[Sept. 25, 1897. 
The average weight of fish taken throughout the season 
•will exceed that deduced from the above table, the males 
averaging in weight much more than the females. There is 
a very marked difference in tlie size of eggs of brook trout 
taken from different waters, and the size of the eggs does not 
depend upon the size of the fish. The variations in size of 
eggs taken at three field stations last season were in the pro- 
portions of 34, 41 and 43 to the square inch, respectively. 
The eggs numberiog 34 and 42 to the square inch were taken 
from fish averaging five to the pound, while the eggs 41 to 
the square inch were taken from trout averaging over a pound 
each, 
I will not discuss the subject now, but I believe that after 
successful field stations lilie those I operate have become 
permanent!}' established, it will be advantageous to study the 
conditions surrounding the spawning grounds of each and 
see if the eggs do not require different conditions of water 
supply in artificial work, such as volume of water to each 
trough, etc., to produce the best results. 
Utility. — In the collection of brook trout I have always 
borne in mind that eggs can be purchased at very low prices, 
after they have been brought to the eyed stage; in facf, it is 
diflficult to attempt to compete with the commercial fishcul- 
turist in the cost of wild trout eggs laii! down in the hatchery 
^ as eyed eggs, because the coft of eggs thus collected should 
not exceed the cost of the eggs of the domesticated trout, 
either being figured as eyed ova laid down in troughs where 
they are to be hatched ; otherwise it would be expedient to 
buy eggs already eyed. There are some advantages about 
having the eggs of wild trout. The latter, if in suitable 
waters, would naturally be stronger fish than the inbred fish 
of the commercial hatchery. In answer to this argument, 
the commercial fishculturist will tell you that he frtquently 
makes exchanges of eggs and fish and uses many precautions 
to keep up his stock of hardy fish. As a rule^ the eggs of 
domesticated trout will eye and hatch a larger percentage 
than wild trout. Much depends, however, upon the facili- 
ties for taking the eges of the latter, whicb means also the 
methods of taking the fish and retaining them until stripped. 
The lowest price I have been quoted by commercial fishcul- 
turists for eyed ova of brook trout is $0.70 per M. in lots of 
a million or more. To this price must be added espressage 
on the eggs to hatchery where they are to be propagated. 
To sum it up into one sentence, the utility of collecting wild 
trout spawn depends upon whether the cost of eggs thus col- 
lected is less than the coot of purchased eggs. Another point 
to be considered, is whelher the spawn deposited naturally 
would yield a large percentage of fry. 
1 have mentioted a so-called "dry brook," in which the 
trout congiegated in large numbers at one of my stations. 
One morith before these fish ascended it, I personally ex- 
amined it. It was then apparently a surlace drain fed by a 
slight seepage of water from the muddy soil along its banks, 
but practically dry. I decided that it would be impossible 
for trout to ascend it, even during rain storms, and still be- 
lieve that no ^pawn deposited in it would ever mature. I 
have visited several ponds where the trout cannot possibly 
ascend the feeding brooks until high water. When they do 
succeed in making the ascent, they have no time to prepare 
their beds, but must return to the lake in from twelve to 
twenty-four hoturs. The results from eggs naturally depos- 
ited in such places is practically valueless. In the case of 
lake spawners, the same spawning grounds where I operated 
were being cleaned by later spawning trout for a month 
after 1 discontinued my collections. The eggs of the fish I 
took, if deposited naturally, would have been eaten by the 
later comers or by the suckers and minnows which follow 
after them. 
Many private clubs have well-stocked ponds and a man to 
look alter them, and j-et purchase eggs for restocking, The 
utility of saving the spawn going to waste in such places 
needs no further argument. The cost of wild trout eggs will 
vary, as a matter of course, and I have not found suitable or 
what 1 call paying stations without trying several which 
were afterward aoandoned. I have not written this article 
to encourge competition with the commercial trout culturist, 
but to encourage a larger production of trout with the means 
available in State Commissions or private preserves. I am 
unable to say whether the collections made in this way are 
less expensive than carrying a stock of brood fish, as in vogue 
at Stale hatcheries and institutions of a similar character, 
but this method can be uied to advantage as an auxiliary 
to such institutions. 
POLLUTION OF THE POTOMAC RIVER. 
Editor Fared and Stream: 
The pollution of the water in the Potomac River, by pulp 
mills and tanneries, 1^ a serious matter, that threatens the 
destruction of the black bass, the king fish of our fresh water 
stieams, that affords healthful recrtation to thousands, and 
supplies a most delicious article of focd. But worse still, if 
these unsanitary conditnona are allowed to continue, epidem- 
ics of typhoid fever and kindred diseases are sure to follow, 
endangering the lives of the citizens living along the river. 
