436 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 9, 1887, 



MAINE WATERS. 



1Y/TAY 29.— The salmon fishing on the beautiful Penob- 

 -LtjL scot Elver of Maine is now excellent. The water 

 has fallen to a medium depth and everything looks most 

 promising for a very successful fishing season on the 

 river. The fisliing season here commences about the last 

 of April and continues to the middle of July. The best 

 of the fishing is from now till the last of June. The aver- 

 age run of fish is larger than that of any river hi the 

 Eastern States or Canada, excepting the Cascapedia. Most 

 of the salmon taken here are over lolbs. in weight. Ten 

 fish taken here Thursday ran from 13ilbs. to 231bs., but 

 larger ones have been taken this season. 



As the fish are "fresh run," in fact are caught while in 

 the "tide water," they are very gamy. A long line and 

 strong leaders are needed, as the fish run large and fight 

 fast and hard. The most taking flies are the well-known 

 favorites, silver-gray, Jock-Scott and silver-doctor, tied 

 on rather large hooks. As the water is dark the bright 

 flies seem to take best. 



The early morning and evening are thought to be the 

 best; others think the flood tide the best. However, some 

 fish are taken at all hours of the day and at all times of 

 tide. 



This excellent fishing ground can be reached by leaving 

 Boston at 7 A. M. , when one will arrive at Bangor 6 

 o'clock next morning. A good breakfast for 50 cents can 

 be had in the restaurant at the station, kept by "Woodbury 

 & Son. A hack can be had at the station to take one or 

 two passengers to the ground for about one dollar, and 

 20 cents for toll bridge. If you want an express wagon, 

 you will find Mr. Carpenter ready and willing to take all 

 your tents and baggage and selves, as he did for us, for 

 the very moderate sum of one dollar. But a less costly 

 and very comfortable and expeditious way of getting 

 there is to take the little steamer at Ferry Slip, a short 

 distance from the depot, at 8 A. M., fare 15 cents. The 

 captain, Chas. M. Bobinson, like all the residents we have 

 met, is very ready to accommodate, and at very moderate 

 prices, i. e., he will run his boat between regular adver- 

 tised trips for parties of three, or the equivalent of three 

 fares, thus enabling any one to get either to or from the 

 fishing ground at any time of day. 



The fishing ground is mostly on the Brewster side of the 

 river, and is leased by Capt. Allen for a term of ten years. 

 He has built a club house near the head of the ground for 

 the use of members, who are admitted to all the pools and 

 use of the house for the small sum of two dollars per 3 ear. 

 It will be readily seen that Capt. Allen has not gone into 

 any speculation, as with the present or even larger mem- 

 bership it would require all he will receive in four years 

 to pay for the lease and building. This is the first 

 instance of the kind that has come to my notice where a 

 person has secured a very valuable salmon river solely for 

 the benefit of anglers desiring to fish for salmon. None 

 but a true disciple of Walton would have shown such a 

 spirit. Thus to the untiring efforts of Messrs. Stilwell 

 and Stanley in restocking the river, and to Capt. Allen 

 for preserving this unequaled chance to catch salmon, all 

 true anglers will ever accord the full honor due to them. 



The ground reached, there is room for all, as the river 

 is half a mile wide and full of pools and eddies. Here, as 

 elsewhere, one will meet persons that do not know the et i- 

 quette of angling. So patience, brother of the angle, and 

 when some untaught would-be angler casts across your 

 pool, or worse, some ignorant boatman pulls across where 

 you have seen a big rise, don't swear, but in mildest terms, 

 on fit occasion, teach and practice better things. Little by 

 little this new angler's paradise will get in shape, so that 

 the true angler will find peace and pleasure in casting 

 without being intruded upon by any. 



On arriving at Bangor, anglers will find Capt. Allen at 

 the Court, street police station. Or those ever genial 

 anglers, Messrs. Benson and Mosely, ticket agents at the 

 depot, will furnish all information necessary to guide a 

 brother angler to reach the desired pool. Dr. R. 



We had only one day at Sebago Lake for the land- 

 locked salmon and the record was not very brilliant. Out 

 of four strikes we only saved one sslmon of 71bs. As far 

 as I have been able to learn the fishing has been hardly 

 up to the average of the last five years. A large propor- 

 tion of the fish taken have been spent fish, i. e., fish 

 which spawned last fall. This has not been done 

 heretofore, and shows that they were not speared on 

 their spawning grounds last fall as usual, owing to their 

 being caught instead by the Commissioners at the mouth 

 of the river, stripped and turned loose in the lake. They 

 have 750,000 young fry now hatched at Eeles Falls (on 

 Crooked River) which will be turned loose in Sebago 

 waters the coming week. The best fishing at Sebago 

 last year was in June. 



