10 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Jan. 5, 1895.] 
who)likedj;tka,t Mndjof "fisliiiig/^btit^now, r when lie went 
for the very best of^fishingfhe went to Canada.-" <p{ ^ 
On the same day I .met JMr. Harry Sweny and r asked 
him ^abont^the"; reported jsalel. of .--his property on the 
Restigouche, telling -^hijn what I had written about it in 
The Forest and Stream. He said the sale|had been 
made and the price was^ $35, 000 and "the purchaser 
Colonel Payn of New York City. He knew nothing 
about the sale of the Alford property, which is on the 
opposite side of the river, nor about any Georgia people 
forming a club to control it, with the Sweny property, 
which rumor is not at all probable now that the name 
of the purchaser is known. 
I had written to this point and'put down my pen" to 
look over my evening mail when I found a sonvenir of 
the Radnor (Canada) Forges, containing, "Among the 
Lauren tides, ' ' written by Dx*. W. H. Drummond. One 
paragraph struck me as being apropos of what I have 
been writing about. Writing of the Canadian sporting 
clubs the author says : 
"The most prominent organizations are the ' Lauren - 
tian, ' which has for its president Mr. Frederick 
Stancliffe, of Montreal, and the St. Maurice, which is 
presided over by Dr. W. H. Drummond, also of Mon- 
treal. The aggregate strength of these two clubs is 
hree hundred and fifty members ; they are principally 
composed of American citizens, as for some occullt 
reason — difficult to divine — Canadians have always been 
lamentably blind to the beauties of their own fair heri- 
tage, and it is but fair to admit but for these same 
Americans, mostly men of culture and refinement, 
neither of the above mentioned clubs would be in exist- 
ence to-day. ' ' 
There is one thing which can be said with truth. 
Canadian sportsmen are most generous, companionable 
men and possess a great amount of what Senior says is 
essential of all club life — good feeling. 
From a Woman's Lips. 
Really, I thought the back-number testimony about 
the saibling of Sunapee Lake was all in, but I now 
have what I believe to be positively the last, and this 
was exhumed in consequence of my note on the subject 
a week or two ago. A lady in New York city read my 
note in the Forest and Stream about Mr. Steven's 
hindsight, and was at once reminded of summer days 
spent on the shore of Sunapee. It seems that a house 
near where she boarded was presided over by a woman 
who, during all her good life, had lived every fall and 
winter on the fish of Sunapee. She, too, remembered 
well the saibling on white trout of the lake and often 
referred to the good old days when they were abundant 
and to be had for the picking up. My coi-responent has 
been kind enough to send me the testimony of the good 
woman in her own language as nearly as written words 
will express it, and it is positively unique : ' ' You hev 
to go fishin' in these days with hooks and lines to ketch 
a tra-owt, but when I was a gal, the tra-owts ust to 
come into the space in the rocks at high tide, and then 
wen the tide went out and left the fish in the rocks we 
ust to wade ain and pick up grade big uns ! These fish 
commishuns are no good, fer you hev to fish with hooks 
now. ' ' Poor soul ! It is time that the days for picking 
up trout or saibling left behind by the receding tide of 
our mountain lakes are gone ; gone likewise, in some 
degree, the days when the fishing was. done chiefly with 
spear and club at spawning time. 
Doubtless she was sincere in thinking that the brook 
trout (for such the fish were — not saibling) ketched in 
shallow water in the fall were left behind by the out- 
going tide, but it only shows how worthless the 
testimony of memory of forty years ago really is on the 
subject of Sunapee saibling existing at the at time. 
A Question of Policy- 
Mr. B. A. Warner, of Granville, N. Y, writes as 
follows: "I have just been having a discussion with a 
friend of mine who is not a sportsman in regard to the 
pecuniary benefit to a State resulting from the propaga- 
tion and protection of fish and game within its limits. 
He claimed that all the money invested for such purposes 
is lost to the t State ; that the State taxes individuals to 
raise the money and that individuals who are not 
sportsmen obtain no return for money expended. He 
says that the entire benefit resulting from a good supply 
of fish and game is monopolized by sportsmen, hotel 
keepers, guides and such individuals as the hunters and 
anglers come in contact with in pursuit of enjoyment. 
I claim that if a State invests $1,000 in fish and game 
which results in bringing into the State $2, 000 from 
non-resident sportsmen the State in question derives a 
benefit from the investment. He claims that under 
these conditions the State loses $1,000 and individuals 
gain $2, 000. I told him that the Hudson river if made 
a self-supporting salmon river would be a great financial 
benefit to the State. He replies that the money invested 
for that purpose would be lost to the State and the 
return from the investment appropriated by a few 
individuals with whom the patrons of the river came in 
contact. Please inform me which of us is most nearly 
correct in our views on the subject. ' ' 
Of course your view of the matter is the correct one. 
