10 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 26, 1888, 



THE NEW FISH COMMISSIONER. 



ON Monday last, President Cleveland appointed Col. 

 Marshall McDonald to be the Fish Commissioner of the 

 United States, in place of Prof. C Brown Goode, who 

 declined to leave his position as the head of the National 

 Museum in order to retain the cominissionership to which 

 he was appointed without his seeking, or even desiring it. 

 The appointment of Col. McDonald is a most excellent one, 

 and was requested by most of the employees of the Commis- 

 sion, the Motional Pish cry Association, the Fulton Market 

 Fishmongers' Association, and many U. S. Senators, all of 

 whom petitioned for his appointment. lie is a practical 

 fishculturist of long experience, and is a man of the requisite 

 hreadth of view to take charge of the vast interests, both 

 scientific and practical, which have grown with the annual 

 expansion of the work since the Commission was organized 

 hyProf. Baird,in 1S72. 



Col. McDonald was born in Romney, Va., in 1835. In 1854 

 and 1855 he was a student of natural history under Professor 

 Baird at the Smithsonian Institution. He was graduated at 

 the Virginia Military Institution in 1861. He served from 

 1861 to 1865 in the Confederate Army as an officer of 

 engineers and ordnance, and at the close of the war was 

 Chief Eugineer of the Army of North Carolina, under Brax- 

 ton Bragg, with the rauk of Colonel. His commission as 

 Brigadier-Ceneral had been made out. hut it failed to reach 

 him until the surrender. From 1865 to 1879 he was a Profes- 

 sor in the Virgiuia Military Institute. In 1877 he was a com- 

 missioner of State to make a survey of the mineral resources 

 of the James River Basin and reported to the Legislature. 



In 1875 he became interested in fishcultu re and assisted 

 Mr. Fred Mather when the latter was sent by Prof. Baird to 

 establish a hatchery for California salmon at Lexington, 

 Va., and was shortly afterward appointed to be the sole Fish 

 Commissioner of the State. The tol lowing year he invented 

 the famous fish way which bears his name, and which differed 

 in principle from any then in use. 



In 1879 he became attached to the United States Fish 

 Commission. For some years he has been in charge of the 

 entire, work of the distribution of young fishes, and more 

 recently has been chief of the division of tishculture in the 

 United States Fish Commission. He has received gold 

 medals for improvements in fisbculture from the inter- 

 national fishery exhibitions at Berlin and London, a silver 

 medal from the Soeiet6 d'Acclimatiou of France, and a 

 special medal from the same society for a fishway devised 

 for the River Vienne, in France. In 1881 he devised the 

 automatic hatching jars now in general use by the United 

 States Fish Commission, the several State commissions, and 

 in Europe and Japan. This apparatus first made possible 

 the vast extension on the work of shad propagation accom- 

 plished of late years and rendered the work of the United 

 States Commissioneis practicable lrom the commercial 

 standpoint. Iu the winter of 1882 he developed at Wood's 

 Holl the tidal apparatus now in use for hatching the float- 

 ing eggs of cod, halibut and other marine species. The vast 

 work of distribution now carritd oa by the United States 

 Fish Commission has been developed by using this, its 

 methods perfected, and the cost of the work cheapened, so 

 that vastly greater results are now obtained without any 

 increase of cost. 



His papers, published from time to time, cover the whole 

 range of nshcultural work in its scientific as well as eco- 

 nomic aspects and are to be found in his State reports as 

 Commissioner of Fisheries for Virginia, the report of the 

 Commissioners in Forest and Stream, in Science) in the 

 annual report of the Fisheries Society and in the quarto 

 fisheries report. He is accounted by competent judges as 

 the most accomplished fishculturist in the country, if not in 

 the world. He is known wherever the shad and carp propa- 

 gated by the (xoverument commission has been distributed. 

 He is zealous in bis wjn - k, a good organizer, and an officer 

 who knows how to get along with the economical allowance 

 of Congress. 



Within the nast few years there has been some dissatisfac- 

 tion expressed" by the Interior States because, in their opin- 

 ion, too much of' the appropriations were expended in deep 

 sea explorati«is, in which they were not interested, and 

 they demanded tuat more should he done in tishculture, 

 especially in the region of the Great Lakes. We believe 

 that Col. McDonald will be able to harmonize all these dis- 

 cordant elements without sacrificing the scientific inquiries 

 and investigations, for which the Fish Commission was 

 originally created. 



