466 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 26, 1890. 



POND CULTURE. 



SITjVJSK perch and kock bass. 



I SEND you a few lines giving ray experience in "perch" 

 culture, with the hope that it may induce others to en- 

 gage i a the rearing of that beautiful, valuable and desirable 

 family of fish, I mean valuable for small ponds and family 

 use, their growth is too slow and weight too light to make 

 thern valuable for market. Five years ago. as an experi- 

 ment, I placed in a pond, of about two acres in area, several 

 hundred "silver perch" (Pomoxys annularis); they were 

 then a few inches wide and nearly as thin as silver dollars. 

 In order to .supply them with an abundance of food, I con- 

 structed a smaller pond, just above that in which the perch 

 were placed, and stocked it well with "mill pond roaches;" 

 through the bottom of the dam of the rock pond I put a 

 trunk made of plank 8in. wide, in order to entirely empty 

 it at pleasure into the perch pond. I open this trunk every 

 spring and through it the increase of twelve months passes, 

 amounting to many thousads of minnows, from % to lj^in. 

 in length; these are all devoured by the next spring, addiifg 

 much to the growth of the perch. 



I am surprised that more attention is not paid to the cul- 

 ture of this truly excellent fish. As a pan fish it is vastly 

 superior to any other in this part of Virginia, being inferior 

 in edible qualities only to the mountain trout. Its growth 

 is not so rapid as could be desired, but it increases in num- 

 bers astonishingly and is admirably adapted to small ponds. 

 As a biter it is capricious, sometimes taking the hook about 

 as fast as it can be baited, and at other times refusing any 

 bait that may be offered it. The best bait is a "borer," to 

 be found under the bark on dead pine trees, though a small 

 minnow from one to two inches in length will answer. The 

 largest of my "silver perch" now weighs l%lbs. and meas- 

 ures loUiu. by Tin. I have also experimented with the "red 

 eye" (AmblopUtcxtupest/rU) and do not like it so well in some 

 respects. Its growth is very slow, but it is a better fighter, 

 and is much more gamy than the silver perch. The largest 

 of my red eyes, now six years old, arenot as wide as a man's 

 hand, though they have been kept in a pond to themselves 

 with a plentiful supply of food. When I got them through 

 the TJ. S. Fish Commission they were not larger than pump- 

 kin seeds. Fishculture in this region has many drawbacks 

 and annoyances, the principal of which are the depredations 

 of idle, thievish negroes, with which this part of the State is 

 cursed; nothing short of a sentinel always on guard can keep 

 them off; and then we have many minks, otters, snapping 

 turtles, green and blue herons, etc. I shot one of the latter 

 a few days ago, and on cutting it open found in it a carp 

 over Sin. long. P. 

 Louisa County, Va., June 15. 



[The red eye perch of "Virginia is the well known rock 

 bass of Pennsylvania. In the Stony Creek region of south- 

 eastern Virginia, and particularly on the estate of Dr. Over- 

 ton, we are informed that the red eye often exceeds 3lbs. in 

 weight. Here the black bass and other fishes of its family 

 also thrive and multiply wonderfully] 



MAINE PLANTINGS. 



BANGOR, Me., June 23.— The Maine Commissioners of 

 Game and Fisheries have just closed the disposal of 

 their young sea and landlocked salmon fry, into the differ- 

 ent rivers and lakes of the State. The distribution has em- 

 braced the whole State, from Aroostook to Lincoln county 

 and Ran gel ey. They have turned into our rivers and lakes 

 the product of something over 1,200,000 ova. Of our sea sal- 

 mon, 200,000 were sent to the hatchery at Grand Lake 

 Stream, to be turned into St. Croix waters, under the super- 

 intendence of that true brother of the angle, Mr. Frank 

 Todd, of St. Stephen. The remainder were turned in at 

 head waters of Kennebec and Presumpscot rivers. The 

 United States Commissioners deemed it not advisable to 

 turn in any more fish into the Penobscot above the poison- 

 ous pulp mills, as there is no law in our State prohibiting 

 factories from emptying all their chemical refuse and other 

 waste matter into our rivers and streams. Some hundreds 

 of yearling salmon were contributed by the U. S. Commis- 

 sion to tributary streams of the Penobscot, below the tidal 

 darn at the water works, at Bangor, atid more are promised 

 us in the near future. The landlocked salmon fry have been 

 divided by us between some thirty odd lakes all over the 

 State. Four lakes have been stocked in Mt. Desert, through 

 the kind assistance of Messrs. Kimbal, of the Kimbal 

 House, and Messrs. Rodick, of the Rodick House. Presque 

 Isle has formed a famous club and received a generous sup- 

 ply. Oxford county visited the hatchery at Sebago and car- 

 ried off a supply for their different favorite resorts. Range- 

 ley had a h atchery at Ran gel ey Village, whence in the 

 future both a large supply of her famous trout as well as 

 landlocked salmon will be produced for her famous lakes. 

