502 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
a 
[JAN. 28, 18865. 
on fifteen dollars for fifty years, we find the costs have ex- 
ceeded two hundred dollars, At this stage there should be 
a stock of from twelve to fifteen thousand feet of lumber, 
which, at a valuation of twenty dollars per thousand stand- 
ing, would show two hundred and forty to three hundred 
dollars, The thinnings sold at eighty or one hundred dol- 
lars would leave from a hundred and sixty to two hundred 
dollars to accumulate at compound interest for another 
twenty years, the lowest advantageous period of rotation. 
The costs again accumulate to from three hundred and fifty 
to five hundred dollars an acre, when the crop of eighteen to 
twenty thousand of good marketable timber would have to 
realize twenty-five dollars a thousand standing to cover 
costs. Five per cent. is the lowest rate at which a merchant 
could be expected to lock up his money, but a government 
can well invest money at two and one-half or three per cent. 
for works of public utility, and with the first cost accumu- 
lating at these lower rates of interest, a selling price of 
twenty dollars a thousand stumpage would leave a large 
margin to cover insurance against windfall, blight, fires and 
other casualties, and still show a fair profit. 
Planting with nursery-raised stock is not the only means 
of growing forests. In Europe natural reproduction is still 
largely resorted to. The nearly mature forest has about 
one-fourth of its trees removed to let in light and prepare 
the ground. At the first good seed year, perhaps four or 
five years later, another fourth is cut out to afford the seed- 
lings light enough for development; three or four years 
later another cutting to foster the young growth, the last 
remnant being allowed to stand to seed gaps, or in some 
eases during the whole growing period of the young forest, 
to admit of its attaining to first-class timber. On this 
method of allowing the forest to seed itself ihe costs appear 
to be nothing, As amaiter of fact they represent the incon- 
venience and consequent loss of cutting out the forest in 
instalments instead of atoneswoop. The method isresorted 
to in Europe, because their pine seedlings cannot withstand 
the sharp northwest winds without forest shelter, but as far 
as the writer's experience goes, our white pine seedlings 
flourish as freely in the open as under forest shelter, and if 
this were found to be the rule the stripped area could be 
sown broadcast with collected seed, first steeped in some 
nauseous liquid to render it distasteful to the squirrels which 
store it up for winter supplies. The fundamental principles 
of forest management are the same in all countries, but the 
trees of every country have their individual habits and pecu- 
liarities which have to be studied and turned to account by 
the forester. 
The system of reproduction, as of every other detail of 
forest management, including the all-important measure of 
suppressing forest fires, must be left to the discretion of the 
Forest Department, it is hence of first-class importance that 
the officers of this department should be competent, recog- 
nizing what ought to be done, and knowing thoroughly how 
to doit. Like the forest officers of France and Germany, 
they should be men of broad, liberal education, not slaves to 
routine and system, as the subordinates of the department 
may be expected to be, but men capable of adapting general 
principles to changed conditions. If forest operations are to 
be conducted on a scale commensurate with the requirements 
of the country, it would in the highest degree inexpedient 
to vest the control of the vast expenditure in the hands of 
any but thoroughly experienced men; and pending the theo- 
retical and practical training of young Americans who will 
réquire tento fifteen years to fit them for the responsible 
posts of the service, such skilled management can only be 
procured from abroad. 
To husband the existing timber stock and make provision 
for our future timber requirements is of the first importance, 
and in using the term timber we mean not only pine, but 
timber of all kinds. It is false economy to transport timber 
from the Atlantic or Pacific to the Central States. Every 
State should grow at least a proportion of its own forest at 
home—private enterprise cannot be relied on to carry out the 
enterprise on an adequate scale, while the measureis a finan- 
cially sound one for the State or Government to embark in. 
