360 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May %1, 1886- 



iwtt 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ng Co. 



A SPRING POEM. 



NOW the adolescent homo 

 Seeks Lumbricus inthe shade, 

 Toiling in paternal garden, 



Deftly turning earth with spade, 

 While the Harporhynchus rufus 

 Chants his lay in yonder glade. 



In this phrase I seek to tell you 



That the boy is digging bait 

 For Salvelinus fontinalis 



Near his father's garden gate, 

 Heedless if the school-bell ringeth 



Or the teacher marks him late. 



But I see that I've neglected 



Adding foot notes to each term, 

 Hence I'll try to be explicit, 



And call on science to affirm 

 That the Latin name Lumbricus 



Is another word for worm. 



Salvelinus fontinalis— 



Tbere is not the slightest doubt 

 Boys from Maine to California 



All would join in mighty shout, 

 Laughing at your lack of knowledge, 



If you don't know that's a trout. 



And, likewise, the Harporhynchus, 



"Xhicn is singing in the bush 

 While his mate is incubating, 



Pouring fourth his soul in gush, 

 That's another patronymic 



For our brown, our native, thrush. 



Hence I only meant to tell you 



In the plainest sort of terms, 

 That this is spring and thrushes sing 



'Mid nature's buddiDg germs, 

 And boyish thought turns toward trout 



And agile angle worms. 



Fred Mather. 



CAMPS OF THE KINGFISHERS. 



CARP LAKE, MICHIGAN. — XTTT. 



THE rain crow certainly "had a skunner agin us," for 

 when we got out late next morning the rain was com- 

 ing down with a steady persistency that moved Ben and the 

 skTpper to retire behind old Dan's tent for another talking 

 match, a necessary part of the camp work that, we were 

 somewhat accustomed to when occasion demanded, and it 

 seemed that on this particular morning there never had been 

 a time in camp when an exchange of views to ease our minds 

 was more needed. 



After breakfast tke question was what to do with ourselves. 

 "We could not take the girls out to fish in such villainous, 

 rough, rainy weather, and the only thing left for them was 

 to take to the big tent and talk, read, suck maple sugar and 

 pester the philosopher for lunch at irregular intervals, and 

 brag of what thev were going to do in the way of depleting 

 the lake of fish when sunshiny days did come. Dan and 

 Muller could sit humped up over the crib or checker board 

 in one corner of the tent and never find out it was raining 

 except when called at meal time, Jim and Mother Jim did 

 not seem to be in pressing need of companionship or conso- 

 lation aside from that found in each other (newly married 

 people are generally afflicted that way), but what was to be- 

 come of the two old loons, Hyper and the skipper? 



After standing around the fire in our rubber coats for half 

 an hour, "fust on one leg an' then on t'other," like geese on 

 a frosty morning, dodging the smoke puffs and dis-"cussin' " 

 the situation, I suggested as the only way to keep peace 

 and quiet in camp, that we go a-fishing, and was utterly 

 amazed when the old varmint said "he didn't feel very peert 

 that day an' he b'leeved he wouldn't go out; he'd stay in 

 camp an' make a little fun fur the gals to keep 'em from 

 gittin' the blues, an' git a leetle better acquainted with Miss 

 Annie." 



It may be said that Miss Annie, a tall, stately young lady, 

 unobtrusive and gentle in her ways, had come into camp 

 almost a stranger, and for a day or two had seemed rather 

 backward and diffident ; but after a few days' contact with 

 the "Jones family" had worn off a layer or two of her natural 

 shyness and reserve, she was as full of life and fun as any 

 of them and had become quite a favorite. 



Old Ben had stood in great awe of her for several days, 

 not having, as he said, "jest made up his mind how to size 

 her up." But one morning he had arrived at a conclusion 

 and paid her his highest compliment when he said with 

 grave deliberation, "Tell ye what, Hickory, at first I was 

 kinder afeard ov her, she 'peared so dignified and onsbciable- 

 like, but now the gals hev got her thawed out. I can notice 

 a heap o' difference in her an' ye kin jest bet she's a hell- 

 rackin' good gal an' don't ye forgit it." After this he seemed 

 easier in mind and was not so "feard" of her. and at the 

 time he declined to go out fishing he and Miss Annie were 

 the best of friends, indulging in frequent encounters of jest- 

 ing wit, in which Hyper, with all his aptitude at quick 

 retort, not infrequently suffered an inglorious defeat. 



