380 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



[June 3, 1886. 



J$nswtr$ to jfeorrejspondmtg. 



No Notice Taken of Anonymous Correspondents. 



D. R. S., Bridgeton, N. J.— The New Jersey open seasons for 

 ■woodcock are July 1—31 inclusive, and Oct. 1— Dec. 15 inclusiee. 



E. E., Danville, Ind.— June is as bad a month as any for black 

 bass in Northern Indiana and Michigan. The fish spawn in May, as 

 a rule, although a few may be lound attending to their nests by the 

 first of June. 



Patterson, Ont.— Are the "compressed fluid steel'" barrels made 

 by Greener superior to the best Damascus barrels and wfly?-DECov. 

 Ans. Only advantage is in their lightness, being much lighter in 

 weight than laminated or Damascus. 



Watebtown, N. Y.— I should like to ask if the conical bullet caps, 

 advertised in your journal, can be used in a Ballard rifle .32-caliber 

 without injury to the same? I should very much like to use them if 

 I can do so without injury.— W. Ans. Yes, if barrel is wiped out 

 after use. 



Elkhart, Ind.— Please tell me, if possible,where I can get Kay buck- 

 shot cartridges, 10-gange? I have had your city pretty well searched 

 over for them in vain, but they are really a good thing and I want 

 more of them. If not to be had will the Winans and wooden regulator 

 do as well?— A. L. Ans. A, B. Kay & Co., Newark, N. J. 



Glens Falls, N. Y.— Will you kindly advise me what penetration 

 one ought to expect from a iy% to 8-gauge gun With cylinder barrels, 

 also modified and full choke, 3drs. FF. powder, loz. No. 8 chilled shot. 

 "What kind of cardboard is used for testing the penetration? — F. Ans. 

 Full-choke gun, 3drs., lfgoz., 3?0 pellets to ounce; 21 sheets. 



Eact Claire, Wis.— Please tell me what sized wads I must use in a 

 Parker gun, No. 12. The card that comes with the gun says that it is 

 targeted with No. 9 wads. I don't believe I can load paper shells with 

 wads larger than the shell without bulging my cartridges. Also, is 

 laminated steel as good as Damascus steel except in name and 

 appearance?— B. Ans. Parker guns require larger wads than other 

 makes on account of their method of boring. Laminated and 

 Damascus are equally good if of same grade of metal, 



M. M. B., Berlin Heights.— I have kept wild geese for the past 

 twelve years which have never bred un til this season. This morning 

 the old goose came off with three goslings, but as I know but little 

 of their habits, under the circumstances, have not examined to see 

 whether she has more eggs yet in the nest. Would you be so kind 

 as to give me any information you may possess regarding food, care, 

 etc., for the welfare of the youngsters ? Ans. Ti-eat them in all re- 

 spects as you would tame ones, seeing that they have plenty of green 

 grass with their other food. 



Weakfish, New York.— 1. Have you ever heard of the common 

 brook crayfish being successfully used as bait for weakfish? Does 

 weakfish. bite as early as June 1 here, and on what bait ? Ans. 1. 

 No ; but we do not see why they would not be good. Salt water bait 

 can usually be had cheaper. 2. Some seasons they do, it depends 

 upon temperature, but July is a better month. 



Umpqua Febry, Ore.— I have an extra fine Winchester rifle that has 

 a beautiful polished stock. Can you tell me how I may put such a 

 finish on a curled or birdseye maple stock? In what way does a 

 matted rifle bar-rel differ from any other? Who now holds the cup 

 shot for at Creedmoor by English and American riflemen in 1876? — E. 

 —Ans. Any good gunsmith can do it with pumice stone. Matted rib 

 is made by putting fine line across the top of the barrel, which takes 

 away all reflection of light. The English have the champion trophy. 



Coahoma, Memphis, Tenn.— 1 send by this mail a bug, which has 

 been kindly treated to a dose of chloroform before he took the 

 sleeper for New York. There have lately appeared lai-ge numbers 

 ot these beetles around the electric lights in Memphis and A'icks- 

 burg. They fly against the lights, and fall on the pavemeuts in such 

 numbers as to excite general remark. He is a stranger to these 



parts. Can you give his name and occupation, and where he came 

 from ? Ans. The specimen is a Belostoma grandis, a water beetle 

 quite common and very destructive to young fish and fish eggs. It 

 passes the day in the water, but leaves it at night to take long 

 flights. 



