Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of^ the Rod and Gun. 



TJ5BJI9, $4 a Yeah. 10 Cts. a Copy. | 

 Six Months, $2. I 



NEW YORK, JANUARY 26, 1888. 



I VOL. XXX.— No. 1. 



) Nos. 39 & 40 Park. Row, New York. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

 The Forest ahd Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 

 ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 

 Communications on the subject to which its pages are devoted are 

 fWpectf ully invited. Anonymous communications will not be re- 

 garded. No name will be published except with writer's consent. 

 The Editors are not responsible for the views of correspondents. 



AD VERTISEMENTS. 

 Only advertisements of an approved character inserted. Inside 

 pages, nonpareil type, 30 cents per line. Special rates for three, six, 

 Unil twelve months. Seven words to the line, twelve lines to one 

 inch. Advertisements should be. sent in by Saturday previous to 

 Uaue in which thoy are to be inserted. Transient advertisements 

 must invariably be accompanied by the money or they will not be 

 inserted. Reading notices $1.00 per line. 



SUBSCRIPTIONS 

 May begin at any time. Subscription price, $4 per year; $2 for six 

 months; to a club of three annual subscribers, three copies for $10; 

 Ave copies for $16. Remit by express money-order, regi ered letter, 

 money-order, or draft, payable to the Forest and Stream Publishing 

 Company. The paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 

 tie United States, Canadas and Great Britain. For sale by Davies 

 & Co., No. 1 Finch Lane, Cornhill, London. General subscription 

 agents for Great Britain, Messrs. Davies & Co., and Messrs. Samp- 

 SonLow, Marston, Searles and Rivington, 188 Fleet street, London, 

 Eng. Foreign subscription price, $5 per year; $2.50 for six months. 

 Address all communications, 



Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

 NOS. 39 and 40 Park Row. New York City. 



CONTENTS. 



EDITORIAL, 



The National Forestry Bill. 



Notes and Comments. 



The Rock Climbers. -v. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Camping on the Eastern Coast 

 Natural History. 



The Peccarv. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Game and Fish Protectors. 



Long Island Duck Shooting. 



Maine Wardens and Fines. 



The Quebec Club. 



Winter in the Park. 



Notes from Missouri. 



Michigan Game and Wardens. 



Massai ■True-c Ua Game. 



Albany Game L,aw Mill. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 



Notes on the Sunapee Trout. 



Sensible Icelandic Fishermen. 



Sunapee .Lake. 



Angling Notes. 



PlSUCULTURE. 



The New Fish Commissioner. 

 Black Bass in Germany. 

 Report of the F. S. Fish Com- 

 mission. 



The Kennel. 



Texas Field Trials. 



American Spaniel Club. 



Worcester Fur Company. 



Opposed to Rule No. 2. 



New York Dog Show. 



Columbus Dog Show. 



Indianapolis Dog Show. 



Why Does the A. K. C. Exist? 



A. K. C. Treasurer's Report. 



Kennel Notes. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Bullard Detachable Magazine. 



Range and GaUerv. 



The Trap. 

 Yachting. 



The Four Dimensions. 



A Generous Concession. 



Hollow Keels for Cutters. 



Ten Months or Six Months 

 Notice. • 



Seawanhaka C. Y. C. 



Elections of Officers. 

 Canoeing. 



Clubs in the A. C. A. 



Au Association Meet. 



The 75ft. Limit Race. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



THE NATIONAL FORESTRY BILL. 

 r FHE bill prepared by the American Forestry Associa- 

 ■9 tion for the consideration of Congress at the present 

 session is a wise and important measure. Its adoption 

 at Washington would mark a turning point in our system 

 of public land administration. Exploding the traditions 

 which have to this time held sway, the framers of the 

 bill recognize that the existence of timber on land gives 

 an added value to it; and the bill provides for the recovery 

 of the value of the timber from the purchasers of such 

 United States land as may hereafter be thrown open to 

 sale, or from the occupants of such lands thrown open to 

 homestead en try. Lands which in the opinion of the 

 Commissioner of Forests are more suited for agriculture 

 than for State forests will be thrown open to sale or 

 homestead entry as hitherto, but the timber will be 

 ealued by the Forest Department, and the purchaser or 

 iccupant will be called on to pay for it at that valuation. 

 Sec. II.) 



