Oct. 31, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



249 



Nets in Geeat South Bay.— At a meeting of the Su- 



Serrisora of Suffolk county, N. J., held at Riverhead on 

 [onday, Oct. 12, Supervisor Robins, of the town of Islip, 

 introduced the following: ''An act for the restriction of 

 net-fishiirg in Fire Island Inlet. Main Channel and Dick- 

 erson's Cliannel and East Channel. Sec. 1. It shall not 

 be lawful for any person or persons to use nets of any de- 

 scription in the waters or channels or head of the chan- 

 nels in the Great South Bay known as follows: Fire Island 

 Inlet fi-om the bar on the south to the head of the main 

 channel on the north, Dickersou's Channel from Main 

 Channel to where it intersects with West Whig Inlet 

 Channel, East Channel to Range Channel, opposite East 

 Fish Factory. Sec. 2. Any person wdio shall violate any 

 of the provisions of this act shall on conviction forfeit and 



pay the sum of dollars and shall be deemed guilty of 



misdemeanor. Sec. 3. Any person may in his own name 

 prosecute before any justice for and recover the penalty 

 specilied in this act and on recovery shall receive the 

 penalty after deducting the expenses. Sec. 4. This act 



shall take effect . The authority to pass this act is 



found in Chapter 194, Laws of 1849 (Section 4, subdivision 

 13) and Chapter 842, Laws of 1875." Several persons 

 spoke for and against the passage of this act, but before a 

 vote was reached the discussion was cut off by a motion 

 to adjourn to Monday next. There seems to be a fail- 

 chance of its becoming a law. 



A "JiTMBO" BAi5S.— Castleton, Vt., Oct. 8— Editor 

 Forest and Strewn: In answer to your inquiry about a 

 large black bass which was reported in a Troy paper, 

 under the head of ''A Jumbo Bass," I wdll say: I never 

 wish to say anything in relation to fish which I cannot 

 prove. I never saw a black bass, unless the fish which 

 we call "Oswego"' bass are black bass. I am told that 

 black bass never gi-ow to over Gibs, weight unless in the 

 Southern States. I leave this matter to tJiose who know 

 more of the different species than I do, and caU those in 

 our waters here (Bomoseen Lake) "Osw-ego bass." I know 

 that the fish which I found was a bass, an Oswego 

 bass, we have no other bass save the common 

 rock bass in our lake. I can furnish affidavits 

 from fifty good truthful men, some from New York, 

 who saw^' the dead fish, to sustain my statement, and 

 Mr. S. S. Goodwin held the steelyards. 'Mr. Goodwin will 

 swearthat the fish weighed 25ilbs. I am ready to answer 

 any other questions you may send regarduig this. — Albert 

 H. SinTH, Fish Warden. '[The name "Oswego bass" is 

 often applied to the large-mouth black bass and this fish 

 is as much a black bass as the small-mouth is. Anglers 

 generally have di'opped the name of "Oswego," except 

 in a few localities where it lingers temporarily. The fish 

 was a most extraordinary one for a black bass of either 

 species.] 



The St. Raymond District. — Tranie's "Notes of Cana- 

 dian Angling," in j'our issue of the 7th inst., are so inter- 

 esting tliat I beg leave to ask him through your columns 

 to give a little more information about St. Raymond and 

 its fishing. I should like to know if there are any lakes 

 or ponds near the village where trout or bass can be 

 caught, and if so, the size of the fish. I should also be 

 greatly obliged for the names of the j)roprietors of several 

 of the best boarding houses. — Constant Reader. Out 

 correspondent replies to the above: There are no ponds or 

 lakes m the immediate ^acinity of the village where good 

 fishing can be had. I have been told wonderful stories 

 about the size of trout to be taken in a lake about half a 

 day distant. Near the Little Sa^enay and Piguemouche 

 there are sevei'al good lakes which the guides will point 

 out. I cannot speak of any of them by personal experi- 

 ence, except that I saw some fine trout (neaiiy 31bs. fish) 

 which were taken in a lake near Piguemouche. I do not 

 believe there is any bass fishing. I stayed at Labrique's, 

 opposite the station. There are about half a dozen of the 

 family of Plamoudon who keep boardmg houses. 



North Carolina Angling Queries.— Fort Stanton. 

