134 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



LSept. 4, 1SW. 



and to an exploitation of Milton P. Peirce's great "Ameri- 

 can system," a compulsion of the adoption of tbe term 

 "food carp" for that of German carp, and the advertising of 

 specialties in the line of rural hydraulic pumps, wind-mills, 

 water-rams, etc , Peirce's onlv rifle sights and Peirce's only 

 shipping cans, bad so brief an existence, for that was a 

 proper medium for his lamentations. 



Now, as Mr. P^iree, in his nwn estimation, holds the ex- 

 alted position of censor in all matters per'ainiug to flshcul- 

 tttrp, as opposed to tbat of fisbcuttural crank in tbe minds 

 of others, and starts out invariably by ref rrrtg to trout 

 culture as a snare and a delusion because be fouud it so, and 

 alsobv assailing every odp who differs .'rom bim as eitberim- 

 properly interested or callow. I respectfully submit that it is 

 in order for bim to demonstrate his position as suggested 

 above, by something more than mere bluster and assertion 

 When be has done tbat and adopted a more courteous 

 tone I have no doubt that tbe trout culturists of the country 

 will be pleased to gratify him in his very laudable desire to 

 obtain information. 



Simmering the whole matter down to its legitimate con- 

 clusions, tbe burning question is, are tbe great lights of 

 fishculture (leaving out small fry like myself ) all wrong and 

 only selfishly interested in fostering a delusion, and is Mil- 

 ton P. Peirce the great and onl\ inspired, disinterested and 

 altogether lovelv prophet in the wilderness of fishculture? 

 I, for one, am willing to let the defense oi trout culture for the 

 present rest upon the opinions of those great fisbculturists 

 of Eurooe and America whose faith and determination bavs 

 made flsbculture what it is to-dav, on the one side and of 

 Mr. Peirce on the other. And if what I have said in this 

 controversy with VIr. P. is blackguardism, and if he is inno 

 cent of that style of argument, I am very sorry and wi'l 

 have to stand tbe odium. Mr. Peirce has enjoyed a monop 

 oly. without opposition or molestation, for a long time, and 

 if he persists in keeping it up I may have something more 

 to say. Wm. N. Byers. 



TROUT CULTURE POSSIBILITIES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In mv numerous articles published by FOREST AND 

 Stream and other journals during tbe past dozen or more 

 years, referring to ceit.Hin phases of trout-cultural delusion, 

 I have occasionally alluded to the possibilities of success 

 by adopting certain lines of action in the matter of improv- 

 ing trout streams instead of continuing the delusion of 

 artificial propagation. 



I was born upon tbe extreme divide of one of the spurs of 

 the Green Mountain range upon a newly-cleared farm. Near 

 the bouse was a spring, which was tbe extreme source of a 

 famed trout stream. A little rill ran from this spring past 

 our house and within thirty or forty yards of the same, and 

 my earliest recollections are in connection with this little 

 stream. My brother, some years older, ard now a venerable 

 a™d staid D. D., made and floated tippy little biats and con- 

 structed rude little w«ter wheels, which rt-volved under 

 diminutive falls, for my especial amusement. The result 

 was that this little stream possessed a peculiar fnscinatiou 

 for me, and I spent many hours along its margin, aud 

 sometimes against the expressed wish of my mother, who 

 died just a month prior to my sixth birthday; therefore, the 

 time of which I write must have been when I was about, 

 five years old; but the recollection of the incident which I 

 will now relate is as fresh and vivid as if it occurred but 

 yesterday There had been a number of frosty mornings, 

 rendering the grass as white as snow, an article with which 

 I had become quite familiar the previous wi titer by sundry 

 sleigh rides to church, two miles away, and by numerous 

 hand-sled rides managed by my now D.D. brother, who on 

 one occasion, after foddering the cattle, carefuby attached 

 the tongue of the hand-sled to the tail-switch of a wild 

 heifer, and, neglecting to remove me from the sled, prodded 

 her with the hayfork after beading her toward the open 

 meadow. For some reason, that heifer manifested the 

 utmost diseust for the rest of the herd and endeavored to 

 create remoteness between herself and them, and still 

 further manifested her disgust bv protruding her tongue 

 and giving a blast that would have drown* d the loudest 

 horn of Jericho. Instantlythe whole herd gave chase, with 

 beads and tails erect. I have witnessed many fast things, 

 from a toosail iceboat to a note m -ituriug in the bank, but 

 I doubt if even an unfounded rumor ever made sucb time 

 as that affrighted hei'er. And I sat upright on the sled, 

 holding fast to the sides with both bands, and passeo 

 through sp ce in a manner which would have astonished a 

 pre-paid half-i^te telegraph message. My brother, now 

 thoroughly frightened, called excitedly to me to "let g >," 