Duri g my recent ofiicial visit of iospection along the Poto- 
mac ihe question of protection and propagation was almost 
overshadowed by the polluted condition of the river, and the 
indignation of the people against; allowing pulp mills and 
tanneries to run their refuse into the river. From Piedmoat 
to Cumberland, the water is very much discolored on account 
of the refuse from the tanneries at Piedmont. The color of 
the wateris dark brown, and the odor emitted is very disagree- 
able. Bass fishing in this part of the river is a thing of the 
past, which fact is deplored by the residents. 
Cumberland, the Queen City of Western Maryland, gets 
her water supply from thePoiomac. This water is not fit 
for bathing and ordinary household uses, much less for drink- 
ing. I believe the authorities of Cumberland have gone to the 
Courts asking for an injunction, restraining the proprietors 
of certain manufacturing establishments from allowing imnu- 
rities to run into the river. This is a move in the right di- 
rection, but, the proper thing to do will be to go before the 
Legislature next January and have a law enacted that will 
permanently abolish these abuses so far as Maryland is con- 
cerned. Then follow this up by going before the Legislature 
of West Yirginia, the year following, and have that State 
pass a similar law for the Potomac River. Then the water 
will return to its pure, clear, sparkling, natural condition, 
and Cumberland will have as pure water as any city in the 
land. 
From Camberland to the South Branch the water was very 
much discolored; the tanneries at Paw Paw, W. Va., no 
doubt, assisting materially in the discoloration. It is an un- 
deniable fact that bass are rarely_ caught in this stretch of 
the Potomac, the water being too impure for them to inhabit 
that part of the river. The water ia the South Branch being 
pure, the conditions are better below where the North and 
South Branches unite; but the brownish color from the 
water in the North Branch may be seen as far down as Han- 
cock. After leaving Hancock the water becomes clearer, 
improving gradually, and soon becomes clear. This con- 
dition continues until the pulp mills at Harpei's Ferry are 
reached. These mills run all their refuse into the river; the 
chips and shavings float down and cling to the rocks, gravel 
beds and tufts of grass, driving the bass from their favorite 
haunts. The coloring matter in these chips and shavings is 
extracted by soakine: in the water, so that the discoloration 
is quite Derceptible; but, fortunately, the pure water 
from the Shenandoah, that empties into the Potomac at 
Harper's Ferry, neutralizes this impurity. From Har- 
per's Feriy to Little Falls, near Washington, there are 
neither tanneries nor pulp mills, and it is 'here, and from 
Harper's Ferry to Hancock, that the best fishing is found. 
Along this distance of 150 miles of the romantic and pictur- 
esque Potomac, one of the finest natural bass streams in 
America, hundreds of the disciples of Sir Izaak Walton may 
be seen every day during the open bass season, whiling away 
the hours in healthful, manly sport, forgetting the cares of 
business and the anxieties of this busy world Hours pass 
like so many minutes, One's appetite takes on such a sharp 
edge that a cold lunch at midday is relished more than a 
swell dinner at a fine restaurant. When the club house, 
farm house or camp is reached at night, supper is hardly 
disposed of before Morpheus takes possession, and the ten 
hours of nature's greatest restorer — sweet sleep— that follow, 
rest the mind more than a dozen nights of broken, restless 
sleep at home. The sensation of a strike fills the angler's 
soul with joy, and landing a 3 or 4-pounder after a vigorous 
fight of five or ten minutes (such as bass only make) — well, I 
will not attempt to explain a "feller's feelin'" — you know 
how it is yourself, if you have ever landed one. 
The Maryland Game and Fish Protective Association did 
a (Treat work In biinging about legislation on the part of 
Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia for the protection of 
bass in the Potomac. The laws are vigorously and satis- 
factorily enforced. Transferring 1.5,000 bass from the Ches- 
apuake and Ohio Canal was anotner splendid scheme of the 
Association, that was made so successful by the great 
hberalily of the Washington anglers. The Maryland Game 
and Fish Protective Association stands ready to continue 
the good work of protecting the bass in the Potomac— the 
anglers' paradise of Maryland. 
_ Is it not a very serious matter to contemplate the possi- 
bility that unless the pollution of the Potomac is dealt with 
summarily, all the bass will disappear? Washington, the 
capital of this the greatest nation on earth, is supplied witti 
drinking water from the Potomac, and the health of her 
citizens endangered. The impurities in the water are not so 
grtat as far down as Washington as they are higher up, but 
the conditions arc bound to grow worse, unless the polluting 
substances that run into the river are stopped. Is it not a 
shame that the health of the citizens of a great city, the 
capital of a great republic, is menaced by the condition of 
the water they drink? I am told that this matter was brought 
before the last Congress, and a committee was appointed to 
see what power Congress has in the premises. If it is found 
that Congress has no jurisdiction in the matter, on account 
of the sovereign rigtits of Maryland and West Virginia, 
then let us hope that the United States Government will 
use her influence with the Legislatures of Maryland and 
West Virginia in securing legislation that will prohibit pollut- 
ing the water in the Potomac. This will give the citizens of 
Washington an abundant supply of pure water, and the 
Potomac will become one of the greatest bass streams in 
America, that can never be depleted by legitimate angling. 
