264 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 23, 1885. 



offending against this provision shall be guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, and iu addition thereto shall forfeit 'a penalty of 

 fifty dollars for each fish or spawn deposited in violation 

 thereof. 



Said act is further amended by adding thereto a new sec 

 lion, to be known as Section 41, as follows: 



Sec. 41. One moiety ot the penalties hereinbefore pre- 

 scribed shall be given to the informant upon conviction of 

 the offender or offenders and the collection thereof. 



Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



LEASING TROUT STREAMS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



T read with alarm the article in your issue of April 9, on 

 the claim made by certain parties that because the State has 

 furnished trout for the purpose of restocking our streams, 

 every citizen has now the right to fish in the waters in which 

 these trout were deposited. 



If this is so then our agricultural interests are in jeopardy, 

 for the "United States Government is constantly furnishing 

 seeds to its citizens at the public expense, and if I accept the 

 gift of a seed and plant it in my vegetable garden, and raise 

 a vegetable from it, every citizen of the United States has 

 the same right to that vegetable that I have, and may come 

 upon my premises and take it away. 



All that would be necessary to justify the trespass would 

 be to identify the vegetable with that seed, aud that could 

 be done by compelling me to testify to that fact. 



And so if I accept the gift of a trout from the State, and 

 put it in a stream running through my place, which already 

 abounds in trout, every citizen of this State would have the 

 same right to that trout that I have, and could come upon 

 my premises and take it away. 



All that would be necessary to justify the trespass would 

 be to identify the trout if caught, or prove that it was there 

 if it was not caught! And that he could not do by me. 



V. C. 



Loops and Leaders.— Columbus, 0.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: If "M. " will tie his leaders in sections of three 

 lengths of gut with a regular loop on each end, he will have 

 the best arranged leader possible. For a Ions; leader join two 

 or three sections together by looping them together in the 

 same manner that flies are looped on; in one of the loops at 

 the junction is an excellent place to attach a fly. There are 

 many advantages by having leaders prepared in this way. 

 Broken leaders can be easily repaired by replacing broken 

 and chafed parts by attaching a new piece. To attach a fly 

 where the two sections are joined together, just pass tne 

 loop on the fly snood through the loop of the lower section 

 where joined, then pass the whole of the upper part of the 

 leader through the loop on the fly aud draw tight. It makes 

 the same hitch as in looping on the stretcher fly, except it 

 draws toward the knot of the loop instead of the end. If 

 but two flies are used, and two are quite enough, several 

 different casts can be prepared with two flies attached to 

 sections as described, and carried iu the fly-book* ready for 

 service. To change your cast of flies all that is necessary is 

 to remove the lower section and replace with a different cast 

 already prepared in just one-fourth the time it takes im the 

 old style. Leaders of three gut lengths are quite as con- 

 venient to carry as separate flies and leaders. They are 

 short and will not tangle. To avoid the annoyance of a 

 kinky leader and to save lime it is best to carry your leaders 

 folded up in a piece of damp cloth. Leaders and flies car- 

 ried in this way are ready for instant use. Soaking a dry 

 leader sometimes tries the patience of an anxious fisherman. 

 —California. 



Adirondack Trotjttng. — Saranac Lake, April 15. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Winter still lingers in the Adi- 

 rondack^, and the lakes will not be free of ice until May 1. 

 The fishing promises to be better than it has been for many 

 years before, especially in this locality. The old sportsmen 

 who regularly fish these lakes say that they have noticed a 

 perceptible improvement in the catch each year for the past 

 three or four seasons. This was more apparent last year, 

 when the lake seemed over-stocked with small trout. The 

 improvement is attributed to several causes; the principal 

 being the enforcement of the fish and game laws, and the 

 200,000 youog trout from the State hatchery, which were 

 put into the lower lake two or three years ago. The last 

 mentioned no doubt accounts for the great increase in num- 

 bers last season, and those who enjoyed the sport then will 

 return this spring expecting an increase in size. If we might 

 venture upon a little advice, we would say to those who 

 have an idea of trying their hooks in these waters, start 

 early and you may arrive ahead of the mosquitoes and 

 gnats, which commonly put in an appearance about the first 

 of June. — Bony. 



