54 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 20, 1895. 



ing thoBe of Long Island, when it prevented them from kill- 

 ing meadowlark during the whole of the year? 



Section 100 says that dye stuff, sawdust, etc., shall not be 

 run into streams or waters of the State "in quantities de- 

 structive to the life of fish inhabiting the same." The rich 

 bank director has a law like that for his benefit. It says 

 he cannot be held responsible for the wreck of a bank unless 

 it can be proved that he knew of it. Before it was prima 

 facie evidence of misdemeanor to run the stuff into the 

 waters of the State inhabited by trout without any reference 

 to quantities sufficient to destroy the life of the fish. 



Section 143 allows eel weirs again to be placed in waters of 

 the State, which will not please the true sportsmen along 

 the Susquehanna River, who have labored hard to knock 

 them out of that water. 



Another very bad feature of this act is this: Formerly net- 

 ting was prohibited in certain waters of this State. Now it 

 is allowable in any of the waters of the State through a 

 license to be had from the Commissioners of Fish, Game and 

 Forestry. It would be well for the sportsmen of this State 

 in convention assembled to take up the study of this subject 

 and have something to say about the rules and regulations 

 regarding this netting license clause in the game law which 

 brings fish into politics and puts in the hands of a fish com- 

 missioner, who hardly knows a bullhead from a brook 

 trout, a political lever to use in politics, if he deems best. 

 Here is new work for sportsmen to undertake. It would be 

 interesting to know if nets are to be used, by license, in 

 brook trout streams, or in waters inhabited by lake trout, 

 black bass, etc., etc., and if lake trout placed in such waters 

 as Owasco Lake, Skaneateles, Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua 

 and Saranac lakes, are to be used to capture the political 

 influence of Tom, Dick or Harry by granting one of them a 

 license to net the lake trout aforesaid. Is it for this that the 

 people have spent their money in propagating fish and build- 

 ing State hatcheries? Are the people to be taxed for expen- 

 sive commissions and hatcheries simply to provide good net- 

 ning grounds for licensees? 



It would be to the interest of the State Commission if it 

 would also consult the State Sportsmen's Association in the 

 matter of appointments of State protectors. 



The last bad feature to which I desire to call attention is 

 this: The law allows woodcock, quail and grouse to be had 

 in possession at any time of the year, providing the possessor 

 can prove that such were killed outside of the State. 



The cold storage people, whose interests are hereby con- 

 sulted, are very happy over this, and some of the pusillani- 

 mous sportsmen say: "Oh, well, they eat game in Chicago 

 the year around. Why not in New York?" They surely 

 ought to be allowed to do in New York what they do in 

 Chicago, just as soon as it becomes well established that two 

 wrongs can be made to make one right. 



I am told on good authority that all this game is now 

 found on restaurant tables in New York almost daily. 



The sportsmen of the State of New York will never amount 

 to anything as a body until they make one or two organized 

 fights by literature and otherwise on bad legislation and bad 

 legislators. 



Until that day comes it is questionable just how much the 

 name of sportsman is an honor. Geo. JR. Peck. 



Auburn, N. Y., July 9. 



Maryland Association. 



Baltimore, July 13.— Editor Forest and Stream: It 

 might be interesting to the readers of your widely-circulated 

 and popular paper to know that the Maryland Game and 

 Fish Protective Association is in a very properous condition. 

 Though but recently organized the membership numbers 

 over 200, and applications are coming in every day. Last 

 week a club of twenty from Washington county joined the 

 Association. In Maryland, as is the case everywhere, the 

 sportsmen and anglers are largely made up from among the 

 leading citizens, especially the various professions, and it is 

 most gratifying to the members of the Maryland Association 

 to see so many prominent citizens from all parts of the State 

 enrolled upon the Association's roster. 



