Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy, \ 

 Six Months, $3. ( 



NEW YORK, MARCH 5, 1885. 



( Nos. 



VOL. XXIV.— No. 6. 

 :9 & 40 Park Row, New York. 



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CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 

 Let the Best be Champion. 



The Adirondack Deer Law. 



Through Two-Ocean Pass.— vi. 



National Park Superintendents. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Uncle Lisha's Shop.— x. 

 Natural History. 



Ground Snakes or Worm Snakes 



The Birds of Michigan. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Adirondack Deer Hounding. 



The Patent Coffee Mill. 



A Night Shot at Ephraim. 



A "Deer Hunt" on the Osage. 



Arkansas Game Laws. 



Deer in Connecticut. 



Poachers and Maine Game. 



To Hold Wads in Place. 



Battery-Shooting. 



Mississippi Duck Shooting, 



Some Remarkable Shots. 

 Sea and Kiver Fishing-. 



The Decreasing Flow of our 

 Trout Streams. 



Varnish for Rods. 



Bass Flies and Game Bass. 



Size and Weight of Black Bass. 



The Vermont Fish Law. 



Communication among Fishes. 



Trout Flies. 



Sea and River Fishing. 

 Thanks for "Camp Flotsam." 

 Nomenclature of Artificial Flies 



FlSHCULTURE. 



The Massachusetts Commission 



The American Fishcultural As- 

 sociation. 

 The Kennel. 



Bench Show Rules. 



Judging at New Haven. 



The Size of Beagles. 



Clubs and Shows. 



New York Dog Show. 



Boston Dog Show. 



New Haven Dog Show. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallery. 



The Trap. 



National Gun Association. 



The Clay-Pigeon Tournament. 

 . Canoeing. 



Sail Plan of the Snake. 



A Scheme for Canoe Pilotage. 



The Ciiilds Folding Centerboard. 



The A. C. A . in the West. 

 Yachting. 



The Cruise of the Tame Goose. 



Early Voyages Around the Horn 

 Answers to < Correspondents. 

 Publishers' Department. 



With its compact type and in its permanently enlarged form 

 of twenty-eight pages this journal furnishes each week; a larger 

 amount of first-class matter relating to angling, snooting, the 

 icennel, yachting, canoeing, ana kindred subjects, than is con- 

 tained in all other American publications put together. 



LET THE BEST BE CHAMPION. 



DOG show managers are just now in a tremendous mud- 

 dle about champions. This condition of affairs is all 

 the more ridiculous because the nature of a championship is 

 something about which there can properly be no sort of dis- 

 pute. In all other branches of competition where champion- 

 ships are awarded, the term is perfectly well understood to 

 signify that the individual bearing it is an acknowledged 

 superior over all others. Thus, a champion oarsman is one 

 who excels all others in rowing, and a champion runner is 

 one who excels all others in running. Common sense and 

 common usage agree that there can be but one such indi- 

 vidual superior to all others, that is, but one champion. 

 Common sense also declares that when dogs are awarded 

 merit according to their relative excellence, there can be but 

 one among them whose excellence exceeds that of every com- 

 petitor, that is to say, there can be but one champion. But 

 by absurd usage in kennel affairs it is the custom of giving 

 the title of champion to some dozen or more dogs, and thus 

 to declare that each one is the superior over all other dogs, 

 and over each one of the eleven of the twelve. As a natu- 

 ral result, the title of champion, when applied to dogs, does 

 not have a meaning similar to the title champion when 

 applied to oarsmen or runners, it signifies, if anything, that 

 one champion dog is a pretty good sort of a dog, as good, at 

 least, as other champion dogs. Little credit attaches to the 

 title, and that little is growing thinner and thinner as it is 

 spread out to cover new accessions to the ranks. 



This has gone as far as it ought to go. The time has come 

 for a change. It must be a radical change. Champion 

 means nothing. The first thing is to give it a meaning. It 

 should mean when applied to a dog just what it means when 

 used elsewhere. It should mean the best, the superior over 

 all others. The title should be given only to the best. Select 



the best, dog of a given class, and declare him the champion. 