The girls were greatly pleased when they learned that 

 Uncle Ben was not going a-fishing, for whenever he was in 

 camp there was no lack of fun and good feeling; he kept 

 them in great good humor, and laughing at bis quaint say- 

 ings till they had the sideache. I did not catch the drift of 

 the scheme the sly old fox had in mind when he played the 

 "not a feelin' very peert" dodge to get me out of the way, 

 but got ready to go alone — he knew I would go a-fiahin' any- 

 how — however, I found it all out when 1 returned to camp 

 in the evening. He even helped me pull the lightest of the 

 boats up on the bank to tilt the water out of it, and half an 

 hour later I was across the lake with bass rod and bucket of 

 frogs drifting down shore, locating the likely-looking water 

 to be fished when the weather cleared up and we could take 

 the girls out. The rain stopped falling some time in the 

 afternoon, but it did not improve the fishing much, and dur- 

 ing the whole day I got but three big-mouthed bass, a couple 

 of longsnouts and six or eight goggle-eyes which, when first 

 hooked, put on as many airs as a two-pound bass. I had 

 found three or four places, however, notably one a mile and 

 a half perhaps below camp on the opposite side, that prom- 



ised good sport when the weather settled and the fish took a 

 notion to feed, and I pulled back in the evening quite satis- 

 fied over a well spent day. 



When I had pulled the boat up on the bank and stood the 

 rod on the lee side of the big popple, Miss Kit with measured 

 step and mischief in her eye led me to the north end of the fly, 

 and there on the philospher's table lay a handsome trout a 

 trifle over a foot in length, and then they all tittered and 

 looked mysterious except old Ben who stood apart with a 

 self-satisfied smirk on his face that made me feel like ' 'teching 

 him up with a bresh," for I saw through his scheme of the 

 morning without waiting for the story to be told. Here was 

 the solution to his "not a feelin' very peert" when I wanted 

 him to go out with me for a day's sport. The hyperbolical 

 old varmint had hung around camp " entertainin' the gals" 

 till the rain -was over and then stolen off up the road to the 

 Btream near Alexander's and inveigled the third and last 

 trout out of the pool from which I had taken the other _ two 

 big ones, and now there the blessed old sinner stood with a 

 quizzical grin making crows' feet at the corners of his eyes, 

 looking so innocent that I was moved to join in the merri- 

 ment and ask for the story of the capture. 



"Ye see," he began, after lighting the brier root and com- 

 ing to an anchor on a camp stool, ' T knowed when I fooled 

 ye this mornin' an' got ye off a-fishin' by yerself that ye 

 wouldn't be back till night, an' after ye was gone I fooled 

 'round with the gals an' let on I was kinder out o' kilter — 

 but I didn't miss my dinner, an' turned up fur lunch every 

 time mind ye — till it quit rainin', an' then I jest slipped out 

 o' camp with ole quintessence an' a box o' wurms an' hied off 

 up the road to the little crick where ye ketched that red boss 

 t'other day. I didn't fool away any time a pickin' rozberries 

 along the road; fur I 'lowed ef I didn't ketch that trout 

 you'd staked a claim on in less 'n five minutes after I drapped 

 my hook in the water I'd go back to camp an' let on I'd only 

 bin to the little branch jest over there in the woods where ye 

 overtook me an' the schoolmaster. 1 kep' on till I got inside 

 o' the field nigh the woods where you said the deep hole was, 

 an' when I got where I could peep over an' see the water I 

 stopped an' baited my hook mighty keerf ul, an' slippin' up 

 soft as a cat walkin' on moss, I drapped it in above the big 

 tree an' let it drift down to'ards the root, same as you did 

 when ye ketched the first one. 



"Before it got in two foot o' the tree, zip! come a streak 

 o' greased lightnin' out from under the roots an' grabbed it, 

 an' before a hungry noun' could a-swallered a flitch o' bacon I 

 give ole quintessence a side flirt an' landed that trout o' yourn 

 ten foot back o' me on the grass. 



"Ye see, it was all done so sudden like that I furgot to 

 put in any scientific licks on him; but I reckon it's too late 

 fur him to kick about it now, an' I hev an idea that he'll 

 never find out but what he was knocked out o' that hole by 

 a middlin'-sized yartbquake. 



"That was the only trout I was a-lookin' fur, an' I felt so 

 chuck full o" pure delight, as old Dan says, that I never 

 thought o' fishin' another solitary second. I broke a twig 



thought o' fishin' another solitary 



an' strung Mister Sally- venus—er whatever thatdurned jaw- 

 twistin' Latin name is that ye call 'em— on it, an' hitchin'the 

 hook on to one o' the crossbars o' the reel and tightenin' up 

 the line, I broke for camp so bilin' full o' glory an' laugh at 

 outgineralin' James Mackerel that I forgot to light my 

 pipe. 



