so 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Ja>-. 2», 1891. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



TAST week the Forest and Stream spoke of the disad- 

 ^ vantage anglers labor under when fishing for the 

 first time in strange waters. There is probably nothing 

 so condusive to a well-filled creel as a thorough knowledge 

 of the waters one expects to fish, be it lake or stream. 

 This applies particularly to trout fishing, though to a cer- 

 tain degree true of all kinds. 



No matter how much experienced an angler may have 

 had, or how well he fishes, his first visit to a new locality 

 is apt to prove unsatisfactory and a disappointment. 

 There are often long stretches of good-looking water that 

 hardly contain a trout, while some insignificant back- 

 water, generally overlooked, may teem with good fish. 

 These little backwaters often have a small spring 

 trickling in at the further end, and if carefully fished, 

 particularly in warm weather, will yield some very hand- 

 some trout. 



There was a stretch of still water on the Lycoming, 

 right in the village of Ealston, Pa., which the writer for 

 the first few visits never thought worth fishing, as it was 

 so public and close to several dwellings. Coming back a 

 little earlier than usual one evening I thought I would 

 try it, and to my surprise I took several unusually large 

 and weU-fed trout. Probably every one had negle'cted it 

 for the same reason I had. 



As all anglers know, these fish are very partial to cer- 

 tain spots in the stream; a good pool will almost always 

 contain a big trout who seems to be the boss of that 

 locality. If he is caught, another will be found there in- 

 side of twenty-four hours. As the season advances these 

 fish change their location and seek the headwaters or 

 pools into which cold springs empty. Often tliese springs 

 are at the bottom of the lake or in the bed of the stream, 

 and therefore hard to find ; so that sometimes jjarts of 

 streams that have plenty of fish early in the spring are 

 entirely barren in warm weather. These places can 

 sometimes be located by watching them just before sun- 

 rise, when a little mist will be seen over these cooler 

 spots. 



Then, again, there are often good localities up the 

 smaller streams. I remember such a one up Frozen 

 Eun. near Ealston, where it empties into the main stream. 

 It was but a little rivulet, that looked entirely to insig- 

 nificant to be worth fishing with the fly; but one day 

 when the Lycoming was SAvollen by heavy rains and fish- 

 ing was impossible, 1 walked up for a mile, tempted more 

 by the big strawberries than any prospect of trout, wiien 

 suddenly I came upon an old, deserted and half-decayed 

 mill pond, surrounded by woods. The water was dark 

 and clear, and a nice bit of white sand beach at the upper 

 end afforded room for a back cast. I killed nineteen 

 beautiful trout before I left that afternoon, and on every 

 subsequent visit to Ealston 1 always tried that lonely little 

 mill pond away back in the hills. Scarlet-Ibis. 



Connecticut River Pike.— Albany, N. Y.— When I 

 was at Grreen field, Mass., last week, a party there told me 

 he had taught maskinonge in the Connecticut Eiver. 

 When 1 intimated that they must be northern pike he 

 said he saw one caught weighing BOlbs. Have you or any 

 of your contributors any kno wledge of this fact?— Dexter. 

 [We find in Dr. Goodes "American Fishes" the following 

 statement concerning reports of muskellunge in this river; 

 "It has frequently been said in print that muskellunge 

 were introduced into a pond near Bellow's Falls, Mass., 

 in 1838, and that they have since escaped into the Con- 

 necticut, where they have become abundant. This is a 

 great mistake. I have examined several of these would- 

 be muskellunge from the, Connecticut, but ail of them 

 proved to be over-grown jjike. This .species probably does 

 not occur in the Connecticut." The pike is credited in 

 Germany with a maximum weight of 701b«. Frank 

 Buckland saw an example weighing 36lbs., and a Scotch 

 specim,en of 731bs. is recorded. Continental Europe is 

 said to have furnished an individual weighing 1451bs. 

 There is no doubt that the pike under favorable condi- 

 tions reaches the weight referred to by "Dexter," and the 

 probability is that the Connecticut Eiver specimen 

 belonged to this species. The capture of such a fish must 

 have been a sight worth seeing.] 



NEW HAMPSHIRE FISH COMMISSION WORK. 



WE have received the report of the Commissioners of 

 Fish and Game, of New Hampshire, for the year 

 ending Dec. 1, 1890. The popular appreciation of tlie work 

 of fish breeding is amply manifested Ijy the greatly increased 

 demand for young trout. Eight years ago 60,000 fry were 

 allotted to tfie whole State, but now fully twice that number 

 are distributed in a single couuty. The work of the Com- 

 mis.sion is devoted chiefly to the cultivation of indigenous 

 fishes and the introduction of species whose adaptability to 

 New Hampshire's streams and lakes has been established. 