 A small supply of a few thousand salmon were hatched and 

 turned in from there this year. Bangor. 



NEWFOUNDLAND FISHCULTURE. 



THE policy of the Fisheries Commission recently estab- 

 lished in Newfoundland is to build at once hatcheries 

 for cod, salmon and lobsters, and to carry on at the same 

 time the study and investigation of the fish and fisheries, 

 and adopt the necessary measures for the regulation and 

 protection of the latter. A cod hatchery with a capacity of 

 200,000,000 eggs was completed July 18, 1889. The apparatus 

 includes 48 Chester boxes and 4 of the McDonald tidal boxes. 

 The chief difficulty so far experienced has been the securing 

 of ripe eggs. The hatchery was finished after the close of 

 the spawning season. In Trinity and Placentia bays cod 

 are said to spawn in May and June. Occasionally an odd 

 male or female i n the gravid condition is seen later in Pla- 

 centia Bay, but the two sexes are never found at the same 

 time. The successful work accomplished by the United 

 States and Norway has stimulated the Newfoundland Com- 

 mission to earnest effort, and the rapid decline of the fishery 

 has added a more powerful incentive to prompt action, The 

 seines destroy millions of young cod everv year, and the 

 present scarcity of marketable fish is attributed principally 

 to this destructive method of fishing. 



STURGEON CULTURE. — The U. S. Fish Commission 

 is experimenting in the artificial propagation of the lake 

 sturgeon. The work is under the charge, of Mr. Frank N 

 Clark and was begun at Fox Island on the Detroit river. 

 Owing to the limited number of ripe males and females 

 obtained at Fox Island, the operations were transferred to 

 Algonac on the St. Clair river, where the spawning season 

 usually begins about June 20, and the fish are caught on 

 hooks, sometimes as many as 40 being taken in a day. The 

 eggs of the sturgeon are free and easily handled in the jars 

 adopted by the Commission. The period of incubation has 

 been about ten days, and the young are said to resemble tad- 

 poles morerthan anything else. 



ARTIFICIAL HATCHING OF LAMPREYS. — Mr. Alex- 

 ander Jones, a member of the U S. Fish Commission, has 

 succeeded in artificially hatching 25,000 eggs of the sea lam- 

 prey (PeVromyzon marinus) on car No. 3, at Windsor Locks, 

 Conn. The eggs are free and were hatched in McDonald jars 



after an incubation period of ten days. We believe this is 

 the first successful attempt to hatch the eggs of this species 

 artificially. Under natural conditions, the eggs of the lam- 

 prey are deposited under heaps of stones, which the eels pile 

 together for the protection of the ova and the young fry. 

 The development of the lamprey, for the study of which an 

 opportunity will doubtless soon be offered, most prove an 

 interesting' subject for the embryologist. The sea lamprey 

 is known to deposit its eggs in the fresh waters, and the 

 habit of protecting them by means of piles of rock is well 

 known. The young pass a considerable portiou of their 

 early life in the soft mud and are usually toothless, and 

 have rudimentary eyes. To the river fishermen they are 

 familiar as one of the most attractive baits for out-line fish- 

 ing. Little is known about the length of time occupied in 

 the development of this toothless and blind animal into the 

 formidable parasite of the shad and other anadromous fish. 

 Mr. Wm. Bahnie of Pennsylvania, has kept one of the species 

 which live permanently in fresh water, and says that they 

 do not become fully developed until the fourth year of their 

 existence. Lampreys are used more extensively for food 

 than one would at first suppose. There is a steady call for 

 them and the supply is seldom equal to the demand. 



DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK BASS.— The Pennsylvania 

 Fish Commission recentlysent Superintendent William Bul- 

 ler, of the Western Hatchery at Corry. to Sandusky, Ohio, 

 to collect black bass for distribution in suitable waters of 

 the State. Mr. Buller obtained at North Bass Island a good 

 supply of bass averaging about %\b. each in weight. He 

 was greatly assisted by Mr. George E. Littleton, of San- 

 dusky, who takes great interest in collecting small bass for 

 introduction into other waters. 



