90 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 26, 1886. 



governments since 1855. in a treatise* translated into 

 almost all languages. This new metliod of laropagating, 

 restoring and protecting tlie fish in ponds and rivers was 

 followed by several sketches of trout lakes and of salmon 

 rivers, which I described in detail to the amateur anglers 

 of Canada and the United States, inviting them to share 

 our riches. 



The second part presented an historical review of om- 

 deep-water fisheries, and suggested a number of amend- 

 ments and changes in the organization of om* coast ser- 

 vice, and in the legislation affecting the Canadian fish- 

 eries. Such as bounties, fishways for the salmon, 

 compulsory mspection of the lierring and fish oil, the fit- 

 ting out of gxmboats to protect om' coast against the en- 

 ci'oachments of oar neighbors, when ever the provisions 

 of the treaty of 1818 should come up, etc. 



I am happy to have seen several of my suggestions in- 

 corporated in om' statutes, arid the cruisers at the 

 moment at which I write are the order of tiie day. My 

 modest work jarociu'ed for me the encoiuagement of the 

 Prime Minister of the day, Hon. 'Mi: Sicotte, later known 

 from the legislation wluch he procured to be enacted as 

 "the Father of Fisheries." The Hon. Mr. Cauchon, then 

 at the zenith of his fame, dedicated to me an extremely 

 eulogistic article in the Journal de Quebec. But let us 

 pass on. 



In 1862, a member of the New York Bar, Robert B. 

 Roosevelt, son of Judge Roosevelt and author, among 

 other works, of "Game "tird.s of the North,"' published at 

 NcAv York, under the nom deplu me of "Barnwell," a useful 

 treatise of 334 p^iges, imder the title "Game Fish of the 

 North." Mr. Roosevelt, wliile describing m detail his 

 favorite amusement, has made serious researches as to the 

 dilferent species of sea and river fish which he considers 

 game fish. He discusses their specific characteristics, 

 their habits, classification, the time of spawning and the 

 methods of taking them, the material for and the manner 

 of preparing the artificial fly; the whole accom])anied by 

 agreeable reminiscences of his fishing in the New England 

 States, in New Brunswick and in the Province of Quebec. 

 His book is a useful and charming i^ade mecnm for the 

 anglers for trout and salmon. IMr. Roosevelt is a civilized 

 man on his vacation, sighing for the solitude of the thick- 

 ets of our lakes and of our salmon reaches. Happy Mr. 

 Roosevelt! 



*IustractiOBS Pratiques siir la Pisciculture. Seconde edition. 

 Pai'is: Liljrairie de Victor Zlasson. 1856. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



/f THE MENHADEN QUESTION. 



•' . Editor Forest and Stream; 



In your issue of Aug. 19 a correspondent says it is a fact 

 thatbluefish are largely dependent on menhaden for food, 

 which is not true. Last year and this large quantities of 

 small herrings made their appearance on our coast (a sam- 

 ple of which in alcohol we send to the office of Forest 

 AND Stream by express to-day), which lias been the food 

 of bluefish last season and tins. The fact is that there is 

 not a single fish Imown to our markets that depends on 

 menhaden for food. At present there are menliaden in 

 Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, from Montauk t<3 

 Fire Island and from Bamegat to the Delaware, and tliere 

 is not a single food fish feeding on either school, and to 

 prove oiu* assertion we challenge yotu- correspondent It) 

 put one or more experts on om steamers for one week or 

 ten at oui- expense for board, and test the truth of our 

 assei"tion by actual observation. 



Last month the steamer G eorge W. Humphrey caught 

 1 0,0001bs. of bluefish just in sight of Sqiiam, N. j. , which 

 they sold for 121c, per pound. If they liad been rendered 

 at factory they would have been v-ortii less than one-half 

 of one cent per pound, sliowing the absm'dity of the 

 statement that menliad-en steamers use food fish to render 

 into oil and guano. Not a menhaden was foimd in the 

 stomach of a single bluefish, but they were gorged with 

 herrings (like sample sent you) and small butterfish. 

 When they set their seine it was for bluefish and not 

 menhaden, and it took fom-teen men two days to repair 

 seine. 



Bluefish are plenty on our coast, and if our bluefisher- 

 men would only change their mode of fishing to meet 

 the changed appetite of the bluefisli, our markets would 

 be filled with that fish within one week, at a reasonable 

 price. 



