10 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Fiib Ka'vex, Vt., Jan. 18. — At the annual and special 

 meeting of the Eagle Rod and Gun Club, Albert L John- 

 eon, of Hvdoville, was elected President; Rolland C. Reed, 

 of Fair Haven, Vice-President; Geo. M. Fuller, of Fair 

 Haven, Secretary and Treasurev; Dr. Chas. H. Carpenter, 

 Rolland C. Reed, Merrit T. Mead, Hugh S. Humphrey, of 

 Fair Haven, and B. F. Graves, of Castieton, executive 

 committee. The club hold meetings regularly once a 

 month, at which some member reads an essay or an ox- 

 tract from some work. The club is now interested in 

 stocking streams and the enforcement of the laws about 

 foiling.— Ned. 



fishculture. 



Address all communtcatioiw to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co 



A JAPANESE STUDENT OF FISHERIES. 



TWO months ago Mr. K. Ito, a native of Japan, who has 

 received a thorough English education at home, arrived 

 in San Francisco. He came "to study American methods of 

 fishctiltiire, fish capture, mid everything connected there- 

 with. He went directly to Washington where he spent some 

 time with Profs. Baird' and Goode in the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution and the National Museum, and then visited Mr. Frank 

 N. Clark, in charge of the U. S. Hatchery at Northville, 

 Mich., where he saw the process of hatching whitefi sh and 

 trout. Then he visited the U. S. Salmon Matching Station 

 at Bucksport, Me., in charge of Mr. H. H. Buck, where he 

 saw the oceration of taking spawn, etc. At Greenport, L. I., 

 he visited the menhaden fleet, and next summer he will 

 inspect the oil and guano works near there. At Cold Spring 

 Harbor he was the guest of Mr. Fred Mather, and there he 

 saw the hatching of tomcods in salt water as well as the 

 whitefish and trout-eggs. The tomcods were just hatching 

 and Mr. Ito was greatly interested in seeing them come out 

 of the egg and pass up the glass tubes and over into the 

 aquaria. On Saturday last he inspected Fulton Market and 

 dined with Mr. Blackford, and has now gone to Gloucester, 

 Mass.. to go out in tbe Grampus with Capt. Collins and see 

 how the cod and the halibut are taken. Later he will visit 

 Wood's Holl, and in May will attend the angling tourna- 

 ment in New York city, and then go to Washington to at- 

 tend the meeting of tne Fisheries Society. After inspect- 

 ing the shad and s riped-bas3 fisheries of North Carolina he 

 will gD to the Pacific co?st and see the salmon catching and 

 canning, and then return to Japan. 



Mr. Ito is President of the Fisheries Society of the Island 

 cf Yesso, which has been recently settled by his people and 

 he will, on returning there, make a report of what he has 

 seen and learned in America and will ask for an appropria- 

 tion for th2 purposes of fishculture. He tells us that he is 

 well pleased with what he has seen so far and that he has 

 met with a kind reception everywhere he has been. We have 

 been impressed with his intimate knowledge of many things 

 pertaining to America, from its geography and history to 

 the personnel of the U. S. Fish Commission and the work 

 they have done. We are promised an occasional contribu- 

 tion from him after his return. 



We learn that some Japanese rivers swarm with salmon 

 and that this fish wili receive the first attention in his pro- 

 posed inauguration of fishculture. He will also try to in- 

 crease the mollusk, whose shell is used here for ornament 

 and called Abelone or " Venus's ear," HaUotte, for it is much 

 used as an article of food by the poorer people and tons of it 

 are dried and exported to China. This mollusk is found on 

 our Pacific coast, but is not used as food here, so far as we 

 know, unless by the Chinese. 



Besides those cosmopolitan fishes, the herring and the eel, 

 the Japanese have the fresh water suckers, which are un- 

 known in Europe, a species of horsefoot crab, smelts and 

 many other forms common to the Eastern coast of America. 

 In the salt water they have the red snapper (Luljamifi black- 

 fordil) which is common to our southern Atlantic coast, and 

 this fish is always served at wedding feasts, but if not in 

 season or procurable, a wooden representative of it is placed 

 upon the table. Crabs abound in the waters, and the spider 

 crab is considered a great delicacy. Mr. Ito will present 

 Professor Baird with alcoholic specimens of the marine and 

 Euviatile fauna, of Japan, and an exchange of the aquatic 

 life of Japan and America will follow. We look for an- 

 other visit from him on his return from the East in April 

 next. 