WALL-EYED PIKE AT ERIE, PA.— The hatching of 

 wall-eyed pike at the Erie station of the Pensylvania Fish 

 Commission during the past seasou was very successful. 

 Owing to the limited supply of tank room everything in the 

 shape of a receptacle was swarming with the fry and thou- 

 sands of the young fish had to be deposited in Lake Erie for 

 want of room in the station. 



" SUMMER TOURS, 1890," 

 Is the title of the new illustrated summer tourist book of the 

 Michigan Central, "The Niagara Falls Route." It is a practical 

 guide and profusely illustrated. Sent to any address on receipt 

 of 6 cents postage by O. W. Ruggles, G. P. & T. Agt., Chicago, 111. 



he Menml 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Sept. 8 to 4.— Dog Show of the Midland Central Fair Associa- 

 tion, at: Kingston, Ont. R. W. Meek, Secretary. 



Sept. 2 to 5.— Third Annual Dog Show of the" Michigan Kennel 

 Club, at Detroit, Mich. M. V. B. Saunders. Secretary. 



Sept. 15 to 19.— Second Annual International Dog Show of th« 

 Industial Exhibition Association at Toronto, Canada. O. A. Stone, 

 Secretarv. 



Sept. 23 to 26.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Central Canada 

 Exhibition Association, at Ottawa. Alfred Geddes, Chairman 

 Committee. 



Oct. 6 to 11.— Ninth Annual Dog Show of the Danbury Agricul- 

 tural Society, at Danbury Conn. B. C. Lvnes, Secretarv. 



Dec. 80 to Jan. 3, 1891.— First Dog Show of the Buckeye Poultry 

 and Pet Stock Association, at Canton, O. James Sterling, Sec'y, 

 39 North Market street. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Sept. 9.— field Trials of the Manitoba Field Trials Club. Thos. 

 .Johnson, Winnipeg, Secretary. 



November.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Brunswick Fur 

 Club, at Brunswick, Me. J. H. Baird, Secretarv, Auburndale, 

 Mass. 



Nov. 3.— Fourth Annual Field Trials of the Indiana Kennel 

 Club, at Carlisle, Ind. P. T. Madison, Indianapolis, Ind., Sec'y, 



Nov. 10.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Canadian Kennel 

 Club, at Chat ham, Ont. C. A. Stone, Toronto, Ont., Secretarv. 



Nov. 17.— Twelfth Annual Field Trials of tUe Eastern Field 

 Trials Club, at Otterburn Springs, Va. W. A. Coster, Saratogo 

 Springs, N. V., Secretary. 



Dec. 1.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Central Field Trials 

 Club, at Lexington, N. C. O. II. Odell, Mills Building, New York. 

 Secretary. 



1891. 



Jan. 19.— Eighth Annual Field Trials of the Pacific Kennel Club, 

 at Bakersfleld, Cat. H. H. Brings, Secretary. 



Feb. 2.— Third Annual Field Trials of the Southern Field Trials 

 Club. T. M. Brunby, Secretary, Marietta, Ga. 



COURSING. 



Oct. 21 to 25.— Fifth Annual Meet of the American Coursing 

 Club, at Great Bend, Kan. I. D. Brougher, Secretary. 



FUN AT DOG SHOWS. 



IConeluded.'] 

 COLLIES. 



THE awards that have been made in these classes would 

 cause a Shirley or a Thompson to go off in a fit of 

 laughter and die from the effects. Collies, like other breeds, 

 have had their Rubicons, Meersbrook Maidens and Robin 

 Adairs, and quite a number of collie judges have added to 

 their stock of popularity and became famous through the 

 usual channel — incompetence. I think it is almost gener- 

 ally conceded that the most incompetent persons become 

 the most "popular" judges in America. The more outrage- 

 ously unjust and stupid the awards, and the more liable is 

 the person who made them to be written up as the "ever 

 popular Mr. Greenhorn." I say in America, because such a 

 thing cennot be in England. There a majority of the ex- 

 hibitors are competent judges, men who know whether a de- 

 cision is right or wrong. This insures the days of unreliable 

 judges being short. Thej make two or three bad blunders 

 and the fancy discards them in quick time. Here, the ex- 

 hibitors, with the exception, perhaps, of a handful, know 

 little, if any, more than the judges; and as a large majority 

 of exhibitors exhibit worthless specimens and do not know 

 they are worthless, it follows that the judge who succeeds 

 in making the most stupeuduous blunders becomes the 

 most popular. He pleases the largest number— the grand 

 army of incompetents. If there is one good dog in the class 

 the judge is far less likely to gain popularity by giving that 

 dog the prize than by selecting a rank duffer. The good 

 dog bears no resemblance to the bad ones, and the exhibit- 

 ors argue that if the good dog is right all their dogs must 

 be wrong. 