An organization of this kind is an absolute necessity in 

 Maryland, and we hope to make it as effective as kindred 

 associations are in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Massa- 

 chusetts and other States. The first prosecution by the 

 Association took place on the 6th of July, when one J ames 

 Bardley was tried and found guilty for killing a rabbit con- 

 trary to the public general laws of Maryland. Upon failure 

 to pay fine and costs, he was sentenced to the county jail of 

 CJueenAnne county. This will no doubt have a salutary effect 

 in that part of the State. We intend to prosecute every 

 offender who kills game or catches fish contrary to the laws 

 of the State. The laws have been a dead letter for years 

 simply for want of organized effort to enforce them. We will 

 be glad to keep you posted from time to time as to the 

 progress of the Association. 



Geo. W. Massamoke, Sec.-Treas. 



New York Law About Nets. 



Considerable discussion has been going on among the fish- 

 ermen in our midst in regard to one of the provisions of the 

 1895 game laws. Section 151 says: "It shall be the duty of 

 the board of commissioners of fisheries, game and forest to 

 prescribe rules and regulations for the purpose of granting 

 all licenses to seines, fykes and nets iu water when specially 

 permitted by this act." Some contend that this section per- 

 mits the licensing of nets by the commissioners in any 

 waters of the State, while others maintain the contrary. 

 The section is loosely worded and the use of the word when 

 makes its meaning very ambiguous, but a reference to the 

 context shows plainly and conclusively that the word when 

 is used instead of where with the double meaning of both 

 words and that the licensing is only to apply to those waters 

 of the State in which netting is expressly permitted by stat- 

 ute, for certain fish and at certain seasons of the year. Any 

 other interpretation of the law would open our waters to the 

 poachers and pot-hunters and lead to the almost total ex- 

 tinction of our game fish. The course of the commissioners 

 is being closely watched by anglers in all parts of the State 

 and any attempt or disposition on their part to construe the 

 statute other than as above will be resisted to the utmost — 

 Seneca Falls Journal. 



The Forest and Stream is put to press each iveek on Tttes. 

 day. Correspondence intended for publication should reach 

 us at the lati&t by Monday, and as much earlier as practical' U. 



% A Stray Shinplaster* 



Comes to us once in a while for a copy 

 of "Game Laws in .Brief;" but shin= 

 plasters nowadays are scarcer than Moose 

 in New York; and 25 cents in postage 

 stamps will do just as well. 



F IXTU RES. 



BENCH 8HOWS. 

 Sept. 8 to 6— Kingston Kennel Club, Kingston, Ont. H. C. Bates 



e Sept. 9 to 18.— Industrial Exhibition Association's annual bench 

 show, Toronto, Ont. C. A. Stone, Sec'y and Sup't. 



Sept. 17 to 20.— Rhode Island State Fair Association's third annual 

 bench show, Narragansett Parlr, Providence, R. I. 



Sept. 17 to 20 — Orange county Fair Bench Show, Newburgb, N. Y. 

 Robert Johnson, Sec'y. . . . , . . 



Sept. 24 to 27.— New England Kennel Club's second annual terrier 

 how, Boston, Mass. D. E. Loveland, Sec'y. . 



Oct. 8 to 11— Danbury, Conn.— Danbury Agricultural Society. G. L. 

 Bundle, Sec'y. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Sept. 2.— Continental Field Trials Club's chicken trials at Morris 

 Man. P. T. Madison, Sec'y, Indianapolis, Ind. . 



Sept. 10.— Morris, Man.— Manitoba F. T. C. John Wootton, Sec'y, 

 Manitou. 



— . Morris, Man.— Northwestern Field Trials Club's Champion Stake. 

 Thos, Johnson, Sec'y, Winnipeg. m , . . 



Nov. 5.— Chatham, Ont.— International F. T. Club. W. B.Wei's, Sec'v. 



Nov. 7.— Newton, N. C— U. S. Field Trial Club's Trials A. W. B. 

 Stafford, Sec'y, Trenton, Tenn. 



Nov. 11.— Hempstead, L. I.— National Beagle Club of America, fifth 

 annual trials. Geo. W. Rogers. Sec'y, New York. 



