Feb. 19, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



89 



CONNECTICUT RIVER PIKE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



You are perfectly right in your statement that there 

 are no mascalonge in the Connecticut EAver, The fish in 

 question are simply the gi-eat northern pike (Esox 

 lucius.) I have seen scores of them, caught them, and 

 eaten them, hut the largest I ever saw scaled I91bs. They 

 were not introduced in a pond near Bellows Falls, but 

 were brought from Lake Cha.mplain by the late Governor 

 Paine of Norfclifield, Vt. , and placed in a mill pond in North- 

 field or Eoxbury, at the head of the Black River about 

 the date stated, 1838. At any rate, in a great freshet in 

 1840, the dam broke, and the fish were swept down into 

 the Ooimecticut. I left home soon after that, and on one 

 of my vacation visits, a few years later, was told of the 

 strange new pickerel of fabulous size which were being 

 caught. 



It might have been about 1847 or '48, that Hon. Wm. 

 Henry, the cashier of the Bellows Falls Bank, caught 

 one weighing ITlbs. in the "big eddy"' below the Falls. 

 It may have been two or three years later, but I should 

 say it was as long ago as 1853 at latest. 



Mr. Henry was an enthusiastic angler, and when bus- 

 iness was dull was reported to be in the habit of locking 

 uj) the brick bank, and going down the gi-avel one behind 

 it to the river to fish, and it was said that when the coun- 

 try people around came to the bank in the summer, and 

 found the doors locked, they always made a bee line for 

 the eddy, where they were sure to find the cashier. 



The pike have spread up and down the river, and 

 nearly exterminated every thing else. I have heard of 

 them as far north as Havei'hill, and eaten them, caught 

 in shad nets, at South Hadley Falls. I once had one 

 brought to me, to decide if it "was not a mascalonge. It 

 was almost black on the black, with orange spots, and 

 yellow belly, but had probably got discolored by living 

 in some eddy where an iron spring oozed into the river, 

 and deposited a bog iron bed for him. When I was a boy, 

 I used to supply ray father with the black sand, used 

 instead of blotters^ 50 or 60 years ago, by collecting it 

 with a magnet on the bank of the river at low water in 

 summer. VON W, 



Charlbstown, N. H. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



UNDER the proposed change of the trout law it will be 

 impossible for the honestanglertosend home afew 

 trout. While in some cases this is somewhat harsh, yet 

 as it is for the public good, we will have to submit. Trout 

 do not amount to much after a journey of any length, 

 but generally arrive soft and tasteless and often unfit for 

 the table. After trying many ways, the following has 

 been found the best to keep trout in good condition and 

 flavor: Olean the fish as soon after they are caught as 

 possible; wipe dry and clean, inside and out, and be care- 

 ful to remove all the blood along the backbone. Sprinkle 

 a little black or white pepper in the inside and lay them 

 in as cool a place as you can. If possible to keep them in 

 an ice house, do so, but lay them on a board, not on the 

 ioe. Never use salt to pi'eserve them, as it pickles them 

 and ruins the flavor. When ready to pack, fill an empty 

 tin, such as gingersnaps come in for instance, with 

 pounded ice, and pack the fish around it. This ice will 

 keep them 12 hours. If it can be had, refill the tin with 

 fresh ice during a long trip. 



The proposal to change the number of Fish Commis- 

 sioners meets with universal disfavor, and the codifying 

 commissioners seem to have gone beyond their duties to 

 make the stiggestion. The cutting off of the two weeks 

 trout fishing in September is a mistake. There is little or 

 no fishing in the Adirondacks from July 1 to Sept. 1, 

 whereas it is generally good during the first two weeks of 

 September. If this cha,nge is made, anglers will simply 

 go to Maine or Canada, and their money will be lost to 

 the guides and hotels of the North Woods, or what is 

 worse, will fish contray to the law, as they used to do before 

 it was made legal. The best laws always are those that 

 are reasonably easy to enforce. That is' the reason that 

 the law regarding the shipping of venison has been of 

 so much benefit. Scari.bt-Ibis. 