"When I came to the little five-rail fence at the lower end 

 o' the field I was a-rollin' so high that I stepped clean over 

 it without techin' a splinter, and when I got into the main 

 road I reckon the steps I took wouldn't average more'n two 

 to a rod till I clim' the fence back there by the woods in sight 

 o' camp, an' then I slowed up considerable fur fear I'd git 

 a-sroin' so fast down the grade that I couldn't stop when I 

 came to the lake. When 1 got nigh the big tent I sneaked 



guess 1 11 go 

 gals kin tell ye the rest." 



"Yes," chipped in one of the girls as Ben started with the 

 bucket, "We didn't know he was anywhere near until we 

 heard him say, 'Hello in there! Gaze on that, will ye? 

 James— Mackerel's— trout. What'll he say to that?' " And 

 then they told how the old loon danced and hopped around 

 the fire, with old "quintessence" and the fish held aloft in 

 either hand, and from the description I imagined the per- 

 formance was much after the manner of the ludicrous antics 

 of a sandhill crane when in a hilarious mood. 



The taking of that trout was a mine of fun for old Ben, 

 and there is little doubt that not an angling friend of his but 

 has since heard the story of how he "outgineraled ole King- 

 fisher an' ketched his trout that he'd left in the deep hole to 

 git ripe." 



Kit and I fished the same stream a week after as far up as 

 the deep hole, but got "nary nibble," much to Miss Kitty's 

 disappointment, as she had evidently made up her mind to 

 show her father a few tricks in trout fishing that he'd never 

 heard of. Not even the big trout near the school house 

 could be induced to show himself, although she spit on her 

 bait in a manner that no susceptible and well-regulated trout 

 might well resist, and fished for him with due diligence and 

 great expectations for a good half hour, her paternal parent 

 not far off meantime struggling under ninety-pound pressure 

 of suppressed laugh at her earnestness, and the anxiety she 

 seemed to be laboring under lest she would run out of 

 charmed bait before his troutship found out she was fishmf 

 for him. 



But the day was not without its pleasures after all. It 

 was a big treat to her to "go trouting with papa," even 

 though she "didn't stir a fin" (this was imparted to Bob 

 with a patronizing air of superior attainments in the art 

 gentle that would have floored an older angler than Bob), 

 and her heart was made glad on the return to the boat, which 

 we had left a short distance above Horton's Bay, with an 

 apronful of rarely beautiful ferns, a wreath of "squaw 

 vines" with their bright red berries, a bunch of wintergreen 

 and a few sheets of "natural writing paper" peeled from a 

 birch sapling near the water, to say nothing of a bouquet of 

 wild flowers half the size of a camp kettle; and we pulled 

 down to camp with the boat freighted with about as much 

 happiness as it could well float under. 



But once more has the tale of a trout caused a divergence 

 from the trail. , 



As we sat around the big fire after supper talking over the 

 day's events and listening to the sweet refrain of the multi- 

 tudinous musquito, the first signs of a break 'in the weather 

 appeared in tUe west and south, and by the time we were 

 ready to beat a retreat from our enemy and seek refuge in 

 the tents, numerous rifts in the slowly moving clouds dis- 

 closed patches of blue sky dotted here and there with a 

 bright star blinking and smiling at us a promise of a fair 

 morn. Kingfisher. 



HOW SILKWORM GUT IS MADE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Silkworm gut being indispensable to the angler and to fish- 

 ing tackle makers they will be interested to know how it is 

 produced. I have not been in Spain before during what the 

 Spaniards term the "gut harvest," the season ""when the 

 worms are killed and drawn out into fishing gut. The 

 worms are bred by the couutry people in their cottages or 

 houses, which usually consists of two rooms or one floor. 

