NOT, 4, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



289 



Sunday. As all the teams were then on their way from 

 Mancelona. and would not be back imtil dark, we had 

 nothing to do but await their arrival, wliich we did, and 

 after much persuasion succeeded in getting one of the 

 drivers to promise to be on hand next morning and hatd 

 our goods. 



We returned to camp, and telling the boys of our ar- 

 rangements turned in for the last night in "Mosquito 

 Camp." DiOK. 



BLACK BASS IN THE JUNIATA. 



q'^HOMPSONTOWN. Juniata County. Oct. 36.— The 

 X small-raoutJied bats were planted in this river less 

 than ten years ago, and it was certainly a dark day for the 

 so-called common lish, viz., suckers, mullets, cattish, etc. 



As an instance of the bass's rapacity, as well as capacity, 

 I saw, during the past summer, a 20in. bass with a lOin. 

 mullet which it had gorged half way down its gullet, and 

 which was so firmly lodged that the" bass was held up in 

 air by the tail of mullet, and tlie latter failed to give way. 

 Tliis bass had bitten off "more tlian it could clie\%-," and 

 in this dilemma was captured. The less ferocious tish in 

 the river do not stand inuch chance of surviving, and 

 have consequently decreased, 



I tiiink tlio principal enemy of tlie bass m this river is 

 the outlmer, whose work of slaughter goes on uight and 

 day. Another great evil in the -Juniata is the common 

 fish-basket, of 'which there are great numbers scattered 

 along its course. How have tlie State authorities pro- 

 vided foi' then- removal, or have they not moved in the 

 matter? Are they dead to their duty or ouly slumbering? 



In the line of minnows, we find the best l>ait for bass to 

 be a small fish called sliiner, they are named appropiately, 

 and can easily be seen by the bass. Frogs, helgramites, 

 mussels and crabs are also uaed with sxiccess. 



Bass are caught hei-e weighing fi-om 6oz. to Olbs., and 

 rarely exceeding the latter weight. The manner in wliich 

 a bass gi-asps a baited minnow is not generally known. 

 If the bass is somewhat suspicious, it will first nose the 

 bait, then quickly grasp it by the middle and deftly turn 

 the minnow's head toward that awful chasm, its mouth, 

 and proceed to gorge it. It is noticed tbat bass seem to 

 have an "on'' and an "off" day, as the fishermen say; one 

 day they will be ravenous and take the bait greedily, and 

 another day they seem to be fasting and keep their dis- 

 tance from tlie hook. It seems to me that I have always 

 hit the "off"' day when I have tried my skill. 



Unless deep holes can be found near shore our bass 

 fishermen prefer to go out in a boat and anchor in deep 

 water, although at either end of a hole where the water 

 begins to get shallow is generally an excellent place to 

 cast. 



Bass fishing is about over with us, and turtle Inmting 

 has superseded it. The bass will now have time to recu- 

 perate in numbers, and the fisherman will have time to 

 tell his stories of those "whoppers" which snapped his 

 line and hook and sped awa,y, Onojutta, 



THE WHITE PERCH. 



WI HEN one has made a discovery there are often two 



» ? queries which he propoimds; one is, "I wonder 

 how many others know this?" and, "Why didn't I know 

 of it before?" I have just experienced the game qualities 

 of lialf a,nd three-quarter pound white perch and am 

 surjjrised. Therefore these few lines, "hoping they will 

 find you the same."' 



A month ago if asked what I knew of the white perch, 

 the answer would have run about this Avay: A small fish 

 which is a native of the brackish waters of the coast but 

 lives as well in fresh waters, grows to a weight of 31bs. 

 occasionally, used as a pan-fish and is found in the 

 markets from 4 to 6oz. in weight, good table fish; nat- 

 lU'alists have given it many generic names, as Ferca 

 Lahrax. Morone, etc., Imt they have agreed on Americanus 

 as the speciiic one; Jordan calls it Roccus americaniis; 

 used to take them when a boy with a float and sinker. 