Yiokshttrg, Miss.— You will oblige me by answering in your next 

 issue the following questions, viz: 1. What material advantages 

 have metallic shot shell oyer those made of paper? 2. Are cardboard 

 wads better than felt for over shot in a full choke gun? 3. Is there 

 any machine in use for crimping metallic shells without injury to the 

 shell? 4. In loading a No. 10 metallic shell with No. 8 wads for a full 

 choke gun, will any injury to the gun result? — P. Ans. 1. No advan- 

 tage. 2. Yes. 3. No. 4. No, if the barrels are of proper thickness 

 and strength. 



Manitowoc, Wif.— In your issue of the 8th inst., Mr. Milton P. 

 Peirce, ot Philadelphia, says: "I would /as soon do without a rifle as 

 without a telescopic sight, whether for target or general game shoot- 

 ing," etc. Would you please inform me where such sights for 

 hunting purposes can be obtained, To avoid any misunderstanding 

 I would say that I do not mean telescopic sights for stationary tar- 

 get or turkey shooting, but such as are "practical hunting sights."— 

 A. W. Ans. Only one kind of telescope sights and thpy extend the 

 whole length of barrel, and are intended to magnify the object. 

 "Practical hunting sights" do not magnify. Both kind can be pro- 

 cured at 178 Broadway. 



N ORWicH,Conn — Inform me through your columns how much more, 

 if any, a pair of 10 gauge barrels would weigh over a pair of 12, both 

 ordered to be made up into an 81b gun, barrels to be of same mate- 

 rial and length. 2. If I had a single barrel 12 gauge bored out so 

 as to make the interior diameter equal a 10, how much weight of 

 metal would be cut away? 3. Could I easily get a barrel heavy enough 

 to have it cut away this much or would I be obliged to have it spe- 

 cially ordered?— C. B. S. Ans. The 10-bore barrels will weigh less 

 than the 12-bore of same length, but how much less can't say. There 

 are plenty of 12-bore barrels thick enough to bore out to 10, but « ould 

 probably hav e to be specially ordered. 



Sea Boots.— We have your inquiry for tackle and bait; for rock 

 bass. Please tell us what waters you fish in, and we can judge what 

 fish you refer to. In explanation wo would say the " rook bass," 

 Amblophites rupestris, of the fresh waters from Vermont to the 

 Great Lake region and Manitoba south to Louisiana is fished for in 

 a different maimer from the salt water " rock bass," Sen-anus clath- 

 raftts, of the Pacilic coast. Again: the "striped bass," Siccus 

 Uneatus,ot the Atlantic coast is called " rockflsh " in the South, 

 and in intermediate places the names are combined and it is known 

 as "rock," or "rock bass " The flrst named fish can be taken with 

 a trout rod and fly, or with minnow or worm bait. 



Centerville, Ontario.— Is it necessary to reduce or crimp rifle 

 cartridge shells around the bullet in order to give good results? 

 Does a set of reloading tools usually include a shell reducer? Where 

 could I get a pair of bullet moulds to cast bullets with concave base? 

 — T. Ans. The bullet should fit snugly in the shell. Set of reloading 

 tools does not include shell reducer. 