 The roofs of the houses being nearly flat, no fireplace in the 

 houses, the cooking is done outside in the yard. The wind- 

 ows are simply iron cross bars without glass in the sleepiog 

 room. They tie together bamboo cane reeds (which grow 

 plentifully there) with string, forming a bed from twelve to 

 fifteen feet long by four feet wide, raised from the floor about 

 four feet high. The worms are spread all over these beds 

 formed of cane, and are fed five times daily by covering 

 them with mulberry leaves. Before feeding ail the dead and 

 sickly worms are picked out so that the others are kept in 

 a healthy state. The worm lives about fifty days, during 

 which time they sleep three days at a time, in all twelve 

 days. When they are ready to spin into the cocoon they 

 creep upon branches of small trees cut out of the gardens, 

 which are placed over the worms. They are taken off, put 

 into vinegar, where they remain for six hours, then put into 

 water. Some of the country people make a special business 

 of this and purchase the worms from others, and employ 

 girls to draw out the gut, which is done by taking off the 

 head and taking hold of the entrails by the thumb and finger 

 and pulling them out as long as they will come, then placing 

 the gut in clear water again. When a sufficient quantity of 

 two or three thousand arc made, it is tied in bunches and 

 hung up to dry in the yard or garden. Some worms produce 

 one gut, some two, and a few three guts. It is afterward 

 sold by the pound weight or rolls to the gut makers. The 

 very severe weather of the last three weeks has killed thous- 

 ands of worms and destroyed a great quantity of grapes and 

 other fruits, so that the production is nearly one-fourth of 

 the gut which is usually produced. The gut makers boil 

 the gut with soap and a little soda, when the outer skin or 

 film comes off easily. It is then washed, bleached and hung 

 up in rooms. Then girls are employed who place each gut 

 between their teeth, holding the other end with their fingers 

 and rub it with wash leather. It is then sorted, the strength, 

 lengths and quality, re-rubbed and tied in bundles of 100, 

 then in 1,000 each for sale. S. Allcock. 



Murcia, Spam, April 22. (Of Redditcb. England.) 



NEW YORK FISH LAWS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Please allow in your valuable paper brief notice of the 

 new trout law, Chapter 124, Laws of 1886, amending Section 

 19 of the game laws, just published and now in effect. It 

 seems to have become a law without the assent of the Gov- 

 ernor. Its first change is to prohibit the "trout caught on 

 Long Island in April" from being sold in the Adirondacks 

 (forest preserve). A more senseless piece of legislation it is 

 difficult to conceive. Will some legislator who originated or 

 voted for it rise to explain it or the evils or dangers from 

 Long Island trout being brought or sold in the Adirondacks 

 (Franklin, Essex or Hamilton counties, for example) by 

 which this provision is protective or necessary ? Without 

 an explanation, it appears at this distance folly or worse. 



Its second provision is to repeal the important provision of 

 1885 against marketing trout under six inches long, intended 

 to protect State fry by allowing them a two-years growth ; 

 also to promote and induce more effort in stocking waters 

 which theretofore had seriously lagged for want of this 

 protection. Probably no provision in the game law has been 

 more beneficial, or has received more universal sanction or 

 been better lived up to by all classes of sportsmen, than the 

 six inch provision (fish dealers under a scarcity of trout alone 

 excepted). It has appealed both naturally and easily to the 

 sympathies and sentiment of all as affording a proper 

 recommendation to give a second year's growth to the fry. 

 Hence its general approval. The expressions of thanks 

 which its author has received in its behalf from all classes 

 may be regarded with just satisfaction and pride, as well as 

 its merits. Why any legislator could seek to tear it away, 

 or even to allow it to pass by his neglect, is a matter yet to 

 be explained. Its other benefit has been that, until this pro- 

 tection of fry was afforded, the restocking of waters with 

 fry was generally abandoned as useless. 



It costs money and great effort of individuals to go to the 

 State hatchery to procure the fry, bear the expense of trans- 

 portation, watch them on the way night and day, and still 

 greater effort, expense and hardship to transport them in the 

 difficult winter season from the railroads far into the wilder- 

 ness without roads, and there properly deposit them in 

 waters where they are to flourish. When thus deposited 

 thev are free for all, whether contributing to the hardship or 

 expense or not. Can it be expected that individuals will 

 continue to do all this without at least one year's protection? 

 Is this likely, when they may be immediately caught by the 

 "stream robbers," and are sold in the market to supply 

 "trade?" Is it protection to trout that fry should be so 

 traded in, or that should make this repeal expedient or ne- 

 cessarv ? At this distance unexplained these provisions seem 

 inexplicable except as possibly indicative of ignorance or 

 carelessness, incompetency or the like. There are at present 

 no facts upon which to base any of these motives or condi- 

 tions, and none are charged; the reader is left to bis own 

 opinions until explanation can be made. 



If came laws intended to promote and protect the food 

 supply are to be made a farce or football for legislators, it 

 is time the Jaws and appropriations for State hatcheries and 

 protectors be done away with, else that the public should see 

 to it that competent and practical men be chosen to make 

 laws, and that all tricksters, paupers, incompetent and bad 

 men of all sorts should be left at home regardless of cau- 

 cuses or party. 



"The protection of fish and game is for economic purposes 

 of food supply and is both general and public m nature to 

 the whole State, and as such demands both the wisdom and 

 honesty of legislators in the domestic affairs of the whole 

 State In no other sense has it any place on our statute 

 books. The matter of sport and recreation come in of their 

 own accord as incidental only. If fish and game are to be 

 committed or left to the tender mercies of the ignorant, bait- 

 starved and greedy population of those sections where they 

 happen to exist, for protection or consumption, let them be 

 so committed wholly; let all other general provisions and 

 appropriations be repealed so that the other sections of the 

 State may turn their attention to other sources of food supply 

 and leave legislators more time to bestow wisdom upon other 

 objects. The bill passed and now in effect seems to correa- 



