gg2 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Aprii. U, 18W. 
THE IOWA U. S. IHATCHERY. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
A. drive of thirty minules from the pretty city of Man- 
cliester, la., brings one to the site of the new "United States 
fishcultural station recently erected at Spring Branch, a 
favorite summer resort abounding in good trout fishing and 
•wild and picturesque scenery — just the place a summer tour- 
ist would select to camp out, and a spot mucli frequented by 
picnicker and "snap shot" artist. 
Early in 1895 an appropriation of $23,000 was made for 
the erection of an institution of this kind, and immediately 
several cities and towns in the State offered locations, fore- 
most among which was Manchester. A civil engineer was 
sent out by the Government to make a careful survey of the 
different grounds, and after noting the many advantages and 
the excellent water supply it was decided that that city 
ishould secure the much-sought for prize. The site is one of 
the most picturesque places in all Iowa. Lying in a valley, 
with huge bluffs on either side, one cannot see the buildings 
until he enters the gate at the Government park. The 
grounds are covered with an excellent growth of timber and 
include an area of twenty-four acres, which was presented 
to Uncle Sam by the energetic and industrious citizens of 
Mancliester. 
The water supply is obtained from three natural spiings, 
which have a combined flow of 3,400 gallons per minute. 
At the present writing only one of these springs is used, the 
largest, from which flow 1,800 gallons per minute. The 
surplus water empties into the trout stream and- is carried 
away by the Maquoketa River. As the main building of the 
fishery is situated on a lower level than the springs, no force 
is necessary to conduct the water through the mains into the 
hatching troughs. The water is as clear as crystal and of 
the highest quality. 
The main building is 65^x49ft * L-shaped, and the 
interior is finished in oiled pine. The floor is of cement, 
and large doiible windows on either side furnish, ample 
light. In parallel rows at either side of the room are 
arrarged the hatching troughs, and through these, it is esti- 
mated, about 400 gallons of water flow every minute. The 
water is conducted into the building at the north end, and 
after passing through the troughs is conducted into the 
artificial ponds, which lie immediately south of the main 
building. In all there are forty-seven of these ponds, all 
surrounded by macadam walks, and so arranged that visit- 
ors can vie "the different species of fish here propagated. 
Three ponds cover three acres in extent each, thirty six are 
16 X 22ft., and eight 25x'/5ft. Situated also in the south 
end of the main building are Superintendent Johns. on's neat 
and commodious oSice and the laboratorj'^. 
Passing from the main building thiough a door looking 
east, one i9 confronted by the mess house and a pretty build- 
ing used for storage, Direct'y to the north are the ice houses 
and barns, and to the west, situated on the crest of a high 
bluff, is the modern home of Supr rintendent Johnson. From 
here he can command a view of the entire park and build- 
ings. 
Altogether the site is one that could hardly be bettered, 
and the place will possess a peculiar interest to the enthusi- 
astic angler throughout the season. The fish from this sta- 
tion will be used to stock the streams of the Dakotas, 
Nebraska and Iowa, and we believe one shipment has 
already been made. Several hundred thousand eggs have 
already been received, and a recent visit to the hatchery 
found the many troughs filled with minnows, consisting 
mainly of lake and rainbow trout, and many eggs still in the 
hatching process. 
Freaks of nature— that is, finny ones— occur quite fre- 
quently here, and in consequence the gentlemanly attendants 
have designated one of the troughs by the name of "fish 
hospital," and the curiosities are herein placed and given a 
chance to recover from their physical deformities before 
being cast aside as worthless. Twins here are an everj'^-day 
occurrence— Siamese twins, of course — generally joined to- 
gether simply by the egg sac, but in some cases grown 
together. Then there are some atflicted with curvature of 
the spine that can only swim in a circle, and others can 
barely move. But the great majority are perfectly formed 
and in good health, and only need a few years of growth to 
be ready for the hook and line. 
