ftsu. 2, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



27 



we & McLellan's goods throughout and do not see 

 ir they can be improved upon, either in quality or 

 rtonanship. 



Tor foot covering, tny choice is medium weight rubber 

 its. Of course," for dry. upland work, shoes and leg- 

 is are better, but even then if you occasionally get into 

 slough, the trouble of cleaning and softening them 

 Hlterbalances. to my mind, the disadvantages of rubber, 

 bber boots are not easily cut out by briers, and while 

 mg them you can step 'anywhere and do not slip on 

 ehills or when walking on wet logs. When you qotfffc 

 Knight yon can pull tliem off, set them by the tiro to 

 f, knowing they will be dry and soft as ever next, 

 irnmg. Now you can put on your slippers, clean your 

 n. and enjoy a oigar by the open fire. A light-colca-ed 

 son soft felt hat is my head gear. The brim protects 

 ,ce s neck and ears* from briers. They are seldom 

 d from the head in thick cover, and practically 

 orever. For rainy weather in boating or use in the 

 a "slicker" is the best thing I know of, and if you 

 obtain Tower's "Fish Brand" in the black, light 

 rht quality, 1 feel sure you will agree with me in say- 

 that for all round hard use, it "lays over" all rubber 



11 this "duffle," with change of underwear, socks. 



bag, etc.. together with two to five hundred shells 

 ["cleaning utensils are all packed in a canvas "carry 

 This "carry all" is a large bag made of extra heavy 

 canvas and* locked with a strap as in our mail bags, 

 harness maker can make one of these bags of size to 

 customer for $5 to $8. I always put my shells in 

 „_>t bags rather than throw them in loose. It has the 

 advantage of keeping them perfect and you can pack the 

 rtjags in your rubber boots. With outfit in the bag 

 Kescribed, you can check it anywhere, strap it on a pack 

 Corse, or throw it in a wagon with certainty that it will 

 Keep its contents safe till wanted. Tnt Berdoodle. 

 I Washington, L). C- 



ruffed grouse or partridges, one of the two game birds which are 

 not Migratory, but which are residents with us through the entire 

 voar, was placed upon our statute books despite our most earnest 

 remonstrance. That law we must endeavor to have repealed. 

 That our Stale with all its education and scientific attainments 



should legal"; /.e something which so many enlightened common- 

 " lis have declared detrimental to the public interest, and 



f HE MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION. 



tl^HE annual dinner of the Massachusetts Fish and 

 |L Game Protection Association was the pleasant 

 yccasion which brought together a goodly number of 

 members and guests, last Thursday evening, at Youug's 

 Hotel, Boston. 



i Those present, guests of the Association, were: Hon. 

 J. Q. A. Brackett, Hon. Asa French, Hon. Benj. F. Cook, 

 Itfon. Joshua Crowell. Hon. P. D. Dwver: < '■ommis-siniiors 

 ff, H. Kimball and E. B. Hodge, of "New Hampshire: 

 JBerbert Brain erd, of Vermont; E. A. Brackett and E. H. 

 tiathrop, of Massachusetts; Mr. C. B. Reynolds, of Forest 

 AND STREAM. The members of the Association were: 

 Pres. Edward A. Samuels, Hon. Chas. Levi Woodbury, 

 'Messrs. Walter M. Brackett, J. T. Stetson. Henry J. 

 Thayer, John Fottler, Jr.. W. A. Garbett, J. N. Roberts, 

 Henry L. Roberts, Wm. S. Hills, John P. Woodbury, 

 Edward E. Small. Win. Everett, Sidney P. Brown. E. L. 

 Barry. C, J. MoKeutfie. W. M. Merrill, Geo. W. Wiftgin. 

 W. 0. Taft. Wm, J. Fegan, A. M. Davenport, B. H. Oil- 

 hreth. Luther Little, H; B. Thayer. IX T. Curtis. H. M*. 