Scarcely second in importance to this is the restoration and 
maintenance under efficient control, of the denuded moun- 
tain tracts on which forests are of first-class importance in 
regulating river flow, and of all those tracts on which the 
destruction of the forests threatens to influence rainfall and 
general climatic conditions prejudicially. With regard to 
the wrecked Adirondack forests in this State, the public in- 
terest is aroused and its preservation demarded, if only on 
zsthetic and sentimental grounds, The report of the com- 
mittee of inquiry will come before the local Legislature at 
its next sitting, and probably one or more New York bills 
will be introduced to replace the last year’s compromise bill, 
very properly rejected by the Governor, presumably because 
it was altogether too vague and inadequate. It would be a 
national shame if the wealthy Empire State, owning one of 
the most picturesque regions of mountain, forest and lake 
in the world—a popular summer resort, patronized by thou- 
sands from all over the country—a region unsuited to agri- 
culture, but producing excellent timber, should allow it to be 
and remain denuded of its forests. There are some parts of 
it which have escaped the axe only because at present prices 
the timber will not bear the cost of getting out; but in the 
nof distant future, every acre of such forest will be a valua- 
ble acquisition, and we may hope that, urged on by popular 
sentiment, the Government will take adequate measures to 
render the region what it should be, a well-clothed, econom- 
ically administered timber reserve, an important source of 
revenue to the State, a scene of beauty for the tourist, of 
healthy, pleasurable excitement for the sportsman, and of 
pride to the people who possess if, 
The Republican party came into power with a national 
timber estate, which required only prudent administration 
to render it equal to the permanent needs of the nation, 
They have squandered it away and thereby invited national 
calamity, but they have lefiin the Treasury an amount of 
money sufficient to remedy the consequences of their 
neglect, excepting that the country will have to spend 
millions for its timber before stocks now planted can be 
brought on the market. Will the Democrats remedy thie 
consequences of the shortsightedness of their predecessors in 
office, and appropriate the surplus in the Treasury, or as 
much of it as may be necessary to this great work of 
humanity and progress, a work justified both by its financial 
prospects and by every consideration of patriotism and ex- 
pediency, or will they allow the last remnant of our forests 
to be destroyed, and content themselves with spending a 
few score thousand dollars, not in planting forests, but in 
collecting data as to how much per tree it would cost to raise 
forests by unskilled agency. 
Che Sportsman Gamist, 
AT ANCHOR. 
AM going a journey, brother. Or wouldit be better to say, 
Iam just ending up a long voyage, and dropping my kedge in the 
I 
bay- 
Coming home: and in debt to the purser, with never a dollar to pay. 
fix decades. ‘Twas a wearisome voyage, made over a mystical sea, 
In a poorly rigged, plebeian lugger, that always was drifting alee; 
And where are the lofty square-riggers that started the voyage with 
me? 
They passed mefar upto the windward, with stunsails aloft and 
alow, 
Some heading for tropical islands, some bound for the islands of 
snow. 
And where are the weatherly clippers the merchants delighted to 
know? 
Some drowsily swing to their anchors, as the meandering tides go by; 
Some battle in frozen oceans, where the northerly gales are high; 
Some drift in the seething tropics, with keels upturned to the sky. 
Oh, grand is the lofty clipper, as she dashes the yeasty brine 
From the crest of the midnight billow, where the waters flash and 
shine. . 
But I love the plebeian lugger—the little luggeris mine, 
And lofty clipper or lugger, it comes to the same at last, 
Or whether we count as wreckage, or hold to our moorings fast, 
When we swing to # final anchor, and the voyage of life is past. 
WELLSBoRO. Pa., October, 1884. NESSMUK. 
CAMP FLOTSAM. 
XI.—A DOGMA. 
pee and sore the camp slumbered well into the morn- 
ing. They who on the preceding day had passed ten 
hours in the boat, were willing to forego the pleasure of an 
hour’s fishing before breakfast, and when we arose no sound 
of any one stirring about the camp could be heard. All was 
silent as midnight. We passed out at the landward end of 
the tent into the open air and turned the corner to cast an 
eye to the boats. There, below us on the water within a 
short stone’s throw, sat a pair of loons, sailing majestically 
about, unconscious of the presence of man. Haying no de- 
sire to killor maim the graceful creatures, though a rifle 
stood within reach, we gave a whoop which startled them, 
and with a quick turn of their heads toward us and a glimpse 
ot the figure on the bluff, they disappeared like a flash be- 
neath the water. We scanned the bay in front long and 
carefully, watching for them to reappear, woudering mean- 
while whether they would be able to keep each ofher’s 
company in their flight under the water. When they came 
to the surface it was at the same moment, side by side and 
full four hundred yards away. 
