88 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 29, 1898. 
a matter of interest, I liave computed t"he unrestricted 
increase of a single fertilized female during ten genera- 
tions, allowing but 100 eggs per female and considering 
half of these to yield males — conditions purely arbitrary 
and hardly possible in nature, but giving somewhat sur- 
prismg rcstilts. The first generation would have 100 
larvae,, developing to fifty males and fifty females; the 
Second geiieration would have 5,000 larvae, and so on to 
the tenth generation. Avliich would be represented by 
3;95-3 12,500,000,000,000 mature fl ies. Should we consider, 
for the purpose of illustration, that nine of these 'flies 
would require one square inch standing room, the tenth 
generation would make a belt of flies over 200 miles in 
width around the entire globe. While the conditions 
tiiat would afl:'ord such an unrestricted increase are 
entirely inconceivable, yet the figures show the possibili- 
ties Of the reproductive powers of this insect. What 
wonder is it then that these blow flies speedily destroy 
the carcasses of , our largest animals? The third species 
mentioned (CaUiphora vomitona) was not very abundant, 
and I Avas unable to make any notes on its development. 
The life history of this insect, however, is known to be 
similar to that of the blue-bottle fly. 
"I .might, add that the excellent arrangements which 
you have devised for the rearing of dipterous maggots 
with which to feed your birds are of more than ordi- 
nary, interest, and seem in every way adapted to obtain 
the desired results." 
Incubators; 
In our last report attention was called to the probable 
results from the use of incubators. Everyone who has 
ever had any considerable number of hens under his care 
must realize the vexation and disappointment which con- 
stantly comes from their waywardness; and, what is 
even worse, treat thein as .you may, they are never en- 
tirelj'' free from vermin. These pests get on the young 
pheasants and destroy many of them before they are old 
enough to keep themselves clean by. dusting. So an- 
noying were all these things that we determined to get 
rid of them if possible, and notwithstanding the assertion 
of pheasant breeders tliat it Avas impossible to raise these 
birds with incubator and brooder,Ave bought of Mr. Ran- 
kin a small incubator, capable of carrying about 200 eggs, 
a plain, farmer-like machine, but too bulky and heavy 
for pheasant egg.s. We subsequently built tAvo smaller 
incubators, Avhich we liked much better for the AA^ork. 
From the last one aa'c obtained a hatch of 95 per cent., 
and, notAvithstanding our inexperience, the entire hatch 
was from 10 to 15 per cent, higher than from the average 
hens. 
It is easy enough to hatch pheasant eggs in any good 
machine that Avill hatch hens' e.ggs, with this exception: 
the shell of the pheasant egg is much closer grain and 
not so porous as hens' eggs, and the moisture neces.sary 
to the latter proves fatal to the former. Acting on the 
rule to put pans of water in the egg chamber, we lost 
many pheasant eggs in the first hatch. The chicks Avere 
so crowded in the shells that they could not get out. 
Brooders, 
There is no difficulty in hatching the eggs in any good 
incubator, but the rearing of the young pheasants, either 
in the brooder or under a hen, is not so easy. We made 
many and some interesting experiments in raising them 
in brooders, using mostly the Foster brooder. In the 
hands of so skillful a man as Mr. Foster this can be used 
successfully Avith a limited number of birds, btit for ex- 
tensiA^e breeding of pheasants the heat should be evenly 
distributed throughout the chamber of the brooder and 
be self-regulating, as, if there is not sufficient heat, or 
if an}'- part is Avanner than another, they will croAvd to- 
gether and smother. 
Outdoor brooders are not desirable for this Avork, as 
the sudden changes of Aveather render it impossible to 
maintain an even temperature; and it is inconvenient 
and almost impossible to give the chicks proper care in 
stoi-my weather, Avhile the high Avinds that often occur 
are liable to disarrange things and in some cases set 
fire to the brooder. 
The result of the exhaustive investigations made during 
the past, season have led to the construction of a brooder 
house, partly covered Avith glass for the protection of 
Very young birds in cold and wet weather, and equipped 
with brooders that are self-regulating and even in tem- 
perature. There is no guess-work about it; the tempera- 
ture, once established, can be sustained Avith very little 
care, Our experience Avarrants the conclusion that Avith 
proper incubators and brooders nine-tenths of the cost 
pnd labor in rearing pheasants may be saved. _ 
Experiments in this direction, but varying in methods, 
w^ere made by Mr. Ames, of North Easton, and by Mr. 
Foster, of Ashby (for the Fitchburg Rifle and Gun 
Club). Mr. Ames hatched all the eggs in an incubator, 
to avoid Afermin. All the chicks Avere reared in brooders. 