Your friend has probably recently returned from a long 
sojourn in Darkest Africa, where, perhaps, the doctrine 
may prevail that the individuals of a community can in 
some mysterious way prosper financially while the col- 
lective individuals of the same community make a 
general assignment and settle for ten cents on the 
dollar. Fish and game until reduced to possession 
belong to the State, and the State, like any possessor of 
property, cares for it in a business-like manner. The 
State does spend money to propagate and protect its 
property in fish and game for the benefit of all the 
people, although all the people may not eat fish and 
game. The State also spends money to build, repair or 
maintain and operate the canals as a part of the State 
system for benefiting all the people, although all the 
people do not own canal boats, tend the locks or drive 
the mules. In fact, many of the people live far away 
from the towpath ; and may never ship a pound of 
freight through them, or perhaps never see one of them ; 
but that is no reason why the canals do not add to the 
general prosperity of the State, which possesses them. 
So long as money circulates and fish and game add to 
the food supply of a State or nation it will continue to 
be a wise policy, an economic policy, to propagate and 
protect Jit. The position Tassumed by .{your friend is 
not, worthy of being considered seriously at any length. 
The Lady and the Deer- 
This is not an angling note, and properly it be- 
longs under a different department head., but as I am 
a little proud^at being able to relate what follows, I 
put it here because it is good anywhere and at any 
time. A valued friend wrote me a day or two ago 
about a number of things, and this is one of them, told 
in a most matter of fact way: "By the way, that 
reminds me of a fuuny thing that happened to my wife 
on Friday morning when we were after reynard. She 
had gone up the meadow, - just across the broad brook 
back of our house, and where the hill comes down near 
to this open field had stationed herself on a fox run- 
way while I took the hounds up the hill further south 
and started them on a fresh fox track. Hardly had the 
hounds opened up when over the fence popped a big 
doe and came within nine feet of her (actual measure- 
ment) and stopped until she said: 'Well, you are a 
beauty!' Even then the deer did not seem to be much 
afraid, and only walked behind some trees near by. 
Think of the temptation — loaded gun, deer nine feet 
away, had not killed one this season and then not to 
shoot !" I wish I was^at liberty to say more about this 
lady and the deer, but I must stop after a statement of 
the bald facts. I could, if permitted, tell of this lady's 
skill with rod and reel and of her skill with the double 
gun, and it would make the best of reading, no matter 
under what heading it ought to be printed. 
Trout in Alien Waters- 
A writer in Land and Water asked : " Do trout, 
turned into strange waters, maintain their identity?' 
Mr. J. J. Armistead, one of the oldest and best known 
fish breeders in Great Britain, answers the question at 
considerable length and gives so much of information 
that will be valuable to American readers, particularly 
those who are given to making new species or varieties 
out of trout that may differ in color from their 
fellows, that I quote a portion of his reply : " The great 
variety of color and marking which exists among trout 
must have struck everyone who has had much to do 
with them. There are many influences at work, each 
of which produces its own peculiar variety ; then, again 
the blending of these influences and their consequent 
coloring, the crossing of different races, hybridism, 
age, sex, good or bad breeding, migration, season, food, 
surrounding, bottom, and last but not least the quality, 
as well as the quality of the water itself— to say 
nothing of exposure to light or otherwise — all these and 
sundry other influences are at work, making up an 
innumerable number of varieties, many of which have 
been regarded as distinct species. * 
There it is in a nutshell, and his explanation will 
account for varieties and even species, which are con- 
stantly troubling some of our own people. 
Mr. Armistead says further : " It is quite easy, in the 
course of a few generations, to so alter the typical color- 
ing of a trout that it would not be recognized as one of 
the variety or race from which it had sprung. ' ' He 
gives what I believe to be, and have contended for years, 
a comparatively little known, but living truth, in the 
following words: 
"Breeding in-and-in is undoubtedly a cause of degen- 
eration among fish, and we find on a fish farm that it is 
just as needful to introduce fresh and selected blood as 
it is on a cattle or poultry farm. Now, as regards the 
growth of big trout. This is largely a question of food 
supply. Many people seem to think that all that fish 
require is plenty of water, but they must also have a 
good supply of suitable food, otherwise they will starve, 
or become stunted in growth, like any other members 
of the animal kingdom. ' ' There is much more of the 
same sort of information, and as it is a subject that I 
have harped upon for years I am very glad to quote 
what I have of it from such an authority. 