 The lake trout has reached a high standard of excellence in 

 Newfound Lake, due to its large size, the color and flavor of 

 its flesh and its eiame qualities. The Commissioners hail 

 Avith delight the increase in the number of fish and game 

 leagues in various parts of the State, because "they create a 

 healthy sentiment in regard to the necessity for a close sea- 

 son for fish and game, and a due regard for the game laws in 

 the localities where the leagues are established, and educate 

 the people to a better knowledge of the value of the streams 

 and lakes in their section of the State." 



The ponds and lakes of Nfew Hampshire have an area of 

 nearly 300,000 acres, exclusive of Lake Winnipesaukee, and 

 the rivers and creeks are estimated to cover 100,000 acres 

 more. The Commission has a list of 5.58 ponds and lakes, 

 including a description of the bottom, their area and the 

 kinds of fish found in them. Pickerel, perch and hornpouts 

 exist in 831 lakes, black bass have been introduced into 113, 

 landlocked salmon into T3, and in 39 ponds brook trout and 

 lake trout are native. The good results of planting lake 

 trout and landlocked salmon ai-e plainly evident in Sunapee 

 and Newfound lakes, which furnish as good fishing as can 

 be found anywhere in New England. The landlocked salmon 

 reach a weight of IGlbs. and the lake trout about the same. 

 This remarkable growth is attributed to the abundance of 

 landlocked smelt introduced as food for the trout and 

 salmon. 



The Commissioners called the attention of the Legislature 

 to the de.sirability of examining the waters of Great Bay 

 with a view to the cultivation of oysters, which at one time 

 existed there in large numbers, but have now, by overfishing 

 or dredging, become extinct. 



Many complaints have been received of the great damage 

 done to numerous fine trout streams by sawdust and mill 

 r^|u.se T'ljs! ie a matter ontside of the Commissioners? • 



jurisdiction and must be considered by the Legislatm-e. It 

 is .stated tha,t many of the purest and coldest streams, which 

 abounded with fine trout a few years ago, are now so polluted 

 by a foul mass of decayed sawdust that the vegetation has 

 been destroyed, the insect life exterminated, and the trout 

 driven away. The Commissioners quote a statement to the 

 effect that not only are fish seriously injured by sawdust, 

 but that epidemics of typhoid fever have been traced to the 



oUution of the water by organic matter .such as bark, saw- 



ust and sewage. This is a subject which is attracting a 

 good deal of attention and causing a vast amount of dis- 

 cussion, and it is certainly deserving of complete inves- 

 tigation and control by legislative action. 



The report of Col. Elliott B. Hodge, a member of the Com- 

 mission and superintendent of the five hatching stations, 

 follows that of the Commissioners. Col. Hodge records as 

 many as 50 salmon at one time in the large pool, below the 

 falls at Livermore. Sixty salmon were taken and placed in 

 the reservoir at the Plymouth hatchery. Two hundred 

 thousand eggs were obtained from these salmon in October 

 and the fish were returned to the river. Many salmon were 

 seen spawning in the river late in October. 

 ^ "Many of these fish were smaller than u.sual for this river. 

 Some of the females, which gave spawn, would not weigh 

 over 6 or 71bs. The largest male taken weighed 251bs. , female 

 201bs." Over a million brook trout eg£cs are now being- 

 developed at Plymouth, an increase of 800,000 over 1885. 

 Col. Hodge bought upward of (5,000 wild trorit, measuring 4 

 to Bin. in length, lor §3 per hundred delivered at the 

 hatchery. Since the adoption of the landing nets for salmon 

 and brook trout, described in Forest ai^d Strea^ai of Oct. 

 30, 1890, not a single fish has been injured by handling and 

 fungus has been entirely absent. Los.ses of trout were 

 occasioned at Plymouth by kingfishes and minks. Thirty of 

 the former were caught in traps during the last season. 



The total distribution of fry for 1890 was as follows; 

 Brook trout, 641,000; lake trout, 535,000; Loch Leven trout. 

 23,000; Alpine lake trout, 8,000; salbling, 4,000; California 

 trout, 20,000; golden trout. 102,000; Penobscot salmon, 240,000; 

 landlocked salmon, 180,000: total 1,756,000. 