 Let him remain champion until some better dog is found. 

 Then give the title to the new comer. That is all there is to 

 it. There is no opportunity of muddle about it. 



The rule requiring a clog to have won three firsts iu open 

 classes before competing in a champion class is excellent. 

 After winning these three firsts, he should be debarred from 

 the open classes, but not allowed to assume the title of cham- 

 pion until he has actually won it by a demonstration of his 

 superiority. Having won the title, he should be allowed to 

 keep it as long as he can maintain it, but no longer. 



Two or more of the important, shows each year should be 

 designated at which the champion should be compelled to 

 appear to contest the claim against all comers entitled to com- 

 pete. Failure to appear should be equivalent to defeat, and 

 the title of champion would then be forfeited by him and 

 awarded to the best dog shown. It is sincerely to be 

 hoped that the American Kennel Club at its next meeting 

 will consider this matter and unanimously adopt a rule em- 

 bodying these provisions. 



THE ADIRONDACK DEER LAW. 

 r pHE bill introduced into the Assembly by Gen. N . M. 

 -*- Curtis came up on a third reading last Monday and was 

 passed by a vote of 66 to 15. It has gone to the Senate 

 where Mr. Fassett has charge of it; and there is every reason 

 to hope that it will be passed and sent to the Governor. 



The bill forbids the hounding of deer in this State at any 

 season, and the single locality excepted is Suffolk county. 

 Of course this exception is a singularly foolish one. The 

 deer on Long Island are very few ; there would be none there 

 at all but for the long term of protection, which expired last 

 season. It will be only a very short time before they will all be 

 gone. But the Long Islanders are inordinately bent on having 

 full license to make the most of the deer while they do last, 

 and since the Suffolk county member presumably represented 

 the wishes of his constituents, Gen. Curtis did very wisely in 

 yielding. It would not have been worth while to hazard the 

 progress of the bill by any other course. The Adirondack 

 deer are more important than those of Long Island. Now 

 that so much has already been done, every influence should 

 be exerted to induce the Senate to favor the measure. 



Deer hounding in the Adirondacks must be stopped, and 

 stopped before another summer. 



A Flower Show.— An exhibition of flowers will be held 

 at 247 Fifth avenue, March 9, 10 and 11, which will, no 

 doubt, surpass in beauty anything of the kind yet seen in 

 America. The proceeds will go to the German Hospital and 

 the Orthopaedic Hospital, and the show is to be held under 

 the auspices of Mrs. George Bliss, Mrs. William Astor, Mrs. 

 W. K. Vanderbilt and other ladies. Mr. C. F. Klunder will 

 manage it, and those who remember the beauty of the similar 

 exhibition which he gave a year or two ago will anticipate 

 great pleasure from the one which is to* come. The object 

 of the show is to tell what is now being done in growing 

 flowers in this city, as well as to point out some of the possi- 

 bilities of flower culture. Preparations for the show have 

 been going on for some time, and a great number of rare and 

 beautiful plants have been got together. The orchids, it is 

 promised, will make an unusually fine show, as will also the 

 azaleas and hyacinths. We may feel sure, from Mr. Klun- 

 der's previous success, that the exhibition will be remarkable 

 for its beauty and good taste. 



On the Border. — A correspondent recently called a tten 

 tion to the great destruction of game by the French Cana- 

 dians employed in Maine lumber camps, and by others who 

 crossed over from Canada on purpose to hunt. The truth 

 of the statements of this writer were subsequently called into 

 question by other correspondents; but there appears to be 

 no good reason for supposing the case to be other than as 

 stated by him. The facts probably are that we shall never 

 know how extensive the game killing by these French Cana- 

 dians actually is. Their pot-hunting grounds are usually re- 

 mote from the settlements, and the men who could tell us 

 about the ways of the Canucks refuse to do so because they 

 do not wish to incur their enmity; at least, such is the excuse 

 given to us by well-informed men whom we have asked to 

 write about this subject. 