 N. M. — I would like some information about the fishing 

 in the western Piedmont region of North Cai"oLina, say 

 from the Yadkia west to the Blue Ridge. Will some of 

 your correspondents wlio live in that section kindly 

 answer the following? First — Is there good black bass 

 fishing near Morganton in the Catawba? Second — How 

 is the fishing in the vicinity of Newton, Shelby and 

 Rutherford? Third — Are the streams in Bm-ke and 

 Catawba counties good for fly-fishing for black bass, that 

 is, are they swift, rapid streams, with occasional shoals 

 and rapids? Fourth — Have any of the rainbow trout 

 {Salmo gairdneri irideus) — ^popularlarly and wrongly mis- 

 called California trout, as they are native to other States 

 and territories beside California — ^which were planted in 

 the Catawba eight or nine years ago been caught, and are 

 they at all plentiful? Fifth — Are there many pickerel 

 {E. retieidaius) in the Upijer CataAvba? Sixth — Are the 

 game fish decreasuig much in the absence of fish law'S 

 and the constant fishing of the negroes and use of "spring 

 nets" and traps?— Cyrtonyx. 



An Angler's Peril.— Following are the details of the 

 narrow escape from drowming of Congressman Knute 

 Nelson, at Alexandria, Minn., on the llth insfc., as 

 reported in the Madison, Wis., Journal: He was fisliing 

 ill Lake Victoria in a boat by himself. Just after dusk, 

 wliile puUtug in a fish, he tiipped and fell into the lake. 

 He is a powerful man and good s^vimmer, but was so 

 hampered by his clothing that he could not regain his 

 hoat. He managed to keep afloat, liow^ever, and shouted 

 for help. For a long time his cries attracted no attention, 

 but a man, half a mile away, finally heard them and ran 

 to the lake. Tlie boat had' drifted to the shore and the 

 rescuer rowed it out to the middle of the lake, finding ]\Ir. 

 Nelson in an insensible condition but still floating. " For 

 several hours three physicians Avorked on Mr. Nelson, and 

 finally succeeded in snatching him from the jaws of death, 

 but it was a narrow escape. A remarkable feature is that 

 he was in the water about an hour and was insensible 

 when found. 



Wyoming Grayling.— There were caught in July, 1886, 

 in the Smith Fork of Greene River (Wyoming Territory), 

 at the base of Uintah Mountains, two grayling, one ^Ib. 

 and one 21bs., taken on the golden-rod fly b'y Prof. W."M. 

 Sloane, of the Princeton Scientific Expedition. These 

 fish fought very hard, and apparently would take no 

 other fly.— H. 



"That remiBda me." 

 192. 



YESTERDAY A. and myself gave a forenoon to the 

 partridges. We found them few and far between, 

 only getting one. The gray squirrels, however, were 

 quite plenty. We traced one in a very tall pine, but for 

 the life of us could not see him, so oft' came my shooting 

 coat and up I w^ent to dislodge htm. When I was almost 

 to the top of the tree, the squirrel took a flying leap for a 

 maple twenty feet away. A. fired one barrel while gray- 

 coat was in the air. and the other after he had got well 

 into the maple, missing both times. I made the woods 

 ring with laughter while still well towai'd heaven in the 

 pine, when A. yelled: "Get yom- gun, Charlie, shoot him 

 qmck, he's going for another pine." MoSB. 

 Boston, Oct. 10. 



^mhcttltnm 



Address all communicaUom to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



THE NEW YORK COIVIIVI ISSION. 



rpHTC fourteenth report of the Comniissioners of Fisheries 

 -L of New York, just issued, is a biennial report covering 

 the years of 1884 and 1885, ending with Dec. 31 of the latter 

 year. It is a very complete record and covers 209 octavo 

 pages. The results are tabulated and therefore are in more 

 perfect form than in previous reports, in which they have 

 been, in some instances, spun out. The several divisions are: 

 The report proper of the Commissioners, which covers con- 

 densed statements of the production of tlie different hatch- 

 eries, expenditures, amendments to the game law and much 

 other intormation; next come reports of the superintendents 

 of the State hatcheries at Caledonia, Cold Spring Harbor, 

 Ailirondaclc, and Clayton; reports of private hatcheries at 

 Palenville, Schrooii Lake, Bisby Club and the Fulton Chain; 

 report of Commissioner Sherman on the location of the 

 Adirondaclv hatcliery; the official proceedings of the Com- 

 missioners: reports o't the game and fish protectors; abstracts 

 of expeuditm-es at tlie different stations; table of carp dis- 

 tribution: answer to inquiries, etc. 



