80 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[to. 10, 1881 



THE TEN-INCH LOBSTER LAW. 



A BILL has been introduced in the New York Legisla- 

 ture to repeal the.law which forbids the sale of lobsters 

 which are under lO^in. in length, exclusive of the claws, We 

 do not know in whose interest this is done, but it is certain 

 that it is not in the interest of lobster protection. The law, 

 as it stands, is a wise measure to prevent the destruction of 

 infant lobsters and to keep up the supply of a valuable food 

 animal which is now extinct in some waters where once it 

 was plentv, and is becoming scarce in others. The supply 

 of lobsters'is decreasing both in numbers and in the weight 

 of individual specimens. Twenty-five years ago the sizes of 

 lobsters in the markets ranged from 2 to 101 bs., averaging 

 about 4; now they range from 1 to 31bs., averaging perhaps 

 for the smaller outnumber the larger ones. 

 At the eleventh annual meeting of the American Fishcul- 

 tural Association, held at the Directors' Room of the Fulton 

 Market Fish-Mongers' Association, in New York, April 3 and 

 4, 1882, Mr. S. M. .Johnson, of Boston, a large lobster dealer, 

 sent a letter to Mr. Blackford on this subject, which appears 

 in the report of the Association for that year, page 41. In 

 that letter Mr. Johnson says: "We are making sacrifices of 

 future good to gratify present demands. In using these 

 small lohsters we are hypothecating our stock in trade and 

 cutting off our future supply. * * * I wish to put myself 

 on record as advocating a just and wise law for the preser- 

 vation of lobsters." , 



Mr. Blackford said: "Mr. Johnson is greatly interested m 

 the 10>£in. lobster law, as the only way to preserve the lob- 

 ster fisheries. Last year [18S1] lobsters sold as high as twen- 

 ty-five cents per pound at retail and even higher. Small 

 lobsters are sent here for sale, notwithstanding the law 

 against it, and many goto New Jersey, where there is no 

 law on the subject. " Many fish dealers in Fulton Market 

 were present at this meeting and approved the remarks of 

 Mr. Johnson, 



The argument, as we understand it, in favor of repealing 

 the law is that the small lobsters now go to New Jersey and 

 that New York might as well have them. This is no argu- 

 ment at all. merely an excuse, and only shows that New 

 Jersey should pass a similar law. Maine cried out for pro- 

 tection for her depleted lobster fisheries and passed laws for- 

 bidding the killing of the infants. Massachusetts did the 

 same, and these two States, the principal lobster producing 

 ones, called on New York to close her markets to all lobsters 

 under the above, named limit. This was done, and it only 

 needed other States to fall in line in order to give the little 

 lobsters a chance to grow to a size profitable to both fisher- 

 man, marketman and consumer. 



Now comes Assemblyman Finn, of New York, who says 

 that the fish dealers of his district demand the repeal of the 

 so-called "Dunnell Law," which protected the lobster in its 

 infancy. His bill ought to be squelched in committee. 



THE WISCONSIN COMMISSION. 



f pHE second biennial (11th) report of the Commissioners of 

 JL Wisconsin for 1885-86 is prefaced with a view of the 

 new hatchery and ponds at Fitckburg, near Madison, which 

 gives a good idea of the appearance of the grounds. The re- 

 port says that the new hatchery will compare favorably with 

 any in America and that in the successful propagation of 

 trout and pike Wisconsin leads all competitors, although in 

 the planting of whitefish, Michigan with her several hatch- 

 eries, liberal appropriations and long experience, leads. The 

 enormous flow of clear cold water at the Nine Springs hatch- 

 ery, which conies from at least a dozen springs, will admit 

 of more than double the present hatchery capacity, provided 

 the Legislature furnishes the means. 



The report of Mr. James Nevin, the Superintendent, makes 

 an excellent showing. From him we learn that the new 

 hatchery is the most convenient of its kind on the continent. 

 It is 100x25ft. The main building, used for hatching pur- 

 poses, is 88x25ft. Under the floor of this part is a raceway ex- 

 tending the whole length and covered with gravel, over which 

 a strong current of spring water is constantly running. 

 When the fish in the large pond immediately below are 

 ready to spawn, they naturally seek the rapid water, and by 

 means of trap-doors forming part of the main floor in the 

 building, are readily caught and handled, thus saving an 

 immense amount of time and labor and unnecessary hand- 

 ling of the fish. 



