BepT. 1, 1892.] 



FOREST AND SfREAM. 



181 



needed. Most men hunt in the late summer, or dtiring 

 the autumn, when the males of all the larger game 

 animals a.re fat and in good condition, while the females, 

 which are only juat weaning their young, are usually 

 thin in flesh and poor eating. Each female spared 

 means one or two head of game added to the next 

 season's supply. The importance of preserving the 

 females is coming to be more and more ereneraliy recog- 

 nized, and to-day the laws of several of the States pro- 

 hibit the killing; of female deer at any season of the year. 



I might write much more on this subject, but I will 

 close by asking "Shongo" whether he expects us to 

 understand that he and Eea, after killing thirteen cows 

 and the bull, really spared the four calves ? 



White Wolf. 



New York, Aug. 26.— Editor For&st and Stream.: 

 "Shongo" is a butcher; he should be ashamed to tell the 

 disgraceful story of butchering 14 elk cows. I am sur- 

 prised that you print such reports. C. P. 



MASSACHUSETTS' SHOOTERS. 



The gunners are getting ready. The open season on 

 partridge and woodcock begins on Sept. 1 in New Hamp- 

 shire and in Maine, and several Boston gunners propose 

 to make early excursions into these States. Eeports say 

 ' that groute are very plenty in southern New Hampshire, 

 thoiish the backwoods remain to be heard from. From 

 Maine I have not yet heard any reports that have made 

 me very enthusiastic in regard to game birds. Mr. C. Z. 

 Basaet, of Geo, B, Appleton & Co., is as fond of gunning 

 ss he is of trout tishing. With his friends, Dr. Langmaid 

 and Mr. Thairlwall, he will go to their shooting ranch in 

 New Hampshire as soon as the season opens. They have 

 ■4 spot up there that they do not like to talk much about; 

 md no one can blame them. There is a farmhouse that 

 they make their headquarters, and they have a number 

 of well-trained dogs. They will be at the ranch off and 

 on till the fall shooting is done. 



Mr. G. N. Smally, the trout-fishing friend of Mr. Bas- 

 set, with his brother, is already at their shooting ranch 

 up in Canada. They are on the borders of a lake and re- 

 port the fidhing excellent. They wdl be absent till the 

 autumn has fl jwn or till they are tired of shoof ing. 



About the best bags of shore birds for the seaeon by 

 P -Ion gunners were made about Aug. 28, just after the 

 storm. Mr. Claude H. Tarbox, with A. E. Aldrich 

 Jo., at the Chamber of Commerce, is keepuiar house, 

 wiih his wife, in a cottage on Plum Island, just off from 

 Newbury port. On S iturday he invited Mr. R. H Jen- 

 kin?, chief of the grain inspection, and Mr. Allen P. Aid- 

 rich, of the firm, down home with himself for a bird 

 shoot. The next morning before breakfast Mr. Tarbox, 

 who, by the way, is one of the best gunners in this sec- 

 tion, had brought down thirteen birds by himself, and 

 several of them were black- breasted plover, birds that 

 delight the gunners. After breakfast the shoot begun in 

 earnest. The sport was truly rare. Mr. Jenkins made a 

 hag of thirty-four birds to take home. They were sum- 

 mer yellovvlegs, plover, ring-necks and peep. Some 

 golden plover were seen, but none were obtained. Mr. 

 Aldrich also had rare luck, taking some large birds. 



There are also several reports of other good bags, and 

 at other points. A party of Boston sportsmen were down 

 to Pittick's Island on S.iturday and they obtained eleven 

 big birds and some twenty peep. They saw numerous 

 plover flying in the morning, both golden and black- 

 breasted, but they would not respond to either decoys or 

 whistles. On the whole, several of the gunners claim that 

 the flight of birds was not what might have been ex- 

 pected after an easterly storm of such violence and long 

 duration, 



Mr. N. G Mqnson, Jr., will start for Camp Leather- 

 Stocking, on Ptichardson Lake, Me., on Saturday. He 

 will be accompanied this time by his friend Mr, Ned Byn- 

 ner, Mrs. Bynupr and her sister. Later they expect a 

 brother of Mr. Bynner with his wife, fi'om Chicago. Mr. 

 R Henry Fuller, a relative of Mr. Manson, will also be 

 one of the party, the 8<ime as last year. Mr. Fuller has 

 been spending the entire summer at Pine Point, Scarboro, 

 Me. He is a retired New York hotel man, and finds 

 nothing equal for his leisure to the woods and waters of 

 Maine. Later in the month of September Mr. Manson 

 expects the company of his brother in camp. Camp 

 Leatherstocking was built last year, and Mr. Manson is 

 sparing no pains to make it an attractive spot for his 

 friends. He will enjoy a well-earned vacation during the 

 month of September, "under his own vine and fig tree." 

