328 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 19, 1885. 



again. Busiuess engagements prevented onr extending the 

 trip further, but we had enjoyed ourselves so well so far 

 that we decided to seize the first opportunity to go further 

 down the river— perhaps as far as its confluence with the 

 Red. 



We had been favored with pleasant weatber most of the 

 time. The fishing was all that could be desired ; besides, 

 there was the added excitement of a chase after a loon and 

 seeing how_ long it would stay under water and how far it 

 would swim before coming to the surface again; or we 

 would cover our boat with gi-eeu boughs until it looked like 

 a miniature island and see how near we could drift to a soli- 

 tary pelican or gull as he floated on the waves, or the long- 

 legged herons standing motionless in the shallows waiting 

 for the luckless frog or minnow that might venture near. 



Game is fairly plentiful, and in the open season yields 

 plenty of sport to the hunter. I often saw deer during the 

 summer, and ducks and geese are plentiful in the early fall 

 and late spring, and ducks sometimes remain all summer. 



Lew Wtij-ow. 



A SALMON EXPERIENCE. 



J CAME home one day and the first thing Jim, my chum, 

 said to me was, "The salmon are taking the fly. and you 

 and I want to get a salmon rig at once, and' try them." *We 

 had only two nine-foot splice trout rods. They did look a 

 little light to tackle full grown salmon with, but we were 

 bound to try nevertheless, even if we lost om- whole rigs. 

 We had no flies and could find none in the city. Nothing 

 daunted, we got some hen feathers and an old feather duster 

 and tied two flies. Such looking things you never saw. 

 They looked so bad we nearly gave the trip up, but finally 

 determined to give them a trial now that we had got so far. 

 Bright and early Monday morning we were on the river 

 bank. At the second or third cast Jim struck a salmon, but 

 the fish got away. I went up above here about a hundred yards 

 and began to send that hen feather fly thiough the air. I 

 hooked a fish ; and now comes one part of my story that seems 

 almost impossible. In striking him I pulled the rod too 

 hard and snapped it where the splice was. so the top splice 

 only hung by the string it was spliced with. Away he went 

 at a 3:10 clip. Out of water he came, three feet in the air. 

 Down he went. As quickly as I could, I jumped into a 

 boat. My chum handled the paddle. We foflowed the 

 salmon down stream, until lie came to a halt behind a large 

 rock in dead water ; and funny as it seems he lay there, line 

 loose, until my chum unfastened my rod and mended it over 

 as best he could. I then put the strain on the fish again, and 

 the way he came out of that hole and struck for deep water 

 I can assure you was highly exciting. First one place, then 

 another. Out of the water again and again. For an hour 

 and more the fight for life was kept up. But at last I got 

 him back into dead water, when after a few more gamy 

 struggles he came to gaff; and my chum landed the largest 

 fish I ever caught with a nine ounce rod. He weighed nine 

 pounds and ten ounces. 



A number of salmon were caught that day with salmon 

 rods and reels, but I sliall always feel proud of taking such 

 a fish with such a fly and sucli a rod. My chum and I 

 walked into town that morning feeling abo-jj ^^ large as any 

 of ourj^gg^ (3i{,>?g5P„ ,..K^- aii(i salmon vpere carried'' in hand 

 lor display. Indian Rock. 

 CAX.AIS, Mainii. 



HOW TO CATCH CARP. 



V\7E take the following letter, written by Mr. Robert A. 

 TT Martin, of Petersburg, Va., to Mr. C. W. Smiley, 

 from the Bulletin of the TJ. S. Fish Commission: 



"The way to catch carp with a hook and line is just this: 

 Let a person having a pond in which they are kept feed them 

 with bread at a particular place, and when the fish have 

 learned to come for such bread, let him get some good strong 

 genuine Limerick hooks (not the American imitation of 

 them), and tie them on strong oiled silk lines, on which lines 

 there are corks, and bait with bread (bakers' bread, or any 

 kind of bread that after pressing in the hand he can make 

 stay on the hook), and tlirow out some two or three lines 

 tied to good strong poles, one line on each pole, and very 

 quickly he will have about the number of bites that he 

 throws out baited lines. After hooking all the fish, he might 

 hand all the poles except one to some person to hold, until 

 he had worried down one carp; and after getting that one 

 out, he might then work one by one on the remainder. 