The following are the numbers of fish shipped in the re- 

 spective vears: Brook trout, 1885, 1,520,(~00; 1886, 2,275,000: 

 rainbow trout, 1885, 600,000; 1886, 620,000; wall-eyed pike, 

 1885, 14,550,000; 1886, 345,000; German carp, 6,065. Of Mac- 

 kinaw trout (lake trout) there are this winter 1,000,000 eggs 

 on the hatching trays. For a number of years the Commis- 

 sion did not hatch any of these fish, as it was thought that 

 the fry did not show up to advantage, but during the past 

 summer quite a number were caught in the lakes at Madi- 

 son weighing from 5 to 81bs. each, and the fishermen report 

 seeing them there by the thousand. 



Of the brown trout 1,000 eggs were received from Cold 

 Spring Harbor, N. Y., last April, They came in fine condi- 

 tion, and hatched the following day, and were kept in the 

 hatchery six weeks with little. Toss. 



At the branch hatchery in Milwaukee there are now some 

 50,000,000 whitefish eggs, the largest number obtained since 

 the organization of the Commission, although great trouble 

 was experienced in getting them on the lakes on account of 

 the stormy weather. In 1886 the following plantings of 

 whitefish were made: Milwaukee harbor, 15,120,000; Fort 

 Howard harbor. 9,450,000; Ashland harbor, 2,250,000; Green 

 Bay, 2,700,000; Manistique, 2,610.000; Waupaca. 450,000: Med- 

 ford, 450,000; Madison, 180,000. Total, 33,210,000. 



Fishermen have complained of the scarcity of large white- 

 fish, and the great quantity of small ones," for which they 

 get little or no price. In the neighborhood of Green Bay 

 over two hundred tons of whitefish were taken that weighed 

 less than a pound each, and fully twenty-five per cent, not 

 more than a quarter of a pound, and for these the fishermen 

 could only get from one to two and a half cents a pound. 



Two years ago the Legislature passed a law regulating the 

 size of the meshes in the pound nets. When the first bill 

 was drawn it was "iron-clad" for a 4in. mesh. Senator E. S. 

 Minor, who has taken a deep interest in the fisheries, had 

 the bill sent to the fishermen throughout the State. All 

 acknowledged that the pound nets required regulating, but 

 said that they could not afford to go to the expense of new 

 pots for them. Mr. Minor, after consulting with various 

 parties, came to the conclusion that "half a loaf was better 

 than no bread," and the bill was compromised by allowing 

 two sides of the pot to remain as they were, and the other 

 two sides to be 3J<in. mesh. This, however, has done little 

 or no good, for the fishermen in lifting their nets, instead of 

 drawing up the side with 8>^in. mesh, and allowing the 

 small fish to escape, lift the fish on the smaller mesh and 

 take everything, small and large, thus violating at least the 

 spirit of the law. 



Mr. Nevin says: "I claim that were it not for our Milwau- 

 kee hatchery and those of the State of Michigan, there would 

 be no small fish for them to catch. Where do they come 

 from? If, as the fishermen complain, there is a great scar- 

 city of the larger ones or breeders, there being now only one 

 caught where four years ago there were ten, it stands to rea- 

 son that these younger ones must be the fruit of the United 

 States, Michigan and Wisconsin hatcheries, and unless the 

 law is altered so as to strictly prohibit the present fearful 

 havoc among the young fish, I would recommend the closing 

 of the Milwaukee hatchery. It seems a useless expense to 

 raise millions of fry and turn them into Lake Michigan to 

 be caught when they weigh from one-quarter to three-quart- 

 ers of a pound, and bring no more than from one to two and 



a half cents a pound. By altering the law so as to have a 

 uniform size for the meshes of SJ^in. or more, or else making 

 it unlawful for fishermen or dealers to sell or buy whitefish 

 of less than a pound in weight, it would enable the young 

 fish to attain such an age as to propagate and such a weight 

 as to bring a remunerative price." 



An appendix to the report gives the laws now in force re- 

 specting fish, flshculture, fish ways, etc., in Wisconsin, and 

 the report concludes with a notice of the death of one of the 

 Commissioners, Mr. James V. Jones, of Oshkosh, who died 

 suddenly on Jan. 6, 1887, aged 60 years, after the report 

 which he had signed was printed. 



THE VERMONT COMMISSION. 



THE biennial report of the Fish Commissioners of Ver- 

 mont for the year 1875, is a very interesting document. 