 This would have summed it up except that American 

 angling authors mention it in a perfunctory sort of way 

 either to pad out the vohime or as a concession to boyish 

 readers, and therefore I have been more interested in the 

 fish as a naturalist and an amateur epicure than as an 

 angler. Its stinctural resemblances to the great 'striped 

 bass and its difference from that sj^lendid fish, which are 

 not necessary to particularize here, are of interest to 

 those who like that sort of thing, while a fried white 

 perch on a hot breakfast plate instantly commands the 

 attention of those who are fond of another form of 

 pleasure. I will now add that the same fish, of fair 

 weight, on a light fly-rod, gives satisfaction to a third 

 class, and I belong to them all and so get a tlu-ee-fold 

 pleasure from one little white perch; catch him first, 

 diagnose him, and then interview him after the cook has 

 put on the finishing touches. 



Last month a neighbor kindly allowed me to put a min- 

 now seine in his millpond in order to take a few small 

 white perch to send to my friend Count von dem Borne, 

 the famous German fishculturist, and late in the day I 

 saw some good fish rising to the fly and was told that 

 they were larger specimens of the fish in question. A 

 cloud of dust on the road, the barking of dogs and a fugi- 

 tive coat tail going roiind a corner was all that a boy saw 

 to base a rumor on that he saw a cashier on his way to 

 join the American colony in Montreal. The boy Vas 

 wron'?, I was simply hieing homeward for mj^ lightest 

 rod and the corresi)onding tackle, and the speed was not 

 as great as it v."OLdd have been forty years ago, before age 

 had improved my architectm'e by the addition of what is 

 a ceatral dome, when I lie on my back watching the stars 

 wink through a bark shanty, but let us say there was a 

 mo lerate degree of haste. 



Four casts with a red-ibis and a gray-drake, when 

 something struck the ibis, tail fly, and as the line came 

 in easily another something struck the gray-drake, and 

 then the reel sang. Coirfound a fish that will stTike 

 when you are reeling in another; one at a time is enough. 

 Two little fish strain a leader more than one of three 

 times their tmited weight. They gave some anxiety, but 

 proved to be a suiifish on the tail fly and a white perch on 

 the other, each the size of a lady's hand. More casts and 

 a perch of three-quarters of a pound rose, Avas struck, and 

 again the reel sang lively. Three times this fish leaped 

 clear of the water and took line from the reel before it 

 came to the boat's side and could be landed. This was 

 repeated eleven times before the idea occurred that La 

 fishi ng a private pond by permission a dozen fish was 

 ftmple and more would be an abuse of hospitality, 



A fi-iend asked if they were gamy, and was told that I 

 was surprised at their game and should henceforth rank 

 them next to black bass of the same size. "Never mis- 

 trusted such a thing," said he. "Neither did I," was my 

 reply, "but they are good fighters, better than the yeUow 

 perch by far, and are a new revelation to me as a game 

 fish." My friend will soon try this pond to see for him- 

 self, and j)erhaps will tell us how they acted wlien on his 

 rod. I felt that I had never been fairly introduced to this 

 fisli through tlie mediiun of fine tackle, memory only 

 recalling an alder pole, a coarse line, a float and an ounce 

 sinker, the orcUnarv tackle of boyhood. The white perch 

 is game. ' ^ Fred Mather. 



Keeping Minnows in Air-Tight Jar. — Last Thm-sday 

 (21st) to tr.y how long minnows would live in a tight jar, 

 I tried tins experiment. Ha\dng a lot left over, I took 

 two glass fruit preserving jars, capacity one purt, filled 

 both two-tliirds full of water, put in each two lively creek 

 minnows, and stood the jars side by side on a shelf in the 

 barn, one jar with no cover, the other with top screwed 

 down on rubber washer and presumed to be air tight. 

 IMy idea was to see in Avhicli jar they would live longer 

 and how much longer. Well, nine days "done gone" and 

 I'vt^ learned nothing. In both jars the minnows are in 

 perfect order. If one set ever does die ahead of the other 

 rU report,— PISECO, Oct. 30,— The sequel jnit in its ap- 

 pearance just three hours after my postmg to you. Word 

 came in from the barn that the two minnows in the closed 

 up jar were on their backs, and an hour after tliat both 

 were dead. Those in the open jar are still all right. The 

 length of time those in the closed jar lived was 8 days 

 6 hours. Having been confined to my room several days 

 by illness, I have not been able to note more particularly. 



