Jtjnh 18, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



487 



mossy rocks that gave in so shyly to them; the gray 

 shadows of the dippisg branches, as in play they chased 

 each other across the surface of a pool; the whiffs of 

 countless blossoms as they f ought for favor; the scamper 

 and dip of squirrel and bird, and the innumerable har- 

 monies and melodies that sing when man and earth are 

 in accord. 



As for trout, they caught enough for a meal or two 

 and a few bass for the poor woman a mile down the hill, 

 and leaving a serviceable pair of unmentionables for 

 Thompson, here they are back at their desks, where it 

 would be better for them to center their attentions. 



F'lin. 



to 



THE METABETCHOUAN RIVER. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



Seeing the notes sent in in response to your "Where t 

 Go Fishing," I cannot refrain from saying something i 

 regard to the Metabetchouan River. When one reaches 

 the city of Quebec on his way to the country of the ouan- 

 aniche, the famous Lake St. John region, he hears on 

 all sides the wonders of the Grand Discharge as the center 

 of the best fishing grounds. The reasons are best not 

 given why he should not go there, but let him try it. 

 Then on his return stop at Chambord Junction and take 

 one of the shaky old buckboards to S. Bovins, on the 

 Metabetchouan River, and try the fishing here, and unless 

 his experience is far different from mine dxiring the past 

 few seasons ho will find the fish of the river heavier, 

 harder and longer fis;hter8 and much more beautiful than 

 thorn of the Grand Discharge. 



If any of my friends (and I here include all who love 

 to cast the fly) wish to enjoy a day with these most noble 

 game fish, and at the same time liave a view of the river 

 scenery, which is unsurpassed, let them try the Meta- 

 betchouan River and they will not fail totake ouauaniche 

 in number and size to smt the most critical. I will gladly 

 give any pointer as to the region or guides which past ex- 

 perience may have acquired. Edwin R. Lbwis, M.D. 



WESTKni/Y, R. 



FOR "FOREST AND STREAM" READERS. 



WE have secured, for the private information of the 

 readers of Forest and Stream, knowledge of a 

 number of streams and lakes easily accessible from this 

 city, where we believe that good fishing for trout and 

 black bass may be had. The information, much of 

 which comes from private sources, we are not at liberty 

 to print, but we shall be glad to furnish it without charge 

 to any reader of Forest and Stream who will apply 

 for it, either personally or by letter. 



A Canadian Trout. — Toronto, June 1.— In a lake 

 which empties into the Montreal River, and through 

 which I traveled by canoe ten days ago, we caught with 

 a troll twenty trout, the smallest 31bs., the largest 81bs. 

 They are shaped like the speckled brook trout. There is 

 a soft fin or excrescence on the back next the tail. The 

 fins, tail and flesh are blood orange in color. The back 

 is dark, the belly white, the sides speckled with silver 

 and gold spots. Some of the fish are reddish brown and 

 some considerably inclined to gray or silver hues. The 

 fish grow to 401b3. in weight. The officers of the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company call them speckled trout. Some 

 people say they are silver salmon. This is a fresh-water 

 lake, 300 miles north of Toronto. The water is very 

 clear and cold, 600ft. deep, resting on a pebbly bed. The 

 fish do not attempt to leave the lake, though it has two 

 outlets; they are never found out of it. The large 401 bs. 

 fish are caught in the fall of the year with night lines 

 Bunk deep in the water. The fish is more beautU'ul than 

 the speckled ti-out of the brooks, and I say it advisedly, 

 its flesh is more juicy and finely flavored. Please in- 

 form me what kind of "fi-h they are. — S. R. Clarke. [We 

 think this must be one of the large trout known in our 

 catalogues by name only — probably Ross's trout, de- 

 scribed by Richardson. Would it be possible for Mr. 

 Clarke to send us a specimen, or at least the skin of a 

 large one? The skin can be sent dry or in salt. Little is 

 known about the trout of the region referred to in the 

 above communication. We know the lake trout and 

 landlocked salmon occur there, but nothing more.] 



DEATH OF AMASA WARD. 



SOUTHBORO, Mass., June 11. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: The many readers of your paper, who, in 

 seasons past, have been entertained at Hell Gate Camp on 

 the Dead Diamond, will hear with profound sorrow ot the 

 death of Amasa Ward, which occurred at the residence of 

 Oscar Fletcher, near Colebrook, at noon, Wednesday 

 June 10. 



