450 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jtjlt 3, 1884. 



la 1? es of the Androscoggin chain. But the wise foolishness 

 which hung about fishculture twenty-five or thirty years ago 

 put pickerel into this lake. Their shark-like propensities for 

 destroying other fish long ago completely used up the small 

 trout, * leaving only the "old settlers," too big to be eaten. 

 But, as is usually the case with pickerel, they long ago began 

 to prey upon the young of their own species, and are believed 

 to be fast disappearing from the lake. 



Under such circumstances it has been deemed expedient to 

 try landlocked salmon in those waters. It is believed by the 

 Maine and New Hampshire Commissioners, and others who 

 have made the subject a study, that the salmon small fry re- 

 main in the streams where they are planted till they are large 

 enough to take care of themselves as against pickerel and 

 other enemies found in the lake below. When old enough, 

 thev descend to the lake, as do the sea salmon to the sea, 

 always returning at the breeding season to deposit their eggs 

 out of danger in the very waters where the present fish them- 

 selves grew up. If such be the true theory, and all the dis- 

 coveries of the past dozen years point that way, and fish plant- 

 ing is kept up, we, good readers of the Forest and Stream, 

 may yet find noble sport with the landlockers in the Umbagog. 



Special. 



Boston. 



HATCHING SHAD IN SPRING WATER.— It has always 

 been thought by fishculturists that river water is necessary to 

 the development of shad eggs, but expetiment at Cold Spring 

 Harbor has proved that this is not only not the case, but that 

 spring water is best. Mr. Mather, the Superintendent of the 

 hatchery there, asked the United States Fish Commissioners 

 for a few hundred eggs to test in spring water. Eighty thou- 

 sand shad eggs from the Potomac River were forwarded to 

 him and thev were placed in the McDonald hatching jars, and 

 hatched with not only a slight percentage of loss but without 

 the development of fungus on the dead eggs. The fry, some 

 78,000. were placed in the Nissequogue River, at Smithtown, 

 Long Island. The advantage that may be derived from this 

 experiment is, that in future the distribution of shad eggs will 

 probably be from the central hatchery at Washington to all 

 points where there are hatcheries, instead of sending the fish 

 after hatching and paying charges on the water that they re- 

 quire, an item of importance when it is considered that an en- 

 tire car with 2,000,000 shad fry is often sent to States as dis- 

 tant as California and Texas.— Long Islander. 



$nzwer§ to <^ovw8$andmt$. 



HSF"* No Notice Taken of Anonymous Correspondents. 



W. D. W.— See our game columns for moose hunting grounds. 



C. W. C, Woodside, N Y.— The New York law permits the collec- 

 tion of song birds for scientific purposes. 



A Reader.— Do shad take the fly, anff if so at what season of vear 

 and where are they caught? Ans. Shad are taken with the fly at 

 Holyoke, Mass., from July 1 to August. 



Novice. New York.— 1. What hook and size is best for worm fishing 

 for brook trout in streams where the fish seldom attain one pound 

 weight? 2. When split sbot has been applied to the gut and it is not 

 necessary to have it on any more, hew can the same be removed best 

 without injury to the gut? Ans. 1. Try a Sproat book, No. 1 or 2, the 

 latter is the smaller. 2. Open the shot gently with a pocket knife. If 

 the gut is injured, cut it and wet the ends and tie it. 



0. 0. W., Warren County, N. Y.— I wish to ask you some questions 

 concerning the black bass in Brant Lake, this county. I say you can- 

 not catch bass while they are spawning. The bass have beds within 

 ten feet of my shore. Can I not protect, for some distance, the wa- 

 ters around my land? Hounds from below and other places, come 

 here and troll with live bait, over the beds, and bass will always take 

 the minnow. Can I only prosecute for trespass, if I can protect 

 waters about my own land, or will I have the only remedy of inform- 

 ing on tuese fishermen (God save the mark!) to the game constable? 

 Some people here say the law is up June 1 ; I say not. The bass are 

 now, at this writing, spawning all around my shore. I am sure one 

 old rascal hooked a bass -within twenty feet of my shore from the 

 beds. Last year I was away at this time of the year, and so was not 

 able to locate the beds, and only last week h ive I been able to do so 

 this year, there having been so many storms of wind and rain this 

 season. Ans. The law of New York allows black bass fishing from 

 June 1 to Jan. 1, except in the following waters: Lake Mahopac or 

 Dutchess county, July 1: Lake George, July 20; Schroon Lake or 

 river, Paradox Lake, in the counties of Essex or Warren, July 1. 