 The survey of the waters and streams of the State has been 

 largely extended. As the State appropriation was insuffi- 

 cient to do many desirable things the Commission has been 

 aided by the United States Fish Commission, and by joining 

 with New Hampshire procured eggs and fry at reduced 

 rates, and, by contracting, in some instances fish have been 

 planted in the ponds at oue-fourth the usual cost. The State 

 owns no hatchery, yet individuals have been successful in 

 hatching several species of fish, and it is hoped that in the 

 future a considerable supply will come from such sources. 



Since the last report there have been planted 70,000 land- 

 locked salmon; 224.000 Penobscot salmon; 70.000 brook trout; 

 10,000 California trout, and 40,000 lake trout. One hundred 

 and thirty-four ponds have been stocked with carp from 

 Which very good results are reported. Twelve hundred 

 black bass have been put iu many waters, and in some cases 

 where it was considered that the food .supply was insuffi- 

 cient, rock bass were placed with them for the black bass to 

 feed upon. It is a question, however, if these rock bass will 

 prove to be as desirable for the black bass as some of the 

 softer finned fishes, such as chubs and dace. 



A list of ponds of the State is much more complete than 

 any former list. Some of these were visited and surveyed, 

 and others are located and described from information given 

 by fish wardens, town clerks and others. This list gives the 

 names of the ponds, town where Situated, description, such 

 as clear, gravelly, muddy, etc., the kind of fish inhabiting it, 

 and its area in acres. This is followed by a description of 

 the creeks, brooks and rivers, which appears to be quite full. 



There has been great improvement in the enforcement of 

 protective laws; a large majority of the towns have ap- 

 pointed fish wardens, and their work has had a good effect, 

 even though in some cases prosecutions have not ended in 

 convictions. Three of these wardens make reports of seiz- 

 ures of nets, or their destruction, and of men arrested and 

 fined for having fish in possession out of season. An appen- 

 dix gives laws for the preservation and propagation of fish, 

 game and birds, and also special enactments for the pro- 

 tection of fish in certain described ponds. 



NEW YORK FISH HATCHERIES.— Utica, Jan. 29 — 

 Editor Forest and stream: The present season bids fair to 

 be a remarkably favorable one at the various State fish 

 hatcheries. Supt. F. A. Walters, of the hatchery at Lake 

 Brandon, in the Adirondack?, writes that there are 430,000 

 brook trout and S0i>,000 salmon trout eggs on the trays. Some 

 have already hatched and the fry aire very strong and healthy. 

 There are also 20,000,000 of frost fish at the hatchery, kept in 

 Chase hatching ja!rs. Half a million eggs of the Penobscot 

 and landlocked salmon eggs procured from Maine are ex- 

 pected to arrive soon. The temperature of the water in the 

 hatchery has kept nearly uniform at thirty-six degrees 

 above zero thus far, while the temperature of the air outside 

 has sometimes been as low as thirty degrees below. This 

 shows an admirable quality of water 'for fish hatching pur- 

 poses. Superintendent Walters is confident that the hatch- 

 ing at this station will be as successful as any ever done in 

 the State. 



WHY THE CARP DIET). — Mr. W. H. Turner, who has 

 twelve large ponds stocked w.th carp, says in the Cincinnati 

 inquirer: "In the five years that I have been raising carp I 

 have had none to die.' 1 am Klways very careful to keep a 

 hole some four feet square open every day when the pond is 

 frozen over. One of my neighbors 'lost' all his fish in this 

 wise: Lis pond froze over, and the water came in on top oi 

 the first ice and froze a second time. He forgot to cut 

 through the. lower ice, and when the ice melted his fish were 

 all smothered. I have another neighbor that never cut a 

 hole in his pond, aud when the ice melted his fish were all 

 dead. I think it is very essential when the ponds are frozen 

 over that the fish have air every day." 



%1u MenmL 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



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

 Show. Fall River. A. K. O. Moslier, Secretary. 



March 8 to 11.— Second Annual Dog Show at Buff nlo, N. Y. J. 

 Otis Fellows, Secretary, HornPllsvilie, N. Y. 



March 22 to 25, 18S7.— Spring Show of the New Jersey Kennel 

 Club, Newark, N. J. A. C. WHtnfrriHtijfr Secretary, Bergen Point, 

 N. J. 



March 29 to April 1, 1S87.— Inaugural Dog Show of Rhode 

 Island Kennel Club, Providence, li. L N. Seabury, Secretary, 

 Box 1383, Provldencei 



April 5 to 8, 1887.— Third Annual Show of New England Kennel 

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

 Mass. 