Another appropriation of several hundred dollars has 
lately been added to help the good work, and it is to be 
hoped that our Uncle Sam will keep on adding until we see 
all of the Western streams well stocked, and it is safe to say 
that too much capital cannot be expended on undertakings 
of this kind. Hundreds of thousands of fish will be 
shipped from here in a single year, and the establishment of 
the enterprise will prove of invaluable worth to the Western 
States. As it is now the State hatcheries are small concerns, 
and we hardly believe them capable of producing enough 
fish in a year's time to stock more than a few small streams. 
Undoubtedly the larger portion of fish from this station will 
be used to stock Iowa streams just now, and the movement 
will prove a great boon to the lucky lowan who delights in 
the fishing rod. Loois Fred Bort. 
THE DESTRUCTIVE LAMPREY. 
Ithaca, N. Y.— Editor Forest and Stream: The Ithaca 
Journal of the 37th ull. contains an article over the signa- 
lure of Mr. H. A. Surfuce, of Cornell University, in which 
public attention is directed to the depredations being com- 
mitted by the lake lamprey upon the fish supply of central 
New York waters, and particularly upon the fish supply of 
Cayuga Lake. 
The trained investigators of Cornell, headed by Profs. 
Gage and Wilder, have devoted a great deal of work to the 
lampreys of this region, and the conclusion that the lake 
lamprey preys upon the fish supply is based upon carefully 
accumulated evidence. 
Mr. Surfuce, in bis article, states that the lamprey attaches 
itself to its victim by suction and quietly adheres to it, 
"sucking blood when it is hungry, and occasionally rasping 
away at its raw flesh, making the hole deeper and deeper 
until finally the abdominal wall is completely perforated and 
the body cavity penetrated, Often the intestines and other 
organs of the fish are attacked and cut to pieces, but more 
frequently th.e lamprey fastens itself at another place if its 
victim has any blood left, or if not it hunts up anottier fish. 
The intestines protruding and the blood escaping from the 
deserted wound in a great many cases sooner or later cause 
tbe death of the fish." Lake herring, pickerel, carp, cattish 
and suckers have recently been found bearing the fatal mark 
of the lamprey. Many of our best food fish, Mr. Surfuce 
declares, are injured fatally or otherwise by the remorseless 
lampjey. It attacks whitefisij, pike, pickerel, muscalonge, 
bass, lake trout, shad, salmon, wall-eyed pike and other 
species of both game and food fish. The lamprey is said to 
be a particularly aggressive enemy of the sturgeon of the 
Great Lake region. A Cayuga Lake sturgeon has been 
caught to which no less than six lampreys were attached. 
In reference to the removal of the larupreys from the cen- 
tral New York lakes, Mr. Surfuce quotes Prof. Q^ge as fol- 
lows: 
"It has a single very weak point, viz. : leaving the lake and 
running up the tributaries to spawn. This seems to be ttie 
only weak point at which the lamprey can be attacked with 
a hope of exterminating it. This point is rendered still 
weaker from the fact that in Cayuga Lake and in Seneca 
Lake, so far as explored (during several seasons), the lam- 
preys run up the inlet at the head of the lake only, and do 
not spawn in the tributaries entering the lake at intervals on 
each side. 
"The lampreys must be destroyed before spawning if they 
are to be exterminated. Nothing would be easier than to do 
this. A dam with a fish- way, the fish way leading into an iso- 
lated inclosure where the lampreys could be easily removed 
and disposed of, or a weir of some kind could be constructed 
at slight expense. If this could be continued for three or four 
years in all the lakes and in the Oswego River, the race could 
be extinguished and the lakes wholly freed from their devas- 
tations. * * * It seems to the writer that from every 
economical standpoint it would be advantageous to rid the 
world entirely of the lampreys. It would certainlv be greatly 
to the advantage of the fisheries of the Stale of New York if 
all were destroyed." 