REPORT OF IVIASSACHU SETTS COMMISSION. 



\TTE have the 21st annual report of the Fish and Game 

 W Commissioners of Massachusetts, for the year ending 

 December 31, 1886. There have been no complaints as to the 

 working of the fishways, and only two applications for the 

 construction of new ones. The report of Mr. Holmes, in 

 charge of the Lawrence fishway, covers the time from May 

 1 to June 80, three days in September, and one in Oc- 

 tober. The run of fish through May and part of June, con- 

 sisted of lampreys, alewives and suckers. On June 10 one 

 salmoiof 121 bs.: June 20 two salmon of 10 and 121 bs. res- 

 pectivey; 22d two 12 to Mlbs., and two more on June 

 24 of 10 to 121bs. The alewives stopped running on June 4, 

 but tbe lampreys kept it up all through May and June. 

 After the 1st of July the flow of water grew less and less, 

 and on the 12th it was shut out of the fishway. as there was 

 no water running over the dam and only a few suckers in the 

 fishway. Tbe river began to rise again about September 17 

 and the following day water was let in. The suckers began 

 running the next day, and salmon were seen below. On 

 September 21 one salmon of 8lbs. went up, on the 2bth two of 

 8 to 121tas., and on the 28th two of Mlbs. On October 5 two 

 salmon of 6 to Slbs. ascended, and the water was shut off 

 again from October 10 to the 31st, and on November 4 the 

 last salmon was seen. 



The menhaden which were so plentiful in the bays years 

 ago, appear in many cases to have entirely deserted them. 

 The Commissioners say that the theory that no amount of 

 fishing could materially lessen the deep-sea fisheries appears 

 to be losing ground, and the intelligent fishermen are strug- 

 gling for a law to protect the mackerel during their spawn- 

 ing season. They also say that the driving away or the de- 

 struction of the menhaden has decreased the catch of blue- 

 fish, and that if the. New England States had combined and 

 protected the menhaden in their bays and estuaries they 

 would probably have added millions of dollars to the value 

 of their hl-shore fisheries. 



The run of salmon in the Merrimac last spring was smaller 

 than usual, and led to the conclusion that this was an 

 off year for these fish, but the fall run was the largest that 

 has occurred at that season. The hatching of these fish is 

 done by Col. E. B. Hodge, of the New Hampshire. Com- 

 mission", at the works under his charge at Plymouth, who 

 reports that he received from Bucksport. Maine, 550,000 Pen- 

 obscot salmon eggs and took 60,000 eggs from fish in the 

 Men iniac river. The fry from all of these were planted in 

 the Pemigewasset river. 



Col. Hodge reports tbe number of brook trout eggs taken 

 as 500.000, of which one-half were sent to Mr. Erackett, at 

 Winchester, in February and March. 



Shad hatching on the Merrimac was continued. Six hun- 

 dred thousand trv were produced and turned into the river 

 at North Andover. There was a decided increase In the run 

 of fish during the past season, which is encouraging con- 



sidering the low stats to which the shad fisheries of the 

 Merrimac had been reduced in 1381, and it is gratifying to 

 learn that the propagation of this fish has tended to increase 

 the catch. Thare is an extended reference to i he old trouble 

 between the Massachusetts and Connecticut fishermen and 

 the Commissioners of those States, concerning the shad 

 fisheries of the Connecticut river, to which we referred in 

 our review of the report of the Connecticut Commissioners 

 (Forest and Stream, December 2, 1S86). The report 

 questions the accuracy of some statements that have been 

 made concerning this difficulty, and says that the last Legis- 

 lature of Massachusetts passed resolutions in regard to the 

 fisheries of the Connecticut river which were forwarded by 

 the Governor to the Governor of Connecticut, and which 

 were referred to the Fish Commissioners of the latter State 

 to investigate and report. Their report, which is given in 

 full by the Massachusetts Commissioners, is said to be " at 

 first glance a fair answer to a part of the resolutions, but it 

 is nevertheless at variance to the real csuse of complaint." 