Nov. 18.— Eastern F. T. Club, at Newton, N. C. W. A. Coster, 

 Sec'y, Saratoga Springs, N. V. 



Nov. 25.— Continental Field Trials Club's quail trials at Newton. 

 P. T. Madison, Sec'y, Indianapolis, Ind. 



Oct. 29.— New England Field Trial Club, at Assonet, Mass. S. R. 

 Sharp, Sec'y. 



OUR CpON HUNT. 



Preston, Conn. — Editor Forest and Stream : The 

 season was far advanced and, to judge from the oft-re- 

 peated gun shots that awoke the echoes of the surround- 

 ing hills, the squirrel crop was growing lamentably small, 

 and as squirrel shooting is my hobby I concluded to go 

 before they were quite exterminated. 



I joined my two chume of sporting proclivities, and 

 making known my intentions, by the ready assent of 

 George and Morris I found I had but voiced their senti- 

 ments; in fact, they were but waiting for some one to 

 propose the trip. "I am with you," said Morris. "Same 

 here," echoed George, "but to have a thorough good time 

 let's start to-night and hunt for the festive coon." This 

 proposal struck the right chord, so we settled it that way. 



We hustled around that afternoon, and at 6:30 P. M. 

 Morris drove up. I was ready, clad in my hunting togs, 

 so grabbing my Parker 10 -bore, away we drove after 

 George. We found him ready and waiting, and packing 

 things snugly in the Concord we were off for the wilds of 

 Franklin. 



Stopping at the old Maples Farm, we took aboard the 

 principal actor in the programme — Morris's old coon dog 

 Keno. 



Our objective point was the home of George Wheeler, 

 who was somewhat of a Nimrod and a jolly good fellow 

 withal. We felt sure of his company, but found the 

 family abed and the house in total darkness. In response 

 to Morris's thundering raps, Wheeler came shivering to 

 the door. Acquainting him with our business in that 

 region at that hour, we insisted that he should go with 

 us, but no use; our eloquence was wasted upon the night 

 air, for Wheeler, with'a plea of indisposition, banged the 

 door and retired to warmer quarters. Morris was familiar 

 with the old farm, so we soon had the mare in the stall, 

 and pulling the Concord in on the big barn floor, seized 

 the guns and started across the meadow for Ayers Moun- 

 tain, whose rugged crest was faintly discernible up in the 

 west. 



It was a night of Egyptian darkness and the pleasures 

 of coon hunting soon began. We waded ditches, clam- 

 bered stone walls, and when we stepped into the road 

 skirting the mountain we were an elegant-looking trio. 

 We had scarcely regained our wind when the rapid yep- 

 yep of Keno up the mountain side announced the begin- 

 ning of sport. In an inBtait all fatigue was forgotten, 

 and up the slope we went, tearing along through the thick 

 scrub, the night air rent by an occasional howl as some 

 unlucky hunter came in contact with the concealed rocks, 

 or mayhap as he received a stinging slap in the face from 

 a swaying bough. We soon located the dog in a clump 

 of poplars, exceedingly tall and slim in growth. Donning 

 the climbers, Morris started up the largest tree, as Keno 

 seemed convinced the coon had taken refuge there. Up 

 went Morris, the lantern swinging at his belt, his move- 

 ments followed with eager interest from the party below; 

 but the attempt was a failure, for Morris soon called out, 

 "I do not want coon bad enough to climb this bean pole 

 any higher," and casting the rays of the lantern aloft in 

 a vain effort to discover the coon, he came down. 



George said he saw the coon curled up at the end of a 

 branch, and he let go one barrel with no other result than 

 a shower of dead leaves and twigs. Well, we left the coon 

 to his own reflections, which no doubt were not very com- 

 plimentary to the party of idiots who would go coon hunt- 

 ing without an axe. 



Calling off the dog, we took a winding course up the 

 mountain side. It was toilsome work, now skirting over- 

 hanging ledges, clambering up through the ragged clefts, 

 stumbling over the concealed rocks and decaying logs. 