At Weld Pond the fishing for trout and landlocked 

 salmon has been good and many have been taken. The 

 trout run from 1 to 51bs., averaging about 21bs. Salmon 

 2 to 61bs., with occasionally one larger. Most have been 

 caught trolling with smelts or angle worms. Within a 

 week they have taken the fly readily and for' the next 

 week or ten days I have no doubt more could be caught 

 witli the fly than with bait. 



At Rangeley and Moosehead the parties I have seen 

 report good success. 



The cream of the fishing is now at Bangor, for the 

 Penobscot salmon, and many anglers from abroad are 

 coming and departing every day. Nearly all are success- 

 ful in either capturing or hooking a fish, and some five or 

 six in as many days fishing. They run from 10 to 251bs,, 

 averaging thus far about 181bs. , being fresh run and in 

 tide water are the smartest fish in the world. Many old 

 salmon anglers have been there and all say they are the 

 smartest salmon they have ever seen. I fished there one 

 day this week and was fortunate enough to capture one. 



Eleven fish were caught that day, and as many hooked 

 and lost. Bangor is delighted, and well she may be to 

 have one of the best salmon pools on the Atlantic coast 

 within the limits of the city, and she is reaping her har- 

 vest from the anglers who are coming to Maine. Being 

 so early in the season, before there is any fishing in the 

 Provinces, it is like early strawberries and should be 

 valued accordingly. The water is yet high in the Penob- 

 scot, and as it gets lower am inclined to think the fishing 

 will improve. Many salmon fishers I have seen here, who 

 have fished the Provincial rivers, say this averages better 

 than any they have ever fished before. 



The rush of sportsmen to Maine thus far has been 

 double what it was last year. The hotels at Rangeley and 



Moosehead are reported full. There is also a big rash to 

 all our inland ponds and streams. Henry O. Stanley. 

 Dixmbld, Me., May 29. 



Mr. W. H. Wingate yesterday, Avhile fishing off the 

 mouth of Rogers Brook, boated a 31b. landlocked, salmon, 

 in the stomach of which were found twenty-three smelts! 

 Evidently the landlocks are "on their feed." This is the 

 pioneer salmon to respond to light tackle in Long Lake. 



Blackspot. 



North Bridqton, Me., June 3. 



Senator Quay's Midnight Tarpon.— Senator Matt S. 

 Quay, of Pennsylvania, has entered the race for fame as 

 a tarpon angler. His claim is based on a 1551bs. fish 

 taken at Punta Blanco, Fla., at midnight, April 7, 1887. 

 During his stay in Florida Senator Quay took twenty 

 tarpon; and among his adventures or the adventures of 

 his boatman, Ben Sooy, was the onslaught of a tarpon, 

 which, in its second leap, struck the boat and knocked 

 Sooy overboard. Unfortunately for Senator Quay's claims 

 to a tarpon record, lie did not use a rod but stuck to "Al 

 Fresco's" method of tarpon fishing with a handline. Per- 

 haps "J. M. S." is to blame for this, as Senator Quay is 

 reputed to refer to him as an oracle, and "J. M. S," says 

 that when you are going for tarpon, anything from a fly- 

 rod to a hawser and derrick is allowable. 



Black Bass in Germany.— Mr. Max von dem Borne, 

 of Berneuchen, Germany, wishes some information about 

 the black bass and wishes answers to the following ques- 

 tions: "Is the black bass, where met with in American 

 fisheries, regarded as a harmful fish? Has the introduc- 

 tion of this fish injuriously affected any American fisheries? 

 In the affirmative case name the waters or fisheries in 

 question and the fish which have been so affected. Into 

 what waters may black bass be introduced with advantage 

 and without fear of then doing damage? Are waters 

 containing nothing but pike and coarse fish the only ones 

 in which there would be no danger?*' Something on 

 this may be found in "Piseco's" communication elsewhere. 