Agreeable to the suggestions contained in the above ex- 
tract, a bill has been introduced by Senator Stewart in the 
Legislature, as an item in the General Supply bill, appropriat- 
ing $500 for the placing and manipulation of a weir in the 
Cayuga Lake Inlet above the limit of navigation and below 
the lowest place where tbe lampreys spawn. As to the work 
involved in the guardianship of the proposed weir, Mr Sur- 
fuce makes the subjoined proposals; 
"Two watchmen may be employed to alternate in watch- 
ing this weir constantly, day and night, during the 'running' 
season; and empowered as deputy sheriff, the watchman will 
be able to arrest any trespassers who might otherwise seri- 
ously interfere with the success of the experiment. 
"A specialist from Cornell University will visit the weir 
every morning and evening at perfectly regular intervals, 
and with a shallow dip net will remove the lampreys and 
help over the good fish and let them go on their way rejoic- 
ing. A strict count and record will be made of the kinds 
seen and of the number of each — their condition, develop- 
ment, habits, and such other points as will be of economic or 
scientific interest and help to give correct answers to the 
questions above asked. By conscientiously perforramg this 
work it is also possible to determine what percentage of each 
species migrates in the daytime and what at night. 
"The specialist who will have charge of this work is 
under written pledge, signed by himself and Prof. Gage and 
Dr. Wilder, that no fish captured in this weir will be used for 
any other purpose than for strictly scientific investigations, 
and careful records and reports will be made of the number 
of each kind thus taken and used. A bond to this effect will 
be furnished if required, but fortunately the members of the 
State Commission appreciate the true significance of a state- 
ment signed by the above-named persons, and now in the 
hands of Chief Game Protector Pond." 
Should the desired appropriation be forthcoming, the pub- 
lic, and especially that part of it interested in fish and fish- 
ing, will watch the execution of the proposed wovk with 
vigilant concern. M. Chill. 
Salt-Water Bait-Casting Contest. 
The first casting contest of the Liberty Island Rod and 
Gun Club was held Saturday, April 17, at Liberty Island, in 
New York Harbor. About 200 entered. Five prizes were 
offered for striped bass casting, sea-coast style. 
First prize, gold medal. Dr. E. H. Merritt; l?7ft. lin. 
Second prize, silver medal, James T. Reithel; 120ft. 2in. 
Third prize, Liberty statuette, G. P. Morosini; 94ft. llin. 
Fourth prize, red spool bass line, W. C. Birdsall; 93ft. 
Fifth prize, year's subscription American Angler, Howard 
Housman, 10ft. Sin. 
Special prizes were offered for members of the club under 
the rules of heavy bass casting, James T. Reithel was first 
with 187ft. 7in., Albert H. Baer was second with 93tt. lin. 
For striped bass casting. New Y^ork Bay style, there were 
three prizes, won as follows: First, Wallace C. Birdsall, 
73ft. 2m.; second, Dr. E. H. Merritt, 67ft.; third, James T. 
Reithel. 43ft. 7in. 
Judges; W. H. Wood and A P Mfisselbach; Referee, W. 
C. Harris. President Baer awarded the prizes. 
Can the Pickerel Change his Spots? 
I WISH you could correct your correspondents for calling 
pike "pickerel," which are only little pike. In your "An- 
swers to Correspondents" the other day you spoke of a 
"pickerel" weighing ISlbs., which is not a very Uttle 
one. When our English ancestors found tbe small Esox reti- 
culatus in our Eastern streams they called him a "pickerel," 
but he very seldom reaches Slbs , and is "quite another 
story" from tbe real pike of the countiy west ot Lake Cham- 
plain, who is no more a pickerel than the Southern bass is a 
trout. Yon W. 
New Tork I<egislature. 
