368 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 2, 1886. 



on tlieir departure to distiact and distant parts of the ocean where 

 the conditions favorable to growth vary ? This seems difficult to 

 reconcile with the theory that they linger throughout their ocean 

 life near the mouth of their nati'\-e livers. 0/is it possihle that 

 the universally accepted belief that salmon always return to the 

 river of their youth needs further iuTestigation; and that thev 

 really so return only until they have attained a certain size, and 

 then go elsewhere ? I can suggest the question, hut not its solu- 

 tion." 



Ou the important question of rods for salmon fishing, Mr. Wells 

 is diametrically opposed to the views of most salmon anglers on 



direction, and adrocates the use of rods which in this country 

 would be considered mere toys. We have noticed that there is a 

 radical difVerenco between the objects, or at any rate one of the 

 objects, for whicli anglers in America and anglers in this conntry 

 select a rod. Here it is considered bad form to give a fish more 

 time than is necessary; the angler who allowed the fish to flounder 

 about and so "spoil the pool," wlien he ought to have killed it in 

 half the time, would he laughed at. An American angler, among 

 fish far more plentiful and far less educated than oui-s, finds it 

 sport jn playing his fish as long as he can get auy play out of it; 

 oonsequen tly he selects an extreme by light Ixmher rod. American 

 exhibitors of split-cane rods at the 188-3 Fisheries Exhibition were 

 never tired of shoAving vdsitors how their rods would bond till the 

 tip touclied tJie butt— ahout as useless an accomplishment for a 

 practical fisiiiug rod as one could well imagine. We have seen 

 and used a great many very fine split-cane rods; hut have not yet 

 met with one Avhich, in our opinion, possessed all the qualities' of 

 a flrst-class hard-wood rod. 

 Mr. Wells says: "Lf a rod for trout fishing was in view, 



— ^ comparatively 



peen done or said on sahnon fishing in this country, and so much 

 in Great Britain, that the American anglers are apt to turn to 

 and he guided by English authorities. He will read of rods 18, 19, 

 and 20ft. long. Well may he groan when he thinks of brandishing 

 such a weaver's heam all the live-long day, and question whether 

 he would not find salving wood equally heneflcial and far less 

 laborious. In the matter of fishing rods I cannot but think that 

 the mechanical common sense of our English hrethern is some- 

 what obscured by respect for tradition." 



There is a good deal of truth in these remarks. There is no 

 doubt the majority of salmon rods in use on this side the water, if 

 not too long, are certainly too heavj^. We were forcibly reminded 

 of this by some salmon rods exhibited at the Fly-Fishers' Club one 

 evening by Mr. D. Wilson, the honorary secretary. INIr. Wilson 

 fishes principally on the Spey, and his rods are specially made to 

 do the Spey cast. They are made of laucewood, and although of 

 good length, IG to 18ft., appeared to be about hall the weight of 

 an ordinary greeuheart rod of the same length. Mr. AVells thinks 

 that the only advantage of an 18ft. rod ovei-^one of 15ft. is that the 

 former mil cast about 15ft. more line than the latter; apart from 

 the fact that wlien hank fishing on a hig river this exti'a lof t.— 

 which, we should say, is prohahly nearer 20ft. in practice— is often 

 an ineatimahle advantage; it is perfectly certain that you haA'e far 

 more control over a tLsh on the long rod than you have on the 

 shorter one and can kill him in half the time. As we have already 

 pointed out, the Americans as a rxiie, select a short rod, which 

 compels them to give a fish much more time than is necessary. 