A Certain Cork for Snake Bites — E. M. Hall, M.D., 

 of Chicago, says if permanganate of potassa powder be im- 

 mediately rubbed into the wound made by a poisonous 

 snake, the cure is certain. Tue wounds made by a snake's 

 fangs are apt to be small, aud should be enlarged at once 

 with a knife point. The powder is then to be rubbed deeply 

 in. This powder can be carried in the pocket, and is always 

 ready for use. Every one in a section where poisonous 

 snakes may be encountered should carry a small vial, or bet- 

 ter a common wooden pillbox, in which to keep a small 

 quantity of the above powder. — Bed Wing (Glencoe, Fla.). 

 [See an article in Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1884, 

 entitled, "Supposed Antidote for Snake Bite.l 



New Hampshire.— A town meeting was held to-day in 

 Stewartstown, and voted to allow fishing. This opens the 

 Diamond Ponds to the public again, and many sportsmen 

 will rejoice.— Ned Norton (Colebrook, N. H., April 7). 



Maine Fish Laws. — The close time for black bass and 

 white perch in Maine began April 1 and ends July 1. The 

 trout close time expires April 30. 



Pennsylvania. — The season here as everywhere is very 

 backward, and it is only a little more than a week since the 

 ice left the Susquehanna Biver and its tributaries. Black 

 bass (small-mouths) rewarded the fly-fishermen at this point 

 last year in goodly numbers and of larger size on the average 

 than in any former season, and we are looking for a return 

 of another' encouraging season. Although the ice gorged at 

 some points, as a general thing the water was high enough 

 to carrv it off without endangering the fish. I am getting 

 my tackle in order to have a cast at the trout in the streams 

 • in the Alleghany Mountains to the west of us as soon as they 

 are in condition. No snipe yet.— A. F. C. (Sunbury, Pa., 

 April 13). 



Pennsylvania Trooting. — April 18. — Snow still 

 lingers on the hills of interior Pennsylvania, but is fast 

 melting. The streams consequently are high and murky, 

 and it will be ten days before good trout fishing can be ex- 

 pected. We shall furthermore need warm weather con- 

 tinually to drive off the snow if we are to have fly-fishing by 

 that time.— Homo. 



Xht MmneL 



$wl\tnlttm. 



THE CANADIAN MUDDLE. 



TELE difficulty in the Canadian Department of Marine and 

 Fisheries, which was supposed to be ended with the re- 

 tirement of Mr. Whitcher, Commissioner of Fisheries, some 

 years ago, has broken out afresh. Mr. Whitcher, it may be 

 remembered, was retired on account of an article to Forest 

 and Stream, in which he very justly criticised the methods of 

 fishculture pursued in the Dominion, and for pubhshing an un- 

 authorized preface to a report. This latter offense was over- 

 looked, but the giving publicity to his views concerning the 

 non-success of artificial fish breeding residted in his suspension 

 by Mr. McLean, Minister of Marine and Fisheries. Mr. 

 Whitcher was entitled, by law, to a pension on his retirement, 

 and for the letter written to Forest and Stream was mulcted 

 in five years' service and three months' pay when the amount 

 of his pension was determined. 



A correspondent of the Montreal Herald, in an account of 

 a Parliamentary debate, says: 



"The superannuation of the Commission was evidently ne- 

 cessary. Whether goaded into a state of nervous irritation , as 

 is alleged, or not, it became evident that the service would be 

 benefited by acceding to Mr. Whitcher's request for superan- 

 nuation, but it is equally clear that the act of mulcting him of 

 three months' salary was an ungenerous one, and depriving 

 him of the benefit of five years' service an unjust one. It is 

 impossible to determine the exact condition of the Department 

 of Marine and Fisheries, but everything tends to the belief 

 that it is an Augean stable of intrigue and imcompetence that 

 some legislative Hercules would do well to cleanse. And while 

 that is the prevailing opinion concerning this department it is 

 known throughout Canada that Mr. Whitcher was the most 

 efficient fishery officer the Government have had in their em- 

 ploy. While Mr. McLelan was unknown to Canada, Mr. 