Our eel fishermen in this vicinity have found that even 

 eels won't eat fresh menhaden and won't enter pots unless 

 they are baited with the small herrings (Uke sample), 

 which seems to be the prevailing food on our coast at 

 present, for eels, bluefish and squiteague. 



What we claim is if there was any food fish feeding on 

 menhaden that the menhaden fishermen in taking large 

 quantities of said fisli would find them mixed with the men- 

 haden, which is not the fact, and we can prove it to tlie 

 satisfaction of our sharpest-eyed adversary, providing he 

 will take the trouble to learn the actual facts of the case 

 by observation. 



Less than five years ago large C[uantities of small men- 

 haden about the size of the herrings (which we have sent 

 you) were in Buzzard's and Narragansett bays, aud in 

 Long Island Sound, and with and feeding on them were 

 quantities of bluefish and squiteague, and from several 

 dailv observations it was found the fish had over ten 

 fresh menhaden in their stomachs, from which calcula- 

 tions were made, showing more menhaden were being- 

 devoured daily than the combined catch of all the men- 

 haden fishermen for fifty years. 



A few vears since the government of the United States 

 appointed a Fishery Commission to investigate the fishery 

 question, and as a result they published during 1884 a 

 book entitled "The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of 

 the United States." On page 574 of said book is an esti- 

 mate of the amount of menhaden destroyed by predaceous 

 auimals each vear, which is put at a miUion million of 

 millions, ^\duch by comparison shows we destroy yearly 

 one menhaden where predaceous animals destroy over 

 fifteen hundred millions. 



It is a significant fact that disinterested scientific men 

 like Bau'd, BufPon, Huxley and Goode, all gave their tes- 

 timony one way after investigating this subject. 



Daniel T. Church. 



Tn^RTON, R. L, Aug. 81. 



A Shocking Creature — The electric eel now on ex- 

 hibition at Blackford's in Fulton Market. 



Birch Lodge, Rangeley Lakes, is for sale. See ad-vt. 



The MiRAMicm.— Fredericton, N. B. Mr. A. H. Wood, 

 of Boston, who has recently returned from his fishing 

 grounds on the Miramichi, writes to Mi-. Rainsf ord of this 

 city: "TJie trouble with the Miramichi fishing is at 

 the mouth of the river. If all netting could be stopped 

 above tide-water, the salmon would become more plenti- 

 ful, and the Miramichi would rank among the first salmon 

 rivers in the world, and sportsmen from aU quarters would 

 flock its banks, and leave many thousands of dollars 

 with tire inhabitants. Even to allow nets say three days 

 in the week to be set wotdd be a great improvement on 

 the present wholesale slaughter and destruction of what 

 ought othermse to be a source of revenue to the province. 

 I noM^ talk in general and for all the rivers, yet I think 

 the Southwest' Miramichi is the most poorly protected and 

 worse poached of them all. Why just think of it, the 

 State of Maine with her splendid' game and fisliery laws 

 realized last year from sportsmen and tom-ists over five 

 milhons of dollars, while you, with equal or better 

 facilities, get comparatively nothing. Not only that, but 

 in the near future your people will require to do what the 

 United States Government has already been compelled to 

 do, viz., to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to re- 

 stock rivers which once teemed with salmon, but become 

 entirely barren from the same cause that is gradually, 

 but surely, overtaking yours. Every year seems to pro- 

 duce more salmon fly-fishers and less salmon. Therefore 

 I say a little careful legislation in time wfil draw many 

 dollars to your province, besides saving many in the 

 future, and should you be able to do anything toward 

 bringing about a change for the better every sportsman 

 •will help you." 



The Otsego Whitefish.— Utica, N. Y.— Editor Foi'est 

 and Stream: Wlule trolling for pickerel on Otsego Lake 

 recently in company with a friend we noticed a large dead 

 fish floating on the surface of the water. We took it into 

 the boat, and upon examination found it to be a large 

 Otsego bass (so-called) which had been choked while try- 

 ing to swallow a minnow. A portion of the little fish 

 still protruded from the mouth of the bass, and the latter 

 had evidently been dead but a few hom-s. We estimated 

 the weight of tlie bass to be 31bs. The Otsego bass, wliich 

 is said to be indigenous to this lake, resem]:)les the white- 

 fish, but is much finer flavored, and is considered superior 

 even to the black bass. Its mouth is exceedingly small, 

 and, owing to this fact, it rai'ely takes a bait. I have 

 never before known of an instance of its preying on 

 smaller fish. I am unable to say whether or not tlie fish 

 referred tq is rightly termed a bass, but am inclined to 

 think it belongs to another family. Can you give me any 

 light on the subject? — PoRTSA. [The so-called "Otsego 

 bass" is a soft-finned fish, and, therefore, is not a ti'uebass 

 or perch. It is a local variety of the genus Corec/omis. 