 Mr. Wells says: 



* "Indeea, when the fishing is open and fortune smiles, after the 

 wire edge is taken ofl: by the capture of a reasonable nimiher of 

 salmon yvith. the doiihle-handed red, so that the loss of a fish is 

 not too harrowing, I question whether sti-ict angling moralitv 

 does not thereafter require us to resort to a single-handed rod of 

 10ft. 6in. to lift, in lengtli, and from 9 to lOoz. in weight, particu- 

 larly if the fishing is so remote from communication that the fish 

 cannot he sent out, and the supply exeeds the camp needs. For a 

 fly-fisherman to condemn fish legitimately taken with the fly, 

 to the salting harrel, has always seemed to me a breach of angling 

 propriety hut little hetter than throwing them away to rot. It is 

 a mere matter of sentiment, I admit; hut those are mA' senti- 

 ments. To take salmon with a single-handed rod is eertainly 

 more sportsmanlike, since it requires greater skill and the fish 

 has more chance. It is also more economical, since the contest 

 will he more protracted, and tliat alternation of hope and fear 

 wJiich constitutes the great charm of salmon fishing continues 

 for a longer time with each fisli.. Thus fewer flsh fm-nish mure 

 fun, wliich after all is the main thing. With a canoe as a movahle 

 base froQi which to conduct operations, and a proper reel and 

 line, tlie angler is sufiiciontly sure of tiltimate victory to warrant 

 tlie effort: and stimulated by an approving t'onscienee and per- 

 haps just a little dash of self-conceit, the silver sheen and grace- 

 ful outline of a salmon so taken will far surpass in its captor's 

 eyes— yes, and in the eyes of others— the hest that anj' competing 

 douhle-handed rod may produce." 



If we ever got so sick of catching salmon as Mr. Wells appea: 

 occasionally to do, we should give it up. To follow out his argn- 

 ment to its logical conclusion the most sportsmanlike way of 

 salmon fishing would be wth a hand line. He ought to give the 

 credit of killing the salmon he catches on a 10ft. trout rod to old 

 Father Time and the dexterity of his boatmen. 



We fancy most anglers on this side of the Atlantic Avlll agree 

 with us that it is more sportsmanlike to kill a fish with fine tackle 

 on a powerful rod than with strong tackle on a weak one, and 

 without fine tackle you will generally flsh in vain in om- hard- 

 fished streams. 



Having referred to a few 3K)ints on which we do not quite fall in 

 with the views of Mr. Wells, we may hrlefly refer to some sugKCS- 

 tious. for which we heartily thank him. It is generally suppo^d 

 that the hest way to put a fly-rod together is to splice it, audtl 



• a spliced rod has a more perfect action than any other. We ii^ 

 could satisfy ourselves that a spliced rod has any advantage whjij 

 ever over one with ferrules, while the disadvantages are manifest. 

 Mr. Wells proves clearly that a spliced rod is "weaker at the 

 splices than at other parte," the rod must be stifiier and must he 

 more elastic at the solid than at the spliced parts. 



Address aU communic<it{onf< to the Forest (Wid Stremn Pub. Co 



THE CONNECTICUT COMMISSION. 



THE twenty-first report of the Connecticut Fish Commis- 

 sion, for January, 1887, is at hand. By the terms of the 

 appropriation of the General Assembly, the Commissioners 

 have necessarily; confined their operatioiis to the hatching of 

 shad and the distribtitiou of young trout. Having no dis- 

 cretion whatever in this matter, they were obliged to decline 

 the oiiers of salmon eggs from Prof. S. F, Baird because they 

 had no funds to apply to their hatching and distribution. 

 Last year there was an appropriation of .$5,000 made to the 

 State Board of Health for itivestigation and experiment con- 

 cerning the pollution of streams, and the results of some 

 experiments on fishes in polluted water are quoted from an 

 English paper. 



There has been a difficulty in the way of distributing the 

 supply of young trout satisfactorily, either to the Commis- 

 sioners or to the applicants. They had thought it advisable 

 to put at least 3,000 into each one of the streams to be stocked, 

 and as the $1,000 appropriated wotild only purchase 334,000 

 trout, only 113 applicants out of 369 could be supplied. It 

 was decided, however, to supply those who were applying for 

 the first time; and yet one State Senator, in view of the fact 

 that the appropriation is no larger, asks for 50,0()0 fish, or 

 one-sixth of the whole number possible to be obtained. Com- 

 ment on this is uimecessary. 



An interesting question is about to come up in Connecti- 

 cut concerning the stocking of private streams by the State. 