 Like Nathaniel of old, his namesake, he may climb one of 

 the fig trees to see what is passing beneath. Special, 



NEW YORK WOODCOCK AND GROUSE. 



Albany, N. Y,,Aug. Q— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 A fair number of Albany gunners took advanta.y:e of the 

 ppening day of the woodcock and grouse season last 

 Monday, and hunted favorite covers adjacent to the city. 

 No bags of any account were secured, however. The 

 want of success was chiefly due to the dense underbrush, 

 which rendered it almost impossible to do any work ex- 

 cept on the outskirts of the covers; but hunting before 

 the lawful time was also somewhat accountable for it. 

 We found evidence of this in the broken up broods and 

 in the wild and scattered condition of the broods. 

 Sportsmen complain of a scarcity of woodcock and 



.grouse, but in this I think they are mistaken. From my 

 observation, covering a good portion of the State, birds 



' vrere never, of late, more abundant than this summer. 



That the section of the present code, permitting the 

 killing of game birds at a time when it is impracticable, 



• and undesirable, is unwise, must be admitted. Were the 



' sentiment of sportsmen generally expressed in the enact- 

 ment of a law, the season would not, I think, open earlier 

 than formerly if before Oct. 1. There is no reason why a 

 State law that is of benefit to but one county should be 

 borne by the remaining counties. And sportsmen should 



J iook to their boards of supervisors for legislation more in 

 harmony with their interests. Natura, 



How I Hunt the "Grays." 



Whitehall, New York.— From Sept. 10 to 20 is the 

 best time to shoot gray squirrels in this locality, and in 

 my judgment there is no better ground in the State than 

 here. 



Last "squirrel year" I ba,gged thirty-seven in four 

 hours (two hours in the morning and two at night). 



Some years they are more plenty than others. Twice 

 in my life I have seen "squirrel year," the last about nine 

 years ago, when it was no trick to bag twenty-five in a 

 day. 



My way of hunting them is to "look for shuck" in the 

 hickory groves, then, just at night, or early in the morn- 

 ing, sit down and wait for a bark, or for a gray to show 

 up. When I see one if out of shot T run toward him 

 until near enough to kill, then I stand perfectly still, and 

 as he jumps from treetop to treetop I drop hiru with No. 

 4s. I have killed as many as eight out of one hickory 

 tree. It will soon be time to hunt them, and I anticipate 

 some great sport, for I am told by many farmers that 

 they are quite plenty this season. C. B. Pike. 



Lard with Shot. 



Some months back a correspondent of Forest and 

 Stream gave his observations of the efl'ectiveness of lard 

 as a concentrator of shot. I concluded to test the matter, 

 having, however, doubts about duplicating his extraordi- 

 nary target. 



The result of my test was that two charges, one with 

 and the other without lard, gave exactly the same re- 

 sults— 92 No, 6 pellets each in the same target. I once 

 read of a man who killed a very poor, scraggy bear and 

 applied his oil to his own head, and the man's hair all 

 ctme out, but he solved the mystery by conckiding that 

 the bear was shedding his coat and that it was "hair shed- 

 din' ile" that he had used. Maybe the lard I used was the 

 shot sheddin' kind. Sportsmen with sufficient curiosity 

 may try the dilference between the Suffolk and a razor- 

 back. I don't know the condition of the porker from 

 which my lard was taken. N. D. Eltino. 



Vermont Woodcock and Grouse. 



HiGHGvTE, Vt., Aug. 24.— We are having fine wood- 

 cock snooting here now. The writer has never in former 

 years found as many birds in our covers as are now here, 

 though the wet season has made it laborious work to 

 bunt them, as the ground is very soft, and there is a 

 most luxuriant growth of vines that makes our bottoms 

 vei-itable tangle swamps. Ruffed grouse are also unusu- 

 ally plentiful: the open season for them does not begin 

 until the first of next month, so they now are a perfect 

 nuisance, for half the points that my dogs get are on 

 grouse. Yesterday my blue bel ton, Bruce M,, gave me 

 more than a score of staunch points on these birds, which 

 means big sport when the season opens. Stanstead. 



Two Harvest Excursions. 



The great West and Northwest ofifpr sp-cial attractioBS this 

 FeasoD to tourists and homp-seekers. For th^ purpose of enabling 

 the public tp visit the imnien=<e regi'm included, the C' icaeo 

 Grear Western Railway 'operating the Chicago. St. Paul and 

 Kansas City Rail wa.v, will run two harvest escursions, pelh'ng 

 tickets to a1] principal p'^ints in the territory included, on Tues- 

 days, Aug. 30 and Sept. 37, 1892, at the low rate of one fare for the 

 round trip. An additional excursion will be run Oct. 25 to points 

 South and Southwest. Tickets sold only on above dates, good to 

 return in twenty days. For detailed information call on your 

 nearest agent, or address F. K. Lobd, General Passenger and 

 Ticket Agent, C. G. W. Ry.. Chicago, 1)1.— Adv. 



