Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun, 



Terms, $4 a Ybak. 10 Cts. a Copy. \ 

 Six Months, §2. ) 



NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 4, 18 92. 



t VOL. XXXVIII.— No. S. 



| No. 318 Bboadway, New Yobk. 



CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



Canadian Salmon R'vere. 

 The Syracuse Convention. 

 Fishway Construction. 

 Slansbtpr of Birds and Fish. 

 Toe European Bison. 

 Snap Shots. 



The Sportsman Tourist. 

 Au Und'Ecovered Country. 

 Sucker Days- 

 Kellup's Annual. 



Natural History. 



The European B-son. 



A Vacation in West Florida. 



Game Bag and Gun. 



A Shot wirh the Old Musket. 

 Oopsip of Gamp and Guns. 

 Introduction of the Chokebore 

 Gamp in Pennsylvania. 

 The Promise and Its Fulfill- 

 ment. 



Game in tlie National Park. 

 Central New York Association 

 Mr. Cleveland's Shooting Trip. 

 Boston No'es. 

 Chi- ago and the West. 



Sea and River Fishing. 

 Observations on tbp Tench. 

 Introduction rf Black Bass 



into Massachusetts. 

 "Thai's Different." 

 TroutiTtg in the Cascades.-vm 

 Some Cnin« p Fisbps. 

 Canadian Salmon Rivers. 



the 



Fishculture. 



Fishway Construction. 

 Wisconsin Fishculture. 



The Kennel. 



Some Oogs. 



Associate Members of 



A. K. C. 

 "Old Lamps for New." 

 Old Blucn. 



Re the Name Psovoi vs. Barzoi 

 Pacifl-! Co«st Field Trials. 

 Southern Field Trials. 

 Dog Chat. 

 Kennel Notes. 



Answers to Correspondents. 

 Canoeing. 

 Dowu the Mississippi.— it. 

 Puritans at Home. 

 Eastern Division Trophies. 



Yachting. 



Th - C>nqurror Case. 

 Corinthian Y. C. of New York. 

 Another Novel Yacht. 



Rifle Range and Gallery. 



Amateur Revolver Champion- 



s'' P- . _ 



"Forest and Stream" Tourna- 

 ment. 



Trap Shooting. 

 Drivers and Twisters. 

 Matches and Meetings. 



Answers to Queries. 



For Prospectus and Advertising Rates see Page 117. 



TO INSURE INSfcRTlON in the next issue of 

 *■ Forest and Stream," advertisements must 

 be received not later than Monday morning. 



FISHWAY CONSTRUCTION. 



UNDER this heading we publish a communication 

 from Commissioner McDonald which was brought 

 out by numerous letters of inquiry from persons in- 

 terested in the permanence of the fish supply, and whose 

 queries could not be answered individually. The im- 

 portance of the subject is generally admitted, as well as 

 the necessity of reliable information and efficient appli- 

 cation of approved principles. Mistakes iu a matter of 

 such moment are often attended with failure of the end 

 desired and serious waste of money. The Commissioner 

 brings to the discussion of this subject the mature skill 

 of a trained engineer and the ripe judgment of an experi- 

 enced fisbculturist. His statements can not fail to 

 assist the public in its choice and management of ap- 

 paratus intended to aid the ascent of fishes to their 

 spawning grounds. We invite full discussion of the 

 problems involved and the presentation of complete de- 

 tails as to the practical working of any device known to 

 our readers. If this can be done in a scientific spirit and 

 without the inter jecl ion of personal criticism we shall 

 be the better pleased. It is our intention soon to outline 

 the known systems of fishway construction and to 

 describe briefly the various devices employed for overcom- 

 ing obstructions in streams 



THE EUROPEAN BISON. 



WE print this week the first instalment of the history 

 of the European bison to which reference was 

 made in these columns last week. It gives briefly the 

 history of this animal, shows that the name, aurochs, 

 should not be applied to it, and describes its appearance. 

 The illustration is after one of the sketches of Herr G. 

 Mutzel made for Brehm's '-Thierleben." 



