while, a space of 

 sixty-one years, the fisheries were prosecuted with great 

 ardor and success. Herring were so very plentif ul during one 

 particular year that four bushels could be purchased on the 

 spot for two shillings, and though the fish were converted to 

 all manner of purposes, people hardly knew what to do with 

 them. One year when the herring were unusually numerous, 

 it was calculated that not less than 2,938,000 barrels were 

 taken ; and as each barrel is supposed to contain about 1,000 

 fish, the aggregate would be something like 2,938,000,000 of 

 herring. During this glut, extending from 1 747 to 1808, the 

 Bohus fisheries was considered a second El Dorado ; indeed, 

 when in its glory, it was computed that independently of its 

 inhabitants themselves, fifty thousand straugers took part in 

 them. In 1808, as shown, the herring once more left the coast, 

 and have never since visited it in any considerable numbers. 



The absence of the herrings from Skargard for the past 

 sixty years (this account by Mr. Lloyd was written in 1867) 

 has given rise to a great deal of speculation. The reasons 

 assigned by Swedish naturalists and others who were deputed 

 by the government to mvestigate the matters, were many and 

 weighty. Among the rest the noise, and uproar in the Skargard 

 when the fisheries were flourishing, caused by tens of thous- 

 ands of congregated people, which noise in calm -weather, or 

 when the wmd was off the land, might be heard miles and 

 miles out at sea; the enormous quantity of refuse of all kinds 

 cast out from the curing and boiling-houses into the sea, 

 which, on sinking, destroyed all submarine vegetation, and 

 masses of which, resembling floating islands and emitting a 

 dreadful stench, might at times be met with far away from 

 land. Another cause! The reduction in the size of the 

 meshes of nets, and lastly, the use of the wad, a drag net of 

 gigantic proportions, which, sweeping the bottom, pfoved de- 

 structive to all the grasses and other plants among which her- 

 rings are accustomed to spawn. This wad of 200 fathoms in 

 length and fifteen fathoms in depth, with hauling lines 500 

 fathoms long, often landed at a single haul 2,000 barrels of her- 

 rings, and sometimes inclosed such a multitude of herrings 

 that the men were unable to draw it on shore, consequently 

 thousands were killed and left to rot on the bottom of 

 the sea. 



Though the reasons assigned by the learned and others for 

 the absence of the herrings from the Bohus coast are plaus- 

 ible enough. They are not altogether satisfactory. One or 

 more of the nuisances complained of — such as casting the offal 

 of the curing-houses into the sea, and the noise in the 

 Skargard, may not improbably have deterred the fish from 

 entering inlets near the shore, but they do not sufficiently ac- 

 count for their altogether absenting themselves from the 

 coast. The cause for this must be sought elsewhere. The 

 herring, as known, is a most capricious fish, seldom reruammg 

 long in any one place. There is scarcely a fishing station 

 around the British Isles that has not experienced the great 

 variation, both as to time and numbers in their visits, and that 

 without any assignable reason. Their present absence from 

 the coast of Bohus is owing, perhaps, to some hidden law of 

 nature of which we are ignorant, than to the causes alleged. 

 A good authority, Dr. Culioch, takes a similar view of this 

 subject. He says: "Ordinary philosophy is never content un- 

 less it can find a solution for every thing, and is satisfied for 

 this reason with imaginary ones. Thus in Long Island, one of 

 the Hebrides, it was asserted the herrings had been driven 

 away by the manufacture of kelp, some imaginary coincidence 

 having been found between their disappearance and the es- 

 tablishment of that business. But the kelp fire did not drive 

 them away from other shores, which they frequent and aban- 

 don without' regard to- this veorkv It has beeSL a still more 

 favorite and popular fancy that they were driven away by 



the filing of guns, and hence this is not allowed during the 

 fishing season. A gun has scarcely been fired on the Western 

 Islands or on the west coast since the days of Oliver Crom- 

 well, yet they have changed their places many times in that 

 interval/' 



In a similar manner and with equal truth, it was said they 

 had been driven from the Baltic by the battle of Copenhagen. 

 It is amusing to see how old theories are revived. This is a 

 very ancient Highlander's hypothesis, with the necessary mod- 

 ification. Before the days of guns and gun powder, the 

 Highlanders held that they quitted the coast where blood had 

 been shed, and thus is ancient philosophy renovated. Steam- 

 boats are now supposed to be the culprits since a reason must 

 be found to prove their effects. 



Loch Fine, visited by a steamboat daily, is now their favor- 

 ite haunt, and they have deserted other lochs where steam- 

 boats have never yet smoked. 



Taking all things into consideration, therefore, and as the 

 herring has on many previous occasions absented itself for 

 years and years together from the Bohus coast, it seems not at, 

 all improbable that the inhabitants wdl some fine day be re- 

 joiced by another "laud stotning" of these fish. 



Dr. E. Sterling. 



Cleveland, Ohio, March 20. 



WHITEFISH RAISED IN CONFINEMENT— At the dis- 

 play of trout at Mr. Blackford's on April 1, among other fishes 

 sent by Mr. Frank N. Clark, Superintendent of the TJ. 8. 

 hate hery at North ville, Mich., were a number of young white- 

 fish (Coregomis albus), one year old, which had been raised in 

 confinement. The specimens were about five inches in length, 

 and attracted a great deal of attention from fisheulturists on 

 account of their novelty. These are, we believe, the first 

 whitefish that have been artificially reared. 



lew ffuhliczHonfi. 