^wJfmUur^. 



MASSACHUSETTS FISHCULTURE. 



THE twenty-fifth annual report, of the Commissioners of 

 Inland Fisheries au<1 Game of the State of Massachusetts 

 opens with a reference to the flsbways built over eight dams 

 on the Monatiquot Rivei-. Two of these dams arerfrom 18 

 to 20ft. in height. A record Is given of the fish seen in the 

 Lawrence fishway from April 22 to Oct. 9, 1890. Between 

 October and April the only fish seen were suckers. The first 

 alewives inade their .Hppearance April 24, and other species 

 arrived on the following dates: Lamprey, May 4: salmon, 

 June 19, three individuals ranging from I'i to i41bs.; forty- 

 four salmon in all were seen, the last, Oct. 9, weighed Slbs., 

 the largest salmon of the season wei.sjhed 201bs. Silver eels 

 appeared July 3. and black bass July 30. 



The catch of shad in 1890 showed a marked falling off, and 

 the high water and scarcity of spawning fish interfered 

 seriously with the shad hatching operations at North An- 

 dover. 



A few carp have been raised and sold at from 16 to 17 cents 

 per lb. The catch of trout during the season of 1S90 was 

 unusually large, and was evidently due to the distribution 

 of fry. In beginning the work of trout hatching the Com- 

 missioners made the experiment of stocking several depleted 

 streams, and also several streams in which trout were not 

 native. Successful results were obtained in all cases. The 

 Commissioners believe that without skillful management 

 trout and salmon cannot be profitably kept in small" ponds 

 until they are one or two years old before introducing them 

 into the brooks. When artificially fed in such inclosure.s 

 they lose their self-reliance and become a prey to enemies 

 soon after liberation. They prefer introducing the young 

 fry into the headwaters as soon as the egg sac is absorbed, 

 and letting them at once begin the struggle lor existence'. 

 The demand for trout fry has been greatly in excess of the 

 supply. With the §1,000 granted by the Legislature for es- 

 tablishing a new hatchery, work is expected to begin this 

 spring with increased facilities. The Commissioners expect 

 to distribute about (300,(00 young trout in April and May. 

 These are delivered free at the hatching house at Winches- 

 ter, Mass., and transportation cans fnruisljcd, which are to 

 be returned to the hatchery at the expense of the applicant. 



The 'Jominissioners refer to the Sunapee trout, and ex- 

 press their belief that it is native to New England waters 

 and existed there many years before the iutrodiiction of 

 saibliug. They state from their own knowledge that no 



saibling were ever planted in Sunapee Lake or in Dan Hole 

 Pond, or in any of the tributaries of these bodies of water. 



The welcome amgouncement is made that salmon are 

 steadily increasing in the Merrimac; sixty were taken dur- 

 ing 1890 near the hatchery at Plymouth, N. H., an establish- 

 ment which is operated by the Massachusetts and New 

 Hampshire Commissioners .jointly. 



Reterence is made to the work of the steamer Ocean Gem, 

 which was purchased by the Commissioners for the purpo-se 

 of enforcing the laws relating to the shore fisheries of the 

 State. Her especial function was the protection of the lob- 

 ster fisheries and the enforcement of the laws against men- 

 haden seining In Buzzard's Bay, a duty for which she is 



or metal of a required size at an angle from the sides, and 

 covering the mouth or base of the angle with wire gauze, 

 letting the wood pro.iect some little distance beyond the 

 gauze, as shown in sketch. 



" Now, entering into each of these angles from the outer 

 trough is a hole with gate, by which the flow oi water may 

 be regulated. These angles may be placed opposite one an- 

 other, or may alternate as is found preferable. The idea is 

 to introduce cuiTents of water at intervals along the entire 

 length of the trough in such a way that the fish will find a 

 number of places with the conditions they prefer instead of 

 the single one at the head of the ordinary trough. 