Our whoop had aroused the camp, and in a few minutes 
all were astir and gathered under the table fly watching the 
process of getting breakfast. No one was in the mood to 
suggest a programme forthe day, and after the morning 
meal had been dispatched, there was a manifest inclination 
on the part of some to go to bed again. One of the loafers 
found just beyond the dining table, the nest of a whippoor- 
will, or rather the place where a nest would haye been, had 
the parent bird provided sneb a luxury for herself. Ona 
bed of brown leaves a little and almost featherless bird was 
lying as motionless as though it were dead. At a touch it 
lifted its head and opened its mouth forfood. The mother bird 
was flitting about uttering sharp querulous cries. From that 
time daily visits were nade to our novel neighbor until one 
morning when we found it gone. 
During the forenoon the camp was thoroughly swept and 
put into shipshape. The mossy knoll under the big pine 
had become the favorite lounging place; here one could lie 
and watch the flashing water, hear the ripples on the beach 
below, and drowse into forgetfulness, lulled by the low 
moan from the branches overhead. How many cars have 
been thus gladdened by the song of summer; how many 
tired souls have thus found rest and peace; but alas, how 
many more there are to whom all this has been denied; of 
the latter, the most wistful, perhaps, have been the wives 
and daughters of those who, while themselves enjoying the 
health-giving outing, hold the dogma that ‘‘a camp is no 
place for a woman,” and so leave that portion of the house- 
hold to pass the days at home as best they can. And s0 it 
comes that the views of the woman camper has no place in 
the columus of ForRPst AND STREAM, and all from an old- 
fogy notion that somehow woman and the camp are unfitted 
to.each other. It isa great mistake. In every camp which 
goes out to smooth it, the comforts are or should be such 
that the most delicate woman can enjoy its life. Many a 
camp would be elevated, many a heart made glad, and 
strength, appetite and rosy cheeks brought back to many a 
languid, pale-faced woman, were she permitted to join her 
husband or father in those outings, which she would soon 
long for and dream of with the veriest veteran of us all. If 
she had no taste for angling, she would soon acquire it, while 
her penchant for botany, sketching or anything that pertains 
to out-door life can be fully gratified, while an attack of 
camp feyer would be certain to add a pound a day to her 
avoirdupois. Let every lady reader insist upon joining the 
camp of her lord, and if she be denied, let her make her 
plaint in the open court of Forrsr anp STREAM, and shé 
will find a champion. 
The camp had gone to housekeeping with a larder insuf- 
ficient for the needs of the campaign, and an order had been 
sent to Kingston for a liberal supply of hominy, bacon, 
coffee and flour. A call for volunteers to go to Battersea to 
see if these had arrived brought every member to the front, 
and accordingly tents were tied up, the boats manned, and 
we were soon winding down the tortuous channel of the 
muddy creek to the no less muddy landing. Onur supplies 
had arrived and also a mail, which brought the long-looked- 
for Forres anpD SrreaM, There were tear stains on the 
wrapper, and we regretted that we had abused the editor by 
postal for its long delay. The shaft had evidently gone to 
the mark, and we feared lest the sad-hearted author of the 
Pipes papers had somehow become involved in the catas- 
rophe, : 
While on shore we made the acquaintance of two or three 
deer hunters, native sportsmen, who despised such small 
game as woodcock and ruffed grouse, which were plenty. 
One of these told us of a day’s shooting last fall, with a 
single companion, in which three deer and a bear had fallen 
to his lot and tour deer to that of his mate. Another party 
of four, of which he was one, in a single week shot twenty- 
three deer, We were informed, however, that owing to the 
stringency of the game law, Americans who came over for 
deer had a sorry time of it, and their visits for that purpose 
did not seem to be encouraged, With deer and fox talk 
mingled, we sat most of the afternoon out in the shade of a 
building, near which a couple of fine deerhounds were 
lying, whose good points were discussed and their exploits 
narrated by their respective owners with no little pride. 