All winter he had been ailing, and early in March his 

 condition was such that his friends became alarmed, and 

 they determined to remove him from his camp to a place 

 where he could have proper medical attendance. Accord- 

 ingly they placed him upou a moo^e sled aud dragged him 

 out to his fricud Oscir Fletcher's, about midway between 

 Colebrook and the Diamond Ponds. 



A physician was immediately summoned, and upon ex- 

 amination he proaouQced his case hopeless; a cancerous 

 stomach was the chief factor, but the disorders were com- 

 plicated. He failed rapidly, but his indomitable resolution 

 which had pulled him out of many a perilous place was just 

 as promiaent as ever, and he fought the destroyer to the 

 last. Thug in the itSbh year of his life passed to the "happy 

 hunting grounds" one of the best and truest men who ever 

 blazed his way or cleared a carry through the woods. 



Brothers of the angle and the rifle, the many pleasant day.-? 

 which we have spent with "lujua" shall be as ever fragrant 

 flowers, which at the touch of memory shall bloom again in 

 rich perfume. 



I would sugge.st, for I knew and loved him well, that all 

 that is mortal of him be taken to the old camp and be 

 allowed to moulder with that earth, which to him was con- 

 secrated ground. What could be more fitting? There he 

 had spent the years of joy and hardship; there he had wel- 

 comed the return of old friends, and there under the silent 

 stars, with no requiem but the sad cadences of the stately 

 spruce and pine, should be his flual resting place. 



J. W. B. 



To CoT.oR.\T30 VI v Btthlinoton RoTrxit, nnlv one night on the 

 road. 1j :ive (Jbirat-'n hi 1:00 P. M,. or St. Louis at 8:25 A. M., aud 

 arrive txt Dtnver 6:1-5 P. M. tlie next day. Tlirousrh sleepers, chair 

 cars a.nd dming uais. AH rail ways from the East connect with 

 these trains ana wirb similar trains via Burlington route to Den- 

 ver, leavme Chieapo at 6:10 P. M., S'- Louis at 8:13 P. M.. and 

 Peoria at o:2Q P. M. and 8 P. AT. All trams daily. Tourist lickets 

 are now on sale, and can he had of Hgeats or' all roads atjd at Burl- 

 ington route depots in Chio.ag'-, Peorii and St- Louie. There is no 

 better place than Colorado for tUose seeking rest and pleasure.— 



MY EXPERIENCE IN AMATEUR FISHCULTURE. 



I HAPPENED a year or .so ago to be living near a large 

 landed proprietor, who. fond of fishing, and especially 

 fond of interesting occupations, bad taken up pisciculture 

 as a hobby. He had a good deal of water running through 

 his estate; there was a river abounding in grayling— a fish 

 of very delicate flavor, ranking, I believe, next to trout, 

 and aifording capital sport with a fly— a lesser quantity of 

 trout, and in spite of eftorts to get rid of them, a plentiful 

 sprinkling of pike. Besides this there was a brook faii-ly 

 well stocked with trout, and also some minor streams. 



My friend, who shall be called Mr. Hungerford, proposed 

 to me to join in his venture, he making all the outlay, I 

 giving my interest, society and help, rather a one-sided bar- 

 gain, perhaps, but we became partners and called ourselves 

 a company. There was great talk of pecuniary profits, but 

 I regret to say that owing to various calamities which befell 

 our enterprise during the three seasons it lasted these were 

 untasted, the only persons benefited being the fishermen, 

 whose sport was of course increased. Perhaps there is 

 nothing that requires so much constant cai'e and everyday 

 attention to make the thing a succe.ss as the hatching and 

 rearing of fish. Change of temperature, flow and clearness 

 of water, delicacy of handling, all act to an almost incred- 

 ible degree in making or marring the undertaking. For 

 instance, should a temporary stoppage in a pipe occur, or 

 the clean.sing boxes cease to act for a single hour, it is not 

 only a few of the eggs or of the young fish which are lost, 

 but the whole number in your hatching boxes. 



The trout that we reared came to us in ova from Switzer- 

 land, generally about the end of -January; the ova came in 

 various stages of advancement, sometimes in so early an one 

 that the probability of their fertility was mere guesswork; 

 while at other times the black specks,afterward acting as 

 eyes, were plainly vi.sible. 