 It will he seen by the illustration that with a feather all 



TEOITGH FOR YOUNG SALMONID^. 



admirably suited by reason of her high rate of speed. This 

 steamer seized the steamer Fearless, of Newport, but was 

 obliged to abandon the prize for want of sutficient coal to 

 get into port. Nineteen arrests were made for violations of 

 the lobster law and three for infringement of the fish laws. 



The returns of the lobster fishery show an increase of more 

 than a quarter of a million in the catch of marketable lob- 

 sters. The returns from the fisheries show a marked de- 

 crease of shad, alewives, sea herring, scnp, tautog, flounders 

 and flatfish, eels, and some other edible flsh, while there was 

 an increase in the catch of menhaden, striped bass, sque- 

 teague, mackerel and blueflsh. The increase in menhaden 

 was particularly large, being 2,.500,000. 



The appendix to the report contains a listof Fish Commis- 

 .sioners, a series of notes by Mr. S. Garman on the carp, 

 brown trout and Sunapee trout, accompanied with figures 

 of the species. 



Mr. B. P. Chadwick, who had charge of the shad hatching 

 operations^ at North Andover, states that the run in the 

 MeiTimac in 1890 was small and he attributes the marked 

 decline of the shad fisheries to the destruction of young 

 fish by the use of fine meshed seines at the mouth of the 

 river. "The practice of catching small fish for bait at the 

 mouth of the Merrimac has been pressed to such an extent 

 as to have ruined the shad fishery of this stream, and the 

 alewife fishery is destined to meet the same fate.'" The 

 shad fishery is no longer profitable and Mr. Chadwick re- 

 commends the abolition of all seine fishing for a period of 

 ninety days after June 1. He finds that the sale of under- 

 sized lobsters has almost ceased. One violator of the law, 

 George S. Seeley, of Beverly, was fined -$11.5 and costs. 



The Hampshire Trout Breeding Association, through its 

 secretary, Mr. Dana Pearson, has made a report to the Com- 

 missioners. Dec. 25, 1889, they received 3.5,000 brook trout 

 eggs from the U. S. Fish Commission and 95,000 from the 

 Massachusetts Commission. Of these they hatched about 98 

 per cent, and only 4 per cent, of the embryos were lost. 

 About the middle of April they distributed all the fry in 

 brooks at Hatfield, Hadley, Williamsburg, Northampton. 

 Hadenville and Chesterfield. None of these .streams are 

 posted and the association has secured control of the 

 hatchery site until the fall of 1898. 



An opinion of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in the 

 case of the Commonwealth against Arthur Manchester, 

 who was complained of for taking fish by the use of a purse 

 seine in the waters of Buzzards Bay within the jurisdiction 

 of the State of Massachusetts, is given at length in this 

 appendix. The Chief Justice decides that the statute of the 

 Commonwealth is not repugnant to the constitution and the 

 laws of the United States. 



The eft'ect of this decision will be to prevent the use of the 

 pui'se seine in the menhaden fisheries within Buzzard's Bay. 



Reference is also made to recent legislation for the pro- 

 tection of the fish and fisheries. 



The report closes with detailed returas of the lobster ti.sh- 

 eries showing the number of traps used, the number of mar- 

 ketable lobsters taken and the number of egg-bearing lob- 

 sters returned to the water alive, finally complete tables 

 are furnished .showing the returns of pounds, weirs, gill and 

 sweep nets, with the names of the kinds of fishes taken. 

 One remarkable feature of these tables is the record of 1,341 

 Spanish mackerel taken in gill and sweep nets at Chatham. 



NEW JERSEY FISH COMMISSION. 



COMMISSIONERS: Robert D. Poote, Morristown; W. A. 

 Newell, Pennsville: F. M. Ward, Newton, Secretary. 

 Several thousand brook trout and lake trout have been 

 planted in the iuland waters of the State during the last 

 year, and there is reason to believe that the stock is in good 

 condition. The success of the eft'orts in replenishing the 

 streams is acknowledged since the fishing last season was 

 as good as it was twenty years ago. The trout waters are 

 confined chiefly to the northern counties. 