REPORT OF THE U. S. FISH COMMISSION. 



Y\7"E have the last report of the Fish Commission, for 1885, 

 V V being Part XIII. of the series. It is a bulky octavo 

 of 1,100 pages, with over 200 full page plates, in addition to 

 numerous illustrations printed in the text. As usual, the 

 volume consists of the reports of the Commissioner (112 

 pages), and appendices containing special reports of vessels, 

 stations, etc., with other interesting matter. Year by year 

 a rapid expansion of the work of the Commission is notice- 

 able, and Congress has shown an appreciation of the work by 

 increasing the appropriations necessary to carry it on. The 

 different State Commissioners have acted in harmony with 

 the U. S. Commissioner, who has also had the hearty co- 

 operation of many men of science in the work of investiga- 

 tion. 



The stations at which work of various kinds was done in 

 1885 were: fnvestigation and research: Gloucester, Mass.; 

 Wood's Holl, Mass., and St. Jerome, Md. Propagation of 

 the Salmonida?: Grand Lake Stream, Me.; Bucksport, Me.; 

 Northville, Mich.; Alpena, Mich.; Baird, Cal.; trout ponds 

 near Baird, Cal.; Wytneviile, Va., and Cold Spring Harbor. 

 N. Y. Propagation of shad: Battery Station, Md. ; Central 

 Station, Washington, D. C: Fort Washington, Md.; Glou- 

 cester city, N. J., and Lambertville, N. J. Propagation of 

 carp: Monument Reservation, Washington, D. C, and Ar- 

 senal grounds, Washington, D. C. A new station for hatch- 

 ing the Rocky Mountain trout, Sulmo pttrpiW0Cjfc,tt8,, is pro- 

 pused in Colorado, or elsewhere in that region, it being 

 thought by ichthyologists that this species will prove more 

 valuable than the rainbow trout, being of greater size and 

 more active. 



The vessels of the Commission are: The Albatross, a sea- 

 going steamer, fitted tor deep-sea dredging and investiga- 

 tion, a description of which has appeared in our columns. 

 The Fish Hawk, a flat-bottomed, twin-screw steamer, fitted 

 to ascend rivers and hatch shad and to assist the hatching of 

 sea fishes at Wood's Holl. The Lookout, a vessel originally 

 designed for a pleasure yacht, but capable of making ocean 

 voyages, having gone on a trip of investigation to tne west 

 coast of Florida in March, and then to No Man's Land, and 

 in August it was loaned to Mr. E. G. Blackford, of the N. Y. 

 Commission, to inspect the oyster beds of New York waters. 

 The schooner Grampus, a well-smack, designed by Capt. J, 

 W.Collins, whose work will be to dredge, trawl, etc., as 

 required, and to bring in live fishes for propagation. In 

 addition to these vessels there are tt.e following small auxil- 

 iary craft: Albatross cutter, 2ti%tt. long, 7ft. beam, and 3ft. 

 lOin. deep; Albatross gig, 25tt. long, 5ft. 2in. beam, and 3ft. 

 3in. deep; Fish Hawk launch, 24ft. lOin, long, 5tt. Sin. beam, 

 and 3ft. 9in. deep: Cygnet (No. 82), 33ft. long, S^tt. beam, 

 and 4ft. deep, and two launches 30 and 37ft. Jong attached to 

 the Havre de Grace station. Two other launches have been 

 loaned to the Commission by the Bureau of Equipment and 

 Recruiting. All the larger vessels are officered and manned 

 by the U. S. Navy. 



The railroad cars of the Commission are three in number 

 and are in active service about six months in each year. 

 Many railroads have taken the cars over their rails gratui- 



tously, while others have hauled them at the nominal sum 

 of 20 cents per mile and have also given permission to trans- 

 port both fish and eggs in the baggage cars of passenger 

 trains. The foreign steamship companies have given free 

 transportation for fish and eggs both ways, thus showing 

 their appreciation of the work done by the fishculturists on 

 both sides of the Atlantic. 