 You can forbid persons to enter your premises, and bring action for 

 trespass, unless it could be proven that Brant Lake is part of the 

 Schroon .River, into which it empties. 



lew $liihltmttQn$. 



A Books of Fishing with Hooke and Line.— This rare old work, 

 by Leonard Mascal), 1590, has been reprinted, with a preface, by 

 Thomas Satchell, 19 Tavistock street, London. It is a very curious 

 work, and contains much of interest to anglers as well as fisheul- 

 turists. We find so many quaint things in it that we propose to make 

 a few extracts from the book in a future number. It is well printed. 

 and the illustrations are facsimiles of the original. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Plato's Republic— A critique of pure unreason. By Paul Pastnor, 

 BurLngton, Yt. : Paul Pastnor, 1883. 



The Diet Question, giving the reason why. By Susanna W. Dodds, 

 M. D. New York: Fowler & Wells Co., 1884. 



To Mexico by Palace Car. By Jas. W. Steele. Chicago: Jansen, 

 McClurg & Co., 1884. Price twenty-five cents. 



Handbook of the St. Nicholas Agassiz Association. By Harlan 

 H. Ballard. Lenox, Mass, : Published by the author. 



Bustlings in the Rockies; hunting and fishing by mountain and 

 stream. By G. O. Shields (Coquina). Chicago: Belford, Clarke & 

 Co., 1883. 



The Countess of Monte-Cristo. Being the companion to Alex- 

 ander Dumas's "Count of Monte-Cristo." Philadelphia: F. B. Peter- 

 son & Bros., 1884. 



WHAT THEY SAY OF "WOODCRAFT.*' 



A DELIGHTFUL little work has just been issued by the Forest and 

 -^* Stream Publishing Company, of this city. It is entitled "Wood- 

 craft," and is wi itten by one who assumes the pseudonym "Nessmuk." 

 In just less than 150 pages the author inducts us into many of the 

 secrets of a "craft" which is certainly as wonderful in its way as 

 many that are practiced among the city's brick and stone. He reveals 

 to us all that can be done with knapsack, hatchet, knives, tin ware, 

 rods, ashing tackle and ditty-bag. He emphasises the difference be- 

 tween roughing it and smoothing it, and tells how to make both 

 camps and camp-fires. He explains the tactics of fishing, either with 

 or without flies, and devotes two full chapters to the very important 

 subject of cooking. The book is written seriously and with a pur- 

 pose, yet there is nothing heavy in the manner in which the themes 

 are handled. It is the peculiarity of an author who is full of his sub- 

 ject that he remains full after having exhausted himself without ex- 

 hausting the reader. This is eminently true of "Nessmuk."— New 

 York Evening Telegram. 



$290,000 was paid last year for claims under the life policies of the 

 Travelers, of H*rDford, Conn., and $1,164,000 to life and accident 

 clalmnants together. — Adv. __ 



%e Mennel 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 



Sept. 10. 17 and 18.- Collie Bench Show and Field Trials of the 

 Ontario Collie Club, Toronto, Ont. Mr. H. J. Hill, Secretary, Toronto. 



Sept. -.Bench Show of the Philadelphia Kennel Club. Mr. Ben j. 

 C. Satterthwaite, Secretary. 



Oct. 6, 9, 10 and 11.— Third Annual Bench Show of the Danbury 

 Agricultural Society, Danbury, Conn. E. S. Davis, Superintendent, 

 Danbury, Conn. 



Oct. 21.B2, 23 and 24.— Non-sporting Bench Show of the Westminster 

 Kennel Club, Madison Square Garden, New York. Mr. Charles 

 Lincoln, Superintendent. 



A. K. R. 



rpHE 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 (s!5 cents) must accompany each entry. No entries 

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

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

 of entries already printed 1319. Volume I., bound in cloth, sent 

 postpaid, $1.5C. 



POINTERS AT THE NEW YORK SHOW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Now that the numerous members of the W.K.C. have so 

 gracefully retired from the controversy, I will be brief in my 

 reply to them. Let me first ask you to correct two slight 

 errors in my last letter. You credit me with saying Sensation 

 won second prize at a little Saturday afternoon show held at 

 Oswestry, England. The dog won third prize on that occasion 

 and therefore took the prize money— half a crown (sixty 

 cents). The letter from an English breeder relating to Bang 

 Bang should read as follows: "Bang Bang did win first prize, 

 but the class was a wretchedly bad one. The opinion here is 

 that the American who paid £50 for him got his fingers well 

 bitten. The dog has another fault besides those named by 

 you." Mr. Cornell states that "every insinuation" and "direct 

 accusation" conveyed in my "intemperate" letter are false. 