 and by some autliors it is separated from the whitefish of 

 the Great Lakes {C. elupeiformis) by the title C. clvpei- 

 formis, var. otsego; but in the late "Synopsis of the 

 Fishes of North America," Prof. Jordan classes it as the 

 common whitefish.] 



Bullheads on Trolling Spoons.— Mansfield Valley, 

 Pa., Aug. 17. — ^Your correspondent. Cocker, in last week's 

 issue, says he never heard of a bullhead taking a trolling 

 spoon. I liave taken a number of them wliile trolling for 

 pickerel, and have seen many more taken by others in the 

 same way. On Stink Pond, in Luzerne county. Pa., it 

 was a frequent occm-rence, that Httle lake being full of 

 them, aud theu- manner of taking the spoon was not un- 

 like that of the pike, though not so vicious. They wiU do 

 it occasionally, especially when the spoon is trolling deep. 

 I do not forget the first one I caught <in a spoon hodk. I 

 was troUmg quite deep and felt a lieavy tug. Supposing 

 I had fastened to a good-sized ])i(vkerel, 1 was careful to 

 keep a taut line, but it came out loo ca.sy for a pickerel, 

 and as I dropped it into the boat 1 was not (jnly surprised 

 but actuall}^ startled, for I did not immediately recognize 

 the "varmint." It was 14in. long, and considered a large 

 one for the place. — Bo. 



Wetting A Line in Switzerland. — Vienna, Aug. 9. 

 — Editor Forest and Stream: On Thursday, July 29. I took 

 eight pretty trout at Maunebach, on the Unter See, Switz- 

 erland. This is the outlet of the Rhine as it leaves Lake 

 Constance. On the hill above my fishing ground is the 

 chateau of Arensberg, once the home of Queen Hortense, 

 the mother of Napoleon HI. It is a lovely spot and is now 

 the property of Eugenie. I tooli my fish with a fly and 

 my little ooz. rod, wMch, by the way, ^va3 a source of 

 great astonishment to my boatman, a professional f elchen 

 fisherman. He had never seen such ught tackle in those 

 "diggins." The Boden See (Lake Constance) produces a 

 good table fish called felchen, which very much resemble 

 oui- lake hening, but are minus all game quahties. My 

 eight quarter-po\mders were the first talcen there 'with a 

 fly in ever so long. — Kit Clarke. 



Black Bass in Maine.— The Augusta (Me.) Journal 

 says tliat "fishermen in many parts of the State are form- 

 ing petitions in regard to ending the close season on black 

 bass and white perch at May 20. Every wielder of the 

 rod and line is strongly in favor of the movement." This 

 is all right if Maine anglers wish to catch all the bass now 

 in their waters: but if they want fishmg in years to come, 

 let the bass rest until June 1 to 15, for they spawn hi May 

 in New York and many may delay this necessary duty in 

 Maine until the middle of June. Give theui a cliauce to 

 fm-nish bass fishing after the older fish are fried and there 

 will be sport in years to come. 



^iHhcttlinn. 



AddA-m aXl communimtiom to the Forest and Stream Puh. Co. 



AN ALLEGED NEW CARP. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A recent article in some New York paper, I think it was 

 the Times, calls attention to the omission by the IT. S_. Fish 

 Commission to pi-ocure, for propagation in the United States, 

 a variety of carp which the writer calls the Brittany crtp, 

 and wh'ich, in his opinion, is vei-y much superior to the 

 leather, the mirror, or the scale carp, as introduced into tins 

 country a few years ago by the Commission. 



Souiewhat astonished at this oversight on the part of the 

 Commission, wliich I supposed had exercised a proper judg- 

 ment in its selection of carp for America, I have caused some 

 inquiry to he made in regard to this fish, and am advised by 

 a competent authority that there is what is kno\^m as the 



brehaigne carp, or carpeau, in the Rhone and in the Saone; 

 as also carpe de Lyon, or carpeau de Lyon. It is called in 

 Germany the Laimer, Gelte, Roller, etc. The fish, although 

 highly prized, does not constitute a species, representing 

 simply a sexual condition, occurring either incidentally or 

 brought about artificially by castration or spaying, au " a(;t 

 said to be as easy of aceoriiplishment in the Jish as in the 

 chicken or other domestic animal. 