'"Three carp weighing from three to five pounds each ought 

 to be enough for one day's sport and eating. They are very 

 sharp and shy after one has been caught and played long 

 enough to scare the others, and will stop biting for some 

 hours afterward. It takes a very good line and the best sort 

 of a hook to hold them, and of course a good pole is also 

 necessary. The genuine Limerick hook is, I think, hand- 

 made. But little,' if any, sinker is required, as the weight 

 of the hook will sink the bait. 



"After being fed with bread ^especially bakers', or what is 

 called light bread, which will float on the water), it is best 

 to fish shallow, say about one foot or one and a half feet. If 

 they have been scared, then it will be necessary to fish 

 deeper, say in two and a half or three feet. They bite best, 

 of course, in the spring and fall months. They are the gami- 

 est and best-winded fish I ever saw : and the only trouble is, 

 that after catching some two or three the remainder will be 

 scared off. This, however, could be partially overcome in a 

 good-sized pond by the owner having some three or four 

 places where he baited them, so that after they were scared 

 at one place he could go to others, provided he was fishing 

 both for sport and profit (in the latter case, catching them to 

 sell). 



"As a pan fish they do not compare with our millpond 

 diub or speckled perch, but they are good pullers. They 

 bite quickly like a chub, and not like round fish (a sort of 

 mullet or sucker. The bread or bait of course should cover 

 well the barb of the hook. For carp weighing from one to 

 two pounds smaller hooks of the kind named would be 

 better. I wonder that more of our country people do not 

 make ponds and raise the German carp. Properly cooked 

 they are very fair eating; but to one who loves a good, 

 square, long-winded, honest puU by a fish, I do not know 

 anything to equal them. If they are once hooked, one is 

 sure to get them, provided he knows how to handle a fish 

 and has good tackle." 



American Casting Reels. — The extraordinary casting 

 done from the reel at the late tournament has excited so 

 much surprise in England that the FMing Gazette says: 

 "There must be something very good in this American mul- 

 tiplying reel to permit such casts being made from it, and 



with a view to making its merits known we shall offer a 

 five-guinea prize for the best cast made with it at our tour- 

 nament next year." We have seen the best reels in use in 

 England for casting, but never saw one that compared with 

 those of our best makers'. Here is a chance for American 

 manufacturers to compete for the trade of England in multi- 

 plying reels. We think that our best reels are more expen- 

 sive than English anglers have been used to buying. 



Address all comrivwidcaUom to the Forest aiul Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE CULTURE OF SHAD. 



AT a recent meeting of the Biological Society of Washington 

 in the National Museum the members listened to a talk 

 by Col. Manshall McDonald, of the Fish Commission, upon the 

 necessity of the work of fish propagation, in order to main- 

 tain the shad fisheries. He undertook to demonstrate that 

 the shad fishing had to depend more upon artificial than 

 natiiral production for its maintenance. This he thought 

 was shown by a comparison of the statisti&s of the shad iishery 

 for the years 1880 and 1883, and a consideration of the attending 

 conditions. The figures for 1880 are taken from the census 

 reports; those for 1885 were gathered by experts, in some 

 instances by the same persons who made the censiis reports. 