 ISggett, Jr., Chas, G, Gibson, K. R, Hannewell, H. 6. 



Nutter, K W. Andrews. J. W. S..-a v,.y. J. Warren, II. T. 

 Koch well. E. K. Small, F. R. Shattnck. H. W. Teuney, 

 W. Thayer, W, P.. Smart, Edward T. Barker, Thomas J. 

 Holm^ Wm, Everett, W. H. Parmenter, J. B. Thomas, 

 Jr., K. B. Forbes, Jr., R. H. Jenness, E. S. Tobey, Jr., 

 J. Russell Reed, B. F, Nichols, Geo. Loring, John A. Lor- 

 W, H. C. Litchfield, Westley Jones. Rollhi Jones, Jas. 

 H. Jenkins, Sam'l Hanson, Jos. Guild, J. R, Glover, 

 Bpjicie Fitss. Chas. Harrow , A. B. Bradstreet, Waldron 

 Bates. 11. R, Beal, W. M. Bunting, Benj. C. Clark, L. 

 S. Brown, C< E. Lauriat, 



Mr. E. A. Samuels presided with his customary grace, 

 and after the menu had been discussed, delivered the 

 following address: 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Attain ir. devolves upon me as your representative to cordially 

 welcome our friends am! guests this ece-niiij? and to express the 

 wish that their visit to us may be a pleasant one iu every respect. 

 To meet with congenial spirits, to clasp hands with men who are 

 interested in pursuits which f or us have an almost absorbing 

 fascination, is indeed a great privilege, and to me. uud. 1 have no 

 doubt, to most of our members, the annual dinner of this associa- 

 tion has become one of the most enjoyable events of the year, one 

 to look, forward to with hit-*h anticipations, and one to remember 

 with intense satisfaction and pleasure. 



Anions my acquaintances in the humbler walks of life is an old 

 colored man. who for many years has given my boots an occasional 

 polish. A few days since, while he was at his customary work, I 

 Baid! "Uncle John, you and I are getting along in life; 1 think, 

 however, that you do not grow old as rapidly as 1 do, you have not 

 changed for years, while I must say 1 have." "Yes," replied the 

 old man, continuing busy at his work, "yes, yes, you are ripening 

 fast." Yes. gentlemen, 1 am ripening fast, and we are all of ns 

 ripening fast, and the time will soon arrive when we must put 

 llSlde the greater portion of our labors and also relinquish the 

 greater share of the enjoyment which we now take by forest aud 

 ftreain. It takes vigoious manhood to perform the work iu which 

 most of ns aie engaged, and it requires a vigorous man to enjoy 

 those recreations which bring us the greatest pleasure; to wield 

 the heavv rod and deftly cast the fly, sometimes for hours at a 

 Btretch; to follow the mighty salmon through the rush of boiling 

 rapids and conquer hirh only after a Straggle and fight of the 

 fiercest kind; to climb the steepest mountains and tread the mazes 

 of the deepest forests in pursuit of the antlcred game, and then to 

 hold the rifle steadily and glance through the sights with accuracy, 

 all these require vigorous manhood; aud a. ripened age with its 

 weakened muscles and unsteady nerves willnot suffice; itfollows, 

 then, that we should do our work while we may do it best, and 

 that we should enjoy our recreations when we may obtain the 

 greatest pleasure and benefit from them. 



As members of this association we have in addition to our other 

 work sometimes pretty severe labor to perform in its interests, 

 and it is fit and proper that we should occasionally meet around 

 the festive board as we have done to-night and enjoy the pleasant 

 hour in social companionship. 



Our association has work to do, and as long a3 it is alive it will 

 find enough to keen it employed, but that it may do its best work 

 it behooves it to do it when it has the best strength and oppor- 

 'lliuity. , . , . 