"That reminds me," 



Danvis, Haugus fourtepn Day, — M'sieic Fores Strim: 

 Afi'll ant read it biccause Ah'll ant gat tarn for read, but 

 Ah'U hear ma frien' M'sieu Mum'sin read on you papier 

 'baout rattlin snake spit off bees pizina for keel somebodee 

 w'en he'll go hugly, 



Wal, sah, Ah'll ant b'lieved it, an' Ah'll toF you what 

 for. 



We'll ant got some wil' rattlin snake, here, but Ah'll 

 see some tame one, w'en hoi' Joe Maurice brought it roun' 

 for show on hees woggin' from York State where he'll 

 caught it. 



Hoi' Joe he'll come any place where dere be some 

 folkses, he'll beegin holler, "Any one man want see nine 

 rattlin snake, for twanty-fav cen', jomp on de woggin," 



Den w'en you'll gat on for look, hoi' Joe he'll stroke it 

 wid a steek an' mek it tur'ble hugly, so he'll rattlin lak 

 ev'ryting an' bit lak lightlin. 



But Ah'll ant see it spit, no sah, for all he look lak he 

 gat juice plenty for spit 'f he'll mine to. 



Naow Ah'll goin' tol' you what Ah'll mek ofl; ma mine 

 of it. 



De rattlin snake ant spit fore he'll bit, but after some- 

 tam. 



W'en he'll bit off piece of man he lak tase of it, he'll 

 ant spit. If he'll ant lak tase of it or he be too hoF an' 

 tough, den he spit heem off, jus' sem anybodee. 



Ant dat sensibly for rattlin snake? Hein? 



Antoine Bissette, 



That reminds me of the way they catch rabbits in the 

 Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The hunter goes out 

 just at dusk, and builds a large fire at the edge of a cedar 

 swamp, then retire. The rabbits seeing the light are at- 

 tracted in large numbers. Fmding the fire warm and 

 agreeable they sit around until the fire burns out. The 

 snow being warmed and melted, freezes rapidly, and very 

 soon the rabbits find themselves frozen fast. In the morn- 

 ing the hunter comes armed with a club and knocks them 

 on the head, B. B. 



Manistee, Mich. 



'm dtid ^iv^r fishing. 



TROUT AND BEATEN PATHS. 



Makistee, Mich. , Aug. 15.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 On Monday, Aug. 1, I went to Sherman, a small town on 

 the Toledo & Ann Arbor E, R., 60 miles north of here, 

 on business; but I always combine pleasure with it when 

 opportunity offers. That evening Mr. Frink, who keeps 

 the Exchange Hotel, told me of some wonderful catches 

 of trout. He had caught over 700 in three weeks. A man 

 who keeps the book store said he kept count of his catch 

 until he got 520; had caught quite a number since that 

 he did not count. Other natives of the town also re- 

 ported large catches until they had me so excited that I 

 was ready to start at once and fish all night. As I could 

 not persuade any one to go with me I decided to wait 

 until morning. The book store man furnished me a box 

 of nice worms. Said he had tried artificial fly with poor 

 success, and everybody used worms. I got the location 

 of a stream 1^ miles from town ; there were three other 

 streams from 2 to 5 miles out, all good trout creeks. 



I made arrangements to have a lunch put up that even- 

 ing po as to get an early start, as I had to leave on the 

 10:49 train next morning. I retired early and slept well 

 Considering my excited state of mind in consequence of 

 the big fish stories. I put up my window curtain so as 

 to catch the first streak of dawn, and awoke promptly at 

 a quarter past four; was soon dressed and eating my 

 lunch just as the chore boy commenced to rattle around 

 the kitchen stove, and by the time the sun was half an 

 hour high I had found my way to the creek, which 

 looked very trouty, indeed. It was fifteen to twenty feet 

 wide, full of fallen tree tops and old logs, deej) holes, 

 and every little way a cascade three or four feet deep. 

 It ran through a deep ravine, and hemlock, maple, elm 

 and cedar shaded it beautifully. A well worn path on 

 either side told its own story— fished to death. I soon 

 cut a yellow birch pole, and using line and hook that I 

 always carry with me, I baited with a wriggling worm 

 and dropped into a fishy-looking pool where the water 

 dashed over an old log. The bait was no sooner out of 

 sight than it was caught and I landed a 9in. trout. Then I 

 began to think how I could carry them all home and 

 speculated how I would surprise my friends, several of 

 them each with a fine mess of trout. I rebaited my hook 

 and tried again and for five minutes did not get another 

 bite. 