 On the Hudson the figures were obtained by Mr. E. G-. Black- 

 ford. In the Delawai-e and Chesapeake waters the figures 

 are based on careful estimates made by experts who traver.sed 

 the whole field. He had, in order to present the matter faii-ly, 

 brought together, in an aggregate, the catch of all the rivers 

 of the Atlantic slope, as the catch in any one river fluctuates 

 under local conditions. It was not true that shad spawned in 

 certain i-ivers necessarily retm-ned to the river where they 

 were sjjawned. They remained in the hydi-ographieal area in 

 which they were spawnd, but might seek any fresh water 

 within that area. It was only by taking the statistics of the 

 rivers of the entire area that it cbvdd be determined whether 

 there had been an actual increase or decrease. Col. McDonald 

 placed upon the blackboard the following table, giving "Com- 

 parative statistics of the shad fisheries of the Atlantic rivers:" 

 No. of Shad Taken. Per ct. Per el. 



. ■ of of 



1880. 1885. Inc. Dec. 



Oouuecticuc S«8,60S 190,000 .. 29 



Hudson 781.628 1,174,000 m 



Delaware Elver and Bay 933,.«)0 1,148,490 36 



Chesapeake and Tributaries.. a,048,600 1,6.33,800 .. 31 



Aggregate .3,870,1.36 4,145,290 7 p. ct. increase. 



The table gives catch from Cape Henry to Cape Cod. In- 

 ci'ease of 188.5 over 1880, in quantity, 9G,5,339 lbs., in value 

 $67,580. 



While the commercial value of the uicrease, .$67,58(:'i, was 

 not large compared with the whole, that sum was ten times 

 as great as the yearly sum spent by the Fish Commission upon 

 the w-ork of .shad propagation. 



It was a physiological necessity, he said, that shad should 

 enter fresh water to spawn. Shad eggs might be impregnated 

 hi salt water, but would not develop up to the point of hatch- 

 ing. The shad must reach fresh water in numbers sufficient 

 to supply by propagation the annual loss. Originally shad 

 ha(3 frs^ access to the water of the country. Then man began 

 to reduce the snawning area; dams were- extended down the 

 river: so the productive capftCitv of the river byraea.nsof 

 natural propa°:a,tion was not one-half as great as it had been. 

 Then factories have been erected on the rivers, the spawning 

 beds have been destroyed by sediment or deleterious matter, 

 and the water rendered imsuitable for propagation. Last of 

 aU, man had come with improved appliances, and pushed liis 

 Csheries out of fresh water into the salt water. So now sixty- 

 three per cent of the shad caught are caught in salt water. 

 Counting, then, the catch in the rivers, after the shad reached 

 fi-esh water, it was doubtfid whether one per cent.— certamly 

 not five per cent.— smwived to reproduce the species. Upon 

 that small percentage they depended to keep up the supply of 

 shad in the rivers. Under such conditions the spawning area, 

 being limited, and the shad excluded from fresh water, ^vith- 

 out artificial propagation, they would not only not be able to 

 keep up the supply, but the shad would soon be exterminated 

 or mere would be such a reduction as to render the fisheries 

 unprofitable. They were fast approaching such a crisis in 

 1879. when the Fish Commission began tlie work of shad pro- 



Eagation. The work of artificial propagation had not only 

 eld tUe balance even, but resulted in a positive increase. 

