———————— 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF THE ROD AND GUN. 
Terms, $44 Yar, 10 Cs. 4 Copy, 
Srx Montgs, $2. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 380, 1884. 
{ VOL. XXIIT.—No. 14, 
Nos, 39 & 40 PARK Row, New York. 
OORRESPONDENCE. 
Tae Formst AND StrRrAM is the recognized medium of entertain- 
ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 
Communications upon the subjects to which its pages are devoted are 
respectfully invited. Anonymous communications will not be re- 
garded. No name will be published except with writer’s consent. 
The Hditors are not responsible for the views of correspondents. 
ADVERTISHMENTS. 
Only advertisements of an approved character inserted. Inside 
pages, nonpareil type, 25 cents per line. Special rates for three, six 
and twelve months. Reading notices $1,00 per line. Hight words 
to the line, twelve lines to one inch. Advertisements should be sent 
in by the Saturday previous to issue in which they are to be inserted. 
Transient advertisements must invariably be accompanied by the 
money or they will not be inserted, 
SUBSCRIPTIONS 
May begin at any time. Subscription price, $4 per year ; $2 for six 
months; to a club of three annual subscribers, three copies for $10; 
five copies for $16. Remit by registered letter, money-order, or draft, 
payable to the Forest and Stream Publishing Company. The paper 
may be obtained of newsdealers throughout the United States, 
Canadas and Great Britain. General subscription agents for Great 
Britain, Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, Searles and Rivington, 188 
Fleet street, London, England. 
Address all communications, 
Forest and Stream Publishing Oo. 
Nos. 89 anp 40 Park Row. New Yor: Crty. 
CONTENTS. 
Tsar KENNEL. 
The New York Non-Sporting 
Dog Show. 
Edinburgh Bench Show. 
EDITORIAL. 
Another International Match. 
Judges at Dog Shows, 
The Maine Deer Law. 
THE SPORTSMAN TOURIST, 
A Voyage Between the Lakes. 
Stony Island. 
Florida Again.—iy. 
NaTuRAL History. 
Plants and Animals. 
The Panther. 
Game Baa AnD GuN. 
Rod and Gun in West Texas.—m. 
The National Field Trials. 
The American Kennel Club. 
RIFLE AND TRAP SHOOTING. 
An Off-Hand Club. 
Range and Gallery. 
The Trap. 
CANOEING. 
Where Have You Been? 
Unsafe Canoes 
_ Adirondack Game Protection. 
Opening Day in Iowa. 
Bullet vs. Buckshot. 
The Maine Game Law, 
New Jersey Sunday Shooting. 
Philadelphia Notes. 
SHA AND RIVER FISHING. 
The Galley Fire. 
More About Mushrooms. 
Cooked Corn. 
Invention of the Drop Rudder. 
Camp Stoves 
The Log Book, 
The Delaware River. 
The Markings of Sea Trout. YACHTING. 
The Tournament. Heavy versus Light Center- 
The Rod and Reel Association. boards. 
FPISHCULTURE, ’ An Idea for Inventors. 
- The American Fishcultural As-| Small Cruising Boats. 
sociation. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
JUDGHS AT DOG SHOWS. 
jhe recent dog show in this city was chiefly noteworthy 
as indicating the growing strength of certain special 
classes in this country. A number of classes of dogs not 
used for field sports are rapidly making their way into favor 
with the general public, and efforts, more or less intelligent, 
are being made to improve these breeds, To the novice the 
simplest way of getting good dogs appears to be by importa- 
tion from England; for deep down in the hearts of most 
men, who are without long experience, lurks a feeling that 
an imported dog must of necessity be better than a native, 
Of course this idea is wholly erroneous. They have better 
dogs in the non-sporting classes in England than we have 
here, but they also have others that are as bad as any of 
ours, and the mere fact that a dog is imported is not neces- 
sarily anything in its favor, The man who, being ignorant 
of a breed, picks up a specimen in England, is, if he trusts 
to himself, almost sure to be cheated and to secure a very 
commonplace animal, 
Intelligent importation cannot fail to improve our dogs, 
but indiscriminate bringing in of foreign dogs merely be- 
cause they were born on the other side of the water, is 
useless and absurd, Judicious breeding is much more 
to be relied on than importation alone, but the two working 
together are what will improve our dogs. 