At the Bristol station, which was complpted in September, 

 1889, 525.000 eggs of lake trout were taken in Newfound 

 Lake. These were hatched and planted in the lake at a 

 total cost of about 32 cents per thousand. At Weil's, where 

 the fish are much smaller than those in Newfound, 360,000 

 eggs of lake troiit were obtained. At the Keene station no 

 eggs have yet been collected. Breeding ponds will be con- 

 structed in the spring and supplied with a stock of brook 

 trout. 



Illegal fishing is still practiced in New Hampshire and 

 spearing on the spawning beds is still exerting its baleful 

 influence on the flsh supply of the State. Numerous arrests 

 and convictions have been made with salutary effect on the 

 public regard for protective laws. The flsh and game detec- 

 tive, Mr. B. P. Chadwick, reports violations of the laws in 

 relation to lobsters and the arrest of five individu?ds in Rye, 

 Nashua and Portsmouth, who paid fines ranging from $20 

 to S120 and costs. He finds that the lobster laws should be 

 amended so as to make it an offense to catch and sell egg 

 bearing lobsters. Hunting and fishing on Sunday are on the 

 increase, much to the annoyance of church going people. 

 Before leaving this subject we must call the attention of 

 our readers to the fact that the Alpine trout above men- 

 tioned is a recent introduction by the IT. S. Pish Commis- 

 sion from Switzerland. It is a black spotted species related 

 to the common fario, which is now so well established in its 

 new home in American waters. 



All communications must reach us by Tuesday 

 of the week they are to be published; and should 

 be sent as much earlier as may be convenient. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWa 



Jan. 27 to 30.— Inaugural Dog Show of the South Carolina Ken- 

 uef Association, at Greenville, S. C. F. F. Capers. Secretary. 



Feb. 24 to 27.— Fifteenth Annual Dog Show of the Westrr.inster 

 Kennel Club, at New York. James Mortimer, Superintendeut. 



March .3 to 6.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Maryland Kennel 

 Club, at Baltimore. Md. W. Stewart DiffenderfEer, Secretary. 



March 10 to 18.— First Annual Dog Show of the Duquesns Kennel 

 Club, at Pittsburg. Pa. W. E. Littell, Secretary. 



March 16 to 19.— Inaugural Dog Show of the Washington City 

 Kennel Club, at Washington, D. C. 



March 24 to 27. — Second Annual Dog Show of the Massachusetts 

 Kennel Club, Lynn, Mass. D. A. Williams, Seoretai-y. 



March 31 to April 3.— Seventh Annual Dog Show of the New 

 England Kenae.l Club, at Boston, Mass. E. H. Moore, Si cretary, 



April 8 to 11.— Third Annual Dog Show of the Mascoulah Ken- 

 nel Clul), at Chicago, III. John L. Lincoln, Jr., Secretary. 



April 14 to 17.— Fourth Dog Show of the Cleveland Kennel Club, 

 at Cleveland, O. 0. M. Munhall, Secretary. 



Sept. 1 to 4.— Dog Show of the Youngstown Kermel Club, at 

 Youngstown, O. 



FIELD TRIALS. 

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

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



COCKER SPANIELS OF 1 S90. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mr. A. C. Wilmerding quotes me as having stated that 

 Doc was not for competition at New York, 1890, because "he 

 was afraid of .Jersey." What I actually did write was that 

 Doe "was probably afraid of Jersey." Without authentic 

 information I could not have said for certain why a dog did 

 not compete, so 1 qualified the statement. Mr. Wilmer- 

 ding's explanation that he owned Doc at the time of the New 

 York show is ciuite satisfactory. It was on account of my 

 not having noticed that the dog had changed ownership that 

 I thought it probable he had been kept hack so as not to 

 meet Jer-sey. The statement is cheerfully withdrawn and I 

 apologize to Mr. Wilmerding for having made it. 



Mr. Wilmerding expresses much surprise that I should 

 have fallen into the error of saying that Mr. Mercer owned 

 Doc. If Mr. Wilmerding will refresh his memory I think he 

 will find that Doc was recently in Mr. Mercer's kennels, at 

 Ottawa, and that he was advertised in the stud over Mr. 