 Occasionally a complaint is made that a certain stream 

 which has received trottt from the State for several years in 

 succession, has been ''posted" by the owners of the land, and 

 all ;p8rsons forbidden to take trout therefrom. One public- 

 spirited gentlenian who had for four years paid the neces- 

 sary expenses of transportation of the young frv to a well- 

 known brook, when He went to catch a few of them, now 

 well grown, for his own use, was informed that the owner 

 would not allow any more fishing, and on further inquiry, 

 found that the proprietor was in the habit of taking a few 

 pottada of trout every week and sending' them to a popular 



restaurant in Hartford. Section 3, of chapter CV. of the 

 laws of 1886, forbids entering upon the inclosed land of any 

 person for the purpose or htxnting, trapping or fishing 

 (whether the land is posted or not), and Section i of the same 

 act, authorizes the owner to arrest the offender and take him 

 before a justice of the peace for prosecution, and the inflic- 

 tion of penalties provided for in Section .3. 



This IS a very comprehensive law, and if strictly enforced, 

 may cause serious embarrassment to many unintentional 

 violators of it. The question has been raised whether a party 

 who has received trout from the State for a number of years 

 and placed them in a brook claiming it to be a public .stream, 

 has a right to debai- the public from a participation in the 

 fishing afFer it has been restocked. This is a very different 

 thing from preventing all fishing by any one, owner included, 

 for two or three years, in order to give the young trout a 

 chance to attain a fair size and then open the stream to all 

 alike. The latter plan would be in many cases desirable, and 

 would not be objected to by any sensible person. The ques- 

 tion which Avill soon have to be decided by the courts is, 

 v/hether a party who has stocked a stream with trout from 

 the State with the understanding that it is a public trout 

 stream, has the right to f)revent any and all persons from 

 fishing t herein, thereby reserving to himself tlie entire pro- 

 ceeds of the State's distribution of young trout in that par- 

 tietilar stream 



The catch of shad shows a falling oft' from the numbers 

 taken in 1885. Mr. Fenton's report sho\vs that he hatched and 

 planted in the waters of the State 8,860,000 young shad at a 

 total cost of §1,000, or more than 8,000 .shad 'for SI. lie used 

 the McDonald jars in a .small house which could be locked 

 up at night. The fry was planted in the Connecticut, 

 Housatonic, Thame.s, Quinnipiac and Farmington rivers. 



The old trouble between the Fish Commissioners of Con- 

 necticut and those of Mas.sachusetts is referred to. Mass- 

 achusetts has claimed that Connecticut was getting more 

 than their sh.ire of shad in the pound nets at the mouth of 

 the river, and had refused to bear any of the expenses of 

 hatching in former years. It now seenis that Massachusetts 

 passed a law in 1881 permitting the use of nets with a tAVO 

 inch mesh, wliich wotild take the baby shad. 



Tlie Commis.sioners of Connecticut '.say that from 1869 to 

 the present time they have annually, except on one or two 

 occasions when sliort of funds, hatched and placed in the 

 Connectictit River as many young shad as could be obtained 

 for the money at tiieir disposal, and they have never received 

 any financial assistance from Massachusetts, and that all 

 the expenses of the shad hatching operations on the Con- 

 necticut River from 1869 to date have lieen defrayed Ijy the 

 State of Connecticut, with the exception of one of tw^o years, 

 when a portion of them ^vere paid liy the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mis.sione.r, Prof. S. F. Baird. It is a, subject for regret that 

 these two States, each omiing a portion of this great river, 

 cannot work together in harmony on a subject of such im- 

 portance as the migratory fislies which use the river as a 

 breeding ground. 



On the subject of carp, they report that the Park Commis- 

 sioners of Hartford have removed the carp from the pond in 

 the park because they stir up the mud and undermine the 

 banks to such an extent that they present a ragged appear- 

 ance, and that the muddy water more than coun'terbalanced 

 the pleasure derived l)y the people in feeding and watching 

 the fishes. 



