834 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 25, 1S96. 
tered above the decoys, side by side, George killed them 
both stone dead with the first barrel. 
" You shoot the ducks and I'll get out the lunch," I 
said. 
Pickles, bread and butter, pie and ham were arranged 
on the seat, and I had gotten as far as " Come to din—" 
when a sharp report greeted my ears, and looking up I 
saw a mallard drake high up; throw his head on his back 
and double up like a jack knife. As he struck the water 
I said: "That was a beautiful shot, now come to lunch." 
No one but a sportsman can appreciate how delicious 
everything tastes out in the woods. As George remarked, 
" If we had hit the big flock half as hard as we did the 
lunch we would have a blamed sight more ducks." 
Just aB we came to a delicious section of raisin pie, a 
low, sharp hiss greeted our ears, and a big, fat mallard 
drake dropped with a splash among the decoys, 20yds. 
away. As he sat gracefully erect like a soldier on guard 
his neck looked to be 1ft. long. A moment he eyed the 
surroundings, all the time uttering the peculiar hiss that 
no instrument or tongue can successfully imitate, then he 
caught sight of us sitting motionless in the boat. His 
neck seemed to stretch up 1ft., and then with a mighty 
bound he sprang 10ft. into the air. I covered him instant- 
ly, and as the charge from my gun struck the drake with 
terrific force it seemed to hurl him forward 1ft. and the 
next instant he collapsed, with every bone in his body 
broken, while a drift of feathers floated away over the 
water. 
We got good shooting until about the middle of the 
afternoon, when the wind went down and the ducks set- 
tled in the Mississippi. 
However, we had ducks enough — about thirty, mostly 
mallards — and were content to leave them alone until an- 
other time. Frank E, Kellogg. 
GENESEE ASSOCIATION. 
The Genesee Valley Fish and Game Protective and 
Propagators' Association held its annual meeting in 
Rochester, N. Y., April 14, with President Harry J. 
Wood worth in the chair. The treasurer reported as 
follows: 
Balance in treasury last year. $100 36 
Dues, receipts, etc 134 05 
Total $234 41 
Disbursements 201 03 
Balance in treasury , . . , $33 38 
The report of the executive committee gave this review 
of the work of the year: 
"Since our annual meeting events have occurred in 
which we are directly interested. Early in 1895 the 
present State Fish and Game Commission succeeded the 
old one, and for a period while they were getting estab- 
lished in office the protective force was disorganized. 
This was unfortunate, for it left our waters during the 
time of spring spawning unprotected. Still we do not 
think much harm was done, thanks to the much im- 
proved public sentiment, which is no doubt due to the 
work of this Association — and this is the strong argument 
of such organizations. The present State Commission, 
of which one of our associates is a member, has had many 
difficulties to contend with, but has overcome them and 
is now in a position to do, and we believe will do good 
work in the future. It is their settled policy, while not 
abating in their work of propagating, to give increased 
attention to the protective branch of the work — reasoning 
that better results can be had by combining natural with 
artificial propagation — protect the seed planted and the 
parents while in the act of propagating their species. 
"Rochester is surrounded by waters that are unexcelled 
for their breeding capacities, and if undisturbed during 
the breeding season in the spring months, and then kept 
free from illegal netting, our people will have the very 
best of angling— affording opportunity for supplying our 
tables with fish fresh and sweet together with the recrea- 
tion. Notwithstanding the lack of protection the past 
year, we are confident that the fishing this season will 
not be disappointing. 
"Your committee have continued the work of pheasant 
breeding, and, as might be expected, we had much to 
learn, and have had some ill luck, but cjnfidently look 
for better results this year. Protector Brooks, until he 
was laid off on account of exhaustive funds, done some 
excellent work. Made forty arrests and thirty-four con- 
victions. Special Protector Marshall deserves much praise 
for his work on Lower River and the ponds west of Char- 
otte. The improved fishing the coming season will, we 
believe, prove it. Conesus Lake Association continues 
steadfast in their good work, and the improved angling 
proves it. It is very strange that the good people in the 
vicinity of that lake do not see the wisdom of co-operat- 
ing with them, for every person who is attracted there by 
the fishing contributes to the wealth of the locality. 
Good angling is sure to increase the number of cottagers, 
who are sure every season to leave many dollars there. 
Special Protector Da La Verne has been an efficient officer 
on this water. 