The species of fish and invertebrates receiving the atten- 

 tion of the Commission during the year were: Codfish, 

 white perch, whitefish, moranke (Vorcgutius albula), 

 grayling, brook trout, lake trout, rainbow trout, salmon 

 (Atlantic), landlocked salmon, brown trout (European), 

 Loch Leven trout (Scotch), salmon (California), shad, river 

 herring, smelt, tomccd, carp, goldfish, golden ide ; tench, 

 catfish, round clams, oysters and lobsters. In addition to 

 this list the red-eye perch (rock bass) and black bass have 

 received favorable consideration, and may be added to the 

 list of species cultivated at an early day. There are detailed 

 reports on the culture of all these fishes, and, under the 

 head of "The Increase of Food Fishes," fishways are given 

 an important place. The McDonald fishway over the Great 

 Falls of the Potomac has been planned and the contract 

 given out by the Secretary of War, the terms requiring its 

 completion on Oct. 31. 



The work of the steamer Albatross is reported by Lieut.- 

 Commauder Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., commanding. The logs 

 of the voyages are given in full; much interesting material 

 was obtained by dredging and trawling in tne Gulf of 

 Mexico and in other waters. The work of the Fish Hawk is 

 reported by Lieut. L. W. Piepmeyer, U. S. N., commanding. 

 Tne vessel engaged in shad hatching on the Delaware and in 

 hatching Spanish mackerel in Virginia, and then went to 

 Wood's Holl. The Lookout did some work on the Gulf 

 coast of Florida, which is reported by Mate James A. Smith, 

 U. S. N., commanding, and then assisted in the shad hatch- 

 ing in Chesapeake Bay, Elk River, and on the Delaware 

 River. The breadth of the work of the Commission is partly 

 outlined in the foregoing remarks, and is far heyond the 

 most sanguine dreams of the fishculturist of a dozen years 

 previous. 



[TO HE CONTINUED.] 



THE JAPANESE FISHERIES. — We have the 27th report 

 of the Northern Fisheries Society of Japan, dated October, 

 1887. By favor of President K. Ito, we have a translation of 

 its contents, which are: Association Records— Monthly 

 meetings, new members and donations. Contributions — 

 Life of the late Prof. Spencer F. Baird, with portrait. Cor- 

 respondence—Salmon lisheriesof kitauii; Konibu Market: 

 Hakodate Exports and Imports of Marine Products. News 

 — Voracity of the Shark; Results of the Etrof Salmon 

 Fisheries;" New Method of Tai Fishery; The Howietown 

 Hatchery; Mr. Akokabe in China; Narrow Escape of a Nova 

 Scotia Fishing Schooner; Deterioration of the French Sar- 

 dine Fisheries; Death of the United States Fish Commis- 

 sioner; Review of the Herring Fisheries of Hokkaido: Coffee 

 House for Gloucester Fishermen, and the President's Return 

 from America. 



HATCHING CODFISH. — At the new hatchery at Jen 

 Pond Island, near Cape Ann, the U, S. Fish Commission has 

 at present seven millions of codfish eggs in process of hatch- 

 ing. 



Bogs: Their Man agement and Tr cai rn cut in Disease. By 

 Aahmont. Price $9. Kennel Record and Account Book. 

 Price §8. Training vs. Breaking. By fc\ T. Hammond. 

 Price $1. Firxt Lessons in Dog Training, with Points of 

 all Breeds. Price 25 cants. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Ja,n. 34. to 29.— Augusta, Ga., Richmond County Poultry and Pet 

 Stock. 



Feb. 13 to 17.— First show Fort Schuyler Kennel Cfefo, Utica, N. 

 Y. E. ,T. Spencer, Sec. 



Feb. 21 to 24, 1888.— Twelfth Annnai Show of the Westminster Ken- 

 nel Club, Madison Square Garden, New York. James Mortimer, 

 Superintendent. 



Feb. 28 to March 2.— Show of Philadelphia Kennel Club. W. H. 

 Child. Sec. 



March 27 to SO.— Fourth Annual Show of the New Haven Kennel 

 Club, New Haven, Conn. E. Sheffield Porter, Secretary. 



April 3 to G.— Fourth Annual Dok Show of the New England 

 Kennel Club, at Boston, Mass. J. W. Newman, Secretary. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 T<HE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials), ti 

 published every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be in 

 early. Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed 

 envelope. Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. 

 No entries inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription 

 fl.AO. AddreBS "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New 

 York. Number of entries already pnnted 5 "708. 



OPPOSED TO RULE 2. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I note that Mr. Peshall accuses me, in common with other 

 opponents of Rule 2. of writing "bosh;" hut it strikes me 

 very forcibly that when he continues the paragraph by say- 

 ing that the entry fees charged at shows and the compulsory 

 registration fees are on a par he writes utter rot himself. 