 Whitcher, under Mr. Mitchell, the then Minister of Marine and 

 Fisheries (and of whom, for obvious reasons, I do not like to 

 speak in laudatory terms) was performing services for Canada, 

 particularly those in connection with the Halif ax Commission, 

 that Mi - . McLelan cannot even hope to emulate. "Yet the bene- 

 fits of these services are cancelled at the whim of the gentleman 

 whom a little modesty would have taught to avoid the com- 

 parison his action must surely create. The Canadian people 

 are not ungrateful for real work done in their service, and 

 they are not slow to compare the Mitchell-with- Whitcher 

 achievements with the present regime. Indeed, in view of 

 the coming termination of the fisheries clauses of the Wash- 

 ington treaty and the chaos that is then possible in that branch 

 of the service, even Opposition members express their regret 

 that those who before earned us through difficulties to success 

 are not at the helm again. In replying last night, Mr. McLelan, 

 apparently contradicting himself, said that he had not sus- 

 pended Mr. Whitcher for the honest expression of his opinion 

 in a newspaper, but failed to give any other reason for having 

 done so than that Mr. Whitcher was in a state of nervous ex- 

 citement. Member after member pointed out that this was 

 not a crime, that by the Minister's own showing there was no 

 reason for this punishment, and although Sir John, as usual, 

 tried to rescue his colleague, the attempt was not eminently 

 successful. However, we shall hear more about it, and per- 

 haps a more straightforward explanation than it seemed pos- 

 sible to wring from the Minister last night." 



THE MINNESOTA COMMISSION. 



THE Fish Commissioners of Minnesota have undertaken the 

 great task of restocking Lake Superior with whitefish, 

 from their hatchery at Willow Brook, below St. Paul. In 

 speaking of this work Mr. R. O. Sweeney, President of the 

 Commission, lately said : 



"It may not be known to the general public, but it is a well- 

 known and much to be regretted fact to the fishermen, that 

 the catch (at Superior) is yearly growing smaller and less 

 profitable. As to the cause, there are several explanations 

 given, any one of which seems both plausible as well as prob- 

 able. Not many years ago, when but comparatively few men 

 were engaged in fishing, and usually small boats and few 

 hands to man them, the catches were large and profitable, and 

 the supply seemed inexhaustible. This facility and sureness 

 of large returns induced many to engage in the pursuit ; in- 

 deed, so matjy that the competition invented all kinds of set 

 and trap nets of endless variety. The old-style fisherman, 

 with his few four-handed boats, had to give way to the tireless 

 tug, which could, through all sorts of weather, visit one 

 hundred nets in the time it would take him to lift three or 

 four small ones. It is easy to understand that with such 

 facilities nets may be and are placed around every reef, on 

 every accessible feeding ground and spawning bed that has 

 been discovered." 



Concerning the work done last year and to be done this 

 year in the smaller lakes Mr. Sweeney says that last spring 

 about 5,000,000 whitefish were distributed at the head of 

 Superior, and this spring 25,000,000 additional will be planted. 

 During the past nineteen months 4,990,000 whitefish have been 

 placed in inland waters, and that fully 30,000,000 fish will be 

 planted this year in inland and Lake Superior waters, includ- 

 ing 147,000 brook trout. 



THE MAINE COMMISSION.— In addition to the two well 

 known Fish Commissioners, Messrs. Stilwell and Stanley, the 

 Governor has appointed as "commissioner of sea fisheries" 