 Col. McDonald deprecated the methods employed in sliad 

 fishing, especially in the use of pound nets. In the Connecticiit 

 river, where pound nets are used, a large part of the catch is 

 taken in salt water. In the Hudson, as the laws of New York 

 do not pei-mit fishing with pound nets, the river is not 

 obstructed to the same extent as the Connecticut is. In the 

 Delaware, where an increase was shown, there were no poimd 

 nets In the case of the Chesapeake and its tributaiies, show- 

 ing a decrease of 21 per cent, 71.3,000 of the shad caught this 

 year, or more than one half of the whole catch, were caught 

 m the salt water of the bay. The pound nets began at ttie 

 capes and extended to the mouth of the Potomac. Prior to 1871 

 the shad were taken entirely in fresh water, but now over 

 one-half were caught in salt water. After entering the 

 Potomac nearly one-half of the <;atch in that river is made in 

 water where the fish cannot spawn. In the Rappahannock 

 one-hah the catch is on the oyster grounds, or in brackish 

 water. In the York river the catch is practically below 

 G-loueester point. In the James river there are no pound nets 

 and in that ri ver we find an increase in the catch. VYhile the 

 fisheries in the Chesapeake bay and its tributaries, as a whole, 

 have f aUen oflf 31 per cent, the increase in the catch in certain 

 rivers is much greater. The catch in the Susquehanna in 1880 

 was 614,000, against 212,000 in 1885; and in the Potomac, 553.- 

 8,57 in 1880 against 157,697 in 1885. The reason of this, Col, 

 McDonald thought, is ob^dous. In 1871 there were no pound 

 nets in Chesapeake bay, and no shad were taken until they 

 entered fresh water. GiUing was not prosecuted so low down 

 the river as now. In 1880 he foimd in Chesapeake bay 180 

 pound nets set in the track followed by the shad along the 

 western shore, and through these the shad had to run a gaunt- 

 let up to the mouths of the rivers. Now there were 1,000 

 pound nets occupying the western shores of the bay, and ex- 

 cluding the fish from fresh water. The eftect of the salt 

 water catch is to diminish natm-al reproduction and to invoke 

 artificial propagation as a necessai-y aid to the fisheries. If 

 all shad were excluded from our rivers for three or four years, 

 without artificial propagation, the species would be exter- 

 minated. Taking all the facts into consideration, and the 

 inadequacv of natural reproduction to supply the annual loss, 

 we must credit artificial reproduction with having maintained 

 the fisheries where they were, but more than with an mcrease 

 which would pay ten times the cost of the work of shad pro- 

 pagation. , . , . 



The paper was discussed by several members of the society. 

 Mr. Smiley suggested tliat if brought up an interesitng point 

 in political economy, and that was whether it was advisable 

 for any state to stock its own rivers since the fish did not 

 necessarily return to the river where it was spawned. He 

 thought the facts shown presented a strong argument for 

 having the whole work or shad propagations done by the 

 national government. 



Col, McDonald said that the results of the work should ba 

 determined in aggregate. While the Hudson and the Dela- 



ware enjoyed the mcrease this year, it did not toUow that it 

 would be the same next year. It was remarkable that when 

 tUere is a large catch in the Delaware there is a diminished 

 catch in the Chesapeake, and vice versa. When the spring is 

 cold the shad avoid the long rivers coming from the mountains 

 and seek the warmer waters of the small rivere draining tidal 

 areas. He thought it was more profitable and economical to. 

 have the work of propagation done by the United States. 

 It would suit the people as a whole, much better if the work, 

 were all done under the directions of the general government. 



Mr. Goode, the president of the society, remarked 

 that this paper was without exception tlie most important 

 paper on the fish question ever presented before the society.. 

 Hitherto the fish question has been largely theoretical, and 

 the papers have been largely prophetic. There were no periods 

 of statistical records. At last they were getting where it was 

 possible to make comparative statements of facts and could 

 see where they stood. The facts presented were not only im- 

 portant to their economic aspect, but from various scientific 

 points of view. They were getting a knowledge of what was 

 passing beneath the sea. America was taking the lead in all 

 these matters pertaining to fisheries, and the world was look- 

 ing with amazement upon what -We are accomplishing. The 

 whole matter was coming to be better understood. The 

 broad policy upon which Prof. Baird established the Fish 

 Commission fifteen years ago that in order to undersaand the 

 I>ractical bearing's of the fish question it was necessary first to. 

 understand all the conditions of marine life. It was the 

 legitimate fruit of such a pohcy, that at lastflshculture and 

 the knowledge of marine life should be something more than 

 theory. 



Address all communications to the Forest and iStreaiii Fublislb- 

 ing Co. 



FIXTURES. 



BKNCH SHOWS. 

 Dee. 15. 16, 17 and 18.— First Annual Dog Show of the Western Con- 

 necticut Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock Association. Frank D. Hal- 

 lett. Superintendent, Winsted, Conn. Entries close Dec. 5. 