In order to settle definitely the question in regard to this 

 variety of carp, an inquiry was addressed to Mr. Raveret 

 Wattel, the well-known secretary of the Society d'Acclima- 

 tation, of Paris, an association which takes special note of 

 ever>i-hing connected with the domestication, in France, of 

 native animals and foreign plants. From his letter, which 

 is herewith printed, it will be seen that the Soci^te is entirely 

 ignorant of such a species or even variety: 



SociETE Nationale d'Acclimatation de Feance.— Paris, 

 July 8, 1886.— Dear Sir: I have duly received your letter of 

 20th May, and it is with great pleasure that onr Society 

 would send to Mr. Blackforfl a lot of Bretaigne carp, but we 

 do not know this variety of carp: and the various fishcultur- 

 ists that we have consulted (as well as at the xMuseunid'His- 

 toire Naturelle) have not been able to tell us what it niav be. 

 There is the reason of the delay of the present letter. So it 

 would be necessary that you have the kindness to forward to 

 us some information about the real habitat of this cai-p, and 

 especially the indication of the papers introducing this 

 variety. Perhaps this information will furnish to us the 

 possibility to know what is the Bretaigne carp and where 

 we can find it. Yours respectful! .y— Raveret WAttel, Sec- 

 retary. 



This letter caused a surmise that the carping critic who 

 had claimed that the Fish Commission was remiss in over- 

 looking a very excellent and famous fish of Europe might 

 not know as nuich as he pretended, and 1 sent the newspaper 

 slip to Washington, where it A\-aH referred to Dr. Rudolph 

 Hessel, Superintendent of the National carp ponds, who has 

 had a wide experience in carp culture in Europe. He re- 

 plies: 



Washington, D. C, July 28, '86.— Dear Sir: The writer of 

 a recent newspaper article which mentioned a I'rench carp 

 by the name of brehaigne or brihaigne, as beintc a new vari- 

 ety, is ill error, as no carp of this name exists either in 

 France or in the adjacent countries, ft: is possible that he 

 means the so-called lirehaigue carp or carpeau, which are 

 occasionally found in the Rhone and Saone rivers, from 

 whence they are taken to the fish markets of f^yons and 

 Paris. This fish is also called carpe de Lyon ;ind carpeau 

 de Lyon, and if it is this fi.sh w^hich the writer urges the U. 

 S. Fish Commission to introduce, he is greatly in error, be- 

 cause the fish will not breed, being sexless. 



The flesh of this fish is highly esteemed by coimoisseurs in 

 France, as the fi.sh improves after the manner of the capon 

 or pouiarde. This carpeau, or l)r('haigne carp, is some- 

 timesfound in other rivers, as the Rhine, Y'eser, Ellie. etc., 

 in Germany; in the Danube and tributaries in Austria, and 

 in the Po in Italy, where the people are aware of its culinary 

 value as well as'^ they are in France. The fishermen call it 

 Laimer, Gelte, Roller, etc., in Germany. The Italian, Hun- 

 garian or Sclavonian name I have forgotten. They are oc- 

 casionally found in ponds, but their occurrence there is rare. 



I cann(jt scm- what benefit it would be to introduce this car- 

 peau which this enthusiastic writer speaks of, in this coun- 

 try, as it will never spawn, and no young fish could by any 

 possibility be bred from this stock. The writer of that fam- 

 ous article, whoever he may be, would have done much bet- 

 ter to have informed himself about this fish of which he 

 may have heard in Fr.'mce, before tryiim to instrnct others 

 regarding it; he miglit just as w ell suKgcst to our poultry 

 men to introduce live pimlaivli-s .:!')d capons from France for 

 the purpose of hatching : •••••s from them. 



The history of this se:- ! | quite an old one. Aris- 



totle in his "De Auimalibus ilistnriEe," Lib. X. . Lib IV., Cap. 