 In the first place, there were no insinuations in that letter, and 

 in the second, every statement contained therein is as true as 

 steel, and I am prepared to prove such to be the case. My 

 letter contained nothing but hard facts — the truth, mere denial 

 of which is no argument, and only proves the inability of Mr. 

 Cornell and his club to reply. There is still a chance for Mr. 

 Cornell to redeem himself. I hold proof that the W.K.C. 

 desired to purchase Beaufort for $500. Mr. Nixon refused to 

 let him go at the money, and I suppose it is only human 

 nature that Mr. Cornell and his club should feel disappointed 

 and grieved when they saw the dog in the hands of a pointer 

 breeder within a few miles from their own kennels. If the 

 attempt has been to use Beaufort up, let Mr. Cornell admit it 

 like a man. The dog still lives, and he never stood so high in 

 the opinion of breeders as he stands to-day, It is not sufficient 

 reason to bury in oblivion the grandest dog of his day, simply 

 because his owner is not popular with a few inexperienced 

 grumblers, and has the misfortune to be one of Her Britannic 

 Majesty's humble subjects. Our aim should be to improve 

 the beautiful pointer, and not to sacrifice his good looks on 

 account of petty jealousy or envy. 



I have little to say to Messrs. Ingersoll and Grant, both 

 members of the W.K.C. One says something about my 

 character and temper, but has omitted to allude to my 

 appetite or the cut of my clothes. The other alludes to 

 turkeys, pigeons and circuses. Really, Mr. Editor, I thought 

 the discussion was of the merits and demerits of certain dogs, 

 and if so I do not propose to discuss either poultry or anything 

 else. Too many fouls have already been introduced into the 

 controversy. 



Mr. Elliott Smith overrates the performances of Bang 

 Bang. The dog was first in England in a very poor class, and 

 second at Cleveland. I pass over the prize won at New York. 

 Mr, Smith must advance some substantial argument to show 

 the advisability of breeding to a little dog of Bang Bang's 

 type, that gets black and white puppies ; so far, he has failed 

 to do it. This gentleman wishes it understood that when he 

 and Mr. Cornell offered $350 for Beaufort, they had not made 

 a thorough examination of the dog. Two gentlemen, therefore, 

 who consider themselves judges, offered $350 for a dog with- 

 out examining him. That is funny. A little later they 

 desired to pay $500 (without any further examination), which 

 seems ridiculous. Who examined Bang Bang before he was 

 pnrchased, I beg respectfully to ask? Come, Mr. Smith, be 

 frank. You and Mr. Cornell took a great fancy for Beaufort, 

 and pronounced hitn the best pointer you had ever seen. You 

 did not care to buy a dog on your own judgment, and so you 

 called in the assistance of a gentleman well known in con- 

 nection with pointers, a man of undisputed integrity. He 

 told you to buy Beaufort, because in his opinion he was the 

 grandest dog ever seen— would be a credit to you, and raise 

 the standard of your kennel. Is this not the truth and nothing 

 but the truth? Mr. Nixon stopped the sale of the dog and 

 refused to sell at any price. This is why you made no further 

 advance, and it is only since I became the lucky owner of the 

 dog that you discovered that ''his hindlegs are crooked.' 

 These are undeniable facts, and the public should know them' 

 Further allusion to the matter is unnecessary. 



Mr. Aldrich (who admits he is employed by the W.K.C.) 

 considers Beaufort a "good-looking big dog," but not quite 

 what he wants. I cannot itop to argue with Mr. Aldrich, for 

 one of his best friends tells me he knows nothing about the 

 points of a dog. One thing I will say, that is, Mr. Talhnan, I 

 believe, has pronounced Beaufort the best dog ever seen. Mr. 

 Martin, manager for Mr. Goodsell, told me the same thing 

 some time ago, and Mr. Mitchell wrote a gentleman in New 

 Y ork City, to call on me, as I could show him the grandest 

 pointer that ever stood on four legs. These gentlemen are 

 not interested, and it is quite probable any one of them is as 

 good a judge as Mr. T, Aldrich. 