Both gentlemen acted in consultation Avith this board, 
and both were anxious to obtain as many birds as pos- 
sible from their limited stock of breeders, and neither 
felt disposed to run the risk of extended experiments 
in Avhat is noAV proved to be a ncAV and important de- 
parture in rearing pheasatits- , 
North Easton, Mass., Oct. 16.— In answer to your letter, let rae 
say that I have had this 3'ear a little better success in raising 
pheasants than T did last. I have now about 100 youn.^ birds, all 
of which were raised with the incubator and brooder. I have kept 
an accurate account of all the eggs my hens have laid, the per- 
centage of their fertility, proportion of Diras raised, etc., wnicii i 
should be glad to show you at any time. From a comparison of 
this account with the one which I kept two years ago, I have 
proved, to my OAvn satisfaction, that by the employment of the 
incubator, and brooder I have been able to raise more birds, with 
less labor, than I could have done by setting the eggs under hens. 
My first hatch, of sixty-seven, all died within the first week. The 
cause of this mortality was, I found when too late, that the 
trernpcrature of the brooder had been kept too high. The cause 
of most of my subsequent losses was cold and wet weather. 
I shall keep all my young birds until spring, and then turn 
some of them loose, reserving enough for future experiments. 
Unfortunately, a large proportion of my birds are cocks. ' _ 
"Two or three wild' broods have been seen about' here, which 
^oes to show that the birds I turned loose two years ago have 
been able to Avithstand our winters. ,1 think that pheasants, in 
tlieir wild state, must lay earlier in the: season than they dp Avhen 
in captivity; for one was brought in by a cat which was at least 
two weeks older than any. young birds I had. Hobart Ames. 
Ashby, Mass., Sept. 22. — Replying to your request, would say 
that the Fitchburg Rifle and Gun Club continued their efforts to 
rear Mongolian pheasants, and I have again had the care of them. 
Of the birds raised last year, only one was trapped for breeding.. 
During the season five pairs have been received from your yards. 
They were bred in trios, and the two extra cocks were liberated in 
spring,^ that they might breed with the hens that are known to- 
have lived over from last year's breeding. Of the six hens at 
the start, three died about June 1. The first egg was laid April' 
12; the last, Aug. 4: total number of eggs, 217. Of this number 
the two hens in yard No. 1 laid 110. All the eggs were set under- 
hens, and 154 chicks were hatched: 66 of these are now alive- 
and doing well. The rearing has been done entirely with the 
brooder mentioned in your report la.st vear. The successful bill' 
of fare has been a liberal supply of tender lettuce, clean maggot's 
and custard, carefully fed. All have been kept yarded, and the: 
hens CabotJt 30) Avill be kept and bred from next ypar. 
H. R. FOSTKR. 
The distribution of Mongolian pheasants to parties who- 
Avere willing to take care of their breeding and turn out 
the young birds in their respective localities has nott 
proved as successful as Avas anticipated. Although care- 
ful directions as to care and breeding were given, a ma- 
jority either lost their old birds or failed to raise young 
ones. So far as stocking the State is concerned, it would' 
in most cases have been better to haA'e set them at libertv.. 
Tavo years ago Ave sent a trio of birds to Pittsfield,. 
which were olaced with a man to breed them. When wc 
A'isited him in the fall we found his coops too high, and., 
having neglected to clio the wings, one of the females 
had floAvn up against the wire and was killed. At Mr. 
Stevenson's request we sent him another bird, but for 
the two years he has failed to raise any. The same ex- 
nerience is reported bv others. To our inquiries Mr. 
Stevenson sends the followin.g letter. The statement thatr 
the hens laid but nineteen eggs seems to us a mistake;; 
it is far more likely that they Avere eaten by the birds. 
. PiTtsFiEtfi, Mass., Nov. 6.— I find about a dozen birds have 
been seen tliis season in Dalton, near where the bir<is were first put 
out. and one hen with a large brood of voung just over the line- 
in Pittsfield. Evidently the pheasants will li-^'e here if let alone.. 
They seem to stav arotind'"and'near' cultivated lands, rather than- 
go back on the hills. 
You will be interested to know that Mr. Zenas Crane has 
•>"ithin a short timp turned out near his residence in D?Uon two 
dozen pheasants. Thev -were purchased of Mr. Woodward in New- 
York, and are said to be Mon.go'ians. 
I arh sorry to say we have airain had no success in raising chick's 
from the two you sent ns. The hens laid but nineteen eggs, and' 
frorn these only five chicks Avere hatched, which lived but a few 
day.s. With your permission, we will let the three out next- 
spring, and. shall hope thev will improve on ogr eScperiment. 
The woodcock and partridge do not seem to nave been as n'entv- 
as usual this year, but trout have done well for us. so that fishing- 
has been better than the past few seasons. J. M. Stevenson. 
Nine pairs haA^e been liberated in Winchester, besides 
a number of surplus cocks, some of which, havin.g no 
mates, have wandered away. In the last tAVO years a 
number of broods have been reported in the vicinity 
Avithin a mile or so of Avhere they Avere let out, and there 
is not a Aveek that Ave do not hear of one or more being 
seen. We regret to say that scA^eral have been killed by- 
gunners. During the early part of November .four per- 
sons Avere arrested and each fined $20 and costs of court 
for killing pheasants. Other cases are known, and in- 
vestigation may lead to evidence to convict. 