 but I stuck like a sealed Government envelope, from which 

 has just been omitted p rt of a eommunieation. Tbe heifer 

 cleared the little trout stream like a wild deer, and at the 

 same time the switch of her tail parted from the sled, which 

 was carried by momentum a long distance dowu the gentle 

 incline, barely missing several stumps along the route, and 

 finally came to a dead stop in the feathery snow. My 

 brother was following close in tbe wake of the excited cattle, 

 and although he has since spent manv years on the '"cir- 

 cuit" and many more as Presiding Elder," I doubt if upon 

 the occasion of belated appointments, he ev*r made such 

 time as upon that hreht winter morning on top of the his- 

 toric Berkshire Hills, while in bis anxiety to ascertain if 

 his cherished sled had sustained any injury. 



O yes, I vividly remember that particular locality, but I 

 have somehow wandered from my subject, fori wnsreferring 

 to sundry frosty mornings, and my mother had explained to 

 me tbe difference between snow and frost, and especially 

 when the latter had melted under tbe rays of a warm fall 

 morning's sun, and I had been forbidden to go through the 

 wet grass to the little stream to float chips down the ever- 

 varving current. My favorite point for launching my 

 imaginary boats was nearly in front of the house and just 

 below a tiny water-fall which had caused a slight widening of 

 the little stream, perhaps to thirty inches and leaving about 

 twice that, length of dead water, some fifteen to eigbteen 

 inches deep near the little fall. Tbe bottom of this little 

 body of water was covered with clean gravel. One frosty 

 morning, disobeying the injunction of my mother to not go 

 through the wet grass, I gatheied an armful of chips and 

 went down to my favorite laui.cbiug ground. .As 1 looked 

 over the bank I was startled to see two large fishes dart 

 under the projecting bank where I stood. I had frequently 

 seen small fishes there, but never before such large ones, 

 which I now tbink were ten or twelve inches in length. My 

 childish curiosity wis excited, and I lay down in the wet 

 grass upon that bank and peered over into the water, and 

 soon saw the noses of the two fishes gradually working out 

 to the center of the gravel-bed, over which one of them 

 .slowly passed with a peculiarly gyratory motion and the 

 other closely followed and soon commenced roiling the 

 water, as I thought. I saw this operation repeated two or 

 three times, when my mother appeared unon the scene and 

 walked me to the h^use in quick time, notwithstanding my 

 attempts to acquaint her with what I had seen. I subse- 

 quently crept carefullv to that place and again siw the 

 fishes engaged in these interesting operations, which nearly 

 twenty-five years later became clear to me, under tbe ex- 

 planations of Drs Acfeley and Garlick. of Cleveland, O., the 

 fathers of American fishculture 1 bad seen, when but five 

 years of aee, a pair of trout, in their native haunt, engaged 

 in tbe interesting operation of prrp>gating their species. 

 Since my first lessons under Drs. Ackley and Garlick, in 

 1853-4, 1 have frequently repeated my childhood exploit of 

 watching wild. -tout on their spawqiag-he4s> both before as 



Some ten years ago, while making special investigations 

 upon the subject of fish and fisheries for the last census, I 

 visited the identical spot where as a five-year-old child I un- 

 consciously witnessed for the first time the operation of 

 propagation of brook trout. It was in the summer time, and 

 I found on ly a nearly dry pile of gravel. The removal of the 

 surrounding forest caused the spring to dry up during tbe 

 summer, and the real living beid of the' still fair trout 

 stream is another spring fully half a mile below, and which 

 was formerly a tributary and at a poiut where respectable- 

 sized trout were frequently taken. T have no doubt but 

 what they still seek that, point for propagating purposes. 

 About a mile, from the latter point tnere is another spring 

 upon a farm owned many years by a relative, and where I 

 have spent many a month during a t«rm of years. This 

 spring is the extreme head of another tributary to the same 

 trout stream, and this tributary abounds in spawning places 

 ur> to and including thespring in question. I know of scores 

 of springsin that immediate region which head prolific little 

 trout streams, where thirty or more years ago it was a com- 

 mon practice to catch trout to and including the head 

 spring. Farming operations practically destroyed the fish- 

 ing In most of them, but tbey have many of them of late 

 been coursing through what have been termed "abandoned 

 farms," which for many years have been growing up to brush 

 and in some cases to quite a respectable growth of young 

 timb r. The trout have been gradually increasing, and the 

 present season are reported as plentiful as ever. 