Among the objects for wdiich it was created and for waieh it 

 now has its existence, are the procuring of the enactment of wise 

 and judicious laws for the better protection of our song and 

 insectivorous and game biids, and the more valuable food fishes 

 and crustaceans, and the endeavoring to have them honestly aud 

 rigidly enforced. Iu additiou to this work we consider it ourduty 

 to make every effort to prevent the enactment of unwise laws, 

 laws which will have a disastrous effect upon those animals which 

 " we seek to protect. A large part of the legislation which has in 

 years past been made in this State in the better direct i on has been 

 done largelv through the influence and counsel of this associa- 

 tion, and such legislation as has been detrimental to our game 

 and fishes has been enacted in spite of our most earnest remon- 

 strances. 



Fortunately we have but little to regret and much to congratu- 

 late ourselves upon. Most of the laws in relation to the objects 

 in which we are interested are judicious and good, aud our work, 

 as it has become wider and better known, now commands the 

 sympathy and respect of the best portion of the citizens of this 

 commonwealth, and we feel that we can go to our Legislature 

 and ask each year for new legislation with better and greater 

 confidence that our objects may be obtained. 



The law enacted last wmrer which, legalized the snaring of our 



11... 



refused to legalise Is passing strange: but the mischiet ha; 



done and we must endeavor (o remedy it. We all know the influ- 

 ences that were brought to bear upon the Legislature, the pleas 

 gneerous and on their face lo the average legislator plausible, 

 which secured the passage of that act. The members wore told 

 that the farmers" boys ought to have the pri vilege of snaring part- 

 ridges, the v needed the little money they could obtain from the 

 lale of the snared birds to buy "new boots and mittens and com- 

 forters for the winter." I quote one of the arguments verbatim. 



They Were also told that "the farmer legally owned t lie birds m 

 his woods and the fish in the brooks and streams which passed 

 through his land, and rightfully should be allowed to take them 

 when aud how he pleased, just as much as he owned the nuts and 

 wild fruits which grow upon his farm." Now while that is an open 

 question and a plainly debatable one, I will uot argue it to any 

 great length here. , . , . , , 



That the wild birds nnd animals in our woods and fields, the 

 frrif vtiivrrv so called, and the fishes in our brooks and streams, 

 are the. property of the whole people, and not of any one individual 

 or class of individuals, is and has been from time almost im- 

 memorial so well recognized in every commonwealth, that the 

 various legislative bodies have never been questioned in their 

 right and duty to pass regulative and restrictive measures tor 

 their preservation. t , _ 



If the game and other birds on a man's land and the fishes in 

 t he streams which pass through his land belong to him exclu- 

 sively, and he mat capture them when and in what manner he 

 please*, by what right docs any Legislature make laws that he 

 shall not kill them except in certain months of the year anymore 

 than it makes other laws which shall compel him to pick his 

 cranberries on certain davs of the week and his nuts and other 

 wild fruits on certain other days of the worck. If it is right and 

 proper that hi; shall snare the grouse iu his woods, it is as right 

 and proper that he should drag a sweep-ue1 through the streams 

 and brooks which pass through his land and capture and destroy 

 every trout and other valuable food tish found in his territory. 

 One would be as bad as the other, one would be as absurd as the 

 other, yet each would be as right and proper as the other. 



Suppose two men with lands contiguous and a fine trout brook 

 passrag through both farms. One of these men, a man with none 

 but the most sordid imtincts, daily sweeps the brook with a fine- 

 meshed net. taking out every trout which passes within his 

 boundaries. The trout, although it has its favorit e pool and stop- 

 ping place, tra vels up and down the brook according I o the con- 

 dition of the water; so that in time every fish in the stream might 

 pass into the possession of the man who uses bis fatal nets. His 

 neighbor, who possesses a sportsman's instincts and is unwilling 

 to resort to any method of capturing the fish except with a sports- 

 man's rod and line. is. by the baser methods of his neighbor, uu- 

 jusily and meanly deprived of a fair share of the fish to which he 

 considers he is entitled: or, instead of being a fisherman himself 

 he has ii friend who is willing to pay him a good price for the 

 fishing privileges in that stream on his farm. It is not an uncom- 

 mon tiling for owners of land in this and other States to preserve 

 their fishing pi ivilegos and sell them, sometimes at a gaod, a very 

 good price, and we all know that any fair increase of income to 

 the ordinary fa rmer means a great many comforts for his family, 

 a great and 'good help to his scanty means, a targe and valuable 

 sum to assist him in meeting his tax bill and other expenses. 