 Mercer's signature. If this be true there is scarcely room 

 for great astonishment, as it was this that misled me. It is 

 not perfectly clear to me why Mr. Wilmerding attaches so 

 very much importance to these comparatively trivial mat- 

 ters, yet ignores the fact that Mr. Mercer, over the signature 

 of "Gothamite," has made misstatements about certain 

 judges and certain dogs for no other apparent reason than 

 that of forcing Mr. Wilmerding'sand Mr. Mercer's dogs into 

 prominence and keeping them there. While I can readily 

 understand why Mr. Wilmerding is particularly anxious to 

 see "a calm and non-combative series of communications on 

 the'cocker," I must confess to being somewhat disappointed 

 that our president should be so deeply concerned about 

 trifles, yet entirely indifferent abotit things which sap the 

 very life out of dog shows and make the judging of dogs 

 worse than a farce. Possibly Mr. Wilmerding has been in- 

 formed that a prominent fancier will move that, in the event 

 of Mr, Mercer not retracting the willful misstatements he 

 has made, he be expelled from the Spaniel Club, and in an- 

 ticipation of this is reserving his energies for a thorough 

 investigation of the matter before that tribunal. But many 

 of bis old admirer^ ar*? not only erreatly disappointed bu^ 



orely grieved that he did not come out with a strong denun- 

 ciation of the course pursued by one who is known to be the 

 man that recently had charge of Mr. Wilmerding's dog 

 Doc. 



Let me suggest that your correspondents keep their re- 

 marks wdthin a reasonable distance of the pivotal cpiestion, 

 which is not "cocker type," but truth versus what Mr. Wil- 

 ley has correctly designated as slander. In the veiy firat com- 

 munication published in this discussion Mr. F. B.'F. Mercer, 

 over what our Hulton friend calls the "anonyme" of ''Gotha- 

 mite," asserted that Mr. Watson and myself "started the 

 long and low craze" in cockers, whereupon in a letter free 

 from "personalities" or comments of any kind, I demanded 

 proof to support that assertion. Mr. Mercer, instead of pro- 

 ducing evidence or retracting his misstatement, sent for 

 publication in this paper, still concealing himself behind the 

 shield of "Gothamite, ' an answer which has been generally 

 condemned not more on account of the trickery so manifest 

 on the face of it than for the writer's tacitly admitted low 

 estimate of the good sense and intelligence of the readers of 

 Forest AXD Stream. Here is his peculiar reply: "To Mr. 

 Chas. H. Mason would say that I don't propose to spend 

 several hours looking np his writings to convict, and don't 

 need to, because it is a well known fact that he has borne a 

 leading part in encouraging the long and low craze."— 

 Forest asd Stream, Dec. 18. Mr. Mercer did not propose 

 to spend several hours to look up my writings because there 

 are no writings which would .sustain him to look up. Then 

 why did he not say so? And why did he drop the word 

 "started" and ask ns to take leave of our senses in believing 

 him that "started" and "encouraging" have one and the 

 same meaning? Would a truthful and genuine dog fancier 

 resort to such devices? 



Mr. Mercer's next move was to get an advertisement out 

 of me to help the Doc boom. (I am good enough to be 

 quoted and misquoted when the use of my name will help 

 the boom, but when my criticisms are unfavorable Avhy 

 then they are worthless and the writer of them is a very 

 wicked man.) This is how Mr. Mercer, now over his ovm 

 name, puts it: "B:e [C. H. M.] 'spotted' champion Doc for 

 a good one several years ago, repeatedly saying that were he 

 in condition the prize money was at his mercv."— Forest 

 AND Steea.M, Dec. 18. Now, had I "repeatedly" said that 

 prize money was at Doc's mercy I would tacitly have ad- 

 mitted that Doc was the be.st cocker in America. "Repeat- 

 edly" would likely take in all the reports I have ever written 

 on the dog, because I have not criticbsed him more thaii 

 three or four times. If Mr. Mercer had stated that upon a 

 certain occasion, when Doc was .shown against 07ie com- 

 petitor and that competitor a deteriorated one, I reported 

 that the prizes w^ould have been at Doc's mercy had he been 

 in condition, then Mr. Mercer would have vi'ritten the truth, 

 But neither Mr. Mercer nor finybody else could show by an 

 atom of e-^ddence that I "repeatedly" stated that prize 

 money would be at Doc's mercy, because in only one report 

 have I written anything of the sort. Mr. Mercer knew this 

 and so was unable to "find time'' to look up a criticism that 

 needed no looking up because every sp?^ iel man knew 

 where to find it. I will quote this report -o far as it per- 

 tains to Doc, to .show Mr. Wilmerding and others the kind 

 of argument Mr. Mexcer has resorted to since this discussion 

 commenced: 



"Obo II. did not turn up for competition in the champion class 

 for dogs, leaving Brant and Doc to fight out the battle. Brant 

 M'on, but it was condition that took him to the front. Hissltull 

 has thicliened considerably, causing his weak muzzle to look 

 lighter and snipier than ever, and he ia r ot nearly as good as he 

 was when he made his debut at Bufif;5lo last year. Doc was light 

 in fle.sh and his coat all out of condition. What a pity that men 

 should throw prizes away when thev have Ihem at their mercy." 