"Hemlock Lake, while it has not been neglected, is de- 
serving of much better attention. This we expect it will 
now have. The Upper River — here we are looking for 
most excellent results. We have been giving it special 
attention and have been much encouraged by the hearty 
co-operation of our Park Commission. We expect good 
results from the planting that has been done — wall-eyed 
or yellow pike, peroh and bass. Through the kind 
assistance of our old protector, Gaorge Schwartz, 1,500 
mature black bass have been transplanted from the Erie 
Canal wide waters to the Upper River. This was done 
voluntarily and without compensation. We now confi- 
dently look for most excellent fishing in this direction — 
much desired for the tired mechanic or business man 
after his day's work is ended. Gentlemen, you surely can 
be content and proud of what you have accomplished, 
and if we persist we are sure to receive the thanks of the 
public. 
"H, M. Stewart, Thos. W. Fraine, Harry S. Wood- 
worth , James H. Brown, J. B. Y. Warner, Execu- 
tive Committee. 
"Report of bird committee, Genesee Valley Associ- 
ation. 
"The past year has not been so successful in the raising 
of pheasants as this committee would have wished. We 
started the season with a good stock of birds at our two 
pheasantries, one situated at Nj. 641 Genesee street and 
Ca r ed f9X by Mr. Toogood. and the other ^ Fenfield, man* 
aged by Mr. Hipp. Unfortunately Mr. Toogood was 
obliged to change his residence last spring, which had a 
rather demoralizing effect on his birds; this coop at that 
time consisted of eight hens and four cocks. We at once 
commenced to provide new and more commodious quar- 
ters for the birds, and built a large coop. 28x14, divided 
into compartments, boarded up 3ft. from the ground, then 
wired to the height of 7£ft., and the roof wired entirely 
over, as a precaution against rats and other vermin, We 
sunk tin a foot or more into the ground under the boards. 
While these coops were being prepared the birds were 
placed in a large corn crib for temporary quarters. 
"The hens commenced to lay April 24 under adverse 
circumstances. They laid about 125 eggs. A dozen of these 
were given out to Mr. Loomis, a member of this Associ- 
ation. The result was no chicks. Another dozen of eggs 
were sold to Joseph Tone for $5. A good percentage of 
these were hatched out, and when a few days old were 
stepped on by a horsa and killed. The rest of the eggs — 
about a hundred — were set under hens and twenty chicks 
were hatched out. Of these eight were successfully 
raised and liberated in Seneca Park last fall. Three hens 
and one cock have died this winter. Since then we have 
added six hens and two Mongolian cock birds to these 
coops." 
"Board of Park Com \iissioners, Jan. 24. — Thomas W. 
Fraine: Dear Sir — The quails have not been seen in the 
park since late in the fall. The probabilities are that 
they are spending the winter in thickets near the parks. 
The pheasants have become quite wild and are occasion- 
ally seen, usually one at a time. It is impossible to tell 
whether all have survived or not. Yours truly, 
"C. C. Laney." 
"Penfield, N. Y., Jan. 8.— Mr. Fraine: Sir— In regard 
to the pheasants I have had the worst kind of luck. 
Seven hens and two cocks; eggs, 135; chicks hatched, 35; 
chicks raised, none. Two hens have died. I find that 
the cocks will not mate with more than one hen. Two 
years ago I had eight eggs, hatched five and raised four 
of them. Why I should have had such hard luck last 
year is more than I can tell. The young birds I feed with 
hard-boiled eggs and potatoes. When about two weeks 
old bird seed, and from that to wheat. The old birds 
E refer wheat to any other kind of grain. I also feed all 
inds of greens in the summer, and in the winter cab- 
bage. In the spring they are very fond of grubs and 
worms, later in the summer they do not care for them. 
"Yours, A. N. Hipp." 
A letter from L. D.^Ely, of the Bayside farm, which is 
located near the shores of Irondequoit Bay, says: "I regret 
that I cannot give you a more accurate account of the pheas- 
ants. I have been unable to give them my personal atten- 
tion the past year, and the man who has had the care of 
them is not an experienced hand. I drove out to the 
farm last evening and made inquiries of him regarding 
them, but he has no record of eggs laid, chicks hatched, 
etc. As near as we can recollect, we started in last year 
with seven hens and three cocks. One cock ran with the 
seven hens in a covered yard. About J uly we liberated 
two hens and a cock. One of the hens was seen on the 
farm a few weeks after, and a little later the cock and 
other hen were seen some distance south of the farm. 
One of the hens in the inclosure died during the summer, 
and one of the cocks was killed on account of an injury, 
leaving four hens and one cock at the end of the season, 
of the old birds. Those in confinement laid about 150 eggs. 