Albany, April] 9. —The Governor has signed: Assemblyman Ben- 
ham, authorizing fishing for white fish, eels and other flsh in Canan- 
daigua Lake with net lines from the shore, no person to operate more 
than two of such lines; Assemblyman Eldndge, relative to fishing in 
certain waters in Warren county; Senator Davis, relative to the 
jforest preserve in Ulster county; Assemblyman Clark, appropriating 
$::i0,O0O for the 8t. Lawrence Slate reservation; Assemblyman 
Rounds, permitting fishing through the ice in certain parts of Owaseo 
Lake. 
The Senate has ordered these bills to a third reading: 1008, Senator 
Nussbaum, close season for black bass in Crystal Lake, Albany- 
county; printed No. 8323, Assemblyman Miles, relating to ihe preven- 
tion of forest fires; printed No. 2155, Assemblyman Benham, dogg 
running at large where deer inhabit; H2-i, Senator Stewart, fishing in 
Fall Creek, Ithaca; p'inted No. 1950, Assemblyman Coughlin, amend- 
ing the game code; the Senate has passed: li09. Senator Parson.s, 
relative to disseminating knowledge concerning birds and wild ani- 
mal*; 1163, Senator Sullivan, digging of sand and other worms in 
Queens and Suffolk counties; 930, Senator Krum, shad in tbe Hudson 
Biver. 
In the Assembly, Assemblyman Harrison's amendment was 
amended and ordered reprinted. It provides that Justices of the 
Peace may issue warrants for the arrest of game law violators. The 
amendment which which was inserted provides ' hat a person arrested 
for violating the game laws must be tried in the town in which he is 
arrested or an adjoining town. 
Tbe Assembly has passed these bills cintroductory numbers): 1,710, 
^gemblyman Sears, relating to tl^e possession of vejjison; 1,556, 
Assemblyman Palmer, close season for black bass in Crystal Lake, 
Albany county; 897, Assemblyman Pierce, new flsh hatchery for 
food or commercial fishes in Schroon, Essex county; printed No. 
2,651, Senator Krum, relative to black and gray squirrels, hares and 
rabbit. s; 1,686, Assemblyman Auds, squirrels, hares and rabbits in the 
counties of Chautauqua, Chenango, Ontario, Tioga and Schoharie; 
3.798, Assemblyman Leonard, digging of sand and other worms in 
Queens and Suffolk counties. 
The Assembly ordered to a third reading Assemblyman Hobble's 
bill, prepared by the Fish Commission, which provides that hand nets 
only shall be used in shad fishing in the Hudson, and that they shall 
be taken up Friday instead of Saturday night, and shall not be re- 
placed until Monday morning. Mr. Whritner tried to kill the bill by 
an amendment, but was voted down -ayes 25, noes 37. Mathbr. 
"Angling Talks." 
We have a very few copies of George Dawson's "Angling Talks," a 
series of chapters of entertaining chat about men, fishermen, fish, 
fishing and fishing places. Cloth, 50 cents. Forest and Stream Pub- 
lishing Co. ^ 
FIXTURES. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Sept. 1.— Continental Field Trials Club's chicken trials, Morris, Man. 
Sept. 6. Manitoba Field Trials Club, Jlorris, Man. 
Nov. 2.— Monongahel& Valley Game and Fish Protective Associ- 
ation's trials, Greene county. Pa. 
Nov. 8.— Onion Field Trials Club's trials, Carlisle, Ind. 
Nov. l,").— E P. T. Club's trials, Newton, N. C. 
Nov. 16.— International Field Trials Club's eighth annual trials; 
Chatham, Ont. 
Nov. 22.— U. S F. T. Club's autumn trials. 
1898. 
Jan. 10.— U. S. F. T Club's winter trials. West Point, Miss. 
Jan. 17.— Continental F. T, Club's trials, New Albany, Miss. 
BLENDED ODORS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
May I suggest that the above title is a misdescription of 
the case of a dog, after getting a nose of skunk, pointing a 
bird. Is it not the fact that the odors were not blended, 
although present at one time? If odors "blend" the result 
would be a new odor, and it seems probable that while many 
odors may be present at one time, each is distinct in itself, 
and the nose has no more difficulty in distinguishing them 
apart than the ear has in distinguishing a whistle on a key 
in a nail factory. 