 What sense, what, jus ice would there be in enacting a law which 

 would legalize the acts of this greedy neighbor: what kind of a 

 reception would any Legislature give to a petition or an advocate 

 for the law which would legalize the netting of trout in brooks 

 and streams'/ Yet there 1 would be vastly more sense in it. than 

 there is in a law which legalizes the snaring of our grouse. Your 

 trout streams ma v he artificially stocked, stocked bountifully, 

 year after year, but you cannot artificially re-stock the forests 

 with partridges after "the coveys have been exterminated. Now 

 there is an exact parallel lief ween the examples I have given; the 

 partridge is on one man's land to-day and on his neighbor's the 

 next, exactly as the trout is iu one man's portion of the stream 

 one day and' in his neighbor's the next. One farmer may possibly 

 wish for a legal right to kill the birds with net and snare; his 

 neighbor farmer being a sportsman is unwilling to kill except 

 with the sportsman's methods, and there are. 1 am glad to say, 

 many farmers in old Massachusetts who arc sportsmen in the 

 true sense, vet the man who kills the birds with nets and snares 

 has an incomparable advantage over him who uses the gun only, 

 a cordon of snares are working all the time, once set. the mau 

 who places (hem can leave them while he goes about other pur- 

 suits; they are, 1 repeat, working all the time, but no farmer, no 

 Sportsman, Can take his gnu and pursue these birds all day and 

 every day, so that in this way the law is also an untair one. 



Mr. Lathrop in this year's report of the Fish and Game Commis- 

 sioners yvell says of this: . 



"It is true that the snare and the trap bring more game t.i 

 market aud with less effort than does legitimate and manly pur- 

 suit. Like usurious interest, the snare and trap work night and 

 day. constantly and industriously eating away the principal, de- 

 si toying the stock. If our game is to be treated purely as a mat- 

 ter of present commodity without thought of the future or care 

 for the preservation of the natural product that, once exhausted, 

 cannot be restored, then let the snaring and trapping of game 

 goon." , 



Now, like the owners of fishing privileges who do not care to 

 fish, taere are many owners of wild land in this and other States 

 wno do not care to hunt and shoot, yet who find the shooting of 

 game in their forests a valuable privilege, one that they can easily 

 dispose of for a valuable consideration, and as 1 have said, every 

 source of income to the average, farmer is important in a high 

 degree; it is hard enough at the best to get a living upon our 

 roekv and sterile farms, and be who can in the proper season 

 sell the right to hunt the game in his woods for fifty or one hun- 

 dred dollars, when that game if netted or snared and marketed, 

 would not bring so much as five dollars, is greatly injured if he is 

 deprived of that privilege. Yet the existing law works that injury 

 exactly- No sportsman would pay for the privilege on one farm, 

 when the owner of the next farm is in the habit of netting and 

 snaring the very game which is desired; for as the birds wander 

 from one man's land to another's thev quickly and surely become 

 the property of him who si retches his snares out in every direc- 

 tion, and their wholesale destruction renders valueless to the 

 farmer who does not snare that wdiich was formerly of great 

 value and benefit to him. So that the law as it exists, instead of 

 working an advantage to the farmer, is bringing pecuniary dis- 

 advantage to him; and not only this, but it is also endangering the 

 small stock of birds now left to us to an alarming degree. 