Now, I am aware that I have been quite diffuse, even to 

 tediousness, in this communication, but it has been a 

 simple statement of facts, called out in part by the attempt 

 of one of your correspondents to belittle my almost life- 

 time studies and investigations, particularly in connection 

 with trout culture, and for many years before I wrote a 

 word upon the subj ct. I have visited tbe region named 

 every three or four years, and during the past twenty-five 

 years have from time to time visited all the New England 

 St ites, and almost entirely in the interests of fishculture. 

 My investigations have also embraced several other States 

 containing trout waters, notably New York, New Jersey, 

 Prnnsylvnnia and West Virginia, in ail of which 1 nave 

 conducted personal examinations and methodical investiga- 

 tions, while my extensive investigations by correspondence 

 emorace every State and Territory of this country as well as 

 all the leading countries of the globe. The result of these 

 investigations is overwhelmingly conclusive, tbat artificial 

 trotit culture is at best a gross delusion. But, my investi- 

 gations have taught another valuable lesson. By following 

 nature's lines and profiting by her lessons, hundreds of 

 trout streams can be restored to their old-time fertility. All 

 through the mountain towns of New England where popu- 

 lation has dwiudled and farms have been abandoned, this 

 recuperation of trout streams is being accomplished 

 naturally. In hundreds of localities it can be accomplished 

 artificially, and particularly when the stream can be 

 controlled by fishing clubs or associations. I have during 

 the past, dozen years made a number of plans for this pur- 

 pose. In tbe concrete, these plans consist in meandering 

 the streams so as to double or treble their length, and, of 

 course, their producing capacity. To deflect from the main 

 stream little rills, running them when practicable a con- 

 siderable distance before turning them again into the m-in 

 stream. These little rills will be sought by tbe breeders in 

 the spawning season, for their instinct teaches them to 

 search for solitary pools where they will not be disturbed 

 and where their spiwu will not be devoured by other fishes 

 Of course, provision is made for numerous little falls for 

 aeration of thepoolsiuto wbicb the fallssbould plunge. This 

 is necessary both in the main stream and in the spawning 

 rills And there must be innumerable hiding places pre 

 p .red for the wary fish. Finally, an abundance of rapidly 

 growing shrui bery and trees must be planted on the sunny 

 sides ot the serpentine trout preserve, for shade is an abso- 

 lute necessity, in order to keep down the temperature of tbe 

 water. All through the northerly portions of tnis country 

 hundreds upon hundreds of miles of productive trout 

 streams can be maintained for all time to come, unless a 

 radical change comes over our planet. If one-tenth the 

 sum which has been wasted in the delusion of artificial 

 trout culture bad been expended in the direction indicated, 

 there would be a hundred miles of productive trout streams 

 where but one now exists. Milton P. PEIRCE. 



ConuMBCS, Ohio. 



TJ. S. FISH COMMISSION EXCHANGED— Heir Max 

 von dem Borne, of Berneuchen, Germany, desires calico bass, 

 crappie and sunfish in exchange for European fishes and 

 eggs suitable for the waters of the United States. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Sept. 1 to S.— First Annual Dog Show of the Youngstown Kennel 

 Club, at YontiKS'own, O, S. D.L, Jackson. Sec'y. 



Sept. 2 to 5.— Dog Show of the Wilm rgtnn Fab- Association, at 

 Wilmington, Del. F. R. Cars well, Snpt., 101 West, stxth street. 



Sept. 2 o 4.— Dog Show of the Midland Central Fair Associa- 

 tion, at Kingston, Ont. C. H. Oorbett, Secretary. 



Sept, 2 to 5.— Third Annual Dog Show of ihe Michigan Kennel 

 CI nK at Detroit, Mich. M. V. B. Saunders, Secretary. 



Si pt. 15 to 19.— Second Annual International Dog Show of the 

 Indusrial Exhibition Association at Toronto, Canada. C. A. Stone, 

 Secretary 



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

 Exhibition Association, at Ottawa. Alfred Geddes, Chairman 

 C^rnmi'tee. 



Sept. 23 to 26— Third Dog Show of the London Kennel Club, at 

 London. Ont. S. F. »-il aS s, Secretary. 