A new fishway has been erected by the Housatonic Water 

 Power Company at Birmingham. The Commissioners went 

 to Wasliingtou to inspect tlie McDonald fishway wbich was 

 in course of erection over the Great Falls of tue Potomac, 

 but which had dragged slowly throtigh some hitch in the 

 War Department, and the Acting Chief of Engineers stated 

 that it was not possible to indicate a time when the fisliway 

 w'ouki be cuuplefct-d and ready for inspection, and thereupon 

 the Pomiuissioners employed" Mr. W. H. Rogers, who imiit 

 thf^i a tisitway, into which the water was turned on Oct. 

 1^, and wliicli is reported as approved. 



NEW YORK FISHWAYS.— Schenectady, N. Y., Nov. 33. 

 — Col. McDonald has completed the fishways on the Mohawk 

 and Schoharie rivers. The latter is completely covered over 

 and the entrance guarded to prevent clogging liy drift. The 

 one on the Mohawk at Schenectady is double. Avith six feet 

 and a half clear water-way. This one was left open for the 

 purpose of passing boats aliove or below the dam. If found 

 necessary to protect the way fi'om drift or ice, a deflecting 

 crib will be placed above, provision for this having been 

 already made bp the Superintendent of Pul ilic Works. The 

 river was very low when the way w'as completed, giving only 

 six inches in depth in the fishway, but under these conditions 

 it was evident to all that fish would pass up even more 

 readily than through the rapids of a trout or bass stream. 

 The verdict of all who have seen the work since completion 

 is that it is the perfection of a fishway. — G. H. 



'^-R. FILIP FRYBORN, Commissioner of Fishexies of 

 Sweden, has made an extended tour of America this summer, 

 and has visited the principal fisheries and fish hatcheries of 

 the country. Last week he rettii-ned to New York from Cali- 

 fornia, and yesterday he sailed for Bremen. Mr. Frybom 

 will publish the results of his investigations shortly after 

 reaching Stockholm. 



THE BOSTON SHORT LOBSTER CASES will be taken 

 up to the Supreme Court. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Dec. 1 to 8.— First Dog Show of the Inter-State Poultry and Pet 

 Stock Association, Cairo, lU. A. A. Cowdery, Secretary, Cobden, 

 lU. 



Dec. 15 to 17.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Western Connec- 

 ticut Poultry Association. Frank D. Hallett, Superintendent, 

 Wiusted, Conn. Entries close Dec. 4. 



January, 1887.— Bench Show of Poultry and Pet Stock Associ- 

 ation, at Adams, Mass. W. F. Davis, Secretary. 



Jan. 17 to 21, 1887.— Ohio State Poultry, Pig(<on and Pet Stock 

 Association Dog Show, Columbus, O. W. F. Kuell, Superintend- 

 ent, Columbus, O. 



March 29 to April 1, 1887.— Inaugural Bench Show of Rhode 

 Island Kennel Club, Providence, R. I. N, Seahury, Secretary, 

 Box 13.33, Providence. , ^ _ , , 



April 6 to 8, 1887.— Third Annual Show of New England Kennel 

 Club, Boston. F. L. Weston, Secretary, Hotel Boylston, Boston, 



April 13 to 15, 1887.— Thirteenth Annual Dog Show of the Western 

 Pennsylvania Poultry Society, at Pittsburgh, Pa. C. B. Elben, 

 Secretary. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Dec. 8.— First Annual Field Trials of the Irish Setter Club, at 

 Salisbury, N. C. W. Dunphy, President. PeekskiU, N. Y. 



Deo. 13. -Eighth Annual Field Trials of the National Field Trials 

 Club, at G-rand Junction, Ten- 1. . „ . , ^, , 



Dec. U.— Inaugural Field Trials of the Texas Field Trials Club. 

 For members onlv. John F. Sharp, Secretary, Marshall, Tex. 



Feb. 15, 1887.— Inaugm-al Trials of Tennessee Sportsmen's Associ- 

 ation. Entries close Jan. 10. R. M. Dudley. Secretary, No. 84 

 Broad street, NashvUle, Tenn. 



KENNEL NOTES. 