THE GAME FISH OF THE NORTH.* 



IN the preface to his book the author says: "Having always been 

 an enthusiast with the rod and gun, attributing to the sports of 

 the field and stream the retention of good health amid confining and 

 sedentary occupations, I made the preparation of this work a labor 

 of love, aud have with time come to be more than ever iaipressed 

 with the importance of out-door recreations. Inspiration acquired 

 from the woods ana stream'-", and vigor earned by exercise in the 

 pure air of Heaven are good for the soul as well as for the body. I 

 was ore of the first to press on the State and National Goverments 

 the importance of establishing fishery commissions, and being myself 

 appointed on that of the State of New York when it was created, in 

 the year 1867, and having remained ou it ever since, I have necessarily 

 kept up with the times, and all improvements which have been made 

 either in the science of fisbculture or in the tools and methods of fish- 

 ing. Looking back, and still more I may say, looking forward to 

 what the future will bring forth, I have a right to claim that in aid- 

 iug the cultivation and protection of the objects of the sportsman's 

 purs i it, and the means of his pleasure, in protesting against their 

 unreasonable and improper slaughter, and in describing the most 

 legitimate and scientific methods, and taking' thein, I have eouferre I 

 some advantage upon mankind as well as amused some idle hours.' 1 

 The work before us is a new edition of the book first published in 

 1862, and, with the exception of the chapter on fishculture and the 

 appendix, is reprinted verbatim. Mr. Roosevelt is a most entertain- 

 ing writer and his lines flow pleasantly, enticing the reader to try to 

 finish the book at one sitting. Ho avoids committing himself on the 

 question of the identity of the sea trout, and there are several ques- 

 tions which have been settled since the first edition of the work 

 which he does notice, such as the classification of the cisco, the fed- 

 eration pike, etc. There has been a steady demand for this book, 

 which has been out of print for some years, and all who own the 

 first edition will certainly want the second, if only to see what changes 

 have been made. The appendix of the new work contains, instead 

 of fish laws, a treatise on flies, rods, reels and lines. This chapter 

 contains much information of a substantial character, but is con- 

 densed perhaps too much, and we confess that we do not understand 

 the difference between dying and staining gut, which Mr. Roosevelt 

 says is important, nor do we agree with him that it is essential that a 

 split bamboo rod should be round. No]matter what a man writes, it 

 is certain that some one will differ with him. The price of the work 

 is $2. 



*The Game Fish of the Northern States and British Provinces, with 

 an accoimt of the salmon and sea trout fishing of Canada and New 

 Brunswick, together with simple directions for tying artificial flies, 

 etc., etc. By Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, author 'of "Superior Fish- 

 ing," ••The Game Birds of the North," "Five Acres too Much," 

 ■Polyanthus," etc., etc. Illustrated. New York: Orange Juad 

 Company, 751 Broadway. 1884. 



r Au MmtuL 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 

 May 6, 7, 8 and 9.— The Westminster Kennel Club' t Eighth Annual 

 Bench Show, Madison Square Garden. Entries close April 81, Chas. 

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

 New York. 



A. K. R. 



rpiIE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration of 

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

 lished 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 

 "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 28S2, New York. ' Number 

 of entries already printed 1115. Volume I., bound in cloth, sent 

 postpaid, $1.50. 



A PRIVATE FIELD TRIAL. 



SNIPE are on here in limited numbers, but very wild. With 

 warm weather, fair shooting may be had. An interesting 

 match between a dog of unknown pedigree and one of the 

 bluest of the blue is to take place here the last week of the 

 present month on snipe. Both are owned near this place. 

 The match to be run on the low lands bordering the marshes 

 of Lake Erie, where the grounds are of such a character that 

 every movement of the dogs can be seen, and enough mud and 

 water exists as to try the mettle of the best; the dogs to be 

 down four hours and hunted together. Both are fine field 

 dog's. The friends of the stranger think he has the heart to 

 go to the front and the power and action to keep him there. 

 His opponent has also many admirers, and his friends are also 

 very sanguine, and they Have certainly no duffer. A lively 

 time is anticipated. I will post you as to the result. The 

 judges selected are practical sportsmen of large experience in 

 the field with dogs, and were chosen not from their social 

 standing in society but from their knowledge of what a dog 

 ought to be in the field, which can be gained only by great ex- 

 perience. Why can't our Canadian neighbors get up a field 

 trial the coming season on some of their preserved grounds, 

 giving moderate purses and making the entrance fee so that 

 people of limited means can enter? Some excellent dogs 

 might be thereby brought to light that under the present 

 arrangement of field trials must forever remain in darkness. 

 Many would enter that I know of, and a good meeting would 

 certainly be the result, as few Northern sportsmen can afford 

 the expense of preparing and running their dogs in the South- 

 ern States, where the field trials are now held, and unless pre- 

 pared there they are handicapped to such an extent as to 

 rentier success^alniost impossible, who would readily patronize 

 field, trials 'where accessible to home. John Davupson 



Mosbob, Mich., April 15. 