The most important measures provided by this bill are: 

 ' first, the withdrawal from sale -of all unsurveyed public 

 aads of the United States, embracing natural forests, or 

 >vbieh are less valuable for agricultural than for forest 

 purposes, together with all surveyed lands returned as 

 •imber lands; second, the classification of these lands in 

 hree classes (Sec. VI.); third, the absolute reservation of 

 Jl lands in the first and third classes as national forest 

 eserves (Sec. VII.), and, fourth, the restoration to entry 

 >f lands of the second class after due appraisement and 

 Ossification. 



The operation of the bill is apparently not extended to 

 urveyed lands other than those returned by the public 

 "•rvey as timber lands, unless they are mountain lands, 

 'i' lands situated near the headwaters of any stream, or 

 ands more fitted for forest than for agriculture. These 

 'xceptions are not very clearly provided for in the bill, 

 iu t it may be safely inferred from the provisions of Sec. 

 ^ that the framers distinctly contemplated the reserva- 

 ll >n of all lands, which for economic or other public rea- 

 0n s should be held permanently as forest reserve. 



The provisions of the bill most open to criticism are 

 hoge embodied in Sec. 3. It is not for the would-be 



settler to decide whether the land he applies for is more 

 valuable for agricultural or mining purposes than for the 

 timber growing thereon; nor that it is not situated near 

 the headwaters of any stream; the one is merely a matter 

 of private judgment, the other a question of definition. 

 The United States Surveys and State surveys are so far 

 advanced in almost every State of the Union that, pend- 

 ing actual survey and classification, the Commissioner 

 of Forests should have no difficulty in indicating all the 

 most important blocks of land, which from their general 

 elevation, or relation to the river supply of the region, it 

 would be desirable on economic grounds to include in the 

 forest reserve. 



The facilitation of settlement on timber lands is of no 

 vital importance to the well-being of the country. On 

 the contrary, it would be to the public interest to with- 

 draw all such lands from entry finally and unreservedly, 

 and if after survey and classification, and a careful cal- 

 culation of the area necessaiy to the supply of the per- 

 manent timber needs of the country, it should be decided 

 that the reserved area is in excess of requirements, the 

 lands best suited for agriculture might then be disposed 

 of at their market value. Nothing can be more disastrous 

 than the present system of giving land for nothing and 

 allowing it to be exhausted with impunity. This country 

 will never be on a sound agricultural footing as long as 

 there is one acre of land open to homestead entry, or 

 obtainable at a price per acre below the cost of an ordinary 

 dressing of manure. 



The forest bill puts an end to all further, speculation in 

 United States timber lands, and the sooner the several 

 States follow suit and withdraw their timber lands from 

 sale or entry, and make reservations of their mountain- 

 ous tracts, the regions feeding the headwaters of their 

 streams, or such area as may be required for the perma- 

 nent local supply of forest products, the better for the 

 public. 



The passage of the United States forestry bill would 

 render the present a very auspicious time for speculation 

 in State timber lands. It is certain that the several 

 States having timber lands would follow the lead of Con- 

 gress without any very great delay, and that the moment 

 they did so, inferior timber lands, which speculators have 

 hitherto rejected, would be sold at a valuation over and 

 above the assessed price of the land. 



The bill it will be seen provides for the appointment of 

 a Commissioner of Forests, and four assistants, and for 

 the appropriation of a sum of five hundred thousand 

 dollars for the payment of salaries, traveling, and other 

 expenses. This staff is altogether inadequate to the 

 duties required of tliem, and one of the most important 

 matters demanding the attention of the Commissioner 

 of Forests will be the selection of a suitable, efficient, 

 and trustworthy staff of subordinates; for the admin- 

 istration of the forests will be practically in their 

 hands. 



This bill is in line with the reforms long advocated in 

 this journal, and wo hope we may congratulate its pro- 

 moters on having secured the passage of so carefully 

 considered and comprehensive a measure. 



THE MENHADEN QUESTION. 

 npHE men engaged in the menhaden oil and guano in- 



^ dustry met the committee of the National Rod and 

 Eeel Association at Mr. Blackford's laboratory, on Thurs- 

 day last, and answered such questions as the committee 

 asked. The object of the inquiry was to learn to what 

 extent, if any, their wholesale capture of the menhaden 

 affected the supply of food fishes, and to devise, if possible, 

 some way to remedy the evils claimed to result from the 

 menhaden fisheries. Some wonderful stories were told, 

 and the menhaden men assumed that the committee 

 knew nothing of the habits of fish, an assumption which 

 was not openly contradicted, but was received with a due 

 allowance of salt. 



The old statements, that bluefish and weakfish do not 

 feed on the menhaden, were made, and when Capt. Jep. 

