Amt 16, 18&1.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



283 



CALIFORNIA TROUT STREAMS. 



VENTURA, Oil., April d.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The trout Beascm opened liere on April 1, and there 

 are more fish in the streams about here than has been 

 known for jears. It is btslieved to be due to the enforce- 

 ment, during the past year, of our scrern law, whereby 

 all irrigating and other ditches are screened by iin. wire 

 mesh before leaving the streams. Vast amounts of both 

 small and largo fish were formerly destroyed by being 

 carried out in tliis way. Our local water supply company 

 first put in screens for theu- own protection, as the fish 

 were a constant source of trouble to" them by plugging up 

 the distributing pipes. The requirement is now a law 

 and is being enforced in this locality. 



The largest catch for the season that I have heard of 

 so far was made by myself and two companions on April 

 1st, when we took out 475 trout, tbe largest weighing lib, 

 p.nd measuring 14iu. in length, They take any of the 

 commonly used ilies with avidity, probably preferring of 

 those I used the professor, coachman, ston^ and grannum. 



There are, in this county alone, about 235 miles of trout 

 streams, all teeming witli the speckled beauties, many 

 miles of which are virgin tn the angler. I am to take an 

 antiling for ten days in the early part of May far back 

 into the mountains, a two days' trip out. May tell vou 

 something about it when I return. A. J. 0. 



Squeteagoe is the name of a club of happy lovers of 

 the gentle art who rendezvous at Great Kills, Staten 

 Island, where mine host, the amiable Judge Collins pre- 

 sides. This club was organized a year ago by five men 

 who regularly journeyed to those waters in vain effort to 

 lure the wily squeteague or weakfish from his lair, and 

 the organization resulted from a conclusion these men 

 came to. that in union there was strength— hence the 

 club. The success of the club is proven by its growth, 

 and at the annual meeting held in March last there as- 

 sembled at the club rooms over twenty of the most widely 

 known of Staien Inland's Pilerims. The present officers 

 are: John M. O'Brien, President; Benjamin F. James, 

 Vice-President: Tnomas J. Nolan, Treasurer: Geo. C. 

 Meyer, Secretary; Geo, W. Graham, Sergeant-at-Arms. 

 The members present beside those mentioned above were: 

 Judgo Jas. P. Collins, C. R. W. Davis, Peter J. Conlan, 

 Edgar Whitman, Edward Milligan, Harry Kalb, Cl'fford 

 W. PuUis, John Klockemeyer, George Shapley, Hsrry 

 W. Graham, Samuel A. Beatty, Fred. .Jordan. Sim O'Don- 

 nell, James Murray, William Kelly, Josh Ward, Esq., 

 all of whom after adjournment proceeded to Klocke- 

 meyei 's Hall to partake of their annual banquet. Covers 

 wore hid for fifty, there being a numerous contingent of 

 the Fishing Bruders, the crack organization of the 

 Eleventh Ward. The hours sp^d by merrily aa the boys 

 congratulated each other on the near advent of spring, 

 but the lionized man of the evening was tbe "Judge'," 

 who has the envious reputation of having "never told a 

 lie." Tbe Squeteague Club house at the'Great Kills ad- 

 joins Coliins's Hotel, and the tjxembers will always be 

 pleaspd to welcome their similarly inclined friends. — 

 Geo. C. Meyer, Secretary, 



Angle-r's Wading ElO.— Staunton, Virginia, March 30. 

 —Editor Forest and Stream: At the risk of tellmg so 

 experienced a sportsman as Mr. Hough something he 

 already knows, permit me to say in answer to his query 

 in Forest and Biebam of the SGth inst., that the wading 

 rig must in vogue in the very rough, stony mountain 

 trout streams of this State consists of a pair of rubber or 

 Silesia wading stockings or pants (stockings preferred as 

 they are long enough for all practical purposes and not 

 so hot around the waist and body as the pants) without 

 boots, over the feet of which a pair of heavy cotton or 

 yarn socks is drawn, over which is worn a pair of the 

 coarse heavy leather fewed shoes known as "stitch- 

 downs," the soles of which are plentifully studded with 

 large hob nails. The practice of cutting small slits in the 

 leather uppers of the shoes close to the soles to Jet the 

 w^ater out has been discontinued by our fishermen, as it 

 has been found that the sand and gravel will work in 

 through the holes, to the serious detriment of the wading 

 stockings. Care should be taken to have the points of 

 the hob nails inside the shoes well clinched, both to pre- 

 vent them from working out and from cutling the stock- 

 ings. A light leather insole will be found advisable also. 