To those who have had no opportunity of studying this 

 subject, I will explain that the ova when first taken from 

 the fish are in the form of nearly transparent globules about 

 the size of a mediirm pea, with a few tiny spots of golden 

 oil, which is the last thing to disappear while hatching, for 

 the oil acts as nourishment to the fish both before and after 

 hatching out. 



To receive 10,00<J or 12,000 eggs, to unpack them with such 

 gentleness from the mossy layers that not one should be lost 

 or bruised, to count and distribute them evenly in the boxes 

 —resembling small troughs, with removable, perforated 

 zinc trays— was the work of hom-s. Apart from the excite- 

 ment, I was glad that this only occurred perhaps two or 

 three times in a season, for it invariably resulted in rheu- 

 mati-sm or a severe cold in the head for my partner or my- 

 self. The atmosphere of the fish house, with its constant 

 running water and close proximity to the river, was the very 

 embodiment of cold and damp; indeed, in cold January the 

 open air was a summer atmosphere as compared with that 

 of the fish house. Once start,ed, our daily duties were to test 

 and cleanse the water, which, being from the river, had 

 always a certain amount of sediment fatal to the ova (in our 

 third season we had spring water for hatching purposes); 

 this sediment had to be carried off by means of charcoal and 

 sponges in the upper boxes before the water flowed into 

 those containing the eggs; then the eggs which had clustered 

 were lightly brushed apart by means of a feather and the 

 bad ones removed every morning to prevent fungus— a most 

 deadly enemy. 



This removiug the bad eggs, which were easily distin- 

 guished by a crescent of opaque white forming in the 

 globule, was a most tedious business; each one, of course, 

 bad to be removed separately by means of nippers made of 

 fine copper wire, and to seize a small white ball in water 

 without touching its neighbors is no joke. However, we 

 both got very deft at it in time and astonished our numerous 

 visitors by the rate we got them out. We required all our 

 dexterity when it was time for the grayling eggs to come in. 

 This was rather later in the year, about April, and was 

 really more interesting work than the trout; for Mr. Hun- 

 gerford, by means of turning oft the river, netted the gray- 

 ling and pressed the eggs from the fish. 



There was a good deal of risk in taking it in hand from 

 the very beginning like this, aud we had as many as several 

 hundred of bad eggs to remove daily from the boxes. We 

 were rewarded, however, for our cold labor by enriching the 

 streams with several thousand young fish the following 

 year. 



1 believe a good deal of curiosity and amusement was in- 

 dulged in by the country people about at a lady working 

 hard and taking a keen interest in such an occupation as 

 this; indeed, some never quite understood it and looked 

 upon me pityingly! Sometimes when the work was par- 

 ticularly du-ty, and my partner so absent minded or en- 

 grossed with the fish, that whole troughs of water were 

 suddenly emptied nearly over me, I wondered myself at 

 taking up an accomplishment not generally included in the 

 list assigned to young ladies, and put it down partly to re- 

 lieving the monotony of country life in the winter and partly 

 to the pleasure I had in the company and conversation of 

 Mr. Hungerford. In his absence trom home, which occurred 

 pretty often, he trusted everything to me. One year he dis- 

 tressed me rather by going away just as a consignment of 

 ova was expected from Switzerlaud; they were to arrive late 

 ill March or early iu April, and he left me with most minute 

 directions how all was to be arranged. They were to be un- 

 packed immediately upon arrival, whatever time that might 

 happen to be. One bitterly cold, wet morning I was awak- 

 ened rather before seven by a message from the head keeper 

 to say that the fish eggs had come by the mail train — how 

 soon could I be at the fish house. 'The very word of fish 

 house so early in the morning made my blood freeze; how- 

 ever, 1 suppressed my desire for another doze, and hastily 

 dressing started otf to my cold task. 



It passed through my mind as 1 hurried along that it was 

 the first day ot April, though the weather might have 

 belonged to November. I found the keeper, a fat, good- 

 tempered man, in the most distressingly-cheery spirits; he 

 had carefully unnailed the box, he said, and must now be 

 off, as Mr. Hungerford had wished me to manage the count- 

 ing and spreading entirely. How the man's eyes twinkled! 