Fly-Casting at Blooming Grove Park.— On May 30 

 a fly-casting tournament was held by the Blooming Grove 

 Park Association at their grounds iii Pike county , Pa. , the 

 first prize being a silver badge, which was won by our 

 correspondent, Mi-. Robert B. Lawrence. The following 

 is the score: R. B. Lawrence, 75ft.; H. W. Nason, 73ft.; 

 S. M. Nash, 68ft.; A. J. Post, 66ft.; N. S. Smith, 65ft. 

 The time allowed each contestant was fifteen minutes, 

 with no allowance for accidents. Many ladies and gen- 

 tlemen witnessed the contest. 



The Southern Tier Anglers Association, of Elmira, 

 N. Y. , went on its third annual excursion to Germania, 

 Pa. , June 1. The great event of the occasion was a stuffed 

 trout banquet, given in honor of the long and short haul 

 of the "Interstate Commerce Law." 



JOTTINGS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



My friend "Wells" gives a short contribution in your issue of 

 May 26. I call him my friend, though my acquaintance with him 

 is limited to the intercourse afforded by your columns. "Well: " 

 promises to give some other sketches of "gala days and ambr 

 sial Bights," aud 1 hope he will, because what he writes is alwa. 

 interesting to read, even though the incidents be trivial. I must, 

 however, give him a gentle chiding for callingmy old friend Prof. 

 Wilson, of the "Noctes Ainbrosiauas," "Prof. Wilcox;" but that 

 was, uo doubt, mere thoughtlessness. 



I am also minded to say that "Wells" was whilom my ally iu 

 asserting the true name of our only Southern game bird, the part- 

 ridge, and that he seems now to he afraid to use that term, but 

 contends himself with the makeshifts of "birds" and "Bob 

 White," which I am bound to look upon as a rather ignominious 

 compounding of a felony, since it winks at the purloining of the 

 true and traditional cognomen of our little favorite by our 

 Northern brother sportsmen. But I note with gratitude, and give 

 him due credit therefor, that he does not yield completely and 

 adopt the horrid "quail," a designation which deprives the dear 

 little bird of a great part of his peculiar charm. Let us stoutly 

 maintain our right to our partridge, "Wells," the only game bird 

 we have, and which is a heritage from our fathers, who shot him 

 in the peafields of Virginia and the Carolinas in Revolutionary 

 days, with flint-lock guns and very poor powder. He was "part- 

 ridge" then and has been partridge ever since, and no other name 

 will we accept for him. 



But what has become of the racy "Nessmuk," charming "Wa- 

 wayanda," piquant "Kelpie," delightful "Piseco," and other con- 

 tributors who M ere wont to serve your readers with dainty and 

 appetizing dishes? They have hibernated too long and should 

 come forth, shake oil their lethargy and give us something for 

 our delectatin. 



"Kingfisher," whose interesting narratives have afforded much 

 pleasant reading to the fraternity, makes a touching and pathetic 

 announcement of the death of "Bare Old Ben," and I am sure 

 that all your readers will join heartily with me in tendering our 

 sympathetic regrets, for all must have enjoyed "Old Ben's" 

 humorous yarns and quaint expressions and will doubtless recall 

 the story of his adventure in the Texas cabin with five pones of 

 corn bread in the skillet, one of which was made after the woman 

 had spanked the baby with meal-bedaubed hand, and failing to 

 identify which, Ben had to eat them all to avoid not eating the 

 right ones. Peace to his ashes. 



Speaking of contributions, my own peculiar line is "snakes," 

 but .since Miss Catherine Iloplcy has gone to Europe, I am unable 

 to get up any more discussion on that interesting subject. 



"Will," of Aberdeen, noticed a snake similar to the last marvel 

 I discovered, 1 regret that lie did not make a closer examination 

 of it to determine if it was venomous or otherwise. I am with 

 snakes a good deal like the crazy tailor who, whenever any one 

 stretched out. his arm would rush up and measure it. So when- 

 ever 1 see a strange snake I must interview him and inquire if he 

 lias fangs or not. Coahoma. 



["Wells" did not inadvertently speak of Wilson as Wilcox. The 

 mistake arose from an erroneous deciphering, by the well-inten- 

 tioned compositor, of "Wells's" manuscript, which is, as Prof. 

 Wilson himself would have put it, "hieroglyphical of wisest 

 secrets," but sometimes hard to find out.] 