When we consider this growing strength of many of the 
classes, and the increasing number of “‘real good ones,” in 
America, it is evident that if these classes are to be satisfac- 
torily judged, the knowledge of these different breeds must 
keep pace with their improvement. In old times, a man 
who had owned and bred pointers and setters, was often in- 
trusted with the decisions in all the classes in a show, and 
distributed in a hit or miss manner the honors among pugs, 
poodles, mastiffs, greyhounds and the other breeds. He 
knew nothing of what they should be, andif his awards 
were properly made it was a matter of good luck, not good 
judgment. 
We have advanced far beyond that stage now, and have a 
number of fairly good “‘all-round” judges, but we need 
something more. In many classes at the large shows the 
good dogs are becoming so numerous, that nice judgment 
and an exhaustive knowledge of these breeds are required to 
justly determine the relative merits of the animals exhibited. 
Such knowledge can be acquired in only one way—by expe 
rience. A judge must have bred or owned and exhibited 
good dogs, the more the better. 
Dog shows in America are comparatively new, and dog- 
breeding still newer; so that we have not in this country as 
many specialists as they have abroad. Still, there are not a 
few individuals—and their number is constantly on the in- 
crease—who are striving to intelligently breed better and 
better animals, and these efforts will not be without the 
desired results. The managers of dog shows will do weil to 
consider the advisability of selecting judges at future shows 
from among such breeders and exhibitors, many of whom 
are qualified by temperament and experience to act in this 
capacity. In a number of cases this has been already done, 
but it should be the rule rather than the exception. 
At present our judges haye too much to do, too many 
classes to adjudicate upon; as a consequence they are often 
worn out by their work, which is extended over too much 
time, and confused by the number and variety of the animals 
brought before them. The task of judging at a dog show is 
a hard and thankless one at best, and it should be made as 
easy as possible. A further division of labor too, will give 
more satisfactory results to the public, and by increasing the 
number of judges, the awards can all be made during the 
first day of the show. This will, as we have so often insisted, 
result in dog shows having their full educational effect, for 
the public can then see for themselves what the judges 
regard as the best specimens of the different breeds shown, 
The subject is one which calls for the careful consideration 
of the new American Kennel Club. 
ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL MATCH. 
Hf Rees call of the N. R. A. Committee for an expression of 
opinion on the part of riflemen upon the subject of 
another match is made through our columns, and the field 
of discussion is now clear for vigorous cultivation. The 
question simply is whether there are enough riflemen of real 
ability who are willing to give the time and trouble 
involved in a match of the prominence which the proposed 
one will have. The exact conditions of the contest, if one is 
decided upon, may be fixed at any time, but the question of 
getting men is next to the question of getting money, the 
one on which our managers in the past have had the most 
difficulty in considering. It will certainly be one of the 
conditions of the next match that the rifles shall go un- 
cleaned from shot to shot, and the necessary experiments in 
ammunition should be made without delay, There are 
claims that the rifle companies are prepared with the re- 
quisite arm, but this is a matter which is yet fairly open for 
settlement by trial. 
On the subject of an international match sectional differ- 
ences should be cast aside and a united front be presented to 
the teams which will visit us from abroad. There are rifle- 
men in the country who owe it to their region to make an 
appearance in such a match as this. There are ranges beside 
Creedmoor and Walnut Hill, but they make no adequate 
showing before the public. 
The invitation of the committee is timely. The whole 
winter is before our riflemen for talk and preparation. It 
seems necessary that a certain season of chin-wagging should 
precede any such contest, and for this match now is the 
time. The coast is clear, our columns are many and broad, 
and to all suggestions of meril respectful attention will at 
least be given. 
A LIVE RIFLE CLUB. 
'}°HE promise that a real shooting club will be organized 
in this city, is held out in the communication of Mr. 
James Dnane in another column. There is need and room 
for just such a company in this city, and if it be kept in the 
hands and under the control of the shodling men themselves, 
there is no reason to doubt that it will be kept up to the 
plane of success. 
The end of small arm shooting is still a long way off. 
Already much that was thought fine work and of the most 
advanced sort at Creedmoor, has become obsolete, and a 
club of live shooters need never grow dull for want of some 
interesting contest to be devised. One thing only is to be 
guarded against, and that is a surplusage of management. 