 He evidently did not mind early rising. A momentary fear 

 seized me— the first of April— con Id it be— but no, I exainined 

 the foreign label, it was right even to the date, so I set to 

 work knowing every moment to be precious with traveled 

 ova, I got oil the upper layers of moss,and congratulated 

 our luck on their damp and fresh appearance, as it meant 

 well to the eggs. Next came the cotton wool, which I lifted, 

 and my eye was caught first by a roughly-written placard, 

 ''Douccraent, ma chere, nous tsovnnes les amfs de poissons 

 d'A-Vril," and carefully arranged underneath were rows 

 and rows of peas. I had a mortal longing, as you Americans 

 say, to "cuss and swear;" my feelings being intensified by 

 the sight of the keeper's convulsed tace round the corner of 

 a window. 



How I hated that worthy man for weeks afterwards! 

 Never had I felt so thoroughly "sold" as at that moment. 

 This ghastly joke nearly made me resign partnership, as it 

 became the event of the neighborhood, aud I was uumerci- 

 fuUy chafl"ed over it. In spite of my rage I was forced to 

 admire the way in which Mr. Hungerford had planned it 

 all, even to getting the hatching boxes in order before leav- 

 ing home. In describing my grievances f have let my pen 

 run wild, and I must hatch out and rear our fish in another 

 paper. l 



The time taken by the ova in hatching varies slightly with 

 the temperature of the water, sudden cold keeping them 

 back, and vice versa,. I think, however, that we found gray- 

 ling to take about three weeks to a month, and trout about 

 a month to fifty days. From beginning to end it is most in- 

 teresting to watch the gradual development of a .sijofc of 

 what is, to all appearance, yellow oil. We used a linen 

 manufacturer's testing glass, which is a most powerful help. 

 From day to day there is some change, at first a mere en- 

 largement of the yolk, then a faint outline betokens the 

 backbone; a few days and the head with hollows dispropor- 

 tionallybig, for the eyes, is plainly visible; again a fewdays, 

 the egg now contains a moving object, and two large, but by 

 no means lovely, black eyes, aud there is a discernible 

 bright red dot, which on close inspection proves to be the 

 heart in violent motion. At last some morning when peer- 

 ing into the boxes to find any bad eggs, one's heart is glad- 

 dened and excited to perceive the first fish, such a queer, 

 ugly, lively little creature, the chief part of him being the 

 yolk sac attached to the under part of the minute form, some 

 day to be a fine two or three pound trout. This sac, which 

 causes the fish to move in a most awkward manner, being 

 twice the bulk of its body, lasts a considerable time, pro- 

 viding natural sustenance. As it becomes more pointed at the 

 sides, and shrinks into the body, the arteries, heart and veins 

 become more distinct, the fish, at first quite transparent, 

 becomes darker in color and more lively in habits. When 

 the sac disappears food must at once be provided. Much to 

 our delight we always had a good many cripples among our 

 aleyins (the young fry with yolk sac). I say to our delight, 

 as it was most amusing to study their infirmities, knowing 

 them to be sufteriug no pain. Some had two heads, some 

 wound round and round like the mainspring of a watch, 

 while others had only half or three pjirts of their body. 

 These and a certain number of weak ones we deposited in a 

 box apart, as they only lived in good health until feeding 

 time, when the two-headed ones couldn't decide with which 

 mouth to seize their food, and the mainsprings lacked power 

 to wind it round; so they died and served as food to their 

 older brethren, if we had any on hand. Feeding is certainly 

 the most touchy point in flshculture, and during the first 

 two years we lost hundreds while gaining experience. Finely 

 grated liver and egg was their first meal, but the remains 

 so quickly decompose and corrupt the water that it requires 

 most careful managment. We were much pleased at dis- 

 covering a fine river-weed alive with the most minute 

 caterpillars, which we supposing to be their natural food, 

 placed abundantly in the boxes; the fish ate with avidity, 

 and we were enraptured at the thought of the labor saved, 

 until next morning, when we found that a firm web had been 

 woven by the imprisoned insects, and half of our young fry- 

 strangled. It was a sad shock, but we didn't give up the weed; 

 we placed it in the boxes above and let the caterpillars work 

 slowly through a fine wire netting, the fish waiting eagerly 

 below for their dainty prey. We had considerable difficulty 

 in getting the weed out of the river after we had exhausted 

 the edges; it was tolerably easy for my partner with high 

 waders, but in his absences, when the men had left work, or 

 on Sunday, and I had to grapple with it unassisted except by 

 a boat hook, I felt inclined to leave the fish to take their 

 chance, or to fish for the weed by moonlight with the help 

 of the waders, when the hidden gaze of poachers would be 

 all I should have to encounter. In captivity fish are very 

 easily tamed, especially trout, owing to their excessive greed. 