It is a little late in the day for Mr. Tracy to come forward 

 as a judge of dogs, and his advent was by no means a brilliant 

 one, nevertheless I will give him a short reply, but I wish it 

 distinctly understood that I do not intend to discuss dogs 

 with this gentleman, not at least until he has shown that he 

 has owned and bred good ones. Mr. Tracy says that I seem 

 to assume that the judges of public events'have hitherto been 

 on the average a lot of dolts. What has this got to do with 

 my criticism of the "Pointers at New York." I o.°sume 

 nothing of the kind, b'it on the contrary I have a great 

 personal regard for some judges, one of whom is Map'or 

 Taylor. I freely admit that 1 have seen dolts in the judging 

 ring, and it is about time they found the modesty, or regard 

 for the feelings of others to stand out. Mr. Tracy next states 

 that I have denounced Croxteth, Sensation, and the setter 

 Thunder, and continues, "all these have been publicly shown 

 to be very superior field dogs." By your courtesy, Mr. Editor, 

 I will reply, but are we not getting a little wide of the question 

 under discussion? Croxteth I pass over, my opinion of him is 

 well known, but be is a much better dog than Meteor. I do 

 not say, neither did I ever say that Sensation was not a fairly 

 good field dog. I do say he was never a show dog, and I 

 repeat that no judge would pay $75 for him when he was for 

 sale at that price. I did not consider him a good-looking dog 

 the first time I saw him and I do not consider him a good- 

 looking dog now. I claim to have a conscience. I deny that 

 Thunder was ever a "superior field dog," or indeed a field dog 

 at all. His record (divided stakes at Pennsylvania Field 



Trials with four or five others— no birds) is the only proof of 

 his superior public field form. No dog formed as Thunder is, 

 ever was. or ever will be, a field dog. I had the pleasure of 

 meeting the breeder of Thunder not long ago, and in justice to 

 myself and for Mr. Tracy's edification, f wish to say right here 

 that he not only indorsed what 1 wrote in the public" papers 

 twelve months ago. but added that "Thunder is an idiot iu 

 the field." Rest assured, Mr. Tracy, that when I write any- 

 thing in a public paper about dogs, I am prepared, sooner or 

 later, to verify my statements. Even our new judge could 

 not see that Thunder's legs are crooked, and so' he painted 

 them straight. I quite agree with Mr. Tracy that the qualities 

 of some of these dogs have been "privately tested? 1 by so 

 many persons as to have become "notorious." ("Experience 

 and fact say they must be well formed for their work, else 

 they could not have performed it.") I once owned a black 

 and tan terrier bitch that would find birds and point them, a 

 fact which never made her able to win a prize in a class for 

 pointers. A black setter distinguished himself at some recent 

 field trial. That is no reason why he should win on the bench. 

 I have seen a Dalmatian do good work in the field, which 

 does not say that any "qualified judge" would give him a, 

 prize in a pointer class. No, no, Mr. Tracy, what we want 

 are good-looking good dogs; such as Hamlet, Rap, Wagg, 

 Bang, Bow Bells, my own dog Don II. and many others. 

 Such dogs are not bred every day. Neither are they the 

 results of breeding at random from inferior sires crossed on 

 the most unsuitable dams. 



If Mr. Tracy judged the dogs at New fork, as he says he 

 did, regardless of bench show standards, every exhibitor who 

 showed under him (I did not and never will) can legally claim 

 his entrance money, for one of the rules stated that the doys 

 were to be judged by the standard laid do vn by Stcmehenge 

 in "Dogs of the British Islands." I am glad it is now admitted 

 the dogs were not judged after any recognized standard, Who 

 ever thought that they were? 



Mr. Tracy alludes to an avalanche of personalities. The 

 only personal remarks so far have come from the W. K. C, 

 through Messrs. Cornell and Ingersoll; Mr. Tracy contents 

 himself with insinuations. I hate personal allusions in a dis 

 cussion of this kind, but I do like facts— hard as granite— and 

 those who cannot face the music had better not enter into a 

 discussion of the relative merits of dogs with your humble 

 servant. Chas. H. Mason. 



Tompkinsville, S. I., June 28, 1884. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



1 was very much surprised to find a protest in your issue of 

 June 19, signed by forty, said to be exhibitors, a number of 

 which I fail to find in the catalogue, aud also that of T. B. 

 Dorsey, as he declared in yonr issue of June 5 that he had 

 never seen Meteor and would not pretend to say whether Mr. 

 Sterling was wrong or not. It looks rather hard when men 

 like this, who claim they were not there, lend their name to 

 protest the judgment. T. M. Aldrich. 



A FOX HUNT ON THE ROANOKE. 