When we were ready to return, the Madame, with a fondness 
for the canine, easily induced Dan, one of the hounds, to ac- 
company us, not, however, without the warning from his owner 
that the dog was a ‘‘born thief” and would steal everything 
incamp. Dan slept that night on the floor of the tent ina 
state of bliss. The next morning, the absence of three 
pounds of bacon and five pounds of salt pork, which had 
been placed on the cupboard for safe keeping, at least eight 
feet from the ground, forced us to recognize the ability of 
Dan asa gymnast, and his predilection for cold lunches, 
of which he had evidently partaken liberally and frequently 
during the night. He was escorted home early in the day, 
and his master said: ‘‘I told you so.” Before noon the dog 
was back in camp, having accomplished the journey by go- 
ing a couple of miles along shore and then swimming from 
island to island until he came to our own. His apparent 
fondness for us won him forgiveness and he was allowed to 
remain, That afternoon, while fishing about eighty rods 
away, a crash was heard in camp which caused some uneasi- 
ness, and we hurried in to learn the cause. It was Dan 
again. In one of the tents some crackers and cheese had 
been left on the table which, enticed, by the odor, Dan had 
mounted and overturned, and we found paper, ink, medi- 
cine, field glasses, books and a box of cartridges well mixed 
in with a jar of preserves on the floor, The crackers and 
cheese and a box of sardines had made a light lunch. Dan 
was forthwith tried before Judge Lynch and led to the bluff 
for execution, when the appeals of the Madame saved him, 
and he was taken to his master under sentence of death, 
which we promised to carry out if he was again found on 
the island. After that he was kept at home chained. 
Tn our fishing of the afternoon we encountered a genial 
native fisherman in pursuit of '’swegoes.”” We watched 
the ‘‘bobbers’ and discoursed of men, things and fishing, 
At last the conversation turned on fish nomenclature, and no- 
where did we ever find the same more terribly out of joint. 
The small-mouth bass was known as black bass, but the big- 
mouth was called by every one yellow bass. Oswego bass, 
or ‘’swegoes,” was the only name by which the strawberry 
bass (P. sparoides) was known, Canada pickerel was the 
name for the pike (Z, luctus), while trout (8. namaycush) 
were salmon. ‘There was another variety known as pickerel, 
but was described to us as wanting the long jaws and form 
of the family Hsectdw, and haying an adipose fin. Of this 
latter variety we were unable to find a specimen, but believe 
it to be the whitefish (Coregonus).* ‘The aforesaid native 
was very anxious to be set right on the common names for his 
fish, indeed, we find everywhere among anglers a growin 
interest in this subject of fish nomenclature. The labors o 
Jordan, Cope, Gilbert and others are being appreciated by 
most of those who go into the woods, and the ‘‘Manual of 
the Vertebrates,” by the first named, is fast becoming a 
classic and an inilispensable companion to the outer. 
For the next few days the camp was in a state of unrest. 
The Reformer had been summoned home, and we were pre- 
paring to speed the parting, and to hail the coming member, 
for a postal gave notice that Truthful. James was about 
setting out to join us, The morning of the departure of the 
former broke sad and dismal. The early breakfast was dis- 
patched in haste, and, under a lowering sky, the ™mourn- 
ful camp accompanied him to Battersea to bid him God 
speed. We were somewhat tardy, and the lumbering stage 
had been awaiting our arrival for twenty minutes, the driver 
was in a pet, so farewells were quickly said, the stage was 
out of sight in a moment, and the camp life of the Reformer 
was a memory. i ; 
Breaking camp at the appointed lime is generally an ex- 
asperating piece of business, but to be snatched out of camp 
before your time is unbearable. We have long made it a 
point io go into camp without having the time fixed for 
breaking up. When the time comes—as it will—let it be like 
a thief in the night. The Reformer had been fortunate in 
this respect, at least. ; 
On the afternoon of his departure, with a bucket of perch 
bait, we essayed the bass once more. A strong wind from 
the southwest was blowing, and we rau before it to the lower 
point of the island, where we cast anchor over the outer 
edge of a weed bed. The first bait was barely in the water 
before it was taken by a two-pound bass, the second bait, 
was seized by its mate, and the sport grew lively. For two 
hours there was no cessation in the strikes, and when we 
lifted anchor we had thirty-eight bass in the car. : 
When we set out on our return the wind had shifted, a 
line of dark clouds were lying close te the horizon, and 
signs of a storm were apparent. There was nothing of dis- 
comfort to be apprehended. We were well prepared, as 
a 
"# Most likely the pike perch, Stizostedion.—Bp. 
