Haroh 8, 1888.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



129 



TMji expected that the ''roan who probably knew more of the 

 "Habits of our cold temperate sea fishes than any one in the 

 country" would have attempted, by the most fallacious rea- 

 soning^ to make an old theory adapted to certain genera of 

 ftsh applv to all, of whatever genera.) that had become scarce. 

 Ataong the changes which he had noticed, there was another 

 (■baii-v iust beginning to be felt, which, if he had known or 

 (Slid have foreseen, be would have beeu forced to say that 

 the blueflsh theory would not do at all, and we should 

 -tmt be here to-day to ask for legislation to protect the 

 JSheries. 



gixteeu years ago it was agreed by all that the bluensn 

 were abundant all along our coast. Since that time they 

 *are decreased rapidly year by year, until last season hardly 

 any were to be found. It is a fitting tribute which we pay 

 ftjthe magnanimity, as well as the learning of Captain At- 

 WOod. when we say that if he we 

 Would tell us that he had been oblig 



yjews on the subject of the fisheries by reason of the changes 

 which have taken jila.ee since the hearing in 1870. His great 

 jHBfiniy, the bluetish, would worry him no more. In proof 

 <jf this, we refer you to the publish ed tables, and shall pro- 

 duce witnesses who will satisfy you on that point. 

 ' In 1878 the returns from , r >:3 pounds, 28 seines and 90 nets 

 gave as the catch 5'.H).10G. In 1881, SB pounds, 28 seines and 

 48 nets report the number to have been 245,673, a decrease of 

 •383)391:, and the number of pounds had increased 41. The 

 decrease from 1884 to 1SS5 was 111,816. In 18S6 there were 

 teturns from 00 less of the fisheries, so that no compari- 

 can be made; but as far as the figures are given they 

 show a decrease of the bluetish from 1885. (See Mass. 

 Report 18S6, p. 38. and tallies). The Seonticut Neck traps 

 and seines in Fairhaven show a still more marked decrease. 

 The reports give 25,592 in 1878 from 9 pounds, while 15 pounds 

 onlv give 5.C35 in 1884. 



The reasoning is this: If a million bluetish consumed 

 li600,000. 000,000 other fish in a seasou, the decrease of a 

 ■ferter of a million of blueflsh must have saved 400,000,000,- 

 .UOOof them from destruction. If the blueflsh was the cause 

 HKithe decrease of other fish, either directly or indirectly, 

 we should naturally expect that when the cause had ceased 

 to exist the e licet would in like manner stop. This line of 

 Basoning was submitted to Prof. Baird, who replied that 

 the •'arguments in regard to the decrease of fish are evident, 

 and in every way worthy of consideration" (letter of Sept. 6, 

 1886). Thus every one of the reasons which have heretofore 

 ' assigned as the cause of the decrease of the fishes 

 ed to, are shown to have little or no effect, and nothing 

 remains to account for it except the agency of man, 

 with his ingenious and destructive engines. It seems as if 

 He who said: "Let the waters bring forth abundantly of the 

 tnoving creatures that bath life, for use of man,' ! ordained 

 that be should have them to use only so long as he regarded 

 the law s which regulate their increase and continuance, and 

 that man and man alone is able to prevent the fulfilling of 

 Spat law of production which He established at their crea- 

 tion. 



Wonderful is the fecundity of fishes: more wonderful still 

 that nothing can prevent their multiplication or hinder the 

 Operation of the la w which adjusts the balance of the forces, 

 put that which destroys the parent, fish iu advance of her 

 period of spawning. The United States Commissioner, in 

 an exhaustive review of the entire field of inquiry, regarded 

 the pounds and weirs, in conjunction with the ravages of 

 the blueflsh. as the true cause of the scarcity of our edible 

 fish. The blueflsh has since gone, so that nothing remains 

 but the destructive apparatus of the fishermen. The fishes 

 continue to grow scarce, and the possible has become the 

 probable exhaustion of the fisheries. If these things are so; 

 5f in this review we have fairly stated the facts which have 

 Been ascertained, have beeu guilty of no logical fallacies, but 

 have drawn only just conclusions from well established 

 premises, it would seem that we hardly need do more, and 

 that it is the duty of the Legislature to interpose, by the 

 strong arm of the law against the further use of destructive 

 apparatus for catching fish. 