In the working of this remarkable law other mischievous fea- 

 tures aupear. The act provides for and legalizes the snaring of 

 grouse bv the owner of the land or members of Lis family aut 

 ized by him to snare. Now, it would be a pretty nice legal point 

 to determine who constitute the members of the family or how 

 far and remote a relationship may be considered— it would be a 

 very difficult thing to decide, for there is a wide and large circle 

 to be pronounced upon. 



But what an unjust advantage such a law gives to the mau Who, 

 either himself or by some undetermined member of his family, 

 wishes to kill with the snare! Such a man or hie authorized 

 agent might cover every square rod of his land aud exterminate 

 every bird in the entire region, while his neighbors, with farms 

 on every side, who, not wishing to snare, not wishing to shoot, or 

 even not willing to have the birds destroyed in any way, are 

 powerless to prevent it. There are many land owners all over 

 the State who. from sentiment alone, are unwilling to have any 

 birds that frequent their farms killed, yet with such a law they 

 cannot stop the slaughter. I have shown how the law has 

 proved detrimental to many of our land owners in different ways; 

 there are other features in its workings which also render it 

 obnoxious. The average farmer and the average farmer's boys 

 have but little time to spend in setting cordons of snares in 

 their woods. In the autumn there is usually enough harvest 

 work on the farm to keep them busy, and the barn chores always 

 have to be done; I doubt even if many < f them go through their 

 woodlands once a week on the average through the entire season; 

 they are most of tiem too busy to -set the snares; yet, as I have 

 shown, they ate wronged by a neighbor less busy: they are also 

 too fully employed to range through the woods every day in 

 searching for the snares set by unauthorized parties, men or boys 

 who are not members of their family, and what is the result? 

 Simply this, every poacher and idle loafer in the neighborhood 

 has his line of snares, ranging sometimes for miles, and visits 

 them very late or very early in the day, at a time when the owner 

 of the land is most unlikely to be in the woods, and hags and 

 markets his prey with almost absolute impunity, tor how can our 

 agents in passing through the tracts of woodland, how can the 

 village officer or the game warden or deputy commissioner or any 

 one who can act, when he finds a line of snares, decide whether or 

 not they belong to the owner of the land or to bis agents, or to the 

 veriest Village poacher that exists. If they belong to the former, 

 the ofiii er is liable for trespass and damages if he destroys them, 



and If lie spares them and they belong to the poacher he is unwit- 

 tingly countenancing a, wrong-doing,. With these facts before us I 

 do not see bow any one who cares to give the matter a thought 

 can fail to be convinced, as I am, that the law as it now 

 stauds, instead of benefiting the farmer, benefits chiefly the 

 poacher and thief aud thus actually offers a bounty on crime. 

 Ought such an act to remain upon -the statutes of such a State as 

 Massachusetts? Ought we as an association sutler it to exist with- 

 out publicly placing upon it t he seal of our condemnation? Cer- 

 tainly not, and we must lose no time and spare no effort to have 

 it repealed. 



You will remember that in my address iu 1885 I used these words: 



"Unless our lobster laws are modified so as to secure a close, sea- 

 son wc are likely, in the not distant future, to suffer from a 

 scarcity, if not failure, of our suoply. It seems to me, and I am 

 by no means alone in the opinion, that the New England States 

 should have not far from a two months' close season, and our 

 society should, with as little delay as possible, endeavor to secure 

 co-operation to procure legislation in these States to this effect. 

 It is a practicable measure aud should be attended to. Unless 

 something is done to this end I sincerely believe wc shall, in a 

 great measure, lose one; of the most important and delicious 

 articles of food that wc take from the water. We often speak of 

 exhausting the soil; exhaustion of the ocean crops can be as 

 surely acc'om pi ished. Granted that it takes more time, but unless 

 it is prevented It can be done. It is a matter of common observa- 

 tion among us, that the average size and catch of our lobsters 

 grow less and less every year, and the history of the lobster fish- 

 eries in Europe bears me out in the views I have expressed." 