The catch of shad in the Delaware River and Bay during 

 the season of 1890 was the best known for many years, and 

 it is conceded that it is due to the large number of fry de- 

 posited in the river during the past five years by the United 

 States Fish Commission and the New Jersey Commission. 

 The former liberated 18,000,000 last year and the State Com- 

 mission about 7,000,000. The sturgeon fisheries of Delaware 

 Bay have recently become very important. Alany hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars are invested in the business and hun- 

 dreds of men are employed during the fishing season. The 

 fish were worth from S7 to .?15 each, according to size. A 

 much-needed law^ was passed liy the Legislature to protect 

 the young sturgeon from destruction by gill-net fishermen. 



The Commission intends to introduce other varieties of 

 game fishes into some of our principal lakes, including 

 Hopatcong, Greenwood, and some of the smaller ones, during 

 the present season.— F. M. W. 



TROUGH FOR YOUNG SALMONID/E^ 



THE tendency of young trout or salmon to "bank" or 

 pile up at the head of the trough where the water 

 supply enters is one of the undesirable, and with the ordin- 

 .ary trough unavoidable conditions in holding them. 

 Whether there is a greater possibility of injury to them by 

 reason of their huddling together in such masses or they 

 are more liable to contagion or the efi'ects of diseases, to 

 which other animals are subject under like conditions, can 

 only be a matter of conjecture. We do know, however, 

 that young Saimonidoi are particularly susceptible to cer- 

 tain diseases, the causes and nature of which are not ttndex- 

 stood, and which are, moreover, not easy to determine. 



It has occurred to the writer that at all events any 

 arrangement in the trough which ^yould cause the young 

 fi.sh to be dispersed throughout its entire length, while 

 allowing perfect facility in cleansing it and handling the 

 fish, might present to the minds of trout cult urists some 

 advantages worthy of practical experiment. 



The idea which has suggested itself to the writer as a 

 result of observation, though not of pr:;otical experience, is 

 a double trough, or trough inside of a trough, as shown in 

 the acconip;mying sketch. One bottom answers for both of 

 course. Along the sides of the inside trough are arranged a 

 series of angular chambers, made by placing pieces of wood 



the sediment may be swept to the foot of the trough as easily 

 as if the .sides were entirely straight and clear. 



It will also be noticed that while it is po.ssible that in time 

 the fish may find their way to the head of the trough they 

 may be a considerable time in doing so, and the currents 

 they must encounter on the journey will afford them bene- 

 ficial exercise. 



If, however, they should accumulate at the head of the 

 trough in too gi-eat numbers it will only be necessary to 

 sweep them to the bottom with the feather and allow them 

 to work slowly up again. By a proper proportioning of the 

 waste ways of both sections of the trough, and the holes 

 through which the water must pass from the outer to the 

 inner section, the outer one could be kept fullest and the 

 water be caused to flow into the inner one with con.sider- 

 able force. Wm. P. Seal. 



U. S. FtSH CoMJnssiON, Washington, D. O. 



%e Mmtmt 



All coiTimunications 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 SHOWS. 



Feb. 34 to 27.— Fifteenth Annual Dog Show of the Westminster 

 Kennel Club, at New York. .Tames Mortimer, Superintendent. 



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

 Club, at Baltimorp. Md. W. Stewart Diffenderffer, Secretary. 



March 10 to 13.— First Annual Dog Show of the Duciuesno Keimel. 

 Club, ai Pittsburg, Pa. W. E. Littell, Secretary. ' 



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

 Kennel Club, at Washington, D. C. 



March 21 to 27.— Secomi Annual Dog Show of the Massachusetts 

 Kennel <^hib, Lynn, Mass. D. A. Williams, Secretar.y. 



Murch 31 to April o.— SH\ enth Annual Dog Show of the New 

 England Kcrmfii Clnb, at Boston, Mass. E. H. Moore, Srcretary. 