This evidence, which is all before you, comes not from the 

 testimony of ignorant fishermen alone, but is the result of 

 investigations of scientific men; men of profound knowledge, 

 who have carefully studied the habits of these fishes and the 

 .means employed to capture them. All the fishes of the sea, 

 those silent witnesses whom nobody could bribe, no preju- 

 dice could Idas and no interest could affect, have been sum- 

 moned to the bar and made to disclose the secrets of their 

 §§igin, their life, their increase and their growth. 



[TO BIS CONTINUED.] 



"One hundred andtwenty" wasthereply. Thiswas thesecond 

 day of their arrival and they were worth 10 cents per lb. A 

 simple calculation will show that the industry was worth 

 following. It is also pertinent to add that gill nets were not 

 allowed that season. As for the twine and net industries I 

 think that they would soon die a natural death if there were 

 no laws to prohibit indiscriminate seining. Which has 

 priority of right, the seine or hand line, the gill net or sjdit 

 bamboo, are questions in fishing ethics which I will leave to 

 the columns of BLUEST akd Stream for settlement. 



In the Agawam River are to be found some of the finest 

 white perch that grow. The law gives them full immunity 

 from seines, but its enforcement does not, and a. few weeks 

 ago some unknown persons slipped a net into one of the deep 

 holes and drew out a number of barrels of fine fish which 

 went to the markets of New York. The river is patroled 

 here* with its now he nightly by persons on the watch for seiners. The hand line 

 id greatly to modify his or rod fishermen all say that seining makes t he jierch very 

 wild and that they will not bite after a, net has been put into 

 the river. 



A three mile limit might not be as beneficial to the men- 

 haden as a law protecting them in the spawning time, and I 

 should think would be far more detrimental to the guano 

 and oil manufacturers. Some able and general legislation 

 is needed for the protection of menhaden as well as other 

 fish. 



In regard to lobsters, if any gentleman who is interested 



in their protection will visit South Plymouth, or Mauomet, 

 Mass., hire a dory with a man to row it, and ask the man to 

 get him some bait for cod fishing, he will get some inform- 

 ation concerning the way in which the short lobsters arc re- 

 turned to the sea. I am told that the same peculiar man- 

 ner is observed at Cuttyhunk. 



We have one fish pirate in our waters that no law reaches. 

 I refer to the red-breasted merganser or common .sheldrake' 

 whose catch of fish is beyond computation. Of twenty-two 

 examined by the writer, more than three-fourths were cram- 

 med with young tautog, and their ability to catch them is 

 only equaled bv that to hold them when caught. A person 

 not" acquainted* with this bird would hardly credit a descrip- 

 tion of the contents of one's gullet. I have taken a. trust Bsh 

 eight inches long out of one, and a tautog five inches long 

 and two inches Vide from another. The sheldrake has a 

 snake-like elasticity of throat to enable him to swallow. I 

 think that they catch more tautog in Buzzard's Bay than 

 all the smackiiieu. WALTER B. SAVART. 



East Wareham, Mass., March 2. 



THE MENHADEN QUESTION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



1 read with much interest the letter of Capt. Babson on 

 the menhaden ouestion, also your comments on the same. In 

 this locality few will be found to agree with Capt. B., and 

 his learned authorities, that the efforts of man do not dimin- 

 ish the supply of fish very materially. 



Fifteen years ago we could catch menhaden by the hundred 

 barrels in any of the cieeks and coves of Buzzard's Bay, and 

 Ihave seen a seine swejit in Onset Bay and many barrels of 

 these fish caught. At any time in the blueflsh season one 

 could catch menhaden enough tor bait by simply darting an 

 eelspear into a school of them. Where are they now? 



Some years ago it became unlawful to seine them above 

 Bird Island, but the guano works at Wood's Holl continued 

 to get them from somewhere, and the fish grew scarcer and 

 scarcer every year. Was this because the blueflsh ate them 

 •so voraciously ? 1 do not think so. I think that menhaden 

 spawned in the coves and tidal rivers of this bay, and that I 

 have seen large schools of the young fish iu September, and 

 Ihave. no doubt but that they spawned in the Chesapeake as 

 well. They were there from March to September, in 1877, 

 and were incessantly pursued by the seiners in the employ of 

 the many "chum works" or oil factories. Nearly every 

 •creek from Mob Jack Bay to the Potomac had its guano 

 works. Whether the chum is a benefit to the land is still a 

 mooted question. 1 have visited many of the fish pounds in 

 the vicinity of Cockley's Creek; these traps, and the mode of 

 fishing them, were fair samples of the operation as conducted 

 in all bays, creeks, and rivers that flow into the Chesapeake. 