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

 tural Sorietv, at Dnnhurv Conn. B. C. Lvnes, Secretarv. 



Dec. 30 to Jan. 3, 1891.— First, Dor Show of the Buckeye Poultry 

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

 39 North Market street. 



1891. 



Jan. 20 to 2R.— First Annual Dog Show of the Louisiana Poultry 

 and Pet Sto k Association, at New Orleans, La. A. E. Shaw, Sec- 

 rrtnrv. Box lf-5P. 



Feh. 24 m 27. Fifteenth Annual Dog Show of the Westminster 

 Kenne] flub, at N^w Yo*k. James Mortimer Superintendent. 



Mnrr-h 24 to 27.-— Second Annual Tine Show of the Massachusetts 

 Kennel Club, Lynn, Mass. D. A. Williams, Secretary. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Sept. 9 —Field Trials of the Manitooa Field Trials Club. Thos. 

 Jobnson, Winnipec. Secretary. 



November.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Brunswick Fur 

 Cluh, at Brunswick, Me. J. H, Baird, Secretary, Auburndale, 

 JVTttss. 



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

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



Nov. 3.— Second Annual Field Tnals of the Canadian Kennel 

 Club, at Glial ham. Out. C. A. Stone, Toronto, Ont,, Secretarv. 



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

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

 Springs, N. ST., ir-ecretary. 



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

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

 Secretary. 



1891. 



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

 ai Bakersfleld, Cal. H. H. Briggs, Secretary 



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

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



COURSING. 



DOG TALK FROM ENGLAND. 



j TTANLEY. England.— Mr. F. W, Dunning, the owner of 

 JUL Duke, of Wellington and other good Sr. Bernards, has 



I had the misfortune to lose his promising puppy, Baron Stan- 

 ley (Sir Bedivere— Hykeham Queen). He contracted distem- 



| per at Leeds show, another victim of the folly of showing 



I puppies. 



It will be of considerable interest to American readers to 

 heir • hat Mr W. Rust's Scotch collie Moonstone, bred by 

 Mr. Geo A. Fletcher, of Milton, Mass., bv Sco^son out of 

 Moonlight, h is recently woo thir I at tbe Tu abridge Wells 

 I show. Moonstone won second to Chestnut Hill Kennels' 

 Scotilla II. at Boston, Mass., 1890. 



Mr. Mitchell Harrison's Christopher will remain iu Eng- 

 land, and persoually I think Mr. H. is wise in his decision, 

 There are more good stud dogs in the States now than we 

 can possibly use. Scotilla can take his place very well, 

 though I do not claim that he is as good. 



I am pleased to see another American writer advising St. 

 Bernard breeders to purchase good bitches. "Manhattan," 

 in the Canine World, has taken tip the question, and it Is 

 indeed a pity thit the breeders cannot realize the importance 

 of following his advice. 



Mr. Shillcock, of Birmingham, has sold the St. Bernard 

 Lord Hartington to some unknown American gentleman. 

 Lord Harrington is by champion Plinlimmon and out of Flor- 

 entine. He is ortoge and white in large splashes, with well 

 marked head, good bone and heal,32in. standard, aud I 

 should judge about 180 bs. weight. H* has dou" quite well 

 here in the scud, and has won a tew firsts on the beach. 



The new paper, the Canine World, is pitching into tbe 

 English Kenuel Clu J in great form on tbe score of raising 

 objections to some entries and not noticing others just as 

 objectionable. 



Dublin Scot, the well known collie, has again changed 

 hands. Mr. W. P. Kidd, of Manchester, has purchased him 

 of Mr. Stretch. 



The show of .50 English mast ffs to be given at Crystal 

 Palace this week as a compliment to Dr. Derb<~, is indeed a 

 compliment of the highest quality. There will be. no com- 

 petition, simply a collection for the Doctor's inspection. 



I note "Hibemia's" article on beagles in Forest and 

 Stream just received. As I wrote in my last batch of notes 

 I have not seen a single beagle iu England yet. When I do I 

 will have more to say on tbe subject. Regarding type I 

 would not vote for either of the three. I sbould vote for 

 beagle type which is neither bloodhound, harrier nor fox- 

 hound. 



"J. W.," in his note on "The Dog Millais-nium" has 

 caused many a smile in dog circles on this side. A little 

 more of that, style of journalism would make the journals 

 more readable. 