 IX., makes mention of it, calling them IZitirpayioi. Later 

 European works on Ichthyology pay no attention to this 

 freak of nature, and we onlv find them classed as .species in 

 the last hal f of the last century, ( Uuhovusel, Traite Generale j 

 de Peche," Vol. 11., Sec. 3). Vallot in his "Ichthyologie ' 

 Frangaise,'' l.'^:i7'. \\ as the fast I'rench .scientist who made 

 mention of these af)nnrnial specimens as species. 



Some years ago f took a litt lr interest in these undeveloped 

 specimens and visifod the Rhone and Saone River and the 

 tributaries, to investigate this matter, but think 1 have 

 given j'ou enougli at jiresent and will i herefore stop, unless 

 you tliink the'suiiject of further interest. liesp(H'tfully 

 yonr-s, RUDOLi'ii Hessel. 



Having obtained this evidence I have let the matter drop 

 and cannot see that any valuable species of carp in Europe 

 has been overlooked by Prof. Baird, Ids as.slstants in this 

 conntrv or his fishcultnral friends on the other side. 



Fked Mather. 



No Notice Taken of Anonymous Correspondents. 



S. Pi,— See onr issue of July 8. 



M. T., Bi/stmi, Mass.-Plt^ase tell me where I can find books that 

 will give me some idea ahmit the catamai-an? Ans. We know of 

 nothing treating of the suojer-t. 



J. H. M,— You will find some shootinp; in the locahtj^ named, but 

 we cannot refer von to any quiet farm housf: there. Go to the vil- 

 lase hotel and from there look aniuud for yourself. 



.J. B. E.. NiaTitic, roun.-T\nuit arc the prospei fs for liirinR out a 

 25ft. sloop vacht for fishinff, pleasure panics, etc , in Florida dur- 

 ing the wint erV Am thinking cf soiugUiere if the pi-osper-ts are 

 good. Ans. In winter many parties go OD cru ises in Florida, and 

 we should judi^e iliai a good boat \vo jJd be in demand. Many 

 Florida iioi-It, ai-e already \vell supplied, iiut we have had frequent 

 hapiirios for suitable eraf t on tlie ttulf coast. 



j\L 1. L., :s\-\\ market, X. H.— the book "Woods and Lakes of 

 Ivlaiup," by Mr. L. L. Hubbard, contains an account of a trip from 

 jNloosehead ijake to Now i;runs\yick, in a bircli bark canoe, giving 

 the nunting, lislduK aud cumpiiJiK experiences of the author, a 

 fj-iond and two Indian guides. The hook aims to give ' a t rue and 

 circumstantial delineation of the camper's in'e in tlie iNIame for- 

 ests, espeidally as seen by one who gocis int o them with an Indian 

 guicie.'' It is 'illustrated. 



D., Augusta, r4a.— In your edition of July 1.5 you publish a letter 

 from "R.," of this place, and voiir answer has beenheld up by him 

 to govern an entirely dilferent question. Iwasthe one designated 

 as A, and went to the scoi e and said "ready" and ' pull," and did 

 tire one barrel, not at the broken bn-d but at the one from trap No. 



Avhich was the good bird; then turned to the right and saw the 

 orher bird in small pieces and claimed two more birds under the 

 rules Wliile \vr \^•erc talking Mr. R. came up and said "He shot 

 at the broken bird." I told him 1 did not, and was sustained by at 

 least a dozen members of otu- club, inclndhig the president and 

 captain. I did not see tlie broken bird imtil I had shot at the good 

 one. Had J a right to 2 more birds or not? All I wish ia to know 

 the rules positive and govern myself by them, An.s. The funda- 

 mental principle in all tlie various rules is that when a shooter 

 fires at a bird in good faith he must accept the result of that shot. 

 The birds were snrung simultaneously and A accepted them both 

 by firing at the first one. There is no question as to his missing 

 that one, and to allow the clumce of another bird m its place is 

 manifestly unfair to the other shooters. Tlve rules all assume that 

 tire protest precedes the shot, when the whole matter is witlnn the 

 control of the shooter. 



The p. S. Cartridge Co., of Lowxdl, Mass., have patented a 

 powder for cal. M bullet breeeh cap that contains no glass, makes 

 little noise and hght smoke. This overcomes the ob.iection made 

 by owners of fine .23 rifles to using BB. as heretofore made, as tlie 

 glass fulminating powder destroyed the rifling. They_use a lubri- 

 cant in place of glass, thus preventing fouUngandnot mjurmgthc 

 rifle,— AcZr, 