 An idea of their number may be got from the fact that there 

 were more than twenty different traps owned at Cockley's 

 Creek, and these twenty were set between the Dammaron 

 Marshes and Smith's Point. 



In Forest and' Stream for August, 1882, I gave a descrip- 

 tion of the method of taking the fish from these traps, but I 

 gave no account of the quantities of "taylor" (blueflsh), 

 "trout" (squeteague) and other fish that were too small for 

 market, but were not too small to make manure of. Nothing 

 that entered those deadly pounds was wasted! !) I. a, thrown 

 iback to live. In our bay the same rule held good, farmers 

 enriched their pockets if not their land by the quantity of 

 refuse fish they could save for manure. These pounds have 

 been restricted in Buzzard's Bay, and I think that the laws 

 Of Virginia have put a partial stop to the terrible waste that 

 obtained there. 



We did not know that the markets of New York were 

 glutted with bluetish last year. Those of Boston were not, 

 and blueflsh at the market at Onset Bay (two hours from 

 Boston) were worth as high as 20 cents per lb. during the 

 season, and they were often sold at a dollar apiece. It will 

 hardly pass to assume that the blueflsh is a "pirate" for the 

 summer tourist only. 



In this town are owned some fifty boats that in blueflsh 

 time are all busy trolling for them, and the writer hailed 

 one of these boats on a certain 19th of May with "Howmany?" 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



After reading the articles in Forest and Stkeam of March 

 1, for and against menhaden fishermen, 1 wish to give the 

 facts of an encounter of my own with some menhaden fish- 

 ermen. 



One afternoon last August, while fishing in the surf off 

 the south side of Long Island, I saw the men from a steamer 

 out with their nets. Wishing to obtain some menhaden for 

 bait, J pulled out to where they were fishing. When I reached 

 the fishermen I found it was mackerel, not menhaden, they 

 had caught. The fishermen told me to help myself, which I 

 did liberally, and the next morning enjoyed the fish for my 

 breakfast. 



The finding of these, fishermen catching mackerel, con- 

 firmed the following statement often made to me by men 

 who had worked on the fishing steamers.^ "The steamers do 

 not confine themselves to menhaden, but when short of a 

 cargo, pick up any kind of fish they can get." 



When eujoying*those mackerel for breakfast, it was hard 

 to think that thousands of them were being pressed at some 

 factory. Is there any law against the use of good food fish 

 for makiug oil? Judging from the uneasy action of the 

 captain of the steamer when we came up with them, I sup- 

 posed there must be some such law. I am very sorry that 

 the name of the steamer has escaped my memory. 



wm, k. quimby. 



March 2. 



THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HATCHERY BURNED. — 

 The hatchery at Plymouth, N. H., was burned on Wednes- 

 day last, Feb. 29, and all its valuable contents were destroyed. 

 At that time it contained over a million of eggs and try of 

 the different species of salmouidte, but fortunately the eggs 

 of the landlocked salmon allotted to the station had not 

 arrived from Maine. The hatchery was used not only for 

 the State of New Hampshire, but for Massachusetts also, 

 and was superintended by Col. Elliott B. Hodge, who is also 

 one of the New Hampshire Fish Commissioners. On the 

 day of the fire Col. Hodge was in Boston attending a meet- 

 ing of the New Hampshire and Massachusetts Commission- 

 ers, and the place was in charge of an assistant. A tempor- 

 ary hatchery will be immediately provided for the land- 

 locked salmon eggs and such other work as may be necessary 

 to be clone this season. The loss is a heavy one, which can- 

 not, however, be estimated in money, and will cause a break 

 in the work of stocking the waters of the States for which it 

 was operated, 



Immh 



Dogs: Their Management, and Treatmm t in Disease. By 

 Ashmout. Price Kennel Record and Account Booh. 

 Price ks. Training m. Breaking. By S. T. Hammond. 

 Price, $1. First Lessons in Dog Training^ •with Points of 

 all Breeds. Price 25 cents. 