— PiSECO, 



Sensibility of Fishes to Pain,— Raleigh, N, C, Oct, 23, 

 — In a recent issue I sec an article on "The sensibility of 

 fishes to jiain." A friend suggested that it was jiossible 

 that the salmon caught might have been bitten by an 

 otter or other animal after being hooked. This is some- 

 times the case. We have knoAvn a Spanish mackerel cut 

 in two by a larger fish while being hauled in, in trolling. 

 However, we refer to a more remarkable case. Dr. M. 

 M, Marshall, pastor of Christ Chm-ch in this city, states 

 that while fishing Richland Creek, in the mountahi- 

 ous portion of this State, last summer, he caught 

 a small black bass, and cutting off a i^iece of its flesh just 

 above the caudal fin down ifco the back bone, aboiit the 

 size of an inch square for bait, he very soon thereafter 

 caught the same fish on the hook just baited. The fish 

 after the cutting had been thrown back immediately into 

 the stream. — B. F. M. 



The Big Vermont Bass. — Pliiladelphia. — I have just 

 retiu-ned from Vermont, where I looked up the story of 

 the large-mouthed bass. Found many Avho agreed as to 

 size and weight as published. The day I arrived one was 

 caught in Lake Bomoseen on a trolling line weighing over 

 81bs, ; and just before a pike (or pickerel as they call them) 

 weighing IT^lbs. Some pike of 241bs. have been caught 

 through the ice, but this is the best for a troll. These 

 large fish show the results of Albert Smith's efl:oits to 

 prevent spearing and net fishing. More and larger fish 

 have been caught than ever before, and that is a wonder 

 in these times. From SOlbs. to 601bs. as a day's sport for 

 two in a boat was a frequent haul. — Neshobee. 



Cape May, N. J,, Oct, 30.— Roger McCavet and M, C. 

 Berrell, while fishing near Cape May Point yesterday, 

 were caught in the Rips, where cmTents from the ocean 

 and Delaware Bay meet. The boat capsized. They clung 

 to the bottom for nearly four hours and were rescued late 

 last night by Messrs, Lee and Edmunds, who at great risk 

 sailed a yacht among the treacherous breakers and after 

 several attempts pulled the men aboard. Both were in 

 an unconscious condition, BerreU has not yet recovered 

 and his death is expected. 



Allegheny Bass. — Warren, Pa., Oct. 24. — The water 

 in the Allegheny River is still unusually low. One conse- 

 quence is that black bass fishing has seldom been as good. 