 Several years' experience with this rig by myself and all 

 my fishing acquaintances has demonstrated its entire 

 utility and reliability and I can confidently recommend 

 it to Mr, Hough as worthy a trial.— Cojimodoee. 



STATE OYSTER POLICY. 



A T the public meeting held in Baltimore, March IS, to 

 Ix consider measures necessary for the restoration of the 

 oyster industries of Chesapeake Bay, Hon. Marshall Mc- 

 Donald, U S. Oommissioner of Fish and Fisheries outlined 

 the policy which the State of Maryland should pursue in es- 

 tablishing preliminary conditions of successful enterprise ia 

 this direction. We give the following abstract of his re- 

 marks: 



"The lands under the tidal waters of the State should be 

 placed under the same conditions as to production that now 

 exist for the farming lacids above the tide. As far as prac- 

 ticable, they should be placed under private ownership and 

 control, and individuals shoiild be invited and encouraged to 

 invest their energies and capital in oyster farming by tiavin£c 

 first assured to them that security oC tenure which must 

 constitute the basis of all futm-e development. The man 

 engaged in oyster [jrodncti on should be harassed b\* no im- 

 posts nor special supervision. He should be treated as is 

 the farmer, protected in his rights of property, and his in- 

 vestment required to bear equally with tbe lands above tide 

 the burdens of taxation. Tbe State should seek to derive its 

 revenue not from any special taxcr from extravagant prices 

 for sales or entry, but from the vastly increased valuation 

 which would be given to these lands when the opportunity 

 for tlieir improvement is afforded. 



"The first step in dealing with this matter intelligently 

 would sf em to be an actual careful survey of all the waters 

 of the State— not only of those areas which are now oyster- 

 producing or are planted, but that much larger area from 

 whicli at present no oysters, either natural or planted, are 

 (clraNA'n. Tlie object of this .sxirvev should be to make a classi- 

 fication of the grounds into: (1) The natural beds, or those 

 areas of the Chesapeake over which the oysters are now so 

 abundant as to furnish steady production' and employment 

 ■for the men engaged in tbefi,stiin,s<: (3) the. grounds which 



I 



are now available for planting and which are under actual 

 cultivation; (3) that extensive area of marsh and swamp and 

 muddy bottom which now is not oyster-producing, hut 

 which, under thp intelligent use of capital and the applica- 

 tion of improved methods, will doubtless in the future bp- 

 come fully as productive, if not more so, than the natural 

 grounds or those at jiresent plantipd. 



"The area of the natural oyster beds should be carefully 

 limited and defined bv law. so as to indicate clearly to all 

 without the possihility of mistake, those portions of the 

 Chesapeake in which the genera,! Hshing on public grounds 

 will he perniittpd. Having thus appropriated to the public 

 use the area so indicated, all the rest of the land under tide 

 should be thrown open to entry under such conditions as 

 the State might prescribe. 



"In the case of planted ground, which has at present a 

 market value, tbe State miarht consider it reasonable to ex- 

 act a good price for the privilege of conversion of existing 

 leases or franchises into fee-.simple holdings. In the case, 

 however, of that broader area which at present yields noth- 

 ing to production, it would, in my judgment, be wise on the 

 part of the State to permit its entry under conditions simi- 

 lar to those which are prescribed for the public lands of the 

 State above tide. The great oj'ster production of the future 

 in the Chesapeake and elsewhere will not be from natural 

 beds, from which, at present, the chief supply is drawn, nor 

 yet from the existing planting grounds, but from those vast 

 mud fiats and salt marshes now bleak and barren, but which, 

 through the agency of private enterprise, and by judicious 

 investments, will be converted into productive oy.ster field.'^, 

 which will yield a harvest more abundant and a usufruct 

 more generous than the richest ahrive the tide. 



"When we consider the vast extent of this area which is 

 now valueless, and tbe pns.siliilities for i^roduction which 

 may be realized by judieiotis exploitation, it does not seem 

 unreasonable to expect that the inauguration of a policy hy 

 the .State such as I have indicated, arid such as Connecticut 

 now observes, would in the end carry the oyster production 

 of Maryland waters to many times what it is, and that the 

 increased revenue to the State which would come from the 

 enhancement of values would be a genei'ous equivalent for 

 the surrender of her right of eminent domain." 



he Mmmh 



All communioations 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. 



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

 Bt Cleveland, O. C, M. MimliaU, Secretary. 



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

 Clut). at Los Angele?. 