In your footnote on T. B. A.'s letter you say that such 
instances occur rarely. Is it not more the case that they are 
reported rarely? Or that it is rare that a dog gets skunked 
just before being in a position to point a bird? 
I really believe that any keen-nosed dog can get the worst 
sort of skunking and be just as fit to trail as before the mal- 
odorous calamity. Most certainly I know that foxhounds 
have done it wiihin my own observation, and I remember 
distinctly Dr. Hill's Ginger getting horribly skunked and 
within ten minutes picking up a fox trail that half a tlozen 
other hounds had passed over; and in this particular in- 
stance I perfectly remember that the old hunters did not 
think it was anything peculiar, saying "Any good hound will 
do that." I have been told by a man in whose word I have 
implicit confidence that when some wolves broke out from 
Hoy's Wilderness (West Virginia and Pennsylvania) into the 
settlements, the staunchest foxhounds did not recognize the 
trail as game, distmguishing between fox and wolf scent. 
The most reliable foxhound that ever was whelped will take 
a deer trail even when running a hot fox trail, and I believe 
your bird dogs know enough not to point rabbits. 
But why should it be considered strange that an animal 
depending on its "nose" as much as the dog does should be 
able to distinguish one scent from another, when mankind 
can do the same to fuUy as delicate a degree? A friend of 
mine told me he could lean over a kettle of boiliog glue 
stock (horribly smelling stuff) and distinguish any perfume 
from any other on a hankerchief. Julia Brace (deaf-blind) 
could assort the clothing of her fellow pupils after coming 
from the wa-h by smelling it. Linnie Baguewood (another 
deaf-blind girl) knows every dish on the table on coming 
into the room. -James Mitchell (a deaf -blind man who died 
about 1S80) recognized his friends by their smell, and even 
formed his likes or dislikes of strangers by that means. 
Rev. M. B. Wynne wrote me that his young brother-in-law 
could always tell whether a rabbit was in its burrow by smell 
ing at the opening. The deaf -blind always display this 
extreme delicacy of scenting powers (except of course in 
such cases as Laura Bridgeman, Ragnhild Kaata, Willie 
Caton, etc, where the senses of taste and smell were de- 
stroyed by the disease which ruined their sight and hearing), 
and it would seem that they only appreciate distinctions 
which those in possession of all their senses neglect. I 
know that doctors will say that the organ of smell is but 
vestigial in man, while fully developed in dogs; but no 
trained man-tracking hound ever displayed more delicate 
' 'nose" than Julia Brace did, and a stubborn fact like that 
counts strong, regardless of what anatemy says, 
W. Wade. 
American Dachshund Club. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The American Dachshund Club will hold its next meet- 
ing May 6, 8 P. M., at O'Connor's, Ashland Block, Chicago, 
to transact its regular business and elect officers for the 
ensuing year. Yotes for officers and delegate to the A. K. 
C. should be sent to the secretary by mail, by those who 
are not able to be present at the meeting. 
It would be to the advantage of the club to have all the 
officers reside in one city, as close together as possible, so all 
important business could be attended to at short notice. The 
delegate to the A. K. C. should be a resident of New York. 
Any suggestion made in the interest of the club and our 
breed will be thankfully received and considered at our 
next meeting. A. EROBMBLiisa, Sec'y. 
818 State Street, Chicago, 111. 
Continental Field Trial Club. 
PiTTSBUBG, Pa., April 15. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The Continental Field Trial Club's third annual trials will be 
run on chickens at Morris, Man., on Sept. 1, 1897. 
The Continental Field Trial Club's third annual trials will 
be run on quail at New Albany, Miss., on Jan. 17, 1898. 
W. 8. Bell, Sec'y. 
The FoBEST AND Stream is put to press each week on iuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach ua at th^ 
latest by Monday, and as much earUer as practicable. 