 Mr. B. W. Counce, of Thomaston. The latter has given orders 

 to enforce the lobster law passed by the last legislature, which 

 says: "No lobsters shall be taken or sold less than 10}^ inches 

 long from Oct. 1 to Aug. 15. May be taken from April 1 to 

 July 1 not less than 9 inches in length." There has been sent 

 out from the Orland hatching house during this season, in 

 round numbers, 1,094,000 salmon eggs. There were received 

 at the hatchery in Februarv 350,000 whitefish eggs, from 

 Germany, and 10,000 trout eggs from Scotland. Both lots 

 were somewhat damaged in transit. Three lots of eggs are 

 yet to be hatched, and work will be continued until quite late 

 m the season. , 



THE FISHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION.— Our readers 

 should bear in mind that the annual meeting of the Associa- 

 tion takes place in Washington on May 5, 6 and 7. It is hoped 

 that there will be a good attendance and valuable papers. It 

 is especially desired that those who have any papers to be 

 read at the "meeting, should send the titles to Mr. W. V. Cox. 

 secretary of the local committee of arrangements, National 

 Museum, Washington, D. C, with a statement of the time 

 required in reading them. ^^ 



A stage was upset in Applegate Creek, in Southern Oregon, 

 the other day, by a rush of salmon. The horses were cutloose 

 and the driver escaped on their backs. The salmon crowded 

 the river from bank to bank, and the school was over a mile 

 long.— Butte (Montana) Inter-Mountain. 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 



April 21, 23 and 23.— Annual Dog Show of the St. Louis Gun Club 

 W. A. Albright. Secretary. St. Louis, Mo. 



April 28, 2<J, SO and May 1.— Ninth Annual Dor Show of the West- 

 minster Kennel Club at Madison Square Garden. Entries close April 

 14. James Mortimer. Superintendent, 48 Broad street, New York. 



Mar 5, ti. 7 and 8. 1885.— Second Annual Dog Show of The Cincin- 

 nati Sportsman's Club. Cincinnati. O. W. A. Coster, Superintendent. 



May 13, 14 and 15.— Third Annual Dog Show of the Toronto Dog 

 Show Association. W. S. Jackson, Secretary, Toronto, Ont. 



May 10, 20, 21 and 22. -Show of the Philadelphia Kennel Club. F. A. 

 Diffenderfer, Superintendent, Philadelphia, Pa. 



June 2, 3, 4 and 5.— First Annual Doe Show ot the Illinois Kennel 

 Club. John H. Naylor, Secretary, 3,182 Archer avenue, Chicago, III. 

 FIELD TRIALS. 



November.— Seventh Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field 

 Trials Club, High Point, N. C. Entries for Derby close May 1. W. 

 A. Coster, Secretary, Flatbusb L. I. 



Dec. 7.— Seventh Annual Field Trials of the National Field Trials 

 Club, Grand Junction, Tenn. Entries for Derby close April 1, B. M. 

 Stephenson, La Grange, Tenn., Secretary. 



A. K. R. -SPECIAL NOTICE. 



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 (50 cents) must accompany each entry. No entries 

 inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription $1.50. Address 

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

 of entries already printed 2312. 



THE PROPER SIZE OF BEAGLES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Being much interested in the discussion of ''Proper Size of 

 Beagles" in your paper, I will say I am much pleased with 

 what "Rusticus," Mr. Sloan and A. C. Krueger have to say 

 in favor of the small ones. I was much aroused at what your 

 correspondent "Sedge" says in your issue of March 5, when he 

 says he had given the small ones up as being entirely unfit for 

 hunting rabbits. Their first defect, he adds, is, they are not 

 true runners, have too many checks. I believe he is all wrong 

 about that. I have bred and owned both the large and small 

 beagles, and can truthfully say that the small ones will run as 

 true and not make as many checks as the larger ones do ; they 

 run slower, and therefore don't run over the trail as the 

 larger ones do. Now if "Sedge" hunts rabbits in Delaware 

 county, Pa. , he will need small dogs above all others, as there 

 are too many ground hog holes convenient for puss to run 

 down when being pushed too hard, and the small dog running 

 slower don't run them to hole as often as the larger. This I 

 know from experience, having hunted both my large and 

 small beagles in that county. Of course, if others prefer large 

 dogs, all right; but don't say the small ones are useless when 

 such is not the case. I have friends owners of setters, one 

 prefers a large dog, the other small; I have seen both dogs 

 work equally well. So because a dog of any breed is small, 

 don't call him useless. Man is the better for having a little 

 dog in him. W. H. Ashbukkek. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



ENGLISH AND NATIVE FOXHOUNDS. 