1 also showed how the law providing for a close season had been 

 enacted by the Norwegian Parliament, and gave you the results, 

 namely, that the lobster fisheries, which had been almost com- 

 pletely destroyed, were brought back to a productiveness almost 

 unheard of, the exportation increasing in a few years from a 

 barren 803,000 t o about 2,000,000 lobsters, all this solely and ab- 

 solutely from the enactment and enforcement of the protective 

 law. Now, gentlemen, if I were then forcibly impressed with the 

 desirability of an absolute close season at the most critical breed- 

 ing time or the lobster, I am now, with the possess'u n of "more 

 light," convinced of the absolute necessity for one, and I tell you 

 candidly that I am certain that unless we soon have the protec- 

 tion of a close season of some weeks length for our breeding 

 lobsters, our own supply will be exterminated, and we will be 

 absolutely dependent upon a supply from outside our limits. 

 Close and persistent fishing has brought our own supply to such a 

 condition that it is almost, of no account, while if the lobsters 

 were allowed a brief period free from molestation at the height 

 of the breeding time, it would son be as valuable as it ever was. 

 This is not tbo wild statement of an alarmist, but is the honest 

 opinion of one who has given the matter much study and observa- 

 tion both on our own coast and» that of the provinces. It is a sin- 

 gular thing that while wc were among the first to advocate an 

 absolute close season for the lobsters and endeavor to secure 

 the co-operation of the Legislatures of other New England States 

 to adopt uniform laws, they have seen proper to follow our advice 

 while our own State is still without suoh a close time. 



Almost every one who has given the subject any thought sees 

 the necessity for some action, yet it soems next to impossible to 

 make our Legislature take prompt and decisive measures. 



I have said that we largely depend upon outside sources of sup- 

 ply, and it is the case. First we looked to Maine for it and then 



e turned to the Provinces, and now what is the result? Maine 



i strr.ining every nerve to prevent the extinction of its own crop, 

 and the authorities of Canada are even now advocating a close 

 season during a portion of the breeding time at least. It has got 

 to come; a lobster crop is one of the easiest crops to exhaust that 

 there is either in or beneath the water or upon the land. I have 

 known of canning factories which started with a working force of 

 from eighty to one hundred hands, which within three or four 

 years could not obtain enough lobsters to keep them running even 

 with a very small force, and 1 know of one or two that have been 

 compelled' to close. Take all the lobsters great and small from 

 trie ocean bottom in a given area and it will be a long time before 

 this supply is replenished; the fibster, unlike some, of our most 

 valuable food- Ushers, is not a great traveler, it does not wander 

 far from its regular habitat and is what might be called local in 

 its habits. 



1 have said we now look to the Canadian Provinces for our sup- 

 ply, and that thai is even now growing precarious; the only hope 

 is that the Dominion Oovermnent will enact a wise and proper 

 law enforcing a close season. It will have to be done and the 

 sooner it is done the bet ter. To show what the Provincial feeling 

 is, and to emphasize what I have already said, 1 will make a few 

 quotations from recent reports by Government officers. 



Hon. John Tilton, Deputy Minister of Fisheries, says: "The 

 lobster fishery shows unmistakable evidence of being over-fished. 

 Energetic action cannot longer be deferred for the protection of 

 this industry, either the catch must: be prohibited for a few years, 

 a limit placed thereon, or the fishery regulated by means of 

 license." 



W. II. Rodgers, Esq., Inspector of Fisheries of Nova Scotia, an 

 acute observer, says: "Lobsters have been plentiful on most of 

 our coasts, but show unmistakable evidence of exhaustion in 

 many places from over-fishing. More stringent regulations are 

 much needed to preserve this fishery from sharing the same fate 

 that has overtaken it in other countries. 1 would recommend a 

 . lose time extending from July 30 to Sept. 10, and to be made uni- 

 form all around the coast and that noue he taken less than lutein. 