AprU :28 10 May 2.— Dog Show of the California Kennel OJub, at 

 San Frano'pco, Cal, H. L. Miller, See'y. 



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



YoUCgKtnvra. O. 



Sept. It to 18.— Toronto Industrial Exluhitinn Aspociation Third 

 International Dog Show, at Toronto. C. A. Stone, Seo'y and Supt. 



FIELD TRIALS. 

 Niy. 80.— Central Field Trial Cltib'.'? Third Annual Trials, at 

 L'-jrington. N. 0. O. H. Odell, Sec'y, 44 and 46 Wall street. Kew 

 York city. 



BOSTON DOG SHOW. 



COLLIES— {MR, WATSON). 

 Report, hy Mr. Mason. 



If the breed has improved any dm-ing the past two years I 

 fail to see in which points the improvement comes in. The 

 infection that rushed it to the front a few years ago seems 

 to have gone off on another tack and collies "to-day are a one- 

 man show, with Mr Harrison first and the rest nowhere. 

 He has in his kennel about a dozen does that can be.at ali 

 others and as hreeders .show not the slightest judgment in 

 mating their bitches he has a walkover for all' prizes. Mr. 

 Terry tried to breed good ones and failed. Mr Shotwell ex- 

 perimented and proved a failure, and so it has been with 

 others. Not until some wealthy per.son with more dollars 

 than knowledge of dogs steps in and buys up the Metchley 

 Wonders can Mr. Harrison s victoriotrs march be checked. 

 There is mighty little honor in winning for there is nothing 

 to heat: at the same time the fancy owes Mx-. Harrison a 

 world of thinks for having .set the pace, even though it is 

 too hot to follow. There is good— the be.st— collie blood in 

 America, but it has not been used with judgment and the 

 •same reckless mating that has ruined the type of pointers is 

 doing the same thing for collies. Keep it up another cwentv 

 years gentlemen. There is nothing lilie experience. At 

 this, one of the very best shows in America, there was not a 

 good specimen outside of the Philadelphia Kennels and it 

 was the same thing at New York. What a prospect. But 

 after the thousands of dollars that have been invested in the 

 breed is not this a disgrace? Advice is of little use. It is for- 

 gotten as soon as it is read. A man will buy a bitch by the 

 woolly-coated Pomeranian Eobin Adair. This bitch he will 

 breed'to The Squire. Another will buy a sterling bitch by 

 Scotilla out of Fhirry H. and breed it to Old Scot, a moii- 

 grel half-bred Gordon, because '"my wife likes the color." 

 When the puppies come they are shown and get nothing. 

 Then there is music in the air and the owner rushes around 

 the show for four solid days showing everybody that will 

 talk with him a printed xiedigree three feet long and asking- 

 how much he (the judge) knows about collies. 



Roslyn Wilkes in challenge dogs and Flurry It. in bitches 

 had no competitors and those that tried conclusions with 

 Maney Trefoil and Roslyn Conwayin theopen cla«s for dogs 

 might just as well have been at home. Robley, third 

 prize, I thought lucky in getting the place. He is called a 

 light sable but is really fawn color, there being no dark 

 shading on any part of him. His head is of Esquimaux 

 charticter, with wrong expression and ears not properly 

 carried. He fdls away very sharply from the hips, 

 has a nasty ring tail and is rather soft in coat at present, 

 hut being a youngster will improve in that respect.' 

 He has strong legs and fairly good feet, which, with his 

 coat, are his only po.sitive points. Duke, resnrve, has light 

 eyes and wrong expression; ears not well carried; not right 

 just before and below the eyes, good muzzle, stifles and 

 hocks not perfect, loin would be improved by more arch, 

 good forelegs and feet, plenty of coat of better than average 

 texture, lacks quality and character. Orphan Boy, he, by 

 Strephon— Flossie, i.s"a much better specimen, but then his 

 right name is Scotilla 11. It appears that Mr. Harrison 

 gave this dog to his doctor, who lost bim, and the (ion found 

 his way to Bo.ston in cliarge of Ben Lewis, who brought him 

 on for the supposed owner. Jarrett, who handles Mr. Elar- 

 rison's dogs at the shows and manages his kennel, knew 

 about Scotilla II, having been lost or stolen, and vvhen he 

 saw the dog come into the ring ho quickly had what thr 

 only German designates his '-heusle lieyes" upon him and 

 be soon let Ben know that his charge was not an orphan. 