Geo, W. Massamoke. 
SEA MULLETS ON THE HOOK. 
A GREAT catch of sea mullets is noted off the coast of 
North Carolina. These delicious fish made their appear- 
ance in Bogue Sound and adjacent waters on Sept. 3, and 
on that and the following day hundreds of barrels were 
netted by the crews of fishing vessels. Two hundred bar- 
rels were caught at Rice Path, 200 barrels at Bogue 
Chapel, 100 barrels at Bogue Inlet, 180 barrels at Brown's 
Inlet, and 200 barrels in the waters around Swansboro, all 
in Carteret county. The crews lost lots of their fish, 
spoiled from not having salt on hand. 
Later on the mullets worked their way up Pamlico 
Sound into the Neuse River at New Berne, and a big school 
struck in at the Government dock, where the watchman 
and a friend happened to be fishing with hook and line, 
and greatly to their surprise began to bite freely. In a 
very short time they lilted out 190 of them, which meas- 
ured from 5 to lOin. in length, and although subsequent 
attempts have repeatedly been made to catch them with 
bait, none have been seen or caught. 
The episode is altogether phenomenal. The sea mullets 
are strictly pelagic fish, altogether different from the shore 
mullets, which are so generally utilized as bait by our 
anglers in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and are very 
toothsome and sweet. Only once before have they been 
known to appear in these waters in like manner. Indeed, 
they very seldom come into the land from the deep sea. 
Holbrook mentions a visitation of sea mullets in the Apa- 
lachicola River in September, 1871. Whenever they do 
strike into shoal water they prove .to be bold biters, and 
will take shrimp, crab or cut-fish bait. Jordan classifies 
the two species as Menticirrus albinm and M. littoralis. 
They are nearly related to our Northern king fish {M. 
nebuloms). Charles Hallock. 
Triton Club Trout Fishing. 
Messrs. Cheney and Ralhbone have returned from their 
fishing trip to the Triton Tract in Quebec. Mr, Cheney 
writes: "I think I had the best trout fishing I ever had in 
my life. We caught, thirty five trout in Moise Lake weigh- 
ing llT^lbs, ; Rathbone twelve of 44ilbs , and I twenty-three 
of 73^103. Ten of mine weighed 4.5ilbs,, and ten of R.'s 
41lbs, Twenty-five weighed lOl^lbs, We killed but thhty- 
four, one 21b, fish I returned alive to the water, as we killed 
only what we could eat in camp, and as we got out of pork 
our four men and ourselves ate a good many trout. We saw 
seven caribou, but did not have a gun with us" 
Men I Have Fished With. 
Mb. Mather's delightful sketches are soon to appear in 
book form. See anuouncement on another page, and regis- 
ter your name for a copy, 
Death of Clarence M. Teller. 
His many sportsmen friends will be pained to learn of the 
death of Clarence M. Teller, of Baltimore, which occurred 
on Sept. 13, under tragic circumstances thus related by the 
Baltimore Sun-, 
"Mr. Teller, was found dead shortly before 9 o'clock 
yesterday morning in a clump of bushes, near a little stream, 
on tbe Franklin road, about three miles northeast of Catons- 
ville. The discovery was made by John Groot, who was 
one of a searching party which had been looking for Mr. 
Teller all of Monday night. 
"Early Monday morning Mr. Teller left his home, telling 
his wife that he was going into the country to catch minnows, 
which he used for bait when fishing. He had made an ap- 
pointment with Mr. Robert Grist to go fishing at Lake Roland 
Monday afternoon. 
"When darkness set in and Mr. Teller had not returned 
home, his wife became alarmed. A number of friends started 
out in search of him, but not the slightest trace of his where- 
abouts could be found until Mr. Groot came across his fish- 
ing net and a small tin pail beside the stream. 
"It was thought by the searching party that Mr. Teller had 
fallen into the stream and had been drowned, and the stream 
was dragged. Mr, Groot walked about 50ft. from the stream 
toward the woods, and there, beside a small sapling which 
had been cut down by Mr. Teller, lay the body. In Mr. 
Teller's right hand was tightly grasped a small saw, which 
had been used to cut down the sapling. He had been dead 
about twenty -four hours. A jury of inquest was summoned, 
it being made up of those who took part in the searching 
party, A verdict was rendered that Mr. Teller had died of 
he-J.rt disease." 