A fox hunt recently occurred in Kent, Conn., which was in 

 many respects the most remarkable this country has ever 

 known. There was no anise-seed-bag nonsense about it. The 

 game was a real fox, aud Mrs. Monroe, the only hunter, was 

 in at the death. Shewas feeding chickens in the yard when 

 a fox entered and seized a hen, but before it could escape 

 Mrs. Monroe seized the invader by the tail. Holding the 

 hen firmly in its mouth the fox attempted to drag Mrs. Mon- 

 roe away to its lair. The heroic woman retained her grip, 

 however, and called loudly for help. It came iu the shape 

 of two sturdy dogs, who immediately despatched the fox. 

 It must be apparent to the most careless mind that this 

 method of fox hunting possesses many claims to consider- 

 ation. No fields of gram were injured, no rider broke a limb, 

 no expense was incurred. But, for all that, the excitement 

 produced by the encounter was intense, the dogs had the 

 pleasure of killing the fox, and the gallant heroine of the 

 chasB possesses the brush. Surely Connecticut economy and 

 pluck often produce great results.— World. 



tgfwhculturt. 



AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



SYNOPSIS OF PROCEEDINGS. 



THE sixteenth annual meeting of the Society was held in 

 the lecture room of the National Museum at Washing- 

 ton, D. C. on Tuesday, May 31, and Wednesday, June 1. In 

 the absence of Dr. W. M. Hudson, President of the Society, 

 Vice-President W. L. May called the meeting to order at 

 11 A. M. on Tuesday, and after a short address the meeting 

 adjourned until 3 in the afternoon. 



On assembling again the following new members were 

 elected: M. B. Hill, Clayton, N, Y.; Calvert. Spensley, Min- 

 eral Point, Wis.; Walter D. Marks, Paris, Mich. The fol- 

 lowing were elected corresponding members: K. Ito, Hok- 

 kaido Ccho. Sapporo, Japan, member of the fisheries depart- 

 ment of Hokkaido and president of the Fisheries Society; 

 W. Oldham Chambers, Esq., secretary National Fishculture 

 Association, South Kensington, Loudon. 



Dr. H. H. Cary said he had recently been examining 

 oysters on the coast of Georgia with a view to planting in 

 Lake Worth, Fla. The lake is situated on the east coast in 

 one of the southern counties near Jupiter Inlet, and is 

 twenty-three miles long. It was once a fresh water lake 

 separated from the ocean by a barrier of coquina formation, 

 but the inlet has been cut for the transportation of boats of 

 ten tons or more, and now the lake is partially salt. The 

 temperature of the Gulf Stream is not far from 79 degrees 

 Fahrenheit, and the lake is about the same. The question 

 now arises, is this temperature too high for the breeding of 

 oysters? The average depth of the lake is eight feet, and 

 the bottom of the south end is muddy; other parts have hard 

 bottom. 



MB. WHITTAKER— What is the temperature of the Indian 

 River? 



Dk. CARY — I think it is lower. The Gulf Stream diverges 

 almost northeast and the inlet to the lake is ten miles south 

 of Jupiter Inlet. I believe that Mr. Mather has had some 

 experience in raising oysters and perhaps he can give us 

 some information on this point. 



Mr. Mather— My experience has not been extensive 

 enough to say at what temperature the eggs of the oyster 

 will decline to hatch or the young will die. In 1885 Prof. 

 Henry J. Rice came to Cold Spring Harbor to make some 

 experiments in the propagation of oysters, and I loaned him 

 a large wooden tank, in which he placed some young oysters 

 immediately after hatching. The tank was put on the'south 

 side of the hatchery and was fed by a stream of salt water 

 not larger than a lead pencil; it was exposed to the suu and 

 the water attained a temperature of 90deg. and no result 

 was obtained. The next year I continued the experiments in 

 the same tank placed on the north side of the building with 

 a temperature never exceeding 80deg., fair results being at 

 fcainea, How much higher a temperature they would have 

 stood, I have no means of knowing. 



Dr. CARY — I can place layers of shells on the bottom for 

 catching the spawn, but there is a great deal of moving 

 sand, and I would like to know if this would be injurious to 

 the young oysters? 



Mr. Earll — No doubt moving sands would ije injurious 

 to the young oysters, because the shells to which they were 

 attached would be buried and the young would be smoth- 

 ered. 



Dr. CARY— There are oysters in Indian River, but it has 

 been a question whether there woidd be food in Lake Worth, 

 the kind that oysters feed upon. 