 Oh, the joys of coon hunting on a dark night! 



Just as we reached the summit, the deep tones of old 

 Keno close at hand told us there was another coon in 

 trouble. "Come on, boys," cried Morris, "this way," and 

 in the grand rush that followed we nearly fell over Keno 

 in the darkness. The dog was stationed at a mass of shat- 

 tered rocks. One look proved that Br'er Coon was very 

 little troubled on our account, as he had quietly crawled 

 into a seam in the ledge out of harm's way. "Well " 

 growled George, "this is interesting. If ever I go coon 

 hunting again, it will be on somebody's lawn, where 

 there are no rocks or holes. This is hard work with little 

 results," and this expressed the feelings of the party 

 Throwing our tired bodies on the leaves beneath the 

 gnarled and twisted old oaks that swayed with ghostly 

 motion in the chill night air, we rested as we lay thus on 

 the summit of the hoary old mountain. The surround- 

 ings, to say the least, were such as to create a queer feel- 

 ing. The huge masses of gray lichen-clad rocks, the dark 

 dense banks of laurel, the distorted forms of the wind- 

 racked old trees— all these seen in the feeble, flickering 

 light of the lantern, produced a weird effect which 

 coupled with the witches' hour, midnight, caused any- 

 thing but a cheerful feeling: and to make things pleas- 

 anter, Morris began to relate how some coon hunters a 

 short time previous lost a valuable dog on this very spot 



and when found he was torn completely into shreds by 

 some unknown animal. "Shut up," cried George at this 

 point, "let's move on. We will never get a coon up here, 

 anyway," so we soon reached the western extremity and 

 began the descent. Talk about the going up! You should 

 have seen the coming down. We crawled, rolled and 

 bumped along, myself in the lead, the lantern's dim rays 

 only making the darkness beyond more apparent. Occa- 

 sionally some unlucky member of the ill-fated expedition 

 would step into a fissure concealed by the dead leaves, 

 and down he would go with a rush, grabbing wildly at 

 the various objects within reach till the downward trip 

 ended in a whirl of leaves as farther progress was checked 

 by a tree trunk. Oh, it is lively sport, this coon hunting! 



Now all things earthly have an ending, and we finally 

 landed in the road in a demoralized condition. We had 

 scarcely gotten our bearings when the deep tones of the 

 old dog again rang out above us. "Well," growled 

 Morris, "have we got to enter tophet again." "Let him 

 yell," quoth George, "I suppose it is the same old dodge 

 any way,— coon in the ledge. He can't coax me into that 

 hole again," and with a grunt of satisfaction he stretched 

 his tired body along the top rail of the fence. Now it 

 certainly was discouraging to think of climbing those 

 rocks again; but leaving George alone in his glory, back 

 went Morris and I over the old course, and after a lively 

 scramble found Keno and also found our usual luck await- 

 ing us. George's words were verified. The coon was 

 snuggly stowed away in those rocks. This was the straw 

 that dislocated the camel's spine. Four coons old Keno 

 had started and not a hair to show for it. Calling off the 

 equally disgusted dog, we again slid into the road to find 

 George in sweet repose, oblivious of all things even to the 

 varmint that slew the hunter's dog. His shoulders were 

 tightly wedged between two stakes to prevent rolling off 

 into the meadow. His first words were, "Well, did you 

 get the coon?" "We didn't expect any coon," snapped 

 Morris. "We merely went out of respect to the dog's 

 feelings anyway." 



We discussed the situation, and considering the chances 

 as ever against our getting a coon, we voted the hunt off 

 and filed along the mountain road, bound for Wheeler's 

 barn. Arriving at those sumptuous quarters, we con- 

 sidered the propriety of arousing the family, but natur- 

 ally feeling averse to awakening them at that unseemly 

 hour (1:80 A. M.), we decided to pass the remnant of the 

 . night in the barn, so covering the hay with horse blankets 

 and regaling the inner man with an apple found in the 

 Concord, two walnuts and three chestnuts from the 

 pockets of the generous George, we pulled the buffalo 

 robe over us, and packed like sardines tried to sleep. 