 Besides the pound nets at the moutn of the Connecticut, it is 

 claimed that the dam at Enfield is an obstruction to the 

 passage of shad, and that evidence before the legislative 

 committee shows that the fish could not make their way 

 over the dam at low water, but congregated in pools below, 

 where they were caught. It is suggested that if all fishing 

 could be prohibited for a reasonable distance below this 

 dam better results would follow. The Commissioners take 

 issue with the gentlemen from Connecticut on the statement 

 by the latter that the real cause of the diminution in the 

 number of shad is due to the result of the act passed by 

 Massachusetts in 1SS1, which extended the fishing season 

 from the middle of June to the first of July, and reduced the 

 size of the mesh in the nets from five inches to two, and say 

 that "while said act may have been unwise and perhaps 

 prompted by a feeling or retaliation on the part of tne 

 fishermen for the injuries done them, and for which they 

 have no hope of redress," they see no reason why this should 

 be used to " divert attention trom the well known cause of 

 the scarcity of sb ad in the river." They state that hereto- 

 fore there has been no difference of opinion between the 

 Commissioners of the two State s upon this point, and point 

 to the fact that in 1879 through the success of artificial 

 hatching the catch on the lower nart of the river reached 

 436,981 shad, while the catch in Massachusetts for the same 



field, Mass., who gives an account of the shad hatching done 

 at Holyoke from 1837 to 1875, mainly by himself, and an 

 account of the moneys received and sources from which it 

 came, some of it, 1871 to 1S74 paid by Connecticut, 1874 by 

 Connecticut, Prof. Baird and Mr. Brackett for Mass- 

 achusetts, and 1875 by Prof. Baird, of the United States Fish 

 Commission ; while from 1881 to 1883 he hatched at his own 

 expense many millions of young shad and turned them into 

 the river. 



This dispute between these two States, one owning theupper 

 and one the lower river, is very much to be regret tid, as it 

 seems as though among men of such exceptional intelligence 

 as comprise the Boards of Fish Commissioners of these States, 

 some basis of settlement of the disputes between their res- 

 pective fishermen could be arrived at to the benefit of all con- 

 cerned. We have not the slightest doubt that such settle- 

 ment would be for the best interests of all parties, as it is 

 probable that the United States Fish Commission might 

 join in and help out in shad hatching, as the season on the 

 Connecticut river begins after the work on the Patomac and 

 other southern rivers is closed, but might not care, to appear 

 to take any part in anv quarrel which was going on ; in fact, 

 the discussion on both sides has reached a point when it 

 would be well to cease. 



The appendices contain a list of the Fish Commissioners 

 of the different States, list of ponds leased by the Com- 

 missioners, a quotation concerning the Connecticut river, 

 from the Massachusetts report of 1878, with comment by the 

 Commissioners— in which by invitation of the Committee 

 on Fisheries of the Connecticut Assembly, the Massachu- 

 tes Commissioners appeared before them and made a state- 

 ment concerning the salmon in the Connecticut river. In 

 the comments they say that "it was obvious from the out- 

 set that their errand was a vain one," etc. 



It is cheerful to turn from this discussion to an illustrated 



-„c spa^ 



closes with the laws and resolutions of 18Sf>, and tables 

 showing the returns of weirs, seines and gill-nets. 



ALEWIVES IN MAINE. — From the report of the Com- 

 missioners of Fisheries and Game of Maine, we quote the 

 following on the disappearing of the alewife, by Mr. B. W. 

 Counce, Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries : " In the 

 summer this fish abounds in the coast waters of all the 

 Atlantic States from Maine to Florida, in winter only south 

 of Cape Hatteras. This fish is a very important one in this 

 State as an article of food, but it is fast disappearing, and 

 unless better protected will wholly disappear as the porgie 

 has. The alewife is caught in Dainariscotta and Georges 

 rivers in large numbers and pays quite an amount of the 

 taxes in Damariscotta, Newcastle and Warren. The right 

 to catch these fish in Damariscotta Mills was sold in 18S4 for 

 $3,555, in 1835 for 82,510, in 1880, $1,655. The parties buying 

 the right to fish at the Mills do not have the right to catch 

 fish on ' the river or back streams. It will be seen by the 

 above statement that the value of these fish is growing less 

 every year. There are now on the Damariscotta River 

 twenty-five weirs and on the Georges River fifteen, besides 

 the nets. Such being the case, it makes it very hard for the 

 fish to overcome those obstacles and reach the ponds to de- 

 posit their spawn. Something should be done to prevent 

 such wholesale destruction of the young alewives a3 they 

 return to the ocean. Thousands of them are ground to 

 chum every season as they return by the mills on these 

 streams. The last Legislature passed an act granting the 

 town cf Union the right to take alewives for two days in the 

 week on the sponding grounds in Georges River. 'This 

 was the unkindest cut of all,' and such an act should never 

 have been passed, The passing of so many special local 

 laws is much to be regretted, as their workings are pro- 

 ductive of much harm, and I hope the growing practice will 

 be discontinued." 