 It was said Mr. Watson did not wish to give the reserve or a 

 prize to a dog that was really not eligible to compete, but 

 about thi.s 1 cannot say. Anyhow, Scotilla II. was about 

 third best dog in that class, but I thought him very clo t-ly 

 pressed by Scot II., he, who may yet beat bim. "Barring 

 Maney Trefoil this was the best coated dog in the class. .He 



is rather coarse in skull and cut away too mUch below the 

 eyes, also defective in fei^t, Init for type, character and other 

 essentials he is far ahead of Robley and Uuke. Fox-dhook 

 Climax, he, is round and coarse in head, cut away too much 

 below the eyes, legs not in good position, lencth and arch of 

 'oin would improve him, ring tail, coat behind withers too 

 short and open, fairly good ears, proppr legs and feet, dark 

 sable with white frill. Of the unnoticed ones Silver King is 

 light in eyes, coar.ge in head, not quite straight in front, coat 

 rather short and too open, e.ars only moderatp, good feet and 

 plenty of strength. Scott is a vidous. bad-headed brute, 

 "date of birth, breeder and pediEcre? unknown." Lothian 

 Laddie lacks in co.at, head and lips, and has terrier ears. 

 Smtson had a fit just before the judiiing comtnenced 

 and did not compete. In bitches Roslyn Dolly fairly 

 ontclass'^d all others. Roslyn Primrosp, .second prize, 

 is a light sablo and white. Kyes ton li.>iht, muzzle 

 near eyes not ritrbt, ears not well carried, bad feet, 

 specially the hind, bad stern, not properly coated, scanty in 

 body^coat. Flurry IV . third pri/.o, is a 'snintty black and 

 •■•an, bad eyes, forelegs net too close, with elbows tied: ears 

 not just right, they are at times almost prick car.'^; knees 

 showing weakness, do with nnn-c bom;, f.-dr good liody and 

 coat, shows quality in head. undersi:<e. Lucy Lnr ket. vhc,, 

 had been sent home and I did not see her. Miss Nancy, 

 second in puppy class last year, might have been .second in 

 this class had she been in cnat. This was a Aveak cla.ss. In 

 nuppies there w«s only one .show dog, Ro.slyn Dolly. The 

 President's cup for best collie in the show was awarded to 

 Vlaney Trefoil. After a careful examination of the competi- 

 tors the judge landed. I think, on the wrong one and it was 

 not until I had given them an equally careful overhauling 

 that I felt sure that both Wilkes and Dolly eonld beat 

 Maney, The latter was clearly the best-coated coHiein the 

 show, but his head, never a very good one, h;is gone off con- 

 siderablv and bis ears were d.angling down in poor style. He 

 heats Wilkes in coat and color of eye.s, but T think hnwhere 

 else. The former Is not quite so typical a dog as I expected 

 to find after all that has been said and written in his favor. 

 He is. however, a good one, and only the best of them can 

 beat him. If made to order I would have had him darker in 

 eyes, better in expression, a bit more up in ears, more level 

 in back, more arched in loin and, of course, better in coat, 

 which is big weakest point. He has a good type of head, 

 stands on proper Irgs and feet, i.<5 eoodb?hind, we'nk nowhere, 

 .stands well and moves well, is of auseful size, of much better 

 type than Trefoil and shows eon.siderable sheep dog char- 

 acter. But my choice for the trophy would have been the 

 undersized Ro,slyn Dolly, whose exquisite front places her so 

 far ahead of the others that I do not spo how they can get 

 back behind what theylo.se in front. Trefoil beats her in 

 coat and size, but nowhere else, and Wilkes has her in 

 bone and size, and perhaps a little behind the short 

 ribs, but for character and quality of head, expression, 

 set and carriage of ears, she has, in my opinion, no 

 equal in this country. Then how about the "old lady," 

 Flurrv II.? She is not quite out of the bunt; in f>ict with 

 Trefoil's head and ears as they appeared to me I would have 

 placed her over him. Mr. Watson has been breedins colUes 

 many years and has seen the best of them. His opinion is 

 entitled to respect. He 'may be right; but my decision, 

 takiner tbe dogs as they appeared at this show, would have 

 been: Dolly first. Wilkes second, Flurry II. third and the 

 winner, Maney Trefoil, fourth. 



BLACK AND TAN TEKIUERS— (MR, LACT). 

 Report by Mr. Mason. 