Mr. Mather— The oyster feeds mainly upon diatoms, and 

 attains a size in proportion to the food it gets. Some of the 

 best feeding grounds on Long Island are in the brackish 

 waters of the bays. 



Mr. Earll— While I don't know the limit of temperature 

 at which oysters will spawn, I will say that I have found 

 adults in water 84 degrees, and at 80 they spawn readily, 

 Chesapeake Bay being 80 degrees every summer. Chrisfield, 

 near Pokomoke Sound, and Tangiers 'Sound, famous oyster 

 places, are often 80 to 85 degrees, and oysters spawn there in 

 June and July. 



The Secretary then read a paper by Prof. W. O. Atwater, 

 entitled "Chemical Changes Produced in Oysters in Float- 

 ing and their Effect upon the Nutritive "Value." The meet- 

 ing then adjourned until the following day. 



SECOND DAY. 



The meeting was called to order at 11:30 A. M. A telegram 

 from Treasurer Blackford, stating his inability to attend, 

 was read. The committee, consisting of Messrs. Whittaker, 

 Spensley, Cary, Nevin and Earll, appointed on the previous 

 day to nominate officers, made the following report: 



For President— W; L. May, Nebraska. 



For Vice-President — H. H. Gary, Georgia. 



For Recording Secretary— Fred Mather, New York. 



For Corresponding Secretary— W. A. Butler, Jr., Michi- 

 gan. 



For Treasurer — E. G. Blackford, New York. 



Executive Committee— Calvert Spensley, Chairman, Wis- 

 consin; J. H. Bissell, Michigan; Dr. R, O. Sweeney, Minne- 

 sota; Dr. W. M. Hudson, Connecticut; Livingston Stone, 

 New Hampshire; Col. McDonald, Virginia; Frank M. Clark, 

 Michigan; and upon vote these officers were declared duly 

 elected. 



Mr. MATHER then read a paper upon the season's work at 

 Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., and a discussion upon the hand- 

 ling of glutinous eggs followed, in which several members 

 took part. The Society then adjourned until 2 P. M. 



In the afternoon session James Nevin read a paper upon 

 hatching pike, perch and their adhesive eggs; Mr. K. Ito. 

 president of the Fisheries Society of northern Japan, gave 

 some very interesting statistics concerning the fish and 

 fisheries of his country, for which the Society accorded him 

 a vote of thanks. Mr. Earll made some remarks upon the 

 changes and conditions of fishculture and the duties of Fish 

 Commissioners under the new conditions. Mr. A. Howard 

 Clark read a paper on "Fish Preservation by the Use of 

 Acetic, Boraeie, Salicylic and other Acids and Compounds." 

 Mr. S. G, Worth explained a new method for outlets of fish 

 ponds, which he illustrated by a diagram upon the black- 

 board; he also read a paper on "Inducements to Growing 

 Shell Fish in North Carolina," and the secretary read an 

 essay upon "Spasmodic Migrations of Lake Superior White- 

 fish^' by W. D. Tomlin. The subject of the time and place 



u.-rn, uy vr . u. iwiiiiiu. ljjc auujcui ui ijjc uuie auu jjiiira 



of the next annual meeting then came up for discussion. 

 Mr. Spensley moved that the meeting be held in Detroit on 

 the third Tuesday in May, 1888. Dr. Cary amended it by 

 substituting Washington for Detroit. A vote for the amend- 

 ment was lost, and the original motion was carried. Messrs. 

 Whittaker, Mather and Bissell were appointed a committee 

 to invite persons and papers, the treasurer's report was ac- 

 cepted and the meeting adjourned. 



PENNSYLVANIA COMMISSION. — Pittsburgh, Pa., 

 June S3.— The new fish commissioners for Pennsylvania as 

 appointed by Governor Beaver are as follows: James V 

 Long, Pittsburgh; W. L. Powell, Harrisburg; H. C. Ford, 

 Philadelphia; S. B. Stillwell, Scranton; A. S. Dickson, 

 Meadville; H. Derm nth, Lancaster. 



Bountiful Nature Affords no finer Specific for skin dis- 

 eases than Sulphur, a fact that is proven by the action upon the 

 cuticle afflicted with eruptions or ulcerous sores, of that supreme 

 purifier and beautifier of the skin, Glenn's Sulphur Soap. Bill's 

 Hair aud Whisker Dye— Black and brown, 50c— Adv. 