There haye been clubs In the past which haye done pretty 
much everything but shoot. Those who go into the new 
organization have the benefit of this experience, and what- 
ever may be the fate of the new effort, it is certainly the fact 
that there is an abundance of material in and about this city 
for a club strong in numbers, and far up in shooting attain- 
menis, 
THK MAINE DHER LAW. 
HE State of Maine has made a more decided advance in 
securing wise game laws and compelling their obsery- 
ance than has been attained in any other State of the Union. 
The efficient work of her commission has been the subject 
of repeated commendation in these columns. Friends of 
wise game protection have come to look upon the old Pine 
Tree State as the chiefest exemplar of its principles and. — 
practice, The condition of affairs there to-day is one of 
actual progress. A backward step at this time would be 
lamentable. 
It is said that an attempt will be made, at the next meet- 
ing of the Maine Legislature, to change the opening of the 
season for deer shooting from Oct. 1 to Sept. 1. Advocates 
of this change in favor of earlier shooting make the plaus- 
ible argument that, while it will permit the sportsman to 
pursue the game, yet because of the dense foliage of the 
woods in September not many deer can actually be killed. 
It is contended, too, that business and professional men, who 
cannot leave their counting rooms and offices in October, 
should not be deprived of the privilege of hunting in the 
month of September, Moreover, such a change would per- 
mit trout fishermen to combine hunting with their fishing. 
The plausibility of these arguments is only on the surface. 
The reasoning is, in fact, fallacious. If it were not expected 
that the deer would actually be killed in September, there 
could be no object in making that month an open one. As 
to the combination of fishing and shooting large game, if 
the intention be to legislate at all with respect to that class 
of anglers who jig the large trout on the spawning heds, the 
kindest aud most judicious expedient would be to change 
the trout season so that it would close Sept. 1. 
In regard to the business and professional men—as we 
have often said before—if they cannot afford to shoot game 
in October, then for the sake of maintaining the game supply, 
they must be content to forego the pleasure of hunting at 
ail. The law governing the case is not the statute of human 
enactment, but nature’s own immutable law. If it is or- 
dained by natural law that ia the month of September in 
the Maine woods fawns are still with the mother deer, 
and dependent upon her for their sustenance; and this 
being the case, the sportsman should be forbidden by the 
statute—if indeed his own heart does not so forbid him—to 
kill the mother doe. 
This is the insurmountable objection to September deer 
hunting in Maine. There are other considerations which 
add their weight to the same side of the question. We 
should extremely regret to see a change, such as we are 
told is proposed. 
ANOTHER WeEDGE.—This appears to be the age of 
“wedges.” Some time ago the English Parliament proposed 
legislation to prohibit the trap-shooting of pigeons in Great 
Britain. This was at once recognized by astute newspaper 
scribes in this country as an entering wedge, which was to 
destroy field sports, disrupt society, and in the end cause the 
downfall of the American Republic. Then came the alarm- 
ing rumor that, in order to relieve a long suffering public 
from continued infliction of angleworm jokes, the English- 
men were going to prohibit the use of worms as bait. That 
was the worm wedge, as dire in its results as the pigeon 
wedge. Now comes the dog wedge. It might be presumed 
that the second-sight, which detected the pigeon wedge and 
the phantom showman, might have seen as well the dog 
wedge; but as a matter of fact, the only journalist equal to 
the occasion appears to be the editor of the New York Times, 
In editorial comment on the Westminster Club’s non-sport- 
ing dog show, he says: ‘‘The Westminster Kennel Club will 
not succeed in persuading mankind that pointers and setters 
are not eligible to the very best canine society, or that the 
same taint of disrepute attaches to a sporting dog and to a 
sporting man,” The motives which the eagle-eyed editor of the 
Times ascribes tothe club are unquestionably the correct ones. 
The Westminster members are clearly convicted of a covert 
attempt to ostracise sporting dogs. That means the sending 
of sportsmen to that limbo where they belong, the abolition 
of field sports, and—the final overthrow of the Republic. 
The pigeon wedge, the worm wedge, and the phantom show- 
man wedge are puny and ridiculous in comparison with the 
dog wedge. And the humiliating and utterly disheartening 
feature of the case is that the Westminster members are 
themselves field sportsmen, who own and use field dogs, and 
who might, therefore, be expected to conserve the interests 
of sportsmen instead of driving the wedge that is to destroy 
it. Who can tell what will be the next wedge? 
Hint ror Tunspay.—Vote early and then go shooting, 