Bird Lime is the sort of ammunition most in favor with 

 the New Jersey fellows who go in for a wholesale song bird 

 slaughter. New Jersey needs a. stringent law to cut off this 

 bird destruction, 



Tiie Diminution of Trout Streams.— No person, among 

 whose memories of a quarter of a century ago is that of the 

 trout streams in which his Hues were cast, and who re-visits 

 to-day those waters, can fail to note the shrinking of the 

 stream, the narrowing of its flow, and the gradual drawing 

 closer together of the two banks; nor it is without a certain 

 sentiment of regret that one thus sees the dashing, white 

 foaming trout brooks giving place to shallow streams, de- 

 serted by the fish, and having no charms for the angler; 

 and often with this regret come impatient exclamations 

 against the so-called necessities of civilization which have 

 wrought the change, or if the angler be in philosophic mood, 

 regret gives way to speculation as to the natural agencies in 

 league with man to accomplish the drying up of the streams; 

 such a speculation is printed in our angling columns to-day, 

 its author calling attention to a factor not hitherto fully 

 recognized. 



Arkansas Progress.— In another column will be found 

 the text of the new Arkansas game law. The law is by no 

 means all that could be desired, but when it is taken into 

 consideration that the sportsmen of that State have been beg- 

 ging, imploring, scheming and working for the past eight 

 years to secure some sort of a game law, however short of 

 perfection, there is every reason to be pleased with the act 

 approved Feb. 28. We understand that a fish law is to be 

 the next thing undertaken; and doubtless when the people 

 are educated to a proper appreciation of protection, the game 

 law will be made more stringent. That Arkansas has a 

 game law is to be taken as one of the encouraging signs of 

 the times. 



Teaching by Pictures. — No one who does not visit the 

 Adirondacks to see with his own eyes what has been done 

 there can realize the magnitude of the evil wrought by the 

 lumbermen. . The newly-formed State Forestry Association 

 have adopted the very sensible plan of arranging a series of 

 lectures to be given in the principal cities and towns, with 

 stereoscopic views of typical Adirondack scenes. Such a 

 presentation of the Adirondack forestry question cannot fail 

 to prove effective. 



The Adirondack State Lands. — And now it appears 

 that the so-called State lands in the Adirondacks- are not 

 State lands, the State having no valid title to them. These 

 lands were bought in by the State at tax sales, but because of 

 the shiftlessness of county supervisors the taxes were levied 

 iu an illegal manner and the tax sales were irregular. The 

 lumber thieves can have full swing unless the law be so 

 changed as to perfect the State's land titles. 



The Game Dealers should be so squarely sat down upon 

 at Albany that they can make no mistake about the way the 

 public regards their greedy designs. We are told that the 

 gentleman who consented to introduce their bill is not very 

 ardent in its support. The size and frigidity of the game 

 dealers' refrigerators ought to cool the ardor of every sensi- 

 ble and honest man who is approached for a vote. 



Battery- Shooting is a subject of very direct interest to 

 wildfowl shooters. The discussion in our columns is throw- 

 ing much light on all sides of the question, and before it 

 is concluded the experience and opinion of the advocates of 

 each side will be pretty clearly understood. 



"The Patent Coffee Mill."— Having received many 

 applications for the issue containing "The Patent Coffee 

 Mill," and being unable to supply any more copies, we re- 

 print the article. It is just as timely now as it ever was, for 

 the grinding has not ceased. 



Barn Burners. — One good and sufficient reason why 

 some men who know about game law violations keep as 

 mum as a mummy is that if they do anything else their 

 barns will be burned. 



The Cast of the Head of the Mastiff Orlando is 

 now on exhibition at this office, where it will remain until 

 the New Haven show. 



Mr. Theodore Roosevelt is preparing a book descrip- 

 tive of his hunting experiences in the West last fall. 



Always Fold Manuscript. Never Roll it, 