 The entry fees to shows are payment for possible benefits to 

 be accrued (in the shape of prizes), and board and attend- 

 ance during the continuance of the show. Will Mr. Peshall 

 inform me what benefit will accrue to owners registering in 

 his book when they are already entered in the A. K. P.? 

 to the owners oi the worthless curs to be seen at every show? 

 or to the man who enters his pet for the satisfaction of see- 

 ing him at a show? and never heard and doesn't want to 

 hear of the American Kennel Club Stud Book or any other 

 stud hook or register, for that matter. Will he also state 

 what his grounds are for saying that had Rule 3 been in 

 force when Kino was first exhibited, his breeding would 

 have been discovered? Kino was registered in the A. K. R. 

 as ''pedigree unknown; imported," and it was well known 

 that his breeding was obscure. Had he been entered in the 

 A. K. C. S. B. would he not have been enters din the same 

 manner? Rule 2 requires all dogs entered at shows to be 

 registered in the A. K. C. S. B., and in consequence dogs of 

 the "Sire — Lmknown. Dam— Fan" breeding and "Sire — 

 Bulldog. Dam— Newfoundland" type would be altogether 

 too common in its pages. Would it tend to advance the 

 interests of dogs to have such brutes as these registered? I 

 think not. 



At the Ottawa show held in '83 there were 319 entries, out 

 of these over fifty were without pedigrees. What a benefit 

 it would be had they been put on record, immortalized, in 

 the A.K.C.S.B.! It must not bethought that the Ottawa 

 show was a paltry little "side show" affair. The D. of C. K. 

 C. exhibited its dogs and Messrs. Harrison, Davey, O'Shea, 

 Callender, Jarvis, Leavitt, Niven, Campbell, Wilms, 

 Rotbera, Rutherford, and the Hillside and Howell kennels 

 were entered there. I mention Ottawa as the catalogue 

 happened to be on my table. 



The one or two dogs I propose showing this spring were 

 entered in the first issue of the A.K.C.S.B., therefore I will 

 have no compunction in showing them at all shows; hut [ 

 meant to exhibit from four to six this fall in the West, most 

 of whom are not registered. I will not register one dog 

 under compulsion, and therefore will not exhibit them at 

 shows held under Rule 2. My opinious may be "bosh" but 

 I will act up to them. I have to submit to coercion in 

 business matters; but will not he coerced in my recreations 

 of which I count my dogs, their work iu the field and exhi- 

 bitaoa on the bench the chief. If other dog lovers will fol- 

 low the same course Rule No. 3 will soon have to be re- 

 scinded, 



I trust Mr. Peshall will not fall into the too common error 

 of lapsing into personalities, as he has made statements 

 which I would in all courtesy be obliged if he w^ould ex- 

 plain. * f. H. F, Mercer. 



Editor Forest a nd St ream: 



I have no hesitation in saying that I am strongly opposed 

 to Rule 2 as being hurtful to kennel interests. As a breeder 

 of fine dogs, I am opposed to allowing or making it possible 

 for any one who is willing to pay 50 cents apiece for the reg- 

 istration of his dogs to offer these dogs and their progeny for 

 sale under the title of being registered in the A. E. C..S. B , 

 which would be considered by the novice as being all that 

 was necessary to prove the superior breeding of the animals 

 in question. In the registration of horses, cattle, and other 

 animals, the owner has to show that the animal he desires 

 to register is eligible for registration, either through its 

 individual merit or from the fact that it is descended from 

 animals of known merit or that have been registered. If 

 Rule 2 is enforced, any man can take the worst mongrel off 

 the street, fill out a registration blank, and forward 50 cents 

 with the same to the secretary of the A. K. C, attach a 

 number to his dog, and then dispose of him to the first pur- 

 chaser for several times the amount he is worth, from the 

 fact of his being registered. Any breeder will recognize the 

 force of this statement. My opinion has always been, that if 

 a man did not think enough of his dog to register him that 

 it was his own loss. Hundreds of dogs are exhibited annu- 

 ally that are no more eligible for registration in any stud 

 book, in the eyes of competent judges, than would be a cross 

 between a hound and a spaniel. 1 hope to see Rule 2 struck 

 out. Andrew Laidlaw. 



WoongTOCK, Ontario. 