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

 Pennsylvania Poultry Society, at Pittsburgh, Pa. O. B. Elhcn, 

 Secretary. 



April 19 to 22.— Annual Dog Show of the Philadelphia Kennel 

 Kennel Club. E. Comfort, President. 



April 26 to 29.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Hartford Kennel 

 Club. A. C. Collins, Secretary, Hartford, Conn. 



May 8 to G, 1887.— Eleventh Annual Show of the Westminster 

 Kennel Club, Madison Square Garden, New York. Jamea Morti- 

 mer, Superintendent. 



FIELD TRIALS. 

 Feb. 15, 1887.— Inaugural Trials of Tennessee Sportsmen's Associ- 

 ation. Entries close Jan. 10. R, M. Dudley, Secretary, No. 84 

 Broad street, Nashville, Tenn. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 



HPHE 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 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 

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

 fork. Number of entries already printed 4606. 



THE COLLIE STUD DOG STAKES. — Philadelphia, 

 Feb. 7.— Editor Forest and stream: The Executive Com- 

 mittee of the Collie Club desire, to make a change in the 

 Stud Dog Stakes. The entrance fee has been changed to 

 S10, and the owner of the stud dos; is to state the service fee, 

 which fee he agrees shall stand for the balance of the year. 

 In other respects the conditions are as you have already 

 published, — GEOitGE A. Smith, Sao. aud Treas. 



THE EASTERN FIELD TRIALS CLUB. 



THERE was a meeting of the Board of Governors of the 

 Eastern Field Trials Club at the St. James Hotel, New 

 York, on Tuesday evening. The committee on revision of 

 the running rules" reported that Rule 4 relative to the age of 

 Derby entries be stricken out, as the rflle is given in an- 

 nouncement of the stake. To the rule describing the man- 

 ner in which the dogs shall be run is added that they shall 

 be hunted as in ordinary shooting. Regarding the exclusion 

 of bitches in season is added, ''or unduly attracting the at- 

 tention of the competing do.q;." Rule 21 (now Rule 20) is 

 changed to read : ''The last dog beaten by the winner of the 

 first prize shall compete for the second prize with the best of 

 those dogs previously beaten by the winner of first prize. 

 The winner of this heat shall be declared the winner of the 

 second prize. The discretion is given to the judges of decid- 

 ing which is the best of these beaten dogs in the competition 

 for second place by selection or by running extra heats be- 

 tween them. After the first and second winners are ascer- 

 tained, the judges may name the winners of any other prizes 

 from any of the dogs m the stake without further running." 

 In instruction to judges, in the sentence "A dog drawing on 

 or pointing gams shall be afforded ample opportunity to 

 locate the game without competition," the words "without 

 competition" are stricken out. A new rule as follows was 

 added: "Rule 21. The last dog beaten by the winner of first 

 prize shall not be obliged to ruu more than two heats on the 

 same, day, but at the option of his handler may run the final 

 heat for second place on the following day." It was voted 

 that the above changes be adopted. 



Messrs. A. M. Hunter, New York, and J. N, Cochran, 

 Philadelphia, were elected members. It was voted to offer 

 the usual medals for field trial winners at the coming show 

 of the Westminster Kennel Club. 



It was decided to hold th e field trials of 1887 at High Point, 

 N. C, beginning Monday, Nov. 21, with the Derby for point- 

 ers and setters whelped on or after Jan. 1, 18S6, with 8400 to 

 first, $300 to second, and two equal third prizes of £100 each. 

 Also a breeders' cup, value S100, §10 forfeit, 820 to fill; entries 

 close May 1. 



The next stake in order is the. All- Aged Setter Stake, with 

 $800 to first, 8150 to second and two equal third prizes of 850 

 each, 810 forfeit, $20 to fill. Entries close Oct. 1. The All- 

 Aged Pointer Stake comes next with the same prizes and 

 conditions as the setter stake. To close with the champion 

 sweepstakes, $10 forfeit, 815 to fill, with $100 added. Entries 

 close Oct. 1, except to winners of this year. The Members' 

 Stake will begin Nov. 17; 8100 to first, 875 to second and $50 

 to third. Entries close evening previous to running. 



THE AMERICAN MASTIFF CLUB. 



THE American Mastiff Club offers a challenge cup valued 

 at 8150, for the best mastiff dog 6r bitch bred in America. 