We set, I think, eight hens on them. Two of the hens 
left the nest before the pheasants were due, and two killed 
the birds as soon as they hatched. There were three or 
four broods of from six to ten taken from the nests. At 
one time, I believe, we had twenty or more young birds. 
"A few were killed or died, but the largest number dis- 
appeared without our knowing what became of them. 
Their run was not covered. Oat of the lot we have six 
young hens left, which with the four old hens and cocks 
make ten on hand at the present time. From the 
above account one might think pheasants difficult to 
raise, which is not a fact, as they are remarkably hardy. 
It was owing to poor care that we were not more success- 
ful with them the past year. 
"Two years ago I superintended the care and feeding 
of them myself for a short time, and was surprised to find 
that they will thrive in a small inclosure if they have a 
large run with a good mother. They need very little food 
above the insects and worms which they gather for them- 
selves. 
"The chicks I think more hardy than young turkeys, 
and they will thrive on any farm or in any woods, if not 
killed. In this section hawks and skunks are their worst 
enemies. I know that they will stand our winters, as one 
of my cock birds that was hatched in 1894 escaped that 
summer and came back to the breeding yard in the spring 
of 1895 looking for a mate, one that escaped with him 
having been snot in the fall. I find the yolk of hard- 
boiled eggs and chopped lettuce very good food for the 
chicks when first taken from the nest. The lettuce or 
other green food should be continued as long as they are 
kept in confinement, and insects and worms should be 
supplied if they cannot find them for themselves. Yours 
truly, "L. JJ. Ely." 
"Lyons, N. Y„ Jan. 28.— T. W. Fraine, Esq.: Dear Sir- 
Replying to your respects of the23i inst., as to howl have 
done with my pheasants during the past season, will answer 
upon the whole had very poor success. Started in with 
a pen of three females and one cock. They laid many 
eggs and I set in the neighborhood of seventy- five eggs. 
Hatches were fairly good — about 75 per cent. My 
trouble came when the birds were from a week to two 
old, and most of them were carried off by gapes of 
diarrhoea. Did everything I could to save them, but of no 
avail. Increased my flock to eleven, seven females and 
four cocks. 
"This winter have lost two females, one being killed 
and the other died from what seemed to be croup, though 
I believe this is not a disease they are likely to have. I 
have five good, healthy females to-day, and am not at 
all discouraged by reason of bad luck last season. The 
same happened with me in the breeding of chickens many 
times and I have made a long study of poultry rearing. 
"Shall commence next season with the same vim as 
before, and know that I can make a better record. We 
have got to approach the plan as is most successful in 
tli?&ey.raj|f i n g to juccess in pheasant rearing; birdi nmslj 
have a good run, plenty of good meat, food and good dust- 
ing place. Shall be pleased to learn from your report what 
others have done. Yours truly, W. S. Gavitt." 
The officers elected for the new year were: President^ 
A. Emerson Babcock; First Vice-President, Harry Si 
Wood worth; Second Vice-President, H. M. Stewart; Treas-i 
urer, Thomas W. Fraine; Secretary, Frank J. Amsdenj 
Executive Committee: J. B. Y. Warner, Daniel Bascom,i 
Dr, David Little, James H. Brown, Howard H. Widener,, 
A B. Lamberton, Edmond Redmond, Charles R. Richards. 
BRIGHT SPOTS. 
Chattanooga, Tenn. — I so thoroughly and genuinely 
enjoy my weekly Forest and Stream that I can hardly 
wait for Friday morning to arrive. I get my paper on 
the New York express of Friday morning, and, although 
Friday is hangman's day, and is usually conceded to be 
the most unlucky of all days, I long each week for its 
coming, as it brings Forest and Stream. How I man-; 
aged to live for thirty-two years without this paper now 
seems a puzzle to me. Every sportsman or lover of out- 
door recreation should, by all means, take a sporting 
journal of some kind. To sit quietly and read of the ex- 
periences, pleasures and opinions of others is the next 
thing to participation. Again, such reading is largely 
conducive to the exercise of retrospection. And what; 
man does not like to muse in sweet reverie of the past? 