Secretaries of gun clubs and others who are interested in the 

 protection of the Yellowstone National Park are invited to co- 

 operate with this journal by seeiering signatures to the petition 

 printed elsewhere. See instructions on editorial page. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



March 20 to 22.— Inaugural Show of the Rcussalaer Ivemiel Club 

 Troy, N. Y. Alma- M. trie. Secretary. Entries close March 10. 



April 3 to 6.— Fourth Annual Dog Show of the New England 

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



April 17 to 20.— Fourth Annual Show of the New Haven Kennel 

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



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 



THE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

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

 published every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should he 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 

 §1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New 

 York. Number of entries already printed 5981. 



TO THE QUEEN'S HOUNDS' TASTE.— Spratts Patent 

 (America) Limited send us the following letter from Queen 

 Victoria's huntsman, which speaks for itself: "Royal Ken- 

 nels. Ascot, Feb. 6, 1888: Gentlemen— I am very pleased to 

 say that your patent meat dog biscuits continue to give me 

 every satisfaction. I think I can speak with some experience 

 of them, as they have been solely used in the Royal Kennels 

 for the last ten years. Yours truly, Erase Good alt." 



IN QUEST OF LIGHT. 



NEW YORK. Feb. VS.— Editor Forest and Stream: Will 

 you be good enough to put me in the way of finding 

 .an explanation of a certain experience which 1 have had? 

 The circumstances are no doubt as old as the institution of 

 dog shows, and I probably reveal my ignorance by my ques- 

 tion, but it seems'to me who am not a,u fait in canine mat- 

 ters, that the situation ought not in the true interests of 

 dog breeding to be, as is, I believe, the case, a constantly 

 reeurring one. Remember I approach the subject with ah. 

 almost infantile simplicity, like a theoretical politician, 

 puzzled by inconsistencies." A year ago i found myself a hie 

 at last to indulge to a limited extent my passion for dogs 

 and to breed them under favorable conditions in the country. 

 I thought I would be more proud to say that I had bred a 

 winner than that I merely owned one. I studied the points 

 and characteristics of the breed I preferred and found 

 I could understand each separate point, but doubted my 

 power to distinguish the best one, the second best, etc., of a 

 group of animals of the kind I was to raise. Now, said I, 

 this is the function of dog shows. Men of ability to uner- 

 ringly discriminate as totbese points and to rank the dogs are 

 selected as judges. I will procure dogs, as good specimens 

 as I can, and I will be guided in my breeding operations by 

 information drawn from the highest tribunal available. 1 

 bought a dog and a bitch to begin with. The dog bad won 

 among others Ave first prizes in England, some of them in 

 the very home of his breed and under the auspices of the 

 proper specialty club, in two instances taking the club's 

 cup. Previously to my buying him he had won four firsts 

 in this country. He is now four and a half years and looks 

 as well as he did when I first saw him winning on the bench. 

 The bitch had never been shown when I bought her, but she 

 seemed to be typical and is of the best blood. Last season I 

 showed my dogs. I was not greedy to win, but I was greedy 

 to learn and was willing to ungrudgingly give the pas to 

 dogs better than my own. In "fact I was almost anxious 

 to meet such that I might study them and learn 

 the type, for I knew my own dogs were not 

 perfect, as indeed dogs never seem to be in all points. 

 The day of trial came and the dogs I was studying faced the 

 judge in the ring. This article is in no way personal, and 

 no hint of intentional injustice is suggested, but for the 

 sake of probability that the judge knew what he was about, 

 I will say that he was from the land where my dogs are 

 native and best known. A recently imported dog which we 

 will call X, wdth afresh win in England to his credit, took 

 first. My dog took second and my bitch he. I studied the 

 winner. A second dog show at the same place was held. 

 My two animals were on hand. I had some well-grown 

 puppies by this time to weed out, and was anxious to 

 increase my knowledge before doing so. My dog was 

 fit as the preceding year; the bitch was better in 

 coat but otherwise the same. X, the winner of the year 

 before, was also there. The judge was a new one, and like 

 his predecessor, came from England. Two dogs not shown 

 the previous year were put first and second respectively, and 

 my bitch third. There was no vhc, he. and c. given. The 

 inference naturally is that in the class no animal, barring 

 the first three, deserved so much as a card of commendation. 