OWING to the very complete reports of the field trials we are 

 compelled to defer the publication of Kennel Notes imtil next 

 week. 



THE EASTERN FIELD TRIALS. 



THE DERBY. 



THE Derby was to have commenced on Monday of last 

 week, but the weather was such that it was impossible 

 to start, On Tuesday it was cloudy and damp Avith the wind 

 from the southwest, and the weather was threatening. A 

 start was made, and although it was not a good hunting day 

 good progress was made. The wind came in gusts, scatter- 

 ing the scent and baffling the dogs, causing much of the 

 W'ork to be unsatisfactory. The birds were disposed to run, 

 which also caused considerable trouble. There were quite a 

 number of .spectators who took great interest in the work 

 and followed the dogs, watching each heat closely. There 

 were 103 nominations this year, 29 of which filled'. This is 

 unprecedented in the history of field trials in this country, 

 and if the interest in this stake continues to increase as it 

 has in past years, it will soon become too unwieldy for prac- 

 tical i)urposes. Just how the matter can be satisfactorily 

 arranged to keep within proper limit is at present a problem 

 that should receiA'e the careful consideration of the managers. 

 At the inaugural trials of the club on Robins Island in 1S79 

 there were tour entries in the Puppy Stake, all of which 

 started. The next year there was a Nursery Stake in addi- 

 tion to the Puppy Stake, with 7 entries and 5 starters in the 

 former, and 8 entries and 6 starters in the latter. In 1881 the 

 Derby was inaugurated, for wliicli there were 37' nominations 

 with 9 starters. The next year the trials were run at High 

 Point, and there were 60 nominations, 15 of them starting. 

 In 1883 there were 69 nominations and 21 that filled. The 

 next year there was an increase of 3 in the nominations, but 

 only 10 that filled. Last year there were SS nominations and 

 14 starters. It will be seen that the increase has been con- 

 stant, and that year by year the stake has grown until it has 

 become perhaps, all things considered, the most important 

 of the meeting, and to bring out a Derby winner is the high- 

 est ambition of the breeder. Messrs. D. C. Bergundthal of 

 Indianapolis, Ind.. J. W. Orth of Pittsburg, Pa"., and J. O. 

 Donncr of New York acted as judges, Mr. Donner in place of 

 Mr. Elliot Smith, "Who Avas unable to be present. We gave 

 last week a list of the starters and the order in which they 

 were drawn to run. Instead of drawing l)races the dogs were 

 numbered in the order drawn, and the first one was drawn 

 with the next available one, and so on down the list. This 

 is much more simple and better than the old way. 



JJAT GOODWIN AND FRED W. 

 Leaving the hotel at 8:15, we drove a .short distance and 

 the dogs were put down just outside of town near the Snow 

 faim. Nat Goodwin is a hea^^ly marked black, white and 

 tan, of medium size, an easy mover, with good .speed and 

 range. He was handled by J. M. Avent, of ilickory Valley. 

 Tenn. Fred W. is a lar'ge, good-looking dog, somewhat 

 resembling his sire in looks, way of going and manner of 

 dropping on point. He was handled by C. Tucker, of Stan- 

 ton, Tenn. After a wait of ten minutes for Avent, who had 

 taken the wrong road, the does were cast off in a stubble 

 field. Both started at the word at a fine rate of .speed. Nat 

 goe« level and easy, Fred with a long, .sweeping stride that 

 takes him over the ground faster than he looks to be going. 

 He had a trifle the best of it iu speed and in style, although 

 different they were about equal in merit. Working out con- 

 siderable ground Avithout result, we came back to tlie start- 

 ing point and beat out the stubble to some woods near which 

 Fred challenged, but could not make it out and went on. 