 What a night we did pass in that barn! We slept cold. 

 We shivered and shook till the old barn seemingly rocked 

 on its foundations. Now and then the monotony of this 

 was varied by the passage of a large rat over our shrink- 

 ing forms, or the unearthly bellow of one of Wheeler's 

 cattle in the stable below. Well, the night wore away, 

 and the first rays of light were greeted with a sense of 

 delight, and straightening our cramped limbs and shak- 

 ing the hayseed from our hair, we tumbled out of doors. 

 It was a glorious morning, and the miseries of the night 

 were soon forgotten in the anticipation of the pleasures 

 of the approaching squirrel hunt, and thus ended the 

 night and thu8 ended the memorable coon hunt. 



E. M. Brown. 



THE EFFECTS OF MUTILATION. 



Several inquiries have come to Forest and Stream 

 within a few weeks concerning the effects of castration 

 and spaying, there seemingly being a number of people 

 who desire to own a dog or bitch without any of the 

 sexual disturbances which to them are so annoying. 

 They wish to own the dog for his own sake and not in 

 any way for breeding purposes, hence if the dog and 

 bitch will retain all the qualities of their race after being 

 deprived of their sexual powers, they will more fully 

 meet the wishes of such owners. Unfortunately, in 

 reference to this matter, the dicta of the authorities is 

 positively unfavorable to mutilation. Many good writers 

 on the dog, particularly modern ones, ignore this subject, 

 so that the available source of information for the seeker 

 of knowledge pertaining to the subject is exceedingly 

 limited. 



There is no doubt of the harmful effects of the opera- 

 tion. Youatt writes of this subject as follows: "It has 

 been said that the castrated dog is more attached and 

 faithful to his master than he who has not been deprived 

 of his genital powers; this, however, is to be much 

 doubted. He has, generally speaking, lost a considerable 

 portion of his courage, his energy and his strength. He 

 is apt to become idle and is disposed to accumulate fat 

 more rapidly. His power of scent is also very consider- 

 ably diminished, and he is less qualified for the Bports of 

 the field. Of this there can be no doubt. It has been 

 said that he is more submissive; 1 very much doubt 

 the accuracy of that opinion. He may not be so 

 savage as in his perfect state; he may not be so eager 

 in his feeding; but there is not the devotion to his 

 master and the quickness of comprehension which 

 belong to the perfect dog. The removal of the ovaries 

 or spaying of the female used to be often practiced, 

 and packs of spayed bitches were, and still are, occa- 

 sionally kept. In performing thia operation, an open- 

 ing is made into the flank on one side and the finger in- 

 troduced — one of the ovaries is laid hold of and drawn a 

 little out of the belly; a ligature is then applied around it, 

 just above the bifurcation of the womb, and it is cut 

 through, the end of the ligature being left hanging out 

 of the womb. The other ovary is then felt for and drawn 

 out and excised and secured by a ligature. The wound ia 

 then sewed up and a bandage tied over the incision. Some 

 farriers do not apply any ligature, but simply sew up the 

 wound, and in a majority of cases the edges adhere and 

 no harm comes of the operation, except that the general 

 character of the animal is essentially changed. She ac- 

 cumulates a vast quantity of fat, becomes listless and 

 idle, and almost invariably is short-lived. The female 

 dog, therefore, should always be allowed to breed. Breed- 

 ing is a necessary process; and the female prevented from 

 it is sure to be affected with disease sooner or later; enor- 

 mous collections and indurations will form that will in- 

 evitably terminate in scirrhus or ulceration. A trouble- 

 some process often occurs when the female is not permit- 

 ted to have young ones, namely, the accumulation of milk 

 in the teats, especially if at any previous time, however 

 distant, she may have had puppies once. The f oundati 