The contemplation of such a state of affairs is anything 

 but honey to these men, and they are only too glad to agree 

 that the good dog is of wrong type. Let the ,iudge spot a 

 real bad one for the prize and then tell the disappointed ex- 

 hibitors that their exhibits pressed the winner close, being 

 of a similar type, and you will have peace in that show. 

 Why, I have known the exhibitors to take such an award 

 as a compliment. "He's a great deal like my dog is that 

 first prize winner, same type. Didn't take the judge long 

 to see they are two of a kind. Good judge, I guess, but I 

 like my dog for first. I'll show him again." He does show 

 again, and the good dog that was unnoticed by the incom- 

 petent judge on this occasion turns up in the same class. 

 The judge understands his business. He gives first to the 

 dog that was unnoticed, and withholds all other prizes and 

 cards for want of merit. Then there is music in the air. 



The man who understood his business and did his duty is 

 denounced, the incompetent judge becomes "popular," 

 especially if the owners of the defeated mongrels are prom- 

 inent members of a specialty club. These men join hands 

 and bring influence to bear on the unsuspecting managers 

 of bench shows. The result is this: The judges' riog be- 

 comes open to anything and everything that is ignorant on 

 one question— the correct type of a dog. 



The memorable popularity en joyed by incompetent judges 

 will continue until the exhibitors and reporters become in- 

 itiated. To make exhibitors, who have been born minus a 

 natural gifb of detecting true form, learn anything about 

 dogs is a most difficult task. They lack what Mr. Wade 

 terms a "dog eye," and it is almost imjiossible to make 

 them see straight. These men are responsible for what are 

 known as "popular judges." Look down the list. Mr. 

 Shotwell, who has committed some of the most glaring 

 errors of judgment ever heard of, is "popular." Mr. Harry 

 Goodman is reported to have given a prize to a setter when 

 shown in the collie class, and we all know about, him giving 

 the queen of mastiff bitches, Lady Clare, highly commended 

 in a very weak class. For this he is frequently styled the 

 "popular Harry Goodman." Mr. Mortimer could not see 

 Guido, a collie, when Robin Adair was in the class, notwith- 

 standing that Mr. Graham, who wa3 looking over the rail- 

 ings, asked in a loud tone of voice, "What is that man 

 doing?" More recently be gave a prize to a "collie" whose 

 dam was a spitz, and a bad one at that. For these and 

 other decisions of the same color he is pronounced, "ever 

 popular," and is invited by the Collie Club to distribute a 

 number of valuable specials. 



Mr. Thos. Terry, like Mr. Mortimer, did not know that 

 Robin Adair was not a coilie. He bred all his bitches to 

 him, ruined his kennel and advised his friends to do like- 

 wise. This conclusive evidence of a thorough lack of 

 knowledge of collies resulted iu Mr. Terry being made a 

 judge. He started out by awarding prizes to prick-eared 

 dogs and soft-coated ones of the "type" he had been breed- 

 ing. It is almost, unnecessary for me to say that he is 

 "popular." Mr. Terry has won a larger number of what may 

 be termed lucky prizes than any man in America. Most of 

 these prizes have been given to him by "popular" Mr. Mor- 

 timer, but "popular" Mr. Shotwell gave him the biggest 

 plum of all. This was at the last New York show whpre 

 Mr. Terry walked off with the Collie Club trophy value $500. 

 If Mr. Terry had been a good judge he would have refused 

 to accept that prize, for rightly it belonged to some one else. 

 Fancy winning $500 with a puppy that was worth 835 to $50. 

 But why is this sort of thing permitted ? Didn't I tell you 

 that the explanation is to be found in the fact that the ex- 

 hibitors do not know whether a decision is correct or incorrect. 

 In this particular case one reporter (Forest and Stream's) 

 "tumbled to the racket," but as a rule those worthy 

 gentlemen hold on to that chronic silence which has made 

 them famous on more than one coutineut. if Tom Brown 

 shoots Bill Jones's lurcher for scratching up the geraniums 

 in his garden, you'll find the papers chock full of a lot of 

 rot, yes the editors will devote columns upon columns of 

 editorial space, in addition to a dozen pages iu the 

 kennel department, to the question of man's inhuman- 

 ity to dog and neighbor. They may go further and 

 raise a monument to the dog's memory and the man's 

 brutality. But, when through the incompetence of a judge, 

 an exhibitor is deprived of §500 which, in the name of justice 

 and fair play, is his, where do you find these reporters — 

 vacation; gunning; shootiug — asleep. By silence they 

 prove their utter unfitness to tackle a question of vast con- 

 cern to the dog loving community. If a man shoots a dog 

 they know the dog was shot and by human hands. If the 

 dog dies they know he's dead. They cau't commit them- 

 selves in taking hold of fhe question and we get the "news." 