 They congregate m the deep holes and are taken in large 

 numbers by those who like the sport. At Corydon, near 

 the New York line, is a high dam. The fish can't go up 

 over it and so stay in the deep water below, where hun- 

 dreds are hooked every day. Of coirrse the fall rains will 

 come soon and spoil the fun, — Penn, 



Bass amd Bluefish, — It is reported that large numbers 

 of striped bass and bluefish have been taken on the south 

 side of Long Island, east of the Great South Bay. They 

 were taken in the surf at West Hampton by the fishing 

 companies which have pound-nets there. On Friday last 

 Mr, Robinson is said to have caught a striped bass in the 

 surf at Moriches which weighed BOlbs., besides some two 

 hundred large bluefish, 



Bass in the Hudson. — ^A couple of New Yorkers went 

 to Tarrytown yesterday, and taking a boat, anchored a 

 little oft the lighthouse and began to fish, using sand 

 worms for bait. When they came ashore they astonished 

 local fishermen by displaying between 40 and 501bs. of the 

 finest bass ever seen ataout there. — Times, Oct. 30, 



Address aU communicat'iom to the Forest and Stream' Pm6. Co 



NEW HAMPSHIRE.— During the recent visit of Governor 

 Currier, a portion of his council and Major Thompson, 

 secretary of state, to the state hatching house at Plymouth 

 they found between 10,000 and 11,000 breeding trout in very 

 fine" condition in the ponds, and on the day of the visit 

 Commissioner Hodge took over 100,000 trout spawn which he 

 placed upon the hatching; trays. This is the largest amount 

 taken at one time since the establishment of the house. Over 

 300,000 brook trout have been taken from less than one-half 

 ot the trout, and it is confidently believed by the fish co3»- 

 missioners that as many as 600,000 will be taken the preseu^i 

 season. In one of the ponds the California or rainbow trout 

 were seen. There were some 3,000 of them weighing fi'om 

 one-fourth to one-half pound each, which were raised from 

 eggs donated by Professor Baird in 1884. They are described 

 as very gamy and spring spawners. It will be remembered 

 that some three years since the fish and game commissiosers 



established a small hatching house on Pike Brook, near the 

 borders of Lake Sunapee and in the town of New London, 

 leasing the site for the same at a nominal rental of SI per 

 year for a term of ten years. The cost of the hatching house 

 erected was about .$200. The first year the lake was very low, 

 so much so that the trout could not ascend into the brook, 

 but despite this drawback some 1.5 spawners were caught 

 from the lake and placed in the tank, and from 11 of them 

 some 35,000 eggs wei'e hatched and placed in the lake. In 

 1885 the' commis.si oners in the face of many obstacles suc- 

 ceeded in taking speckled brook trout enough from the lake 

 to secure nearly 100,000 spawn. Later in the fall a new 

 spawning bed was discovered, upon which were seen large 

 quantities of trout which wei'e pronounced to be a gigantic 

 type of the ocjuassa species. Many people became interested 

 ill the discovery of this species of trout, and many inquiring 

 letters and requests for specunens have been received from 

 all parts of the country. Sixty specimens were taken last 

 fall, from which some 100,000 eggs were hatched and returned 

 with the fish to the lake. At the present time the commis- 

 sioners, with the assistance of A. H. Powers, a veteran fish- 

 erman, are doing all in their power to secure trout from the 

 lake. The speckled or brook trout cannot run up the brooks 

 to spawn uuless there comes a rain shortly to raise the 

 streams, and to help the breeding the commissioners have 

 taken fifty very fine specimens of brook trout from near the 

 shore ot the lake with the net in the night time, some of the 

 number weighing from three to four pounds each. By this 

 stroke of enterprise 50,000 spawn have already been taken 

 from thirteen trout, some of the specimens yielding from 

 3,000 to 5,000 each, and there are trout remaining which will 

 yield 100,000 more. At the Plymouth hatchery the largest 

 yield which has been attained is lictween 1,000 and 1,300 from 

 a single trout. Within the last few day.s arrangements have 

 been made to secure the oquassa species in large num- 

 bers by netting them from their spawning beds, and 

 last week while prosecuting investigations the commission- 

 ers found in water from three to four feet deep hundreds of 

 these lish measuring 18 to 80 inches in length and weighing 

 fi-om two to seven pounds apiece. Their nets were not strong 

 enough to hold them, but by using a small hook, spoon and 

 fly rod, 65, weighing from two to six pounds, were fished out 

 which had been placed in the tank. They will not be ready 

 to cast their eggs until late in November. On Wednesday of 

 last week Commissioners Riddle and Hodge, accompanied by 

 Mr. Powers, proceeded to the spawning beds and were grati- 

 fied with the sight of hundreds of these monster trout. In 

 three hours' time they secured 37 specimeniB weighing 751bs., 

 and landed them safely in the tanks at the hatching house. 

 The commis.sioners believe they have secured a bonanza for 

 the State, and Messrs. Hodge and Powers, who have fished 

 in many of the waters of the Rangely and Canadian lakes, 

 affirm that they never saw so many and so fine a lot of trout 

 and declared their equals are not to be found in this country. 

 In addition to the trout six landlocked salmon have been 

 taken weighing from 10 to 12 pounds each. — Manchester 

 (N. Y.) Union, Oct. 25. 