In speaking of fi.shways which were partly built on the 

 Oswego and Seneca rivers in 1883, by the State Superintend- 

 ent of Public Works and then left, the Commissioners say: 



"The law requires that these fishways shall be maintained 

 by the Superintendent of Public Works. The Commission- 

 ers will caU the attention of that oflQcer to the subject. 



"It is the duty of the Commissioners of Fisheries to put up 

 the signs spoken of. They have not done it hitherto for the 

 reason that they have had no funds applicable to the pur- 

 pose. They have now, however, a small reserve fund, out of 

 which they will provide for erecting the signs as soon as the 

 season will permit. 



"The fish way in the Mohawk River below Schenectady is 

 also reported but of order, and for that cause useless. The 

 Commissioners will cause an olficial inspection to be made 

 of these works next season, and make note of what is needed 

 tn make them effective for the purpose for which they were 

 built. 



"These structures seem to be waifs, under the responsible 

 care of nobody. The Legishiture, having appropriated .so 

 much money to build them, ought to put them in charge of 

 some department that will take proper care of them. The 

 Commissioners, however, doubt that tishways in this State 

 will be of suthcient utifity to compensate for the cost of 

 building a,nd maintenance. The same amount of money ex- 

 pended for hatching fish to be deposited at the head of the 

 streams will do a much more valuable service than fishways 

 on those streams." 



There is a notable improvement in nomenclature used by 

 the Commissioners in speaking of fishes, as compared with 

 former reports, thus bringing them into line with the 

 naturalists and intelligent anglers, for instance, dropping 

 the term "California trout," which might cover several 

 species which exist in that State, for the more specific term, 

 rainbow trout; and there is a disposition to speak of pike- 

 perch instead of "\vall-eyed," "blue" or "yellow^ pike." We 

 shall not be surprised to see further advancement in this line 

 in the next report by the exclusion of the names "Oswego" 

 bass and "salmon "trout," and the substitution of the 

 proper terms, big-mouth bass and lake trout. While on this 

 •subject we would remind the Commissioners that the printer 

 has' located one of their hatcheries at "Cold Spring," which 

 is a large to\vn on the Hudson River, instead of at Cold 

 Spring "Harbor, a smaller place on the north shore of Long 

 Island. The portion relating to the deer laws is very ably 

 written, and f ullv indorses the passage of the anti-hounding 

 act of 1885. Concerning the cost of production and expendit- 

 ures the Commissioners say: 



"Bv examining the tables given of production and expen- 

 diture, it vnll be found that the cost of hatching 100,000,000 

 fish, including expenditures for real estate, buildings and 

 permanent appliances, as well as labor, has been, in round 

 numbers, $250,000. This is one-quarter of a cent for each fish 

 produced. Estimating that of the fish planted, one-fourth 

 only (which is a very small proportion) live to matiuity, we 

 have 25,000,000 of fish costing one cent each. The lowest 

 estimate that should be put on the value of these fish for 

 market is an average of fifteen cents. Thus the public has 

 a return for the money appropriated for artificial hshculture 

 of tifteen hundred per cent, or for the expenditure of §35,000 a 

 return of •';3, 750,000 in production. 



"If there is any other industry fostered by the State gov- 

 ernment that pays like this, let it be demonstrated." 



In the report of the superintendent of the Caledonia sta- 

 tion, he says: 



Of stock fish we have on hand at present: 

 9 ponds containing 12,000 brook trout. 

 4 ponds containing 10,000 Cal. Mt. trout. 

 1 pond containing 3,000 McCloud River trout. 

 3 ponds containing 8,000 hybrids (?i brook trout and X sal. 

 trout). 



1 i)ond containing 1,000 salmon trout from 5 to 181bs. 



2 ponds containing SjOOO salmon trout three years old. 

 1 pond containing 3,000 German carp three years old. 

 1 pond containing 2,000 German carp two years old. 



3 ponds containing .... German carp. 



Total 44,000 



The above number we have carefully estimated and are 

 nearly all breeding fish raised from the egg. 