March 16. 17, 18 and 19, 1886.— Western PennsyU'anla Poultiy Soci- 

 ety's Dog Show, at Pittsburgh. Pa. C. B. Elbeii', Secretary. 



April 6, 7, 8 and 9, 1886.— Second Annual Dog Show of the New Eng- 

 land Kennel Club. .Jean Grosvenor, Secretary, Boston. Mass. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Nov. 17, 18 and 19.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Philadelphia 

 Kennel Club at Rio Grande, N. J., for members only. Entries close 

 Nov. 1. 



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. 



npHE 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. Yearlv subscription Sl-50. A(Jdress 

 "American Kennel Register," P. O. Bo^ 28.32, New York. Numheff 

 of entries already printed 2908. 



THE PHILADELPHIA TRIALS. 



[From a Special Correspondent.] 



RIO GRANDE, N. J., Nov. 16.— The second annual field 

 trials of the Philadelphia Kennel Club began here this 

 morning. 



The weather is clear and everything favorable for good run- 

 ning. The drawing for the Derby Stake resulted as follows: 



Faiby Glen (E. Jester), blue belton setter bitch (Glen Rock 

 —Blue Belle), 



against 



Buckingham (G. DeHavens), lemon bolton English setter 

 dog (Dude— Dudeen). 



Victoria (C. J. Thompson), red Irish setter bitch (Berkley-- 

 Nora) , 



against 



Leigh Doonb ii. (W. H. Child), red Irish setter bitch (Chief 

 — Leigh Doone). 



Shot and Jessamine withdrawn. 

 The All-Aged Stake drawing resulted as foUows: 

 Leigh Doone (W. H. ChUd), red Irish setter bitch (Elcho— 

 Rose), 



ayannst 



Cassino Gladstone (E. Comfort), blue belton English setter 

 bitch (Gladstone— Countess Druid). 



Knob (G. Schrieber), orange and white EngKsh setter dog 

 (Grouse— Flora), 



against 



Bbucb (I. H. Roberts), red Irish setter dog (Elcho— Noreen) . 



Gkottse (M, Richardson), orange and white setter dog 

 (Grouse — Leda) , 



against 



Jessie (1. H. Robei-ts), red Irish setter bitch (Elcho— Rose). 

 CBK01.E (Major Wibert) red Iiish setter bitch (Grafton— 



again.<st 

 Leigh Doone II. (see above). 



Leda (Col. Ridgeway), orange and white setter bitch (Cala- 

 barr-Nell), 



against 



Wbagg (G. Emlen), Gordon setter (Grouse— Maud). 



Little Nell (I. H. Roberts), red Irish setter bitch (Elcho— 

 Rose), 



against 



Prince Castle, blue belton English setter (Prince— Dashing 

 Belle). 



Victoria (C. T. Thompson), red Msh setter bitch (Berkley 

 —Nora), a bye. 



Nov. 11.— Special to Forest and Stream: In the fu-st heat. 

 Fairy Glen beat Buckingham. 



PLINLIMMON pups.— Steamship Roman, on her last trip, 

 brought two rough-coated St. Bernard pups for the Chequas- 

 set Kennels, weU worth seeing. They are brother and sister, 

 a fittle more than four months old, and promise to make huge 

 animals at maturity. Duke, the dog pup, is almost a fac- 

 sunile of his grandsire, Rector, in markmgs, but his head 

 encourage us to hope that it may be of a finer type when 

 fully developed. Lady Hanley is rich orange, slightly 

 briridled, with white blaze, incomplete collar, white chest, 

 feet and tip. Theu- bone is extraordinary, and we hope they 

 will do credit to their parentage. Plinhmmon, their sire, is 

 thus far without a rival in sii-e and proportion; and Lady 

 Bm-ghley, their dam, a daughter of Rector, stands thirty-two 

 inches at the shoulder and is one of the largest bitches living, 

 of most amiable temper and gentle as a lamb. 