 When the .spectators came along the3'- flushed a single bird 

 near the place, which flew into the woods and was followed 

 but not found. We then turned down towaixl a branch, 

 near which Nat made a nice point to a single that his hand- 

 ler flushed to order. In going to him one got up near the 

 horses. These were probably birds from a scattered bevy, 

 as when the spectators came along they saw a number of 

 birds running away just above them. Working the dogs 

 back after them Nat got in a point just a second bcf(U"e the 

 Mrd rose. Some of the bev3"had flown across the road and 

 ,e ddgs were sent after them. Nat again got them first and 

 ijnted a .single near a ditch. Retrieving is not required in 

 tltos stake, and Avent was ordered to flttsh and shoot but not 

 to Kill. A little further on Nat flushed a single that he 

 should have pointed, as he evidently got scent, but went too 

 close. Fred then dropped on a nicc'point to the rest of the 

 bevy, which Tucker to order flushed, and as they rose he shot 

 and Fred was steady. Following them up Fred half pointed 

 but went on a few steps and pointed, ami "Nat came up below 

 him and also pointed the same birds, which Hushed ;is the 

 judges came u)). Fred rcnuiincd quiet but Nat 'vvas a trifle 

 un.steady. Fred then made another point, and Nat backed 

 or pointed, w-e could not see well enough to determine. The 

 bird was flushed to order and we turned up the hill into 

 souie woods, where Fred made a nice point but nothing was 

 f9<ind. We then went through to a field of grass and weeds 

 .where Nat flushed a bird, and kept on in the same direction, 

 but stopjietl fairly well to order. A little further on Nat 

 made a poiut which Fi-ed backed, but nothing was found. 

 The judges then consulted and the heat was decided in favor 

 of Fred W. Down one hour and six minutes. This was a 

 good heat and both dogs showed up well, making an ex- 

 cellent beginning of the .stake. 



RAPID B. ATO UAKI KABI. 



This brace was taken through the woods to a sed^e field 

 and put down a few minutes before 10 o'clock. Rapid is a 

 fair-moking small pointer with no pretensions to speed; he 

 was handled by T. M. Aldrich, of Manton, R. I. Hari is a 

 medium-sized dog, a busy, quiet worker, with a trifle more 

 speed than his competitor. This is not intended as praise, 

 however, as both were very slow. He was handled by C. E. 

 Buckell, of Charlottesville', Va. Both started off very slow, 

 but improved a trifle in a short time. We had gone hut a 

 short cbstance when the spectators flushed a bevj; and one of 

 the birds flew over Hari and settled in the grass just beyond 

 him. He was steady and stopped to order. He was then 

 sent round to get the wind and made a nice point. Rapid 

 was brought up to bade but probably did not see him and 

 was stopped to order. Buckell put up the bird to order and 

 shot. Hari was steady, but Rapid broke shot and was not 

 under good command. " Nothing more was done in this heat 

 except that we took a long tramp during which Rapid half 

 pointed at old scent and Hari backed him. Finally Aldrich 

 and his dog walked up a bevy and the judges ordered up the 

 dogs and awarded the heat to Hari Karf. Down forfy-six 

 minutes. 



HECTOE A^nJ HUSTLING HANNAH. 



This was the next brace. Hector, handled by -John White, 

 is a white and black pointer with a fair amotmt of .speed. 

 He is said to do good work, but he was all off in nose and 

 made a poor showing. Hustling Hannah, handled by Short., 

 is a fairly well formed bitch, also with a fair turn of speed. 

 They were put down in a clovei' field and worked across a 

 hollow to an old field of weeds, where both went well at a 

 fair rate of speed. Hector made a cast and winded a hevy, 

 but drew right into the midst of them and scored a bad 

 flush and dropped to wing, Hannah then got in a nice little 

 chase to a hare, but came back to whistle. We- then went 

 for the bevy flushed in the previous heat, which settled in 

 the woods. Hannah was the first to find and she pointed 

 very prettily with her head dovni wind and Hector backed 

 her, and as the handlers came up the bird flushed just below 

 her. Hector then flushed a bird and stopped to wing and 

 White claimed a point, but there were no more birds there 

 and he luckily scored a false point only, as the judges did 

 not see the fliish. Hannah then half pointed, turned back a 

 few steps and located her bird nicely and Hector backed her 

 a second or two and then moved up and stopped to order 

 alongside her. Short to order flushed and snot andboUi 