Besides the above we have — 



Yearling brook trout , 5,000 



Yea:rling hybrid, % Ijrook trout 5,000 



Six months old brook trout 5,000 



Six months old California trout 5,000 



Two year old hybrids (M salmon trout, X brook trout) . 3,000 

 Two year old hybrids (>2 salmon trout, }4 hrook trout) . 3,000 



Total 24,000 



Here we have the worst collection of popular names in the 

 book, for probably no man but the superintendent knows 

 what are meant by "California mountain trout" and "Mc- 

 Cloud River trout," either of which may be included in the 



term "Califoi-nia trout," while "salmon trout" and "Oswego" 

 bass are commonly spoken of. x\s California has four or 

 five of the large-scaled black-spotted trouts, and none of them 

 bear these names in their native lands, this nomenclature is 

 something of a puzzle, as is also the term "German trout" 

 for the brown trout, when there are two trouts from Ger- 

 many now- in America. Fro)n the Caledonia hatchery there 

 were distributed in 1881 3,013,000 lake trout, 1,022,000 brook 

 trout, 3,185,000 California trout, and 50,000 hybrids, brook 

 trout and lake trout, 499,300 eggs of the different species 

 named, 1,204 mature fish from Western Wide waters, bass, 

 perch, catfish, etc., and 1,467.000 shad deposited in the 

 Hudson. In 18S5 there were 1,200.000 lake trout, 1,031,000 

 brook trout. 1,676,000 "California" trout, 2.50,000 whitefish 

 and 65,000 hybrids, besides 464,000 eggs of the different 

 species, 291 cai-p, 905 mature fish fi-om the Western Wide 

 waters and 1,728,500 shad deposited in w^aters of the State. 



The superintendent of the Cold Spring Harbor station re- 

 ports that the same arrangement with Prof. Baird, the U. S. 

 Commissioner of Fisheries, to the effect that a share of the 

 expenses is borne bv the .general government in considera- 

 tion of hatching certain fishes, mainly salmon, still exists, 

 and that since the last report the station has been furnished 

 with twenty-five McDonald hatching jars by the U. S. Com- 

 mission, w'hich are used entirely in hatching whitefish, smelt, 

 shad and in the salt-water experiments, and that one man 

 using these jars can do the work of three under any system 

 where the eggs must be removed by hand. During 1884 the 

 hatchery was run with the assistance of one man and a boy, 

 but the man, Mr. F. A. Walters, was called by the Commis- 

 sioners to superintend the new hatchery in the Adu-ondacks, 

 and two new men were substituted for the hoy. In 1884, 

 .500,000 eggs of the Atlantic salmon were hatched and dis- 

 tributed in the waters of the State, and on Oct. 

 9. 1885, Mr. A. N. Cheney, of Glens Falls, wrote 

 that the fry were to be seen in great numbers 

 in Clendon Brook, near that place, and sent speci- 

 mens to Mr. Blackford. During 1884 78,000 shad eggs were 

 hatched in spring water and planted in the Nissequogue 

 River, on Long Island, but a trial of the eggs made later 

 failed entirely, and there is no reason given for the failure, 

 whereby any estimate of the value of spring water for hatch- 

 ing shad can be made. This is a serious omission for the 

 fishculturists who seek information regarcfing the proper 

 temperature of waters for hatching shad. An account of 

 the success at this station is siven and is followed by the 

 following tables of hatching and distribution: Penobscot 

 salmon in 1884, 428,200; in 1SS5, 419,550; landlocked salmon, 

 1884, .50,000; 1885. 19,500; brook trout, 1884, 7,000; 1885, 16,300; 

 blue-back trout, 1885, 11,000; Rangeley brook trout, 188o, 

 19.500; brown trout, 18S4, 40,000; 1885, 28,900; rainbow trout, 

 1884 11,500; 1SS5, 14.500; Lochleven trout epgs, 1885, 90,000; 

 eggs of the whitefish, 1884,850,000; 1885, 99O,00O: smelt, 1885, 

 10(^000; shad, 1S84, 72,000; tomcods, 1884, 38,000; 1885, 750,000. 