 Now tiiis left absolutely unnoticed X and my dog who were 

 first and second last year, and put the he, of that same show 

 over both. Nothing in the condition of these dogs visible to 

 the naked eye in my mind justified this, especially as the. 

 judge gave second to a dog whose coat was, as to condition, 

 the worst of the lot. I am not a dissatisfied exhibitor in the 

 sense that I can tell the judge what he ought to have done. 

 I am simply flabbergasted. Two children could not have 

 given two judgments which, taken together, would have 

 been more irreconcilable and irrational. The two decisions 

 vietiate each other and are collectively absurd. In this last 

 judging, specimens of dogs that I cannot help feeling are 

 typical of their class, have been branded as unworthy to be 

 shown. 



I shall continue my climb toward the temple of canine 

 science, which I suppose must exist, but I would rather in 

 ft o doing understand this paradox than pass it by. I shall 

 still show perhaps, but it will be for other reasons than the 

 chance of a decision in the ring favorable to myself. It will 

 be, for one reason at least, that I may get the opinion of 

 your valuable paper, which, so far as it has gone in the in- 

 stances under consideration, has been the same as I was led 

 to form from other sources of information before reading 

 your criticisms. 



At present I am in a desiUusionne state as to ring judg- 

 ing that is very paiuful. As the facts of the case appear on 

 their face, the conclusion to be drawn is too horrible to con- 

 template. By mixing a little hypothesis with these facts 1 

 could draw a variety of eonclusious, but that I may not 

 blunder too much in "so doing, I beg of you to furnish me 

 with an element which, added to the circumstances given 

 above, will enable me to explain to inquiring friends why 

 they should respect the verdicts of a kennel club. Of course 

 I suppose that a system of guessing, by which a correct esti- 

 mate of quality was made, if only in the ratio of three to 

 two, would in the long run improve a breed, but does it not 

 seem as if something better than this could be done? Why 

 are the judges not put on their mettle and required, as 

 sometimes in England, to write their opinions? Why should 

 their minds be star chambers when they judge? If they 

 followed a methodical system au exposition would be easy 

 and by valuing points great accuracy would be insured. 

 Whv should the judges, "whose decisions are final," be so 

 irresponsible and autocratic? Is the human mind in such 

 swaddling clothes now as in the days of the Delphic oracle, 

 and ought not the reign of hocus pocus and rule of thumb 

 to be a thing of the past? Lex Fiat. 



TROY DOG SHOW. 



WE have received the premium list of the inaugural dog 

 show of the Rensselaer Kennel Club, to be held at 

 Harmony Hall, Troy, N. Y., March 20, 21 and 22. The club 

 was organized for the purpose of holding a dog show for the 

 benefit of the Soldiers and Sailors Monumental Fund, and 

 consequently the premiums offered are not large; the man- 

 agers trusting that in view of the worthy object for which 

 the show is held dog owners will generously support their 

 efforts. We have just received a letter from the secretary 

 informing us that the outlook for a very successful show is 

 most flattering, and that entries are coming in far beyond 

 their anticipation. The entries close on Saturday, March 

 10, and should be made to Alba M. Ide, Troy, N. Y. Iu ad- 

 dition to regular prizes there are many specials, $10 for 

 best mastiff "kennel of three or more, tower clock for best 

 dog. silver cup for best bitch. For St. Bernard kennel, ¥15; 

 best dog. harness; bitch, $'>. Best collie dog, *5: bitch, So. 

 Best English setter, $5; best dog, collar; bitch, collar. Best 

 Irish setter, $10; #15 meerschaum smoking set for brood 

 bitch and three of her progeny, and §5 for best of the progeny. 

 Best pointer, $10; also medals and terra cotta figures for 

 other pointers. Foxhounds, beagles, bull-terriers, fox- 

 terriers. Irish and rough-haired terriers, Skyes, Yorkshires 

 and toys, pugs, specials of $5. King Charles and Blenheim, 

 $3, etc., etc, 



JUNO, a Laverack setter of excellent pedigree, owned by 

 Dr. A. N. Roussel, a dentist at 143 Stuyvesant avenue. 

 Brooklyn, now rejoices in a gold-filled tooth. Dr. Roussel 

 noticed a defective tooth in the dog's head and determined 

 to fill it. Juno was persuaded to take a seat in the chair 

 while the doctor drilled out the cavity and filled in the gold. 

 The dog stood it like a major and looked up gratefully when 

 the work was finished.— IVou> York Times* 