Men who in old times used to hunt buffalo in the West 

 will recognize many differences between the looks of this 

 bison and the one indigenous to America, and the best 

 authorities agree that, although nearly related, these two 

 are specifically distinct. The larger, heavier hindquar- 

 ters of the European animal make its hump less notice- 

 able, and, indeed, its shoulders and chest are actually 

 smaller than those of the American buffalo, while its 

 quarters are heavier. The different kinds of country in- 

 habited by the two forms may account in part for this 

 d fference in shape since the bison has always been an in- 

 habitant of a forest country, while the buffalo is for the 

 most part a dweller on the plains, and so is a runner. It 

 may be that a series of specimens of "mountain" or 

 "wood'' buffalo, if it could be obtained, would show an 

 approach to the European form. 



The whole paper, of which we print to-day the first 

 section, is very suggestive to the naturalist, and the 

 succeeding instalments, which tell of the chase and 

 the capture of the bigor, will be found full of interest, 



The paper is especially worthy the attention of readers 

 of Forest and Stream who dwell in the distant Canadian 

 Northwest, near the present range of the few surviving 

 wood buffalo. It may be in their power to furnish speci- 

 mens, which will throw light on the exact relations of 

 that supposed race to the European bison and to the buf- 

 falo of the plains. 



There has already been published a volume on the 

 bi°ons of America which is of the highest scientific value 

 and popular interest, since it is from the pen of one of 

 our most eminent and careful biologists, Dr. J. A. Allen; 

 but there is yet a work to be written on the bisons of the 

 world, which shall be a monument to a race practically 

 extinct. For such a volume this history of the European 

 bison may furnish some facts and suggestions. 



SLAUGHTER OF BIRDS AND FISH. 



WE publish this week a faithful account of the present 

 condition of the bird and fish life of West Florida 

 from a correspondent who has recently relumed from a 

 collecting trip at Tampa. The useless and unpardonable 

 destruction of birds for the sake of their plumes, so often 

 described iu Forest and Stream, has been continued 

 until the bright-hued species are well nigh extermina- 

 tion. Untimely frosts have fallen like a blight on mil- 

 lions of fish in the shoal parts of Tampa Bay, as else- 

 where in Florida, and of late years the fertilizer com- 

 panies and wasteful methods of fishing have nearly an- 

 nihilated the pitiful remnant left by the ice king's ravages. 

 When armies of men and boys are employed to maim 

 and kill egrets, flamingoes, paroquets and other beauti- 

 ful birds for no useful purpose, while millions of delicious 

 mullet are seined and ground up with sharks and other 

 offal to make guano, and still other multitudes are strip- 

 ped of their roe and then thrown away, it is time for 

 those who are interested in the future of Tampa to call a 

 halt. Not only is the mullet a superior food fLh, but it 

 is one whose breeding habits are practically unknown 

 and its artificial culture has not yet been accomplished; 

 it should, therefore, be protected and fostered by a de- 

 termined public sentiment demanding the enforcpnient 

 of laws already in existence covering the very offenses 

 described by Mr. Simpson. The killing of arid traffic in 

 birds of plume, such as the cranes, egret, ibis, cui lew 

 and heron, are punishable by a maximum fine of $800 

 or imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceed- 

 ing six months, at the discretion of the court. The cap- 

 ture of mudet, trout (weakfish), redfish, sheepshead, pom- 

 pano, mackerel, bluefish, red snapper, grouper or jurel 

 within waters under the State jurisdiction for the pur- 

 pose of making oil, fertilizer and compost therefrom in- 

 volves a maximum fine of $20j or two months imprisou- 

 ment, or both, at the discretion of the court. Catching 

 fish for the roes only is also illegal. Now let those who 

 are interested in the preservation of the birds and fish 

 use their influence to st cure the prosecution and convic- 

 tion of law-breakers, or fold their hands with resignation 

 while the priceless attractions of West Florida are anni- 

 hilated and its chief source of revenue dissiDated. 



THE SYRACUSE CONVENTION. 

 'T , HE gathering of sportsmen at Syracuse next week 

 J- gives promise of being an event of unusual interest 

 and importance. For the first time in more than ten 

 years the New York State Association for the Protection 

 of Fish and Game will then convene seriously to consider 

 the pu poses implied in its title. This means that the 

 proper conservation of the fish and game of the State is 

 to be looked to by the organization which of all others 

 should look to it ; it means that the Association is actually 

 to concern itself with the subject which of all others 

 should have first place in its conventions. 



The meeting has been called by President Horace 

 White, whose letter we published last week. The clubs 

 throughout the State have been invited to send represen- 

 ted! vee; and the responses already received show that the 

 attendance will be large, and the delegates in earnest. 