Featheks for Fly Making.— New Haven, Conn., May 26— 

 O. E. B., Fall River, Mass.— I noticed your inquiry in Forest and 

 Stream, May 20, about procuring feathers for fly making. As I 

 have had some difficulty that way myself, I thought perhaps you 

 would like to have one or two points 1 have found out. Feathers of 

 the turkev, dove, hen, partridge, etc., are not hard to obtain; in the 

 fall you can easily get them in the markets. As to hackles a good 

 point is this. The Japanese stores are now selling for from 10 to 20 

 cents apiece small dusters entirely made up of hackles of all the 

 natural colors. A couple of these will fournish all you will want 

 for amateur work, and they are in my experience 100 per cent, 

 cheaper obtained in this way than through the dealers. If you hap- 

 pen to be in New York at any time, you can get them at Van Tine's, 

 on Broadwav, but almost any store that sells Japanese goods has 

 them, in any large city. You can get almost any thing you want for 

 fly making of A. B. Shipley & Son, 503 Commerce street, Philadelphia, 



Penn. Send for catalogue, 10 cents. These dealers are excessively 

 high priced, however, and you are not always sure of getting ex- 

 actly what you want, but you can get those things from them that 

 you can't elsewhere. As to dyed leathers, blue, green, yellow, red, 

 etc., for wings of flies, the best plan I have found is to go to the 

 warehouses of the wholesale feather dealers. There are plenty of 

 them in New York, if you should happen to be there. To find them 

 consult a business directory, Andrade is a good one. I can't say as 

 toother places; you can get what you want there for a song. In 

 one place I picked up enough scattered feathers from the floor to 

 tie flies for several years. You may also at some of these places get 

 dyed hackles, but nut always. The millinery stores are good places 

 to rummage in for these peacocks' feathers ; you can get them at any 

 of these places, either at the Japanese stores or at the wholesale 

 houses, or at stores where they sell fancy goods. In conclusion, 

 allow me to recommend keeping camphor with your feathers, etc., 

 or the moths will play havoc with them.— PercyVal. 



Cape Cod.— There is no process by which lines weakened by age 

 or decay can be strengtened. The samples of twisted hair 'lines 

 which you sent seem to be quite strong, but from the size, of them 

 we judge them to have been stronger. We would not risk them 

 with a salmon, a modern water-proof silk line is smoother and 

 stronger. As for the rods which your father left, they being lance- 

 wood, are liable to be serviceable", but test them. If you can lift a 

 three-pound weight off the floor with them, with the line running 

 through the rings to the reel, you may consider them fit to handle a 

 twenty-pound salmon with, if you break a joint in the test, you 

 may find the remainder of the rod good. The condition of these 

 rods will depend on the character of the place where they have 

 been kept. If you have a rod maker near you, let him examine 

 them. 



Greenhorn.- Opelika, Ala.— Thei-e is a pond in this vicinity that 

 Is teeming with black bass, locally called trout, that with the primi- 

 tive method used are very hard to capture. A few are caught with 

 minnows, but this kind of bait is hard to procure and keep. Now, I 

 want to know if you can tell me how best to fish for them, and what 

 would be the best artificial lure to use. I have never seen any fly 

 fishing done, nor have ever even seen a fly. Ans.— Examine the 

 stomachs of the fish, and learn what they are feeding on. For arti- 

 ficial baits or flies write to our advertising tackle dealers. We can- 

 not recommend artificial baits but small "spoon hooks" mavbe used. 

 The grandest sport, however, is with the artificial fly, if you can 

 cast it. We advise that von get a stout fly rod, say about 10 feet 

 long and from 8 to 10 ounces in weight, a click reel, not a multiplier, 

 a silk line and leader, and a few flies and learn how to cast. You 

 will need a lauding net also. 



A pet deer in a Sacramento saloon, being frightened, 

 ■jumped out through a pane of glass 7 inches wide by 13 inches 

 long. The spectators looked on in amazement, it seeming 

 impossible that so large an animal could pass through a hole 

 so small. — San Francisco Alta. 



Mr. Barnum says that he has wasted $5,000 on boomerang 

 throwers. "You've heard of Australian bushmen," he said, 

 "who have a weapon made of a bent stick that they throw 

 with wonderful skill, hitting the prey unerringly, the boom- 

 erang returning of itself to fall at the feet of the marksman? 

 I had an agent to go from London to the wilds of New South 

 Wales; but he writes me that the accounts are two-thirds lies; 

 and the remaining third isn't worth bringing away. The 

 boomerang is a fact, and the native Australian savages fling 

 it at game— missing about as often as hitting; and it will re- 

 turn, if it strikes nothing, to somewhere near the starting 

 point, but with no sort of certainty. My man searched 

 thoroughly, and witnessed the feats of the best experts to be 

 found, but they amounted to nothing in particular. The 

 famous boomerang is practically a myth." 



HUMPHREYS' 

 ^Homeopathic Veterinary 

 l Specifics for 

 | HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP« 

 DOGS, HOGS, POULTRY. 



fused "by TJ. S. Governm't. 

 Chart on Rollers, 



and Boole Sent Free. 

 Humphreys' Med. Co., 109 Fulton St., N. Y. 



Salmon Fishing in Canada. 



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 T. W. BOYD & SON, 1641 Notre Dame St., 

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