 This was probably the best class ever seen in America, and 

 the judging was done in a careful and prunstaking way. the 

 attachment at the lower end of the chain being the thing 

 considered. In the challenge class for both .•sexes Meers- 

 brook Mfdden and Kaiser aeain met, the result being, as 

 usual, in favor of the bitch, that is more symmetrical than 

 tbe dog, truer in body, better behind .and in markings, also 

 his superior in one or two minor points. The open class tor 

 dogs was a hot one for America, where the breed, rxutil 

 recently, has received little attention. Bx-oom field Sultan, 

 the New Yoj'k winner over Beaconsfield. failed to show up 

 under Mr. Lacy, who might not have attached any .special 

 importance to the awards at that show, so Beaconsfield won. 

 Enoxxarh "deadly rot" has been wi'itten about this i^terling 

 good dog to scare the inmates of an insane asylxxm. Whether 

 some of these reports have beexx ptxblished to show if the 

 writers know any more aboxxt black and tans than they did 

 about Meersbrook Maiden, or whether they were written to 

 tnake room for somebody else's do2, are qrxestions 1 cannot 

 answer; but I do know that great injixstice has been done by 

 the.so reports. Beaconsfield is not' full 1u eye, he is not 

 full in cheek, he does not staml "very bowed" in front, he 

 is not all .shrunk in loin and croxxchy in hindquarters, 

 neither is he utterly devoid of mixscle, "nor yet a shocking 

 mover. The .suspicious looking patches on his second thighs 

 existed only in the reporter's imagination. "It is hard to 

 think bow he coixld have beaten his yoxxnger opponent in 

 England recently " Very hard indeed,"if he had the defects 

 scored atrainst him; but it is just because he does not have 

 them and never had thenx that he "beat his yoxxnger oppo- 

 nent in England recently." To breeders of biack lind tuns 

 1 woidd say blot oxxt the rubbish that has been wx-itten about 

 this good dog and judge him not to make room for others, 

 but strictly on his merits. Head beaxxtifixlly formed, .albeit 

 a trifle short, eyes a shade light; eye, che k and face mark- 

 ings correct; good neck, with head well set, excellent back 

 and ribs, shoulders putting on mxxscle, stifles ixot truly 

 formed, mxxscle of legs behind cox'rect (a bull-terrier mxxscled. 

 black and tan is an abomination not to be tolerated for a 

 moment. Old General pxxt on the soi-t of nxuscle that some 

 ignorant folks demand and that ended his career); thxxmb 

 marks not clearly defined, excellent color for a 7yrs. old dog, 

 foot and vent markings correct; good, short stern carried 

 rather high; stands on excellent legs and feet; getting wide 

 in front, bxxtlimbs from the elbows down as straight as they 

 m.ake them; mouth going; good coat; a good dog, bxxt not a 

 Queen II., a Saff or a Belcher, bxxt a terrier that can .still 

 hold his own in any company and one that has 

 none of the flat-catcher about him. He was rightly 

 placed first. Salisbury, second prize, is a very fair son of 

 Beacon Held, but is not nearly so good a terrier! Good length 

 of head, but not sufhciently tilled in xxnder the eyes and in 

 front of them, set of forelegs might be better, does'not stand 

 qxxite true in front, gets over at the knees once in awhile, 

 too wide between the hocks, rather leggy, tail coarse and has 

 been shortened, good colox", clean behind, markings better 

 than average, eyes a shade light. Prince Regent, third pi-ize, 

 was, I think, second best in the class. He is shorter in legs 

 than Salisbury, more trixly formed in body, better behind, 

 straighter in front, hut is beaten in front of the eyes (his 

 weakest point) where both dogs are deficient. My note book 

 says: Foretace weak, eyes a shade light, excellent skull, 

 stands well in fi-ont, legs well set, proper feet, good color, 

 thumb marks not defined enough, stern rather long and not 

 well carried, shows qxxality, .symmetrical. Prince Wallace is 

 a rose-eared wastrel. Snap is a qxxeer little fel ow that should 

 always stay home. Queen III., hrst in bitches, was, all things 

 considered, rightly placed first. Rather weak in front of 

 the ^yes, color of eyes too light, a trifle cheeky, feet inclined 

 to turn oxxtward, woxxld do with raox'e depth in body, shows 

 some breeching, stern well formed but too heavily coated, 

 good coat and color, thxxmb marks not clear, other- 

 wise well marked, trxxly formed hind parts, moves 

 well. While not up to the high class form of her 

 namesake, Mapplebeck's Queen III., she is a fairly 

 ^ood specimen and one that shoxxld quickly reach the chal- 

 lenge class. Loxxie, second prize, is by Beaconsfield, that is 

 eviaently a good sire. Better in eye and foreface than tha 