 Hawkins was asked what did feed on this little fish, he 

 answered that the sharks and porpoises alone did so. 

 Capt. Hawkins admitted that all the other fishermen 

 were prejudiced against the menhaden steamers and 

 called them "pirates," but he was positive that this preju- 

 dice was founded on ignorance of the habits of fishes. 

 He said that bluefish were bottom feeders and were 

 mainly caught by boats out several miles from land; that 

 he sold menhaden for bait to these boats, but the latter 

 fish were only to be obtained near shore. 



Hon. Daniel T. Church, of the menhaden works at Tiv- 

 erton, R. I., repeated the saying ascribed to Prof. Huxley 

 that " man is not a factor in the destruction of sea fishes," 

 a statement that few men whose business interests lie out- 

 side of oil and guano will accept as true. 



Man has been a factor in the destruction of all animals 

 not under domestication, and he is destroying the balance 

 which kept up the supply of menhaden against their 

 other enemies. Mr. Church said that there was very little 

 money in the capture of menhaden now; but he has not 

 gone out of the business. 



It was admitted that three times the amount of oil 

 could be obtained from the fish in the fall that could be 

 got from an equal number in the spring of the year, but 

 when the committee asked if a close season, up to July 1, 

 would suit them, they thought that it would not, and 

 that they would obtain no more oil during the season by 

 leaving the fish unmolested during the early months. 



The replies of the menhaden fishers were so evidently 

 governed by their business interests that it was apparent 

 to all that their opinions were formed in their pockets. 

 They disclaimed capturing food fishes for oil, and this is 

 no doubt true, but the proposition that bluefish do not feed 

 on menliaden will be difficult of belief by men who cap- 

 ture the bluefish with menhaden bait and find them 

 gorged with the same fish. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

 A N instructive incident has been furnished by a num- 

 ber of millionaire owners of fast horses in this city 

 who have had the audacity to demand that a considerable 

 portion of the Central Park be taken from the people and 

 given over to them for a speeding driveway. The effrontery 

 of this proposition is clearly seen; the people of New 

 York put a high value on their park; they Cannot be 

 cajoled nor bluffed into surrendering it for any such 

 purpose as that contemplated by the horsey men. The 

 instruction of the incident lies in this, that the attempt 

 to seize the people's pleasure ground here in this city by 

 fast horse owners is on a miniature scale just what cer- 

 tain railroad speculators have tried again and again to 

 do in the Yellowstone National Park, when they have 

 gone before Congress with their shameless demand that 

 the people of this country should be compelled to give 

 up a portion of their park to be destroyed for the benefit 

 of the speculators themselves. The National Park 

 schemers have been balked more than once, but they are 

 now trying it again. Eternal vigilance is the price paid 

 for the integrity of the Central Park of New York city, 

 and nothing less than eternal vigilance will save the 

 greater Park, which belongs, of right, to the whole people. 



Assemblyman Flaherty, of Massena, comes to the front 

 with an amendment to the game laws. It allows clubs 

 which participate in side-hunts the privilege of shooting 

 all animate things that come in range on the day of the 

 hunt. This is a good specimen of the vicious, selfish, 

 special legislation which is an annual curse at Albany. 

 Mr. Flahertys bill is not founded on reason. Certain 

 birds are protected from destruction because they are 

 useful allies of the agriculturist; they ought never to be 

 killed; the community recognizes this principle and enacts 

 a law to preserve them. The principle is not at all 

 changed simply because some of Mr. Flaherty's Massena 

 constituents want to go out and pot these birds for count. 

 Their destruction would be unwise and harmful, whether 

 or no the persons who shoot them belong to incorporated 

 clubs and are divided off into sides and captained. 



Senator Farwell, of Texas, has adopted for his barb- 

 wire fence an electric fangle, by whose action anything 

 coming into contact with the fence will receive a power- 

 ful shock. If the new device comes into general use, be- 

 fore the "true sportsman hies" to the wire-hedged field 

 it will be just as well for him to see that the circuit is 

 broken. The wire fence has already slain its quota of 

 men with guns, which they have attempted to pull 

 through after them. Perhaps electricity itself will not 

 prove more deadly than the old combination of the man, 

 the gun and the fence. 



A New York shopkeeper displays in his window a 

 brace of pistols which are alleged to be the identical arms 

 used by Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton in their 

 duel. The pistols have percussion locks. As the Burr- 

 Hamilton arms were flint-locks, the New York shop- 

 keeper is evidently playing upon the credulity of the 

 populace. 