Through the kindness of Mr. Si Forehand, of Worces- 
ter, the Mongolian pheasants Avcre placed in the hands of 
the Commissioners for the purpose of stocking the State;- 
and the fact that we were the first to establish a success- 
ful method of artificially breeding them has led to a;ni 
extensive correspondence throughout the United States, 
not excepting Oregon, from whence our birds were ob- 
tained. Not being permitted to send them out of the- 
State, Ave have sometimes referred parties to the State- 
.eame Avarden of Oregon, AA'ho, as will be seen by the. 
appended letter, seems to appreciate the flooding of hist 
office Avith correspondence: 
Portland, Ore., Nov. 3.— The Mongolian pheasant continues to. 
thrive and increase in this State, where they were first introduced' 
as a game bird on the American Continent. This increase is the 
more remarkable because of the failure of the Legislature to- 
nrovide adequate laws and funds for their orotection. They have 
become the favorite market bird in this city, over 10,000 having 
been sold here last year during the one month that market saies; 
are permitted by law — Oct. ]5 to Nov. 15. 
There is a great demand for these birds, for stocking purposes-,, 
from nearly every State in- the Union, scores of letters being re- 
ceived at this ofiice every week, making inquiries as to their habits,, 
and how they can be obtained. The demand has now become- 
.preater than the supply, as only birds bred and rai.sed' in con- 
finement can be legally shipped out of the State, and then onfy- 
npon affidavit of the shipper that the birds are such as to enti'tle 
tlipm to shit^ment. 
I have no doubt that the effort made bv ynur Commission and 
other enterprising citizens, to stock your State with this, the 
greatest game bird on earth, will proA'e successful. All that is- 
necessarv is wi.^e protectiA'C laws, strictly enforced, prnhibitihg; 
their killing for five or si^x years, to thoroughly establish them. 
Your climate is colder than ours, and the enA'ironment in your 
State not as favorable for their rapid increase; but they are a 
hardv. -nrolific bird, and I feel confident that they w>'1 .gain a: 
foothold if given a fair chance. Hot-ltstet! D, McGuire, 
State Fish and Game Protector, Oregon. 
Believing that the introduction of these birds is of .erear 
importance to both farmer and sportsman, we have given 
considerable space to recording, in part. Avhat has been 
done in the care and breeding of them. 
For assistat^ce in this worlc the State is under obliga- 
tions to Mr. Hobart Ames, of North Easton; Dr. White, 
of Sandwich; the Fitchburp- Rifle and Gun Club, the' 
Milford Gun Club. Senator Woodfall and many others,, 
who haA^e freely given time and money for the public: 
good. 
News from xhe Yttkon. 
A note just received from Mr. J. B. Burnham. Avrit- 
ten at Fort Selkirk, Nov. 0. renorts further progress 
toAvard Dawson City checked by the ice; and it was Mr. 
Burnham's intention to winter on Sehvyn Creek, thirty 
miles beloAv Fort Selkirk, and to hunt. Indians were., 
at the time of Avriting, coming into Fort Selkirk with. 
caribou and moose meat^ 
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^en mid ^iviir r^mlpncf, 
Fishing Up and Down the Potomac* 
The First Lock. 
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal comes into George- 
tOAvn about 36ft. above the Potomac at this point. This 
level runs west nearly parallel Avith the river on the Mary- 
land side for five miles to the First Lock, one of the 
nearby popular fishing resorts for Washington anglers. 
The Lock may be reached by electric car noAV, neces- 
sitating only a short walk down the steep bluff; or one 
may walk up tlie towpath, or take a little launch which 
plies on the canal in the stimmer months. We have 
nearly always driven up, keeping close to the canal on 
the land side, Avith a fir.st-rate macadamized roadAvay as 
far as historic Chain Bridge, and then taking to a woods 
road with a single track for a mile s^nd a half further to 
the Lock-hotise. 
This is as far as a road is visible, the Potomac Heights 
rising so sheer from the back of the hduse that one may 
almost step out of the second-story window. 
It is a delightful driA'^e before sun-tip on a July morn- 
ing, Avhen the dcAA^ is on the grass and the air is full of 
mist, if you are not subject to rheumatic troubles. 
Half-Avay up the woods road we reach one of the few 
genuine springs on this side the river to Great Falls. 
This one has a short run across the road to the canal, 
and its crooked bed is hidden under a mass of delicious 
water cress, which we A-alue nearly as highly, and gather 
Avith nearly as much care and satisfaction as we do the 
bass. 
Other springs there arc in plenty up this side of ttie 
river, trickling their inviting but deceptive streams frorn 
the foot of the Palisades, but they are mostly a disap- 
pointment. 
The Conduit, Avhich supplies .Washington Avith water 
^rom the dam at the Great Falls of the Potomac, runs 
for fifteen miles along the top of the rid.ge, and it is 
supposed to be little leaks from this which furnish these 
pseudo springs, of which there are scores along the bluff. 
At any rate, when the river water is warm, so are they, 
and when it is long muddy they, too, become