April 8 to 11.— Tbin! Annual Dog Show of tbe Mascotitah Ken- 

 nel Club, at OhicTgo, III. Jolin L. Lincoln. .Jr., Secretary. 



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

 at Cleveland, O. C. M. Mnuhall, Secretary. 



April 15 to 18.— Dog Show of the Southijrn California Kennel 

 Club, at Los Augele.*. 



April 23 to May 3.— Dog Show of the California Kennel Club, at 



an Francisco, Cal. R, P. B,emiie, Sec'y, 



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

 Youngstowu, 0. 



THE GREYHOUND STUD BOOK. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



At the last meeting of the advisory eotnmittee of the 

 A. K. C. I notice a resolution demanding that the National 

 Greyhound (^lub give up its private .stud book or forfeit 

 membership in the former organization. To the writer 

 this seems a grave mhstake. for above all other dogs, the 

 pedigrees of the greyhound shouhl be accurate, entire and 

 pure. To accomplish this requires more care and research 

 than the A. K. C. exhibit in their stud book, which com- 

 prises all sorts and conditions of the canine species. Rather 

 than censure a man or club for keeping or publishing reli- 

 able information as to the pedigrees and winnings of a 

 special breed of dogs, the A. K. C. should encourage such 

 efforts. 



Doubtless the greyhound men have had the .same experi- 

 ence as the writer in the more insignificant matter of breed 

 ing pugs. He found the comprehensive A. K. C. stud book 

 not at all adequate to his needs, and so set about getting all 

 the information possible from other quarters. By writing 

 and talking to the pug breeders of both England and 

 America he was quite astonished at the amount of valuable 

 facts to be found outside both English and American stud 

 books. Collecting all this matter together he has compiled 

 a book on pugs which appeared in the Fa/nclers' Journal of 

 last year in serial form, and is now ready for publication. 

 This little book might be termed a stiid book, as it is a 

 record of the pedigrees as far back as they could be traced, 

 winnings and winning produce of the pug dog, together 

 with a few facts relative to this breed. Has the National 

 Greyhound Club erred more than the writer? except that 

 their dogs are a more important and grander breed than 

 the pug. Why then should they be criticised or censured 

 for any elfort whereby they can keep a pure, disinterested 

 record of the pedigrees of these fine animals? 



M. H. Ceter, 



PHinADELPHiA, Pa.. Feb. 15. 



HELEN KELLER'S MASTIFF.— Hulton, Pa.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: I can best express my appreciation 

 of the letter of Mr. Geo. E. Goodhue in your issue of Feb. 13 

 by saying that I am almost temirted to regret that Mr. 

 Goodhue's kindly wish has been forestalled. As soon as I 

 heard of the killing of the dog, I wrote to "Uncle Dick" to 

 secure Eriant, an elder sister of the one killed, and .succeeded 

 in so doing. That I got the right kind is proved by the 

 prompt manner in which Eriant bounced into a room full of 

 danceis and broke up the fun by seizing the beaux and 

 belles, deeming their semblance of fighting most reprehensi- 

 ble. Mr. Goodhue's allusions to the forgiving spirit of this 

 child seem to make it proper for me to say that this is the 

 most marked feature in her Avonderful character. Nothing 

 can make her angry, no offense is sufficient to excite her 

 animosity. Her teacher says .she never saw the child so dis- 

 tressed, yet she was ready to forgive and think the best of 

 the one who had brought such distress upon her.— W. WAde. 



HoENELLSYiLLE, N. Y.~Edttor Forcst and Stream,: Mr. 

 Geo. O. Goodhue shows the right spirit in starting a sub- 

 scription to buy a mastiff for Hellen Keller: but it is all 

 fixed now. She is to have my Eriant. As soon as Mr. 

 Wade wrote wanting to buy Eriant to send the little girl, I 

 tried to get her address so that I could make the present 

 myself, but Mr. Wade heard of it and insisted on paying for 

 the bitch, so I had to accept.- J. Otis Fellows. 



'i 