 They are not sure that a decision made at a dbg sho w is right 

 or wrong. The judges can't enlighten them, for they don't 

 know. The exhibitors are in the same position, The result 

 of this deplorable condition of affairs is that every breed of 

 dogs is made to suffer, and a lot of incompetent chaps are 

 allowed to go ahead destroying type and undoing what can- 

 not be redeemed in years of careful mating. If the reporters 

 had been equal to the occasion, do you suppose Thuuder 

 would have won more than oue first.'prize? Would Rubicon 

 have "won" the prizes he got, but never deserved, it the re- 

 porters and exhibitors had known anything about fox- 

 terriers? If the press had been alive would Mr. Fred. Iloey 

 not have learned that iu following Mr. Mortimer, iu placing 

 Rubicon over Mixer, be would be hanging himself as a 

 judge, bringing himself into ridicule here and losing any 

 respect that might have been given to his opinions abroad? 



One wrong decisiou may lead to a hundred, when one in- 

 competent judge follows after anothei 1 . Messrs. Belmont, 

 Hoey and Mortimer together cost Mr. Thayer over $1,000 

 duriug the past two years, and Mr. Shotwell cost the Chest- 

 nut Hill Kennels $500 all in about five minutes. How is the 

 trouble to be overcome? Overcome! Why, my boy, it can- 

 not be stopped until exhibitors take the law into their own 

 hands and refuse to exhibit. 1 am willing to wager that 

 the Collie Club will suggest Mr. Shotwell's name for judge 

 on the first possible occasion, just to show that his New 

 York decisions were "popular." And you will find Messrs. 

 Belmont, Hoey and Mortimer slaughtering the terriers and 

 looking wiser than a Solomon. As for Rubicon, he will 

 probably be placed in the stud to "improve the fox-terriers 

 in this country." And so we go along from bad to worse, 

 trying to learn from novices and forgetting what we know. 



Mephisto. 



THE ENGLISH SETTER CLUB. 



IN response to the call for the purpose of forming an 

 Eoglish Setter Club, published iu Forest and Stream 

 last week, there was a meeting held on Tuesday, at the 

 rooms of the American Kennel Club. Major J. M. Taylor 

 called the meeting to order, and Mr. J. Tread well Richards 

 was elected chairman and Mr. Percy C. Ohl secretary. The 

 following named gentlemen were pre*ent: Messrs. J. T. 

 Richards, T. H. Terry, George Jarvis, W. Tallmau, John E. 

 Long, Percy C. Ohl, Wilson Fiske, A. P. Vredenburgh, Major 

 J. M. Taylor, Capt. Patrick Henry and Dr. H. C. Glover, 

 Nearly all of the signers of the call who were not present 

 sent proxies. 



After the adoption of a constitution the club was organized 

 under the name of The English Setter Club, and the follow- 

 ing list of officers was elected: President, Mr. Pierre Loril- 

 lard, Jr.; First Vice-President, Mr. J. Treadwell Richards; 

 Second Vice-President, election postponed; Secretary, Mr. 

 Percy C. Ohl; Treasurer, Dr. H. C. Glover; Executive Com- 

 mittee, the above-named officers and Messrs. T. H. Terry, 

 Wilson Fiske, John E. Long, J. M. Taylor, P. H. Bryson, j. 

 Shelly Hudson, J. E. Dager and J. A. Graham. Committee 

 on Standard, Messrs. Lorillard, Bryson, Taylor, Tallman 

 anfl Fiske. A committee consisting of Messrs. Taylor, Vre- 

 denburgh and Ohl was appointed to confer with the English 

 Setter Club of America, with a view to the consolidation of 

 the two clubs. 



The executive committee was requested to prepare a set of 

 by-laws and to report at the next meeting. 



The initiation fee was fixed at So and the same amount for 

 yearly dues. There was considerable friendly discussion of 

 details, and the various measures as finally adopted received 

 unanimous votes. 



MR. A. R. CROWELL sailed for England last Saturday. 

 We understand that he will return early in August and 

 bring with him a few dogs, if he can find anything to suit 

 him. 