A. N. Cheney. 
Kenner ley's Salmon. 
New Whatcom, Wash., Dec. 7. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
A correspondent of Forest and Stream of Nov. 24, 
signing himself ' ' El Comancho, " in a lengthy corumu- 
nication, undertakes to settle the question of what is 
commonly called the "red fish" of Puget Sound It is 
just possible that the fish of which he writes are an 
entirely different article from those found in the waters 
of Lake Whatcom, for their existence here and the 
variety were known by the Smithsonian Institute during 
the fall of 1886, samples having been sent them for the 
purpose at the time, the identification classing them as a 
species of land-locked salmon. The habits of this fish 
ax-e almost sufficient to classify them. They are never 
seen except in the fall of the year, when they come from 
the deep waters of the lake in countless myriads and 
enter the small tributaries on their way to the spawning 
beds. At this time they are remarkably pugnacious, 
but are never known to take a fly or bait of any char- 
acter. They are so vicious in their attacks upon one 
another that they will tear out great pieces. This war- 
fare, is kept up during the entire spawning season and 
the same time the little streams are lined with dead 
fish, while the waters are filled with living ones, some 
apparently healthy and some without tails or fins and in 
a dying condition. 
That they are not the common trout is evidenced 
from the fact that the latter is often taken with the 
"fly" from the midst of the redfish and is easily distin- 
guished from them by the difference in shape and color, 
the redfish being, with the exception of its difference in 
size and the "trout spots" on it a small specimen of 
what is called here the dog salmon. 
As stated above, the redfish are never seen except in 
the fall of the year, and that they are a deep water fish 
was exemplified during the summer of 1889. At that 
time two parties were drowned in Lake Whatcom and 
dynamite was brought into use in an attempt to recover 
them (the lake at that point being about 200 feet in 
depth). After the discharge of the explosion hundreds 
of these little fish came to the surface, showing the 
same difference from the common trout that they do in 
the fall of the year. The decision of the Smithsonian 
Institution was given during the fall of 1886 and fully 
substantiates the facts contained in this communication. 
T. C. Austin. 
[See also note on page 471, issue Dec. 1. ] 
About Black Bass. 
^ The^ letfcer^of^A. JST. Cheney_with the. above title in 
the current number of Forest and Stream (Dec, 22, 
1894) I have just read with much interest. It discusses 
some of the habits of the black bass, but fails to men- 
tion the ordinary nocturnal habits of this interesting 
fish. From personal observation or from reading I 
know nothing whatever of the ways of this fish alter 
dark, but since 1886 — in which year I had reason to 
make microscopic sections of the eye of this fish and note 
the peculiarities of its retina — 1 have been curious to 
know whether the black bass maintained a stationary 
position during the horns of darkness. I am led to 
think that the black bass (large mouth variety) does not 
swim around in the dark, from the fact that I do not 
believe that it can see to do so, because of the histologi- 
cal character of the bacillary layer of its retina, which 
consists solely of cones. Birds with nocturnal habits, 
as the owl and bat, sections of whose eyes I have now 
before me, have only rods in_the bacillary layer of their 
retinae Animals of mixed" habits — i. e., tbose which 
see well in bright and in poor degrees of illumina- 
tion — have an admixture of both rods and cones. The 
human animal is an example of this class. Therefore, 
because of the absence of rods in the retina of the large 
mouthed variety of black bass I am lead to think that it 
cannot see to swim around, or, at least, cannot see ob- 
jects in the dark. If my conclusion should prove to be 
correct it will be interesting to know that with the 
microscope alone we can decide the nightly habits of 
this fish. Will Mr. Cheney or some other naturalist- 
fisherman kindly throw suificient light upon this sub- 
ject to decide the matter? Alfred Hinde, M. D. 
Chicago, Illinois. 
ttjiizhqnlttm mid Jjfali ^rotyction. 
The New Hampshire Trout Season. 
Clabemont. N. H., Dec. Id.— Editor Forest and Sir earn: W& 
are having beautiful weather here at present, but uot good tot 
liuntiug, as theie is a crust on the suow. 
i took my horse aud carriage yesterday and rode up by the 
Corbin Park, and it wis a very pretty aigtit to see the elk lying 
out ou. the bare knolls in the sua. One old bull had a tremen- 
dous set of antlers. I never saw such large ones. I let the 
little bougie out in a piece oi woods and shot three hares on the 
crust, and had a very pleasant day of it. 