The .siiperintendent of the Adirondack hatcheiy reports 

 that between his appointment as superintendent and the 

 spawning season of trout, the time was limited, as he did 

 not arrive at the hatchery until Oct. 3, 1SS5. He began visit- 

 ing the lakes and becoming familiar with the country, and 

 in "IB different lakes 11 spa\vning beds were found. The 

 hatchery was not at this time completed, and after his ar- 

 rival the troughs were made and tarred, and while this w-as 

 in progress the spawning season began, and all the eggs 

 taken were placed on trays which were made into crates and 

 set in the stream. He s;iys; 



"The crates held ten trays each and were make by tatmg 

 four pieces of pine ten inches long by one inch thick and two 

 inches wide for comer pieces, these were held together by 

 slats along the sides and across the ends, the slats bemg two 

 inches apart. There was a free circulation above and below 

 each tray, and by turning a screw in the upper or lower slat 

 as occasion might demand, the trays could be removed as 

 easily as a draw'er. On Oct. 15 we set our lake trout nets in 

 Lake Brandon, but did not succeed in taking any spawn un- 

 til Nov. 10. We were in the habit of visiting these nets 

 through the night, usually at 10 P. M,, and 2 A. M., and 

 againlit six in the morning. We went to the net on Nov. 13; 

 they were then all right, but w'hen we returned to them four 

 hours later we found them cut up into a dozen pieces and 

 scattered about the lake." 



Mr. Walters immediately uiformed the Commissioner m 

 charge, and a few days later posted a notice which gave the 

 law creating the Adirondack fish hatchery, and the penalties 

 for disturbing or injuring public property. The Saranac 

 hotel keepers and guides came to his relief and pledged them- 

 selves to use every lawful means to bring the perpetrators of 

 such outrages to a speedy punishment, and this pledge was 

 also printed and posted. After this the dam broke, and the 

 trout eggs, both lake and brook, were again placed in crates 

 in the streams in order to save them. Superintendent Wal- 

 ters says that any amount of spawn of the frost fish can be 

 obtained, as thev are very plenty and easily caught. He says: 



"The number of eggs taken were 9,000,000. As the glass 

 hatching jars intended for hatching them did not reach the 

 station, they were kept in troughs on trout trays but did not 

 do well. I found it very difficult OAving to their small size to 

 care for them. I hope another year to have the necessary- 

 jars for this work. I have hatched whitefish in them at Cold 

 Soring Harbor and have found them to answer the purposes 

 admirably." , ^ 



Mr. M. B. Hill, superintendent of the Clayton hatcheiy, 

 reports that he has been in the employ of the Fish Commis- 

 sion since Oct. 1, 1885, and that he has taken lake trout 

 spawn in Lake Ontario and also whitefl.sh and cisco spawm, 

 and that he has labored under many disadvantages; but has 

 hatched 500,000 lake trout, .500,000 whitefish, 100,000 brook 

 trout, 20,000 hybrid trout, and 1,000 hjdjrids from the white- 

 fish and cisco. 



After 

 hatch eri 



of the C...^.^..... . ^ , . 



visions of Chapter 643 of the Laws of 1873." In this report 

 the Commissioners say their attention has been called to an 

 ofiScial notification fiom the Comptroller to a law which 

 requires evei-y institution entitled * * * to receive money 

 fi-om the State to make an armual report to the Legislature, 

 etc., and rhen without explanatory reasons why only bien- 

 nial reports have been made for several years past, an account 

 of moneys expended diuiiig the year ending Dec. 31, 1885, is 

 given. This is the first time that the Commissioners have 

 ever reported their expenditures in detail, and to those who 

 care to look into those things, it will be found interesting. 



Mr. B. G. Blackford makes a detailed report of the distri- 

 bution of carp received in 1884 and 1885 from the U. S. Fish 

 Commission, and distributed bv himself. This shows a list 

 of 245 persons who have received 6,210 carp for waters within 

 the State. Some miscellaneous matter is added and the 

 report as a whole is very instructive and is put in- concise 

 shape. The plate showing the hatchery at Caledonia is well 

 executed, but the cuts of the Lake Brandon hatchery and 

 dwelling are exceecfingly crude. The report is put m such 

 compact shape as to enable a reader to investigate any por- 

 tion of the work by a glance at the tables which are some- 

 what of a new feature in S tate reports. 



A FISHWAY AT SCHENECTADY.— Col. M. McDonald 

 is now putting up an improved form of his fish way over the 

 canal aam on tne Mohawk, at Schenectady, N. Y. This 

 one will be a t^iie of those which he proposes to erect on 

 several of the rivers of the State. The work is well under 

 way and in a few days the structure will be finished and open 

 for in.spection and criticism. Those w^ho have seen the 

 model of the McDonald fishway in the central hatching 

 station at Washington, where a small boat, or rather two 