I visited the Crewe show last week. The horses, cattle, 

 sheep, pigs, poultry, implements, etc , were a grand lot, 

 one of the finest collections I ever saw, rivaling the Chicago 

 cattle show, but the dogs were a very poor lot; 148 dogs 

 and about 20 good ones in the whole lot. Mr. Astley 

 judged all classes except collies. He did very well with the 

 terrier classes, but must have had his eyes shut when judg- 

 ing the St. Bernards, field spaniels, etc. In black field span- 

 iels the vhc. dog was an easy se^oad. The winner in St. 

 Bernard bitches, J. H. Ellis's Septima, has the advantage in 

 nothing else but size. She is narrow in skull, long in muz- 

 zle, no collar and no depth of body. The winners in collie 

 classes were mostly Mr. Stretch's and showed considerable 

 quality. There was one good pointer, one of Mr. Norrish's 

 breeding. The English setters were some well bred young- 

 sters by Monk of Fnrness and Sir Frederick, and showed 

 considerable quality. In the mixed setter class, second prize 

 was given to the worst looking specimen of a dog that I 

 ever saw a prize awarded to. Had it not been labeled a Gor- 

 don setter I should have called it s. mongrel. In a few weeks 

 we shall see some dog advertised with a long list of win- 

 nings, among them first at Crewe. 1890. 



Mr. Harris's bull terrier formerly called White Wonder, 

 tbat was protested against at the Boston show for being 

 deaf, was deaf when born. He was bred by Mr ^ratt, of 

 Ok Hill, Stoke-on-Trent. He is by White Sim uut of 

 White Rose. Mr. Pratt thought that the puppy was deaf 

 when born and sold it to Mr. Hughes, a postmm at Stoke, 

 for £1. The postman soon discovered tbat the puppy was 

 deaf, but kept the matter as quiet as possible, but in spite 

 of his precautions the dog finally became known throughout 

 the section as the "postman's deaf dog," Mr. Hughes 

 made up his mind to get even with Mr. Pratt and laid his 

 plans very shrewdly. He wrote Mr. Heath, the former 

 owner of M'ss Glendynne, now called Attraction, Enter- 

 prise and other good ones, and got him to make a date to 

 call and see the dog. He then goes to Mr. Pratt and tells 

 him how wonderfully the puppy has improved and that Mr. 

 Heath is talking of purchasing him. (Mr. Heath and Mr. 

 Pratt were at that time trying to outdo each other.) Mr. 

 Pratt not wishing to see his rival with tbe best dog in tbe 

 country and supposing the puppy must b»ve outsrown bis 

 deafness purchased bim on the spot for £10. Of course he 

 soon discovered that tbe dog was totally deaf and threat- 

 ened suit, but as he bad first sold the dog when deaf he was 

 advised to let tbe matter rest. This much I know to be the 

 facts. It is furthermore stated by those who ought to know 

 that the White Wonder was soon after reported dead and 

 the same dog was represented as another dog under another 

 name. I have not questioned Mr. Harris in regard to the 

 affair, but if he paid the price stated, £80, be was badly 

 sold, whether he knew him to be deaf or not. If Mr. Hinks 

 sold the dog to Mr. Harris and did not say anything about 

 tbe deafness he is a swindler of the first water. Hinks & 

 Pratt are one firm. American readers must not get, this 

 Hinks mixed up with James Thorpe Hincks, the Clumber 

 man, at Leicester, or E. C. Hincks. It is Fred Hinks that 

 sold White Wonder. 



London, Aug. 18.— At a special meeting of the Great Dane 

 Club, Aug. 7, it was decided that hereafter any great P ' 

 with a cankered mouth, or with a joint or any part d 

 tail removed, shall not be eligible for competition. 



Although England can beat us in number and quality 'of 

 field spaniels, Clumber spaniels and Irish water spaniels, it 

 appears they can't afford to encourage the breeding of them. 

 It seems decidedly strange to an American to see Clumbers 

 and black and liver fields all run together in one class and 

 called "'field spaniels." And it is no sinecure for the judge 

 to pick out the winner and give any satisfaction. It i* not 

 so in the very largest shows, but in small shows of 500 en- 

 tries I have seen it many times. 



"J. W.," in Forest and Stream of July 31, gives Lord 

 Calthorpe's weight at 208 lbs. and Baroness Cardiff at 186. 

 It Lord Caltborpe can shosy an ounce over 186 I will agree to 

 Wt< every atom of him 5 , with the owners permission* 