Iread in the Foeesx and Sibea&i Mr. Cheney's note as to 
changing the brook, trout opening of New Hampshire to May 1 
instead vt April 15, as at present. 1 am a crank on brook trout 
auu I doubt it there is a man to-day in this State who spends 
any more lime than 1 do with brook trout. 1 will do all In my 
power to keep and improve the stock, lite law now says no 
tish may be taken under 5iu, in length, and the season is lrom 
April 15 to Sept. 1. I go the law one better. 1 throw back all 
under 6in., lunii my oatch and 1 leave off fishing as soon as 1 
tind the trout begin to have spawn. I have iisbed continually 
iu Maine, New Hauip&hiie and Vermont streams for thirty-one 
years, and ought to know by this time the habits of the brook 
trout in the regions mentioned. 1 have never laded to Unci 
brook trout alter April 15 that were not well fliied with, spawn, 
aud this year 1 lound them by July 23, and I did not wet a line 
after that date just on that account. Now, what sticks me is 
this, why so much is said about the April 15 iaw aud nothing 
said about August, when our trout are lull of spawn. It seems 
to me as if somebody did not understand our trout here, or is it 
done to accommodate a few summer boarders? If so, why not 
extend it until Dec. 1 to accommodate the larmer alter his har- 
vesting is done? One plan is just as sensible as the other. 1 
say, when trout are in spawn let. tnem alone for future increase. 
In the localities 1 have named all the trout one can catch 
between April 15 and May 1 m our cold water brooks will not 
deplete the trout supply one-thousandth part so onion as the 
amount generally taken in August with their spawn. Although 
1 am well aware that trout are in a lank, poor condition in early 
spring, I prefer to eat a lank trout to one in spawn, and it does 
seem good to go out for a day when spring conies around and 
just wet up your line. If you don't oaten as many as in summer 
you do catch a breath of pure spring air aud see the buds on the 
trees beginning to swell, ready to burst and throw up the beau- 
tiful green leaves. A butterfly porehance goes sailing by, you 
see the early violet springing into bloom, p- reliance you pick a 
lew to carry home to the wife. There is music even in the 
clatter of the crows. And it you nave been lucky enough to 
oatch a half-dozen trout you are happy, far happier than you 
would be with a creel full in August, when the crows' clatter is a 
nuisance, when flowers are all arouud and the leaves begin to 
fade. If it is necessary to fix our Jaw to May 1 lix it. but I say 
that the other end needs it the most, and cutting to Aug. 15 is 
better than extending to May 1 to save the trout. Columbia. 
Protection in Minnesota. 
Sr. Paul, Minn., Dec. 22. — Editor Forest and Stream: This 
week has developed several little items of news. Ou Thursday 
at Pant Eapids, the local gun club caused the seizure of three 
saddles of venison that were offered at the railway station for 
shipment, and will prosecute the persons who had the game in 
charge. 
On the same day at Tracy the sheriff served warrants ou sev- 
eral persons about town for illegal fishing, and secured convic- . 
tions before the magistrate, with the result that at least two $20 
hues will Und their way into the State treasury. The arrests , 
were brought ahout by the publication in the local paper by ou6.- 
of them of their "great catch." Tins sheriff is a wideawake* 
fellow, and we extend him our hand. Efforts like these by citi- 
zens give great encouragement to the State Game and lish 
Commission. 
We note also ihat on the 21st articles of incorporation Of the 
Linwood Gun Club were filed in Minneapolis. The stated objects 
of the club are to promote the protection of game and fish ; to 
stock the laud and waters owned by the club with same and fish, 
aud to own and operate hunting possessions in the Northwest. 
Several of these gendemeu are recognized earnest game pro- 
tectors, and have already been written to to co-operate in the 
new movement for a State game and llsh protective association. 
A piivate letter lrom Denver, Col., gives some notes ol interest 
from that section. The Colorado law is snent on the subject of 
sale of game other than that taken within its boundaries. There 
is no co-operation with neighboring Stales, and as a conse- 
quence game killed in these is forwarded to Denver, and game 
can be bought in their markets at all seasons. This oversight 
has opened an avenue for deception which at present it is im- 
possible to prevent. Grame is killed out of season near the 
northern State line, shipped over into Wyoming, and from there 
is r^shipped to Denver. , 
\n effort will be made this winter to amend the game law in 
this direction. Owing to various original package decisions,, 
they will not be able to get at the bulk consignment; but an 
attempt will be made to pass a law to forbid the retail of the- 
divided portions of the original package, and so break up the 
bus.nesB. , , j 
The present Colorado game laws.alLowing (or some bad muti- 
lations of the measure by the committee on engrossment in 
Legislature t wo years ago and some coraprorai-es that had to be- 
made iu deference to the wishes of settlers in order that any 
law might pass, are very creditable. The State is indebted 