 This will agree with the laws of this fishery adopted in most 

 other countries, and if vigorously enforced will preserve it and in 

 the end will be an advantage to all concerned." 



W. H. Yenning, Esq.. Inspector of Fisheries, of New Brunswick, 

 and he is also a very careful aud accurate observer, says: "Tno 

 returns will show an enormous catch of this shellfish, the average 

 size of which continues to diminish. To fill a pound can now re- 

 quires rather more than the average of six lobsters— about 2J-.>oz. 

 of meat per fish. The returns show 4,(181,812 cans preserved and 

 4.290 tons of fresh lobster. In order to fill these cans 38,000,000 

 lobsters were killed. If to these we add the number exported 

 ficsh. allowing lM-lbs. to each, which is a large average, the 

 num tier killed during tile season will b s 33*720,003* How much longer 

 an increased catch can be made out of a diminishing supply is a 

 problem of some interest to those who have watched the rise, pro- 

 gress and de.j ay of this industry. I can only urge on the depart- 

 ment the great importance of saving it from impending destruc- 

 tion." 



J. Hunter Duvar, Inspector of Fisheries of Prince Edward 

 Island, says, "The lobster fishery has taken another year's step 

 toward its early extinction. More factories have been in opera- 

 tion, many more traps have been set, and greater exertions made 

 with a result of 772,409 fewer cans. There is now a total absence 

 of large fish while the great bulk of those canned barely reached 

 a standard of 9m., thereby placing the fishery officers in the 

 unpleasant dilemma either of being powerless or having to shut 

 down every factory in the Province with, it may be, one or two 

 exceptions'. In previous reports I fully discussed the various 

 points of the industry as they arose; among these were in last 

 year the shortening of the fishing season, making the legal stand- 

 ard by weight instead of measure and bringing the fishing season 

 under the operation of the Fishery Act. 



"As these points have been so fully commented on they need not 

 again be goue into. The circumstances of the fisheries aie chang- 

 ing year by year. It is now no longer a question of regulating a 

 legitimate* occupation but of dealing with a ruined industry. * * 

 To such a pass is the fishery now reduced, the question almost 

 narrows itself to the consideration whether the Government will 

 close the fishery for a term or whether reckless destruction will 

 close it forever." 



With this and such other weight of testimony as can be laid 

 before our Legislature it seems to me that it cannot much longer 

 postpone the enactment of a judicious law, and our mission is and 

 should be to use every effort to secure it. 



A gentleman once said to me that he did not believe in protecting 

 our Massachusetts game birds; that such action is a moie waste of 

 energy aud that it is only a question of time, and near time at 

 that, wheu, owing to our increase of population and the obstruc- 

 tion of our forests they are surely doomed to extermination. That 

 was twenty odd years 'ago, yet our game birds arc yet not entirely 

 extinct. We have still enough left to pay well for pro! ection, 

 aud although our population has increased, our area of wild lauds, 

 lands growing up to fores: s, is larger than it was then. 

 Others have asKed me, and not long ago either, if I believed that 

 protection really does protect, to us such a question seems liclicti- 

 tons, hut it is not so absurd to every one. In reply I made answer 

 as follows: "Twenty-five or thirty years ago I began vifciting the 

 Maine woods, and the Rangeley Lakes and Schoodic Lakes then 

 possessed great charms for me; trout were then plentiful in the 

 former and Schoodic salmon, those most gamy of all the 

 Salmonidie, were abundant in the latter, but deer, particularly in 

 the Schoodic region, were far from common. I remember of once 

 ascending the stream to a little pond or lake which flowed into 

 the Grand Lake and there on the shore was the track of a deer. 

 Mv Indian guide called my attention to it with something of ani- 

 mation and replied, when I asked If deer were plentiful there, 

 that "deer were sca rce; now and then one only." 



Early last November 1 visited the fish hatchery at the Grand 

 Lake Stream, and ten miles from the very spot that I refer to, 