Mr. Teller was born in Westchester county, N. Y., Oct. 
] 3, 1826, He had lived long in Baltimore, He was one of 
the organizers of the Monroe (N, y.) Ducking Club; he was 
well known in sportsmen's circles, and was a life-long sub- 
scriber Io^Forest AND Stream from the beginning of .the 
paper in the early seventies. 
Basswood Bass for Count Fishermen. 
The Toronto Saturday Night has some pertinent supc- 
gestions about the depletion of the Muskokaand other waters 
by score fishermen: 
"The guides realize what is happening. They have seen 
the slaughterers at work day after day, week after week for 
years on Rosseau and Joseph lakes, until now bass are scarce 
there and people have to go out of the way for good fishing. 
But what can a guide do? Unless he will take his patrons to 
a place where they can haul fish out with both hands and 
make as fine a showing in- a photograph as did some rival 
crowd, then he gets a black mark and other guides are pre- 
ferred. To maintain his reputation and gain a livelihood, he 
is compelled to assist in the work of exterminating black 
bass, although his good sense rebels against it. I know as 
well as any body how hard it is to quit fishing when you have 
caught the half-dozen that are really needed in the camp or 
collage, but I know, too, that the real sportsman when he 
finds himself cut oft' from civihzation. unable to make use 
of 100 fish, yet surrounded by shoals of them, will at once 
set himself the task of avoiding rather than capturirg the 
average fish. He uses all his skill to elude the bass of 31bs. 
and under, and tries for 5 or 6-pounders. He makes it a 
test of craft to do thfs. 
"The hotel keepers in Muskoka should get some nice bass 
made out of basswood, for use in photographs. They could 
be of all sizes, and, by rearrangement, would look like differ- 
ent fish in each picture. There was a time when the fisher- 
man lied about his catch, but now he produces a photograph; 
and perhaps it would have been as well had he continued to 
lie instead of becoming a slaughterer. His tall yarns were 
not beheved, nor did they injure any one but himself; 
whereas his greed in catching canoe-loads of bass merely to 
use them in a photograph is injurious to the interests of all. 
There are, I believe, regulations that would, if enforced, 
prohibit, the wholesale destruction of bass, and in the inter- 
ests of JViuskoka's future as one of the finest pleasure resorts 
on the continent, something effectual should be devised and 
applied." 
Little, but Everyone Counts— for a Fine. 
Hudson Center, N. 'S.. — Editor Forest and Stream: Von 
W. strikes the keynote in his article of Sept. 1 when he ad- 
vocates throwing back the fingerlings. But my experience 
leads me to believe that our laws are violated oftener by 
men than by boys. It seems to be a mania with some to 
boast of the number of trout they have caught. 
A short lime ago I was on the cars on my way from Con- 
cord to Manchester, N. H. A man came into the smoker 
with his rod and trout basket. I entered into conversation 
with him (he was a man nearly sixty years old) He told 
me that hia catch consisted of forty-odd trout. 1 convinced 
him that it was necessary for me to look his fish over; 
among them I found twenty-two small trout with their 
heads cut off. I arrested him and took him off the train at 
Manchester, I cut off the head of a larger trout, and by 
matching that to the smaller ones convicted him. His sen- 
tence was $40 and costs. 
Our brook trout fishing has been about on an average this 
last season. The brooks have been full to overflowing all 
summer. We are anticipating fine fishing next season. 
Landlocked salmon fishing has never been better. Black 
bass fishing has also been excellent. To-morrow, the 15th, 
the opening season commences on most of our game. The 
foliage was never so thick at this season of the year as at the 
present time. Deer are very plenty in the northern part of 
the State, with a fair sprinkling all over the State right up 
to the Massachusetts line. The law was repealed last winter 
that prohibited the use of ferrets, so that ferrets may be used 
lawfully in hunting the small gray rabbit. From what we 
can learn, there will be an average supply of ruffed grouse; 
woodcock never more plenty. N. W. 
Fishing on Tomahawk Lake. 
Me. B. W. Sherman and wife, of Chicago, have just 
returned from their lodge on Tomahawk Lake, Wis , where 
they have been since July 1, On Aug 31 Mr. Sherman 
landed two 'lunge's weighing 7 and lllbs. On Sept. 6 Mrs. 
Sherman, after getting Inree alongside of the boat and losing 
them, landed one weighing ITlbs. On Sept 7 Mr. Sherman 
landed a 21-pounder; "Mrs, Sherman landed, the same day, 
one weighing 2lilbs. and a 41b. pike. 
Mr. Sherman tells me that at no time since July 1 has the 
'lunge fishing been so good as the time above mentioned. 
A gentleman, whose name could not be obtained, landed a 
S91b. 'lunge in Squaw Lake last week. Patti. 