OYSTER CULTURE IN PECONIC BAY.-The muddy 

 bottom of Peconic Bay, at the eastern end of Long Island, 

 has never been an oy.ster ground because whatever spat may 

 have been brought in with the tides was sure to die for want 

 of something to adhere to. In 1880 Mr. J. H. .Jenkins, of 

 Riverhead, and others, began to see good results from some 

 experiments in planting oysters in these waters and formed 

 the Peconic Bay Oyster Association. But little was done in 

 the following years except to plant a few and watch their 

 growth in order to ascertain if there were no unusual ob- 

 stacles to steady growth such as a succession of bad years 

 caused by 1 ocal influences. The results have been satisfactory 

 and have proved that oysters can be gro^vn successfully on 

 the muddy bottom where no natural bed could ever exist. 

 Last May 2,800 bushels of seed oysters were planted and at a 

 recent meeting of the association it was proved that the 

 business would be profita,ble. The 3,800 bushels have grown 

 to be 5,600 bushels of a size suitable for the English market, 

 which demands a small oyster, and these will soon be ship- 

 ped to Liverpool. It will be seen that the oysters have 

 doubled their size since last May and this is a fair growth. 

 The association decided to engage in oyster planting more 

 extensively and to engage in the business of shipping them 

 to Europe. 



THE FIEND EXORCISED.— Fort Wayne, Ind., Oct. 23. 

 — 1 wrote you a few days ago that the fish ladders constructed 

 in the dams on the Maumee River^ in Ohio, were destroyed 

 by the use of dyiiamite, but have since been advised that the 

 ladders are all right and in good condition.— J. P. H. 



lew ^nhlicntion§. 



The Forest Watehs the Farm; or, the Vai,uk of Woodi^nds 

 as Reservoirs. Being Les fitudes de Maitre Pierre snr L'Agri- 

 cultiire et les Forets, Par M. Antoniu Rousset. Translated by 

 the Rev. S. W. Powell. Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

 This is a translation of the famous French book, "Les Etudes de 

 Maitre Pierre sur L'Agriculture et les Forets" (The Studies of 

 Master Petei; about Forests and Agriculture). It consists of a 

 series of conversations bet\veen a callage schoolmaster and a 

 peasant, Master Peter. They discuss the scheme proposed by the 

 Government to put an end to the devastation wrought by the 

 freshets. The proposal is to replant the hills with trees, and for 

 this it is necessary to assume temporary possession of the pasture 

 lands and remove the herds from them. This means— for the time 

 being— loss to the peasants who own the laerds. They are not wDl- 

 ing to submit. They do not see ahead; they have regard only to 

 to-day; the morrow may look out for itself. Master Peter repre- 

 sents this class. He makes a stubborn stand for the temporizing 

 policy. The schoolmaster takes tlie other side. His argument is 

 to ask questions. Master Peter is hard put to it to reply to them. 

 Tlie ciuestions set liim to thinking. A^^len he finds the answers to 

 them he meets conviction as weU. In the end ho actuaUy argues 

 himself around to the schoolmaster's way of looking at the subject . 



It is a pretty duel of words. As an example of ths art of con- 

 vincing by asking questions, it is a masterpiece. One follows the 

 argument as he watches the evolution of a plot. 



But there is more to it than that. This subject of forestry, dis- 

 cussed by a peasant and a pedagogue in France, is of present and 

 very great moment to us here in America. The schoolmaster's 

 questions are as pertinent and suggestive here and now as they 

 were then. They are questions of national importance. As a 

 nation we shall have to answer them. The forests \vMch protect 

 the headwaters of the Hudson and the jVIissouri are, according to 

 the most trustworthy accounts, seriously in danger. It is to be 

 hoped that such a public sentiment may he awakened that we 

 may, as a people, soon take up in earnest the work of forest preser- 

 vation and restoration. 



Tlie bock has a lesson for individuals as well. It gives an ad- 

 mirable exposition of the dependence of agi-iculture upon wood- 

 lands; and sets forth the Intimate relations between forests as 

 nature's great water reservoirs and the fertility of the fields. A 

 blind ignorance of tliese principles has cost the farmers of America 

 many millions of doUars. It is hoped that the Studies of Master 

 Peter may prove of use in stirring up and giving direction to publie 

 interest in this very importaat matter. 