The American Spaniel Club has voted on the question: 

 "Shall the club funds he distributed at shows where com- 

 pulsory registration is enforced?" There were 44 votes re- 

 ceived, 35 of which were opposed to giving the prizes where 

 Rule 2 is enforced and 9 in favor of doing so; 7 of the latter 

 were in favor of supporting Rule 2 and 3 were non-com- 

 mittal, but thought it best to offer prizes at the large shows. 

 As the members of the American Spaniel Club are represen- 

 tative breeders, the result of the vote is significant as show- 

 ing the attitude of the spaniel men toward the clique of 

 schemers who have set out to run the dog interests of this 

 country to suit their own ends. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



Let me congratulate you upon your manly stand in regard 

 to Rule 2, secretly passed by the American Kennel Olub. I 

 indorse jour views and those of several very eemible men 

 whose letters adorned your columns on the same subject. 



At a recent meeting of the Pacific Kennel Club, of which 

 I have the honor to be presideut, and which is a member of 

 the A. K. C the rule was generally condemned as being too 

 arbitrary, narrow, and not at all in accordance with good 

 taste or 'judgment. It is un-American. If obeyed literally 

 here, wewould have few entries. If obeyed literally through- 

 out the country at large, it would seriously embarrass and 

 cripple the very object for which bench shows were created, 

 viz.: the improvement of all breeds of our canine friends. 

 In time it may be heneficial to establish such a rule, but not 

 now. We are too young; let us wait. 



It occurs to me that tnere must be something behind this 

 action of the A. K. C. Is there an Ethiopean in the fence? 

 Where and what is he? 



Iam in favor of registration, but the conditions are so 

 widely different here from the conditions in England, that 

 we cannot, avail ourselves of local registration to the same 

 extent. England is bouud in a small volume, close knit. 

 We cover almost limitless space. Our club is only a baby, 

 but we joined the A. K. C. on broad grounds, inspired by 

 the best motives. 



If I, for oue, as an officer of the club, had ever thought the 

 central organization would try to enact a law or rule which 

 is so obviously unfair, or which had something behind it all, 

 my vote would never have assisted the application for mem- 

 bership therein. Accept my best wishes, Mr. Editor, tor a 

 happy New Year. And that good dogs may continue to 

 increase, and fill the laud, and their owners be crowned with 

 pride, is the hearty desire of your friend, 



Sttjart Taylor. 



San Francisco, Cal. 



Editor Fo rest and Stream: 



I own the bitch Nut meg and intended to have shown her 

 with several others at New York, hut that odious Rule 2 is 

 too big a pill for me to swallow. 



The A.K.R. has always been satisfactory, and I have had 

 no inclination to change or to patronize more than oue t and 

 I am of the opinion that while I remain in my right mind I 

 shall not he driven into it. Although afraid that wins will 

 not count at Utica, owing to their decision against Rule 2, 

 yet I shall show there. H. R, T. Coffin. 



Glens Falls, New York. 



It appears that the editor of the A. K. R. some four years 

 ago expressed an opinion that compulsory registration would 

 remedy certain existing evils, if it could be brought about; 

 but we have j etto learn that he or any one else ever seriously 

 proposed to compel owners to pay registry fees, until the idea 

 was taken up by Secretary Vredenburgh aud his friends who 

 wanted to provide a berth for him. What the precise views 

 of the editor of the A. K. R. on compulsory registration may 

 now he we are not advised, but if any oue is ignorant of what 

 the dog owners of this country think about it he can readily 

 learn by reading their views as expressed in this journal. 



At a meeting of the executive committee of the American 

 Mastiff Club it was resolved that the prizes offered for com- 

 petition at the show of the New England Kennel Ciub by 

 the American Mastiff Cluh are hereby withdrawn. This 

 action was taken on the ground that the withdrawal of the 

 New England Kennel Club from the American Kennel Club 

 makes a radical change in the conditions under which the 

 prizes were offe red. 



THE BEAGLE CLUB. — We have received the report of 

 the treasurer and secretary of the American English Beagle 

 Club for the six months ending Dec. 31, 18S7. The report 

 shows a small halance to the credit of the club. The list of 

 members numbers 49. The club has done good work in the 

 past aud it is to be hoped that every lover of the hreed will 

 come forward and by joining the cluh assist to increase its 

 usefulness in the future. 



POINTER BITCH LOST.— A liver and white pointer 

 hitch, 4yrs. old and weighing about 421bs., has strayed or 

 been stolen. She had on a black, round leather collar. A 

 liberal reward will be paid for her return to her owner, W. 

 T. Payne, 31 West Thirty-eighth street, New York. 