 Following are the rules that will govern the competition: 



I. This prize shall be offered for competition at a show in 

 the spring of each year, to bo selected by the Executive' 

 Committee of the American Mastiff Club, due notice of 

 which shall be given by publication. 



II. The competition shall be open to all American-bred 

 mastiffs in the Champion, Open or Puppy classes which are 

 entered for that purpose with the Secretary of the American 

 Mastiff Club, within the same limit of time that entries are 

 open for the show at which the competition is to be held. 



III. The dam of any competing mastiff must have been 

 Owned aud resident in this country the four consecutive 

 months priorto the whelping of the competitor. 



IV A guaranty will be required for the return of the cup, 

 in good condition, to the Secretary ofthe Club, or his order, 

 at least one month before the next competition. 



V. A silver medal will be presented to the winner, and in 

 the event of an owner winning the cup three times with the 

 same dog, he shall be presented with a gold medal, and shall 

 have the option of duplicating the cup at his own expense. 



Challenge cups for American bred mastiffs are offered, 

 open to members only, under the following rules: 



I. There shall be two challenge cups of the value of 8100 

 each, one for the best mastiff dog, the other for the best 

 mastiff bitch, the property of any member of the American 

 Mastiff Club. 



II. These cups shall not be offered for competition at any 

 show where champion classes are not provided; nor shall 

 they be competed for oftencr than four times in the course 

 of a year. The competition shall be open to all dogs in the 

 champion, open and puppy classes. 



III. A silver medid shall be presented to any member 

 winning either of the cups. In the event of a member win- 

 ning either cup three times with the same dog, he shall be 

 presented with a gold medal. 



IV. A member winning either cup three times with any 

 dog or bitch, shall have the option of having a duplicate 

 made at his or her own expense. 



V. The winner or winners of the cup or cups having it or 

 them in his or her possession shall be responsible for their 

 safe custody, and in case of the loss of either or both cf them 

 by Are or atty other means, shall make good the loss thereof. 

 But it shall be at the option of any member winning the 

 same to allow them to remain in the custody of the club. 



VI. The winner or winners of the cup or cups shall be en- 

 titled to retain possession thereof until fourteen days prior 

 to any show where the same are to be competed for, and 

 on the written application of the secretary shall within 

 seven days return the same to him. 



VII. In the event of the dissolution of the club the cups 

 shall be returned by the last winner thereof to the commit- 

 tee and be treated as the property of the club. 



There will also be a puppy sweepstake for all mastiffs born 

 in the United States and Canada on or after March 1, 188(5. 

 Open to members only. Entrance 85 each, to be paid to the 

 secretary of the American Mastiff Club at the rime of entry. 

 The sweepstakes to be decided at a show in the spring of 

 1887, to be selected by the Executive Committee of the Amer- 

 ican Mastiff Club, The winner to receive 75 per cent, of the 

 sweepstakes; 25 per cent, to go to the second. 



In entering dogs for the show, at which it is decided to hold 

 the mastiff sweepstakes, it will be necessary to enter them 

 according to the regulations of that show/in their regular 

 classes and also specifying on the entry blank that they are 

 "to compete for the mastiff sweepstakes." Entries close 

 March 1, 1887. 



Mr. R. H. Derby, 9 West Thirty-fifth street, New York, is 

 the Secretary. 



FAKED REPORTS. — Editor Forest and Stream: After 

 the close of our late bench show in this city I sent a Chicago 

 contemporary a report of the same, and included in it some 

 complimentary references to the judge (Mr. Chcs, H. Mason), 

 which were well merited in my estimation, and in that of 

 all the exhibitors, with, I believe, not one single, exception. 

 The Chicago editor, for reasons obvious to all, "faked" the. 

 report. After this 1 sent the same editor a copy of a_ set of 

 resolutions passed by our club at a regular meeting, indors- 

 ing Mr. Mason as a judge, and setting forth the great satis- 

 faction he had given the club. For the same reasons as 

 those which prompted him to fake the report of our show, 

 the Chicago manipulator refused to publish the resolutions. 

 His conduct in this matter is a direct insult to respectable, 

 journalism as well as to our club, and I feel it to be my duty 

 to give these facts to your numerous readers, so that they 

 may attach the necessary amount of importance to his reports 

 which have appeared or'which may appear of shows judged 

 by Mr. Mason.— H. W. Wixsox, (St. John, N. B. Feb, 5), 