HAMMOxn, 111., Jan. 50, 1887. 



U. S. Cartridiie Oo., Lownl, iZass.: 



Dear Sins— To-day I m ule a test of shells and settled in my 

 mind a long disouted fact in regard to the amount of times the 

 U. S, shells could be reloaded. I took five shells from a box of 100. 

 and shot them as fast as I could gut them reloaded. The following 

 id the result : First shell, 9 times; second, 1 1 times: third, 10 time ■ ; 

 ioui tk, 13 times: fifth, 9 times. I could have loaded and fcred some 

 of thorn again, hut the abovo result settled the questiou of their 

 reloading qualities in my mind. 1 am sure all hunters and shoot- 

 ers ought to kucw of the- good qualities of this shell, and I give 

 you liberty tn publish this, and will further say 1 am not in any 

 way interested in any shell company, and give this letter for the 

 benefit of all sportsmen. I am sure we are all seeking for the best, 

 and if 1 can assist any one to find the best 1 will gladly do so, and 

 this is my reason for sending your company this letter. Wishing 



you every success, 1 am, yours truly, 



(Signed;, 



L. S. Cahtee. 



Hale's Honey of HonEHOUsn Axn Tab softens the ecugh, 

 relievos the windpipe and brouehial tubes of mucus, tones the 

 lungs and the membranes of the throat, and restores to t'cc organs 

 of respiration their natural strength und vigor. Pike's. Tooth- 

 ache Dbops cure in one minute.— Adv. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



January, 18S7.— Bench Show of Poultry and Pet Stock Associ- 

 ation, at A-lnms. Mass. W. F. Davis, Secretary. 



Feb. 8 to 11.— Southern Massachusetts Poultry Association Bench 

 Show, Fall River. A. H. G. Mosher, Secretary. 



March 22 to 25, 1887.— Spring Show of the New Jersey Kennel 

 Club, Newark, N. J. A. C. Wilintrding, Secretary, Dergen Point, 



March 29 to April 1, 1887 — Inaugural Bench Show of Rhode 

 Maud Kennel Club, Providence, R. 1. N. Seabury, Secretary, 

 Box 1333, Providence. ' 



April 5 to 8, 1887.— Third Annual Show cf Now England Kennel 

 Cub, Boston. F. L. Weston, Secretary, Hotel Boylston, Boston, 



April 12 to 15, 1887.— Thirteenth Annual Cop Show of the Western 

 Pennsylvania Poultry Society, at Pittsburgh, Pa. C. B. Elbeu, 

 Secretary. 



Mayo to 6, 1SS7— Eleventh Anneal Show nf the Westminster 

 Kennel Club, Madison Square Garden, Now York. Jnmoc Mcrti- 

 mer, Supermiendent. 



FIELD TRIALS. 

 Feb. 15, 1887.— Inaugtral Trials of Ten uessco Sportsmen's Associ- 

 ation. Entries close Jan. 10. R. JSL Dudley, Secretary, No. £4 

 Broad street, Nashville, Tenn. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 



THE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

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

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

 Vork. Number of entries already printed 4606. 



THE BEN HILL— LILLIAN HEAT. 



\\7"E have as yet heard nothing from Mr. D. Bryson in re- 

 V V gard to his charges against the reporters at the recent 

 field trials in Tennessee. We presume, however, he is hard at 

 work formulating his allegationsj collecting proof, writing 

 out his manuscript in a clear, legible hand, adding a para- 

 graph here, pruning another there, and perhaps even send- 

 ing it out to have it type written ? so that the compositors 

 will be in no danger of making mistakes with it. It would 

 seem that he has h id time enough to have got the matter in 

 shape before now, but possibly there may have been delays, 

 It is conceivable that Mr. Bryson may have been sick, orraay 

 have had writer's cramp or- perhaps may even have fallen 

 down and broken his arm so that he cannot write. However, 

 we trust that none of thfse calamities have overtaken him. 