If IS very evident the time has arrived when a standard for 

 nudging our American foxhounds should be made. A 

 glance at the imported dogs and the native animals at the late 

 Boston show would convince that the two breeds — as such 

 they surely are— can never justly compete in the same class if 

 judged by Stonehenge. The English foxhound has proved a 

 failure in this country where he has been introduced with the 

 native packs, and has shown that his olfactory powers are 

 inferior to that of ours. It can be said that the American 

 dog would also be discarded if introduced into packs on the 

 other side of the water, as far as work in the field is concerned, 

 Foxhunting here and in England is totally dissimilar. In 

 the. United States reynard has to be followed by the pack 

 through swamps, over hills and rocks and in and out of 

 the thickest of woods, where the rider finds it impossible to 

 always follow the pack and keep it in sight, while in England 

 the fox, if he takes to a copse, is readily driven from it again 

 to the open. It requires, therefore, in the United States, a 

 very cold nosed dog to successfully trail reynard, and our 

 hounds never have the aid of a whipper-in when the scent is 

 lost as the English dogs do when at fault. Our chases are at 

 times of long duration. In Great Britain a chase is seldom 

 over three or four hours' duration, and most of the time at 

 a break-neck speed. 



Mr. Lort, when in this country last, attending one of the 

 Westminster Kennel Club's shows, made the statement that 

 the English dog -was notably losing nose, and breeders would 

 either have to go to the otter hound to gain better scenting 

 powers, or import some of our hounds ; in fact, he was anxious 

 to take back to England some of the dogs exhibited at that 

 time, which were splendid specimens of our native breed. 



It will be impossible much longer to secure the entries of 

 native foxhounds at bench shows when it is known that dogs 

 must compete with the English hounds, judged by the standard 

 now used. Can not the breeders of the native dog come 

 together and form a standard? I am sure managers of shows 

 would recognize their claims. Homo. 



THE SCOTCH COLLIE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have read with some interest the correspondence that has 

 been going on for some time in your columns anent this, my 

 favorite breed of dog. My name has occasionally cropped up 

 as an authority on collies, so this must to some extent be my 

 excuse for now rushing into print. With regard to what has 

 transpired between Messrs. Harston and Watson, as I am not 

 posted tip in local allusions I can only speak generally, and at 

 once say that 1 fully agree with the latter when he refuses to 

 recognize so many types of collies. A Scotch come, rough or 

 smooth, is a Scotch collie all tne world over, be he Highland, 

 Lowland, Cumberland or South of England. In thesame way 

 the old English bobtail is the same whether you find him in 

 the wilds of Scotland or in the downs in Sussex. Mr. Harston 

 gets a bit abroad when he asks your witty contributor Lilh- 

 bulero" that question about a Suffolk Punch and a Clydesdale. 

 Why, sir, there's no analogy between that and crossing so- 

 called Highland and Lowland collies You might as well talk 

 of mating a mastiff and a pug, both dogs as much as the others 

 are both horses, but of utterly distinct breeds Over here at 

 all big shows it has become the custom to divide sheepdog 

 classei into three divisions, sheepdogs (by which we under- 

 stand collies of the Scotch type wherever bred) rough-coated, 

 ditto smooth-coated, and lastly the old English bobtail. As 

 to other breeds I cannot say that I have come across a Nor- 

 wegian sheepdog, but when at the Hanover dog show some 

 years a°x> I saw a collection of so-called German sheepdogs, 

 and a more mixed or mongrel lot of curs I never came across. 

 I am with Mr. Harston when he finds fault with heavy, flat, 

 settery ears, such being a serious blemish, and having no other 

 choice I should prefer breeding from a prick-eared dog to using 

 animals of that description. He is quite right too when he 

 says that judges should not go for color or lay too much stress 

 on one particular point, whether coat, head or ears. For my- 

 self I can say that color never weighed with me one atom when 