 Certain ones would come at our whistle and take a spider or 

 fly from our hands; indeed they were not discriminating and 

 rose eagerly at the end of agrimy thumb. It was about now, 

 when the fish were feeding that the misfortunes, which put 

 pecuniary profits out of the question, began. Once, leaving 

 a cover half ofl: a box of ova, we found it nearly all gone. 

 Threatening vengeance, we set a water trap, and caught, we 

 hope, the culprit, a rat, fat and well liking, and no wonder 

 if he had, una.s.sisted, swallowed a couple of thousand fish 

 eggs. This accident made us unusally cautious and we hoped 

 to eliide more of these treacherous enemies. 



There were (3,000 strong trout about an inch and a half 

 long, some of which Mr. Hungerford proposed to advertise 

 at a guinea a hundred, I think. The advertisement was in 

 the Field. Our pockets were ringing with imaginary gold, 

 when— ill-fated man— my partner, hurriedly called away one 

 evening, left the fishhouse with the treasure exposed, and in 

 the morning 300 scared, unhappy trout represented our 6,000 

 of the night before. Intending pm-chasers were sadly in- 

 formed of the calamity, and our hopes were over for that 

 year. The way in which a rat catches live fish is most won- 

 derful; if it were water rats it might appear fairly simple, 

 but the destroyers of our happiness and fortunes were com- 

 mon barn rats, who gnawed tneir way in through the wood- 

 work of a window 3ft. from the ground. When about Sin. 

 long we transferred the fish into yearling ponds, over which 

 were suspended the contents of a "game-keeper's larder," 

 dead beasts and birds of prey; the maggots from their decay- ■ 

 ing bodies fell at intervals and were watched for and wel- 

 comed by the fish. Here again ill-luck attended us; 5,000 trout 

 were put into three small, well guarded ponds, with concrete 

 bottoms, aud 7,000 into a large pond with a gravel bottom. 

 The following year we set aside two days with great pomp 

 for recovering the fish, and a select party was invited to 

 witness "the liberation into the river of 12,000 trout." The 

 very idea was enough to make a fisherman's blood leap 

 through his veins. Picture to yourself, reader, 12,000 trout 

 of a year's growth in a couple of years time. What work for 

 your top joint, what yarns for your less fortunate friends. 

 But wait, the water runs off from the ponds, a fi.sh is seen 

 and caught, only a perch, no doubt the trout lurk at the 

 bottom, a few more fish are caught, this time pretty little 

 dace and still no trout. Where are the 5,000? The water is 

 all off now, except from a square hole of about 2ft., out of 

 which it must be baled. Faces are growing very long, anxiety 

 holds our breath; the only occupants of the hole are three 

 pike about a foot long. They had come down through the 

 grating in ova and, growing rapidly, the trio had among 

 them devoured every single ti-out. Killing is no word for 

 their death, my partner literally "smashed" those pike, 

 finding half trout in them in process of digestion. Well.S' 

 there are still the 7,000 in the big pool, but I no longer felt 

 enthusiastic; in vain my partner assured me that pike could 

 not possibly find their way there even in the egg, 1 could not 

 enrer keenly into it, and when the findings were only 11 out 

 of 7,000, with no pike by way of explanation, I hardly felt 

 surprised. The unhappy members of that company walked 

 ofi" silently in different directions, the subject was carefully 

 tabooed by mutual delicacy of feeling and no I'eal cause was 

 assigned for the loss. Deep mud and poachers were privately 

 vouchsafed by the keeper as a reason, but there was no proof 

 ot the latter.'and if the former were the cause, where were 

 the corpses? 



These wex-e our only known disasters, we turned a great 

 many trout and grayling into small streams to work their 

 way to the river, with less chance of enemies, and when a 

 three year older or thereabouts comes to table, we fancy it is 

 one of our rearing. Very probably it was comfortably 

 hatched under a stone in the river bed, but "where ignorance 

 is blisp, 'tis folly to be wise," and we well deserve any com- 

 fort of this trifling nature in reward for our many trials in 

 fishculture, don't you think .so? p. p. s. 



EiMGLAl«[l). 