 No doubt to-morrow or the next day or at latest next week, 

 we shall receive his mannscript, when we shall be able to lay 

 before our readers the story on which Mr. Bryson based his 

 insinuations of two weeks ago. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As to the question of the ruling of the Executive Commit- 

 tee of the National Field Trial Club in the matter of the pro- 

 test of Mr. Rose against the changing of the running of Lil- 

 lian and Ben Hill from the regular order. That the case 

 may be understood we present the following record. In the 

 first series of heats Lillian (owned by the Messrs. Bryson) 

 was drawn to run against Gladstone's Boy, with Mr. Stephen- 

 son as exhibitor (or handler). Lillian won. Ben Hill (owned 

 by Mr, Stephenson) in the first series of heats was drawn to 

 run against Beaumont, with Bevan as handler, and won. 

 Under the rules Lillian and Ben Hill would compete in the 

 next series of heats, as Lillian beat Gladstone's Boy (these 

 two dogs ran the first two heats). Mr. Stephenson, being 

 secretary of the club, changed the runuing of these dogs, 

 separating Lillian and Ben Hill, arranged that Lillian should 

 run against Daisy F. and Ben Hill against Don's Dot, and 

 Mr. Rose entered a protest against the change, claiming that 

 Lillian and Ben Hill should run against each other. It is 

 claimed by Mr. Stepheuson that the change was proper under 

 the following rule No. 3 of the National Field Trial Club: 



"If two dogs owned or exhibited by the. same person should 

 be drawn to ran together, or come together in any successive 

 heat, the second dog shall change place with the next dog in 

 the order of running." It is well at this point to inquire for 

 what purpose this ru'.e was adopted by the club. The pur- 

 pose was to encourage as many entries as possible from one 

 man and to prevent one man's dogs being run against 

 each other and beating each other instead of a chance to win 

 from an outsider, and to prevent one handler from handling 

 two dogs either owned by one man or owned by different 

 men. To illustrate, the rule written out in full would read 

 as follows: "If two dogs owned * * * by the same person 

 should be drawn to ran together or come together in any 

 successive heat, the second dog shall change place with the 

 next dog in the order of running." 



The application of this rule as written is (his: Suppose 

 Mr. Hammond had two dogs entered tor the race, say both 

 in Short's hands as handler, they could not ran together be- 

 cause thev both belonged to Hammond. Suppose one was in 

 Tucker's hands and one in Ncsbitt's hands as handlers, they 

 still could not run as they both belonged to Hammond. 

 They shonld not run against each other as long as it could be 

 avoided, as Mr. Hammond should not have to make one of 

 his dogs beat one of his own. but should rather have the 

 chance of trying- to beat some other one in the heat. The rule 

 would give htm' two chances, where if he ran his own together 

 he would have but one chance. 



Again the rule would read if written out in full: "If two 

 dogs, * * * exhibited by the same person, should bo 

 drawn to run together or come together in any successive 

 heat, the second dog shall change place with the next dog 

 in the order of running." Now to illustrate this (sxhibitea 

 means handled) take the folio whig example. Suppose Titu3 

 has a dog belonging to Mr. Smith and one belonging to Mr. 

 Jones, he (Titus) is the (exhibitor; handler of both and should 

 not for obvious reasons be required to run them together. 

 Mr. Titus would find it much more agreeable and satisfac- 

 tory, especially so if Messrs. Smith and Jones were present, 

 to ruu each one of these dogs against some other dog handled 

 by another gentleman, and besides a handler should not be 

 compelled, it it can be avoided, to beat himself by running 

 two dogs together which he himself is responsible for and 

 may have trained, and besides he inav (as is quite probable) 

 be interested in the prizes; he then fore should have a chance 

 to ruu the two dogs against outsiders, as it would give him 

 two chances. 



Now, as to the ruling of the Executive Committee, what 

 does the. record show? 



First— Mr. Stephenson entered the race with Lillian (be- 

 longing to tbe Messrs. Bryson) as exhibitor (nandler). 



Second— Mr. Bevan entered the race with Ben Hill (belong- 

 ing to Stephenson) as handler (exhibitor). 



Third— Now was Mr. Stephenson the exhibitor (handler) of 

 the two dogs? The record says not, therefore he cannot 

 claim the application of the rule on that account. 



Fourth — Was Mr. Stephenson the owner of the two dogs? 

 The record says not, therefore ha cannot claim tha appii^Jr 

 tion of the rale for that reason. 



Fifth— Suppose Mr. Stepheuson should have come on the 

 ground with Lillian, and Bevan should have come on the 

 ground with Ben Hill to run their heat together, on what 