Lst one's past be ever so dark and dreary, the bright 
edges of silver will show around the blackest of clouds.; 
And the darker the cloud, the more beautiful the tints 
around it. So, kind friend, when you feel blue and dis-l 
appointed about something that has gone wrong with 
you, use my remedy for the blues. Take your gun and 
dog and go hunting, or your tackle and go fishing, and if 
neither of these are possible, clean up your guns, work 
with them, polish and oil them and handle them. If this' 
does not entirely satisfy you, go get out Forest and 
Stream, and sit down and read it from beginning to end, 
ads. included, and I will guarantee that when you get up; 
your blues will be gone. If you do not believe this try it. : 
I will frankly confess that I am a crank about hunting: 
and guns, but a great deal of my enthusiasm about such 
things is due to cultivation of the habit, and you will find: 
that in an incredibly short time you will become thorough- 
ly imbued with the same spirit. 
I have many, many bright spots on my canvas of time. 
In looking back at the numerous hunting and fishing ex- 
peditions that it has been my good fortune to participate 
in, one trip of one day's duration looms up so pleasingly 
that I will recount it if you care to hear it. I will call 
this one day's hunt a bright spot, for such it is. 
Just six years ago the 15th day of last September I was 
invited to join in a deer hunt on Walden's Ridge, somei 
eight miles from Chattanooga. Sam Wester, a chum of 
mine, had a beautiful summer home up on the ridge, and 
Sam informed me, to my great astonishment, that deer: 
could be killed within 1£ miles of his house. In fact, he. 
told me that he had killed as many as nine deer in that 
locality the year just past. I told Sam that I considered! 
him a first-class chump for not inviting me before this 
time; but he said that he had only recently learned of my 
enthusiasm for deer hunting, and had supposed that quail 
shooting was all that I cared for. In fact the dozen or so i 
regular deer hunters in Chattanooga are as clannish as 
Indians. They own all the hounds in this section, and 
they are extremely cautious whom they take out and. 
show their covers and runways to. They have to be self- 
ish in order to preserve the game, otherwise there would 
not be a deer on the Cumberland Mountains in a few 
years. On this occasion Sam's regular stand bys failed 
him, so he just went out in the byways, as it were, and 
invited three greenhorns, as he called us. The other two 
gentlemen invited were L. H. Bixby, of the City Water 
Co., and E. W. Mattson, editor of the Chattanooga 
Press, the only Republican newspaper in town. Sam; 
had "method in his madness," as he was running for 
sheriff on the Republican ticket and he was afraid not to 
ask Mattson. 
I did not tell Sam that I had lived for six years in Tex-, 
as, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and the Indian Nation, 
had followed civil engineering business, and had walked 
all over those States surveying, and had killed more deer t 
than he ever saw. I just kept my mouth shut and let 
him blow off his enthusiasm, and vow that he was going 
to run a deer right square over each one of us just to see 
us miss it. 
Well, about noon we four set out on horseback from , 
Sam's Store, bound for the mountain. All had shotguns , 
excepting myself, and I had an ordinary, 73 model 38cal. 
Winchester, the only rifle I owned at that time. It was 
nicely sighted with silver "knife blade" front sight, how- 1 
ever, and I had practiced with it enough to feel sure that 
I would not disgrace myself. The other boys laughed at 
me, said I could not hit a deer running with a rifle, and 
so on. I "sawed wood" and said nothing, told themi 
maybe I could not hit the deer, but I was going to try 
him a magazine full anyway. Sam was an old hunter, 
and strange to say up to this time he had never used any- 
thing but a shotgun to kill deer. He had a splendid 
No. 10 gauge cylinder bored Parker gun, made especial- 
ly to shoot buckshot, and as Sam is a good wing shot 
he hardly ever let a deer escape that came within 50 or 
60yds. of him. My I but the rascal was conceited. He, 
thought he knew it all, and that the rest of us were 
featherlings under his guidance. He even cautioned us 
how to carry our guns in riding through the woodB to 
prevent shooting each other. 
Well, we arrived at Sam's summer home at 3 o'clock 
and spent the afternoon in talking over the next day's 
sport. Sam assured us that he would run at least one 
deer through some one of the three stands he intended to 
put us on; as he had located a bunch of deer two or 
three days previously, and knew exactly where to go to 
get them up. 
I thought this was more like playing hunting — to be 
comfortably housed and enjoy the hospitalities dispensed 
by Sam's good wife, his five children playing around us 
and climbing all over him, his two oldest boys all excite- 
ment and begging Sam to allow them to accompany us. 
Then the supper bell rang, and we were seated at a table 
loaded down- with good things — Mrs. Wester presiding at 
one end of the table and Sam at the other. This was 
more like city entertaining than hunting, but Sam reas- 
sured me after supper was over. He had a great bushel 
gasket full of corn prf a,d, and a pan full of the scrape f Tom 