I HAD on the 17th of March just passed one of the must 

 laborious' yet electrifying day's sport in the Held that 

 huntsman ever had. The morning was well suited for a fox 

 chase, and after an early breakfast I moved up the Roanoke, 

 but keeping some two miles north of that stream, on the ridge 

 between it and the Maherrin River, to a point designated as 

 a meet by Basset Rawlings, Major Mason and Wilham Valen- 

 tine, of Virginia. We all were in proper time, meeting 

 exactly at the appointed hour. I had all my young Byron 

 bitches, and only four old trained ones. Betty' was not car- 

 ried out, she having enough to do at home in caring for her 

 four puppies.' By the by, they are double Byron and a very 

 fine sample of the stock, and were sold long in advance of 

 their whelping to gentlemen at the North. Rawlings had his 

 pack (moscly Byron), old, true and well trained, with two 

 black and tan puppies added. The usual salutation of men 

 and hounds then took place, for on the meeting of two packs 

 the ceremony of recognition invariably follows before they 

 move off to hunt. Every huntsman knows this, and usually 

 awaits its termination before he attempts to encourage them 

 onward. So did we on this occasion. 



When the hom was sounded for a forward move, off dashed 

 Rawlings's Stonewall, a fine black tan, and as full of hunt and 

 music as hound ever was, followed in close proximity oy his 

 Juno, Bill, Dixie and Screamer, the full litter sister of Tom 

 Wilkms, and by the by the pride of his pack. My Byron pup- 

 pies were fully alive to the occasion, aud in beautiful style 

 would earnestly come forward,smelhng every stuiup in theliue 

 of our route. Screamer soon struck, a trad and Rawlings's 

 pack flew to her summons, evincing an eagerness which a true 

 hound invariably excites. Rawlings's hounds heed and hark 

 better than most hounds. In a very short while the cry was 

 swollen to great dimensions, for my pack too hadpatticipated 

 in the rush to Screamer. The trail went due west for two 

 miles or more, and over fields and through thick biiered 

 branches. Beyond these, in a small pine thicket, a place nob 

 at all inviting as a retreat for security, the fox dashed off, 

 followed by a thundeiing somid of earnest pursuers. The run 

 was due west and well contested for an hour, when a flock of 

 sheep interrupted it. The break continued for twenty 

 minutes. It was m a pasture clear of shrubs and briers, and 

 the proper place to witness the sagacity of the packs. This we 

 enjoyed to its full extent, we remaining still all the while, 

 with hearts thumping with unpleasant violence and eyes danc- 

 ing in every way, directed by the rapid dashing around of the 

 hounds. The circling was by the entire pack at first, sweep- 

 ing around in a small circle, which was gradually and system- 

 atically enlarged. 



Some three of these circles were made and no false sum 

 mons given. One of my Byron pups was first to quit the 

 column. She was fortunate "in her move, and gave a loud and 

 excited cry for aid. That is Sally; she is perfectly reliable. 

 Hark! I hallowed; but that was not necessary, jsereamer, 

 Stonewall and Ringwood (all Rawlings's) were with her in a 

 second— the pack tumbling in from every point. The run was 

 resumed, but its character had changed. From a ranting and 

 driving run it had tamed down to a running (hag. The fox 

 availed himself of the opportunity to widen the space be- 

 tween himself and his pursuers. He understood bis 

 and passed over the most difficult places for scent— sometimes 

 in roads, then open field just plowed, then among stock— never 

 once stopping to ascertain if he was pursued. These tactics 

 soon placed it out of our power to folio w his track ; but he 

 tarried to give the dogs full opportunity to mark his direc- 

 tion if nothing more. 



When every effort to work it out had failed, and there 

 seemed to be no cnance to mend matters, it then became ne- 

 cessary for the huntsmen to interfere. A circle was deter- 

 mined upon, each huntsman making one with his own pack, 

 one within the other. I took the outside or widest circle. 

 This move was a success. "We stumbled up the fox and inter- 

 rupted his slumber. In his confusion he dashed right back 

 toward the packs, and t.iey frantically took back track and 

 eould not be < ecalled or sighted for some time ; while one of my 

 Byron puppies (Brevity) and Rawlings's Hudson (full brother 

 of Tom Wilkins) had run him out of hearing. Ah! how ex- 

 asperating! But such mishaps have their pleasure. When 

 we corrected the error of the pack, we went in the direction 

 of the last notes of Hudson and Brevity. The pack tollowed 

 the track over which they had run with hesitating e 

 ness, but finally came up to them at fault in an opa 

 field. Here we waited the work of the pack, and 

 while scent was regained, and with pretty regular str'de old 

 reynard was pursued again. But the old fellow knew the 

 odds against him, and worked hard and cunningly to 

 t come tnem. But the run increased in vim and the space every 