It was a lovely morning, just cool enough so the mos- 

 quitoes were not troublesome. The sun was glinting 

 through the trees; birds were singing; the stream was 

 rapid and I felt repaid for getting up early, if I did not 

 catch a bushel of trout, and that is just about what hap- 

 pened. I fished until half -past nine and only caught five 

 m- asuring from 7 to 8in. 



When I got back to the hotel I was told the fish bite 

 better toward evening; but my enthusiasm of the night 

 before had cooled oft' somewhat, and I took the train for 

 Manistee. Got to Cnpemish ten minutes behind time and 

 had the satisfaction of seeing the train on the Manistee 

 & Noriheastern road just going around the curve, and 

 there I had to wait from 11:30 to 4:20. At the hotel I 

 was told of a trout creek one mile down the railroad. 

 After dinner I found the barber, who had angle worms 

 to sell, and for a good cigar furnished me all I wanted. I 

 started for the trout once more and found the creek; but 

 it was rather a tame looking affair, small and shallow, 

 with no current or rapids, but a well beaten trail and 

 plenty of fresh-cut poles showed that there had been 

 plenty of fishermen there before me. I fished up and 

 down for two hours in all the likely looking places I 

 could find, but never got a nibble; saw three trout run 

 out from under a log that I stepped on, so I think likely 

 there might have been some in the creek; but it was not 

 the right time of day for them to bite. The sun was so 

 hot and mosquitoes so numerous that I returned to the 

 hotel without adding anything to my morning catch. 



I met Mr. Hatch at C jpemish, who had some fine trout 

 in a basket for a friend. He has a private trout creek on 

 his farm, three miles from Copemish, and has been en- 

 gaged in raising trout for the past five years. Said he 

 had now 350 full-grown trout, some measuring 21in. and 

 weighing S^lbs. Said he had as much right to raise and 

 sell trout any time of year as sheep or cattle; they were 

 his private property and the law had nothing to do with 

 him. He was deputy game warden. Had never seen a 

 copy of Forest and S peeam, and I have forwarded him 

 several copies, especially those containing articles on sale 

 of cultivated trout during the close season. He gave me 

 a pressing invitation to visit him, and said he would phovr 

 me some fine trout and one of the finest natural trout 

 streams in the State of Michigan. Snd he could con- 

 tract all the trout he could raise for 40 cents per pound 

 delivered at the station. I expect to visit his farm in the 

 near future and may have something to write you in 

 regard to it. B. Bristol. 



A REMARKABLE STATEMENT IN THE CENSUS 



RETURNS- 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Have yon noticed in the report of Mr. Porter, Superin- 

 tendent of Census, the following statements, which would 

 indicate that in the State of New York for once there had 

 been too much legislation in the way of protecting fish: 



"The marked aecllne in the fisheries of Lake Ontario has 

 been chiefly due to legislation. Laws have been enacted with 

 the avowed purpose of prohibiting commercial fishing, and 

 the efi:ect of their rigid enforcement is shown in the deca- 

 dence of this once important industry." 



"From 1886 to 1889 the Legislature of the State of New 

 York passed many laws, the avowed pui'pose of which was 

 to stop all commercial fishing in certain counties bordering 

 upon Lake Ontario excepting that fishing done with hook 

 and line held in the hand or attached to a fishing rod. As 

 is shown elsewhere in this bulletin, the decline in the fisher- 

 ies of this lake has been marked, and is no doubt largely 

 attributable to the legislation referred to." 



"Lake Ontario is the only one of the Great Lakes that 

 shows a uniform falling oil in the points under considera- 

 tion. These results are due undoubttdiy to the restrictive 

 acts passed by the New York Legislature to prevent com- 

 mercial Ashing in Lake Ontario, and Ihe fignarts are conclu- 

 sive evidence that this purpose has been largely accomplished. 

 The decrease in the number of persons employed in 1889 as 

 compared with 1880 was 33.20 per cent.; in capital invested, 

 11.72 per cent., and in the value of the catch, 46 51 per cent., 

 or very nearly one-half." Westeex Nevt yoBK. 



Nebraska Prairie Chickens. 



A Nebraska corre.'^pondent offers to give information 

 as to good prairie chiciven grounds in that State to any 

 inquirer who may address him through this office. He 

 writes that there will be plenty of quail, prairie chickens, 

 grouse and ducks in northwestern Nebraska this fall. 



Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Caton. 



Price $2.50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting ivith the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cmts. Rifle, Rod and 

 Chun in California. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price $1.50. 

 Shore Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By "Ness- 

 muk.' Price §1. Trajectones of Hnnting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents Wild Foivl Shooting; see advertisement. 