 Special consideration will ba given to the game biil pre- 

 pared by the codification committee. The practical work 

 of the convention, we assume, will be the discussion of 

 that measure and its approval in whole or in part. 



If the delegates who meet next week shall agree on 

 what to ask of the Legislature, or shall appoint its com- 

 mittee to do this, it is reasonable to assume that the 

 Legislat ure will accede to whatever the Association thus 

 represented may demand ; and we shall then have in 



place of the present obscure, contradictory and inefficient 

 statute?, a game law which shall be simple, consistent 

 and effective. 



The promoters of the Syracuse meeting are gentlemen 

 whose ripe experienc 0 , abundant information and sincere 

 interest in the cause suoply ample assurance that the 

 true welfare of the sportsmen of the State will be the 

 one thing sought by them. 



CANADIAN SALMON RIVERS. 



ELSEWHERE we print a petition, which is now circu- 

 lating among anglers interested in Canadian salmon 

 river?, asking the Minister of Marine and Fisheries to 

 direct that, in the season, all salmon nets shall be raised 

 during three successive days and nights of each week. 

 It is pointed out — and with unanswerable truth — that in 

 this matter the true interests of anglers and netters are 

 identical. If excessive netting injures the supply, that 

 injury cannot affect one class of fishermen without affect- 

 ing the other class as well. It is well established that the 

 decrease of the salmon is due to netting; and in the end 

 the net fishermen must feel most acutely the ruin of their 

 industry. In their petition, then, the salmon anglers are 

 not seeking favoritism nor selfish discrimination in the 

 interest of a class; they are making a reasonable plea for 

 such action as ultimately will benefit ail concerned. 

 With greater freedom of passage, the fish will reach their 

 spawning grounds in greater numbers; and Nature her- 

 self, thus given the opportunity, will maintain the salmon 

 pupply, which no expenditure of revenue by the Dominion 

 Can restore so long as the destructive agencies of the nets 

 shall be permitted. 



We trust that the petition may be signed by all who 

 are concerned in the interests it is intended to promote. 



If the Canadian and United States authorities had from 

 the beginning exercised ordinary business precautions to 

 conserve the salmon of Atlantic coast river?, by limiting 

 the use of nets, there we uld never have ensued the de- 

 pletion of these resource?, nor wr u'd it have been neces- 

 sary to expend so many thousands of dollars in efforts to 

 replenioh the su pply. 



SNAP SHOTS. 



THE account of the game— especially buffalo— seen 

 during a recant snowsho^ trip through the National 

 Park by S^out Burgess and his companions is very in- 

 teresting. It is from the pen of our regular correspond- 

 ent, and gives important details of the observations, a 

 summary of which was printed in these columns some 

 time since. The estimate of the number of calves seen is 

 particularly interesting and agrees cl)sely with the 

 opinions advanced in our previous remarks. The occur- 

 rence of the mouse-colored bull is noteworthy. Tnese 

 mou-e colored animals were very unusual, even in the 

 old days of bufftlo plenty. Who knows but that the 

 Yellowstone Park may yet be the home of a white 

 buffalo? 



In their annual report for 1891 the Massachusetts Fish 

 and Game Commissioners call attention to the increase 

 of vermin, like foxes, weisel?, bkunks^and red squirrels, 

 and their depredations as a factor in tha destruction of 

 the game supply, and they recommend a reasonable 

 bounty to be paid by counties on the heads of noxious 

 species. The Commissioners are of opinion that in cer- 

 tain districts where it is now almost out of the question 

 to raise poultry owing to the industry of these night 

 prowlers, the losses by farmers would justify such 

 bounties. The report comments on the scarcity 

 of ruffed grouse in New England in the last 

 months of le91 iu sections where young birds 

 were in the early season plenty and apparently health- 

 ful. The probable causes assigned are the invasion of 

 "grouse ticks" and the large increase of predatory ani- 

 mals. No mention is made of the grouse snarers, but the 

 fact that the great majority of grouse sent to city 

 markets are snared birds affords reasonable ground 

 for the theory that the snarers must be given a 

 due degree of credit. In New York city markets 

 not only are most of the grouse snared, but most 

 of the quail are netted birds. 



Among the bills before the New Jersey Legislature is 

 one to premit landowners to kill game on their own 

 lands from Sept, I to M .reft 1. This has passed to a third 

 reading, and immediate steps should fee. taken to- preverll 

 ife he^qmAug 8, law. 