 — FOBE.ST AND Sthbam, April 13, lSb'8. 



This is the "repeatedly" that Mr. Mercer could not "find 

 time" to look upjthe .statemen t th atwas distorted so as to make 

 it appear that in my opinion Doc was able to beat any cocker 

 on the bench. But that 1 did not consider Doc the equal of 

 the cracks was demonstrated when £ placed him behindMiss 

 Obo II., Jersey, and probably one or two others. The fol- 

 lowing report is further evidence that there has been noin- 

 consistency on my part in regard to this dog: 



"In the challenge class for cookers those old compp.titors. Miss 

 Obo II., Chloe W. and Doc, again faced the judge. We have been 

 strumming it into spaniel men for the last two years that neither 

 Chloe W. nor Doc ia within many points of Miss Obo's form; but, 

 notwithstanding this, Mr. Wilmerding has on three or four oc- 

 casions placed Doc over Miss Obo. We are pleased to find that at 

 this late hour in the day he has come over to our way of thinking. 

 Miss Obo II. won with many points to spare. Between Doc and 

 Chloe W. it is a very close thing, and we were preoared to see 

 either of them win. On this occasion Doc, probably on account of 

 his having been considered better than Miss Obo II., took second. 

 Chloe W. is as good as hp."— Fokest ast) .Stream, March 11, 1889 



Having written this I could not, in justice to either For- 

 est AND Stream, exhibitors and breeders of spaniels or 

 myself, permit Mr. Mercer's trickily worded advertisement 

 to go unchallenged; so I again demanded evidence to sup- 

 port what I knew was an incorrect statement. Mr. Mercer^s 

 reply was on a level with his conduct .since this discussion 

 opened. It displayed the same disposition to sneak out and 

 evade the question that has characterized every answer he 

 has made to my ciuestions. A straightforward and manly 

 acknowledgment of an error (had it been one) was all that 

 would have been needed to right a wrong and insure respect, 

 if not success. But Mr. Mercer does not seem able to give a 

 straight answer unless it is forced out of him, and so he tried 

 the bid dodge. This is it: "I think it was in a report of one 

 of the spring shows of 1888 that 1 observed the rcnuirk by 

 Mr. Mason. I have the ^^aper somewhere among hundreds 

 of others, and when I can find time shall looliTit up. For 

 the rest 'hearsay' is all I have to go on." Is not this a dis^ 

 ingenuous attempt to shirk the real question? My request 

 was for evidence in support of the untruthful assertion that 

 I had "repeatedly" said that prize money was at Doc's mercy. 

 How could a critic in o n e report of a dog show "repeatedly" 

 state what Mr. Mercer has asserted? If Sli'. Mercer had been 

 sincere he would hare acknowledged his error instead of 

 trying to make ns believe that criticisms which could only 

 appear in a number of reports had appeared in one. If he 

 was particularly anxious to score a point over me lie should, 

 for the time being, have discontinued his juggling tricks! 

 He might by his method of arguing make Si and 2 into 33, 

 but in his little contract with me he may not find it an easy 

 matter to make one into two. 



Mr. Wilmerding wall see from this brief review of the 

 origin and progress of this dhscuasion that cockers are not 

 the theme. The thing began by Mr. Mercer ("Gothamite") 

 making a misstatement about me, and could I do anything 

 else than show he had made a misstatement? I asked for 

 evidence to sustain a grotmdless assertion. That evidence 

 was not forthcoming and never will be for it does not exist. 

 Such being the case I deemed it only proper to expose the 

 "Gothamite" (Mercer) scheme to get rid of certain judges 

 and dogs for reasons which must be apparent to everybody. 

 Mr. Mercer's friends now appeal to you to have the discus- 

 .sion switched on to a siding. This, of course, is done with 

 a view to saving the little that is left of Mr. Mercer and his 

 argaments V^), but like the Doc boom it will not go through. 

 Nobody said a word about "personalities" when Mr. Mercer 

 umagihing that he was safely concealed by the mask of 

 "Gothamite") made sneakish and untruthful statements 

 about men and dogs. Nobody shouted "personalities" when 

 Mr. Mercer tried to juggle his false accusations through the 

 smallest of holes. No correspondent considered his conduct 

 anything but the ethics of controversy, or his absolutely 

 misleading and vindictive utterances anything but the com- 

 meacement of a "calm and non-combative series of commu- 

 nications on the cookers:" or at least if a correspondent did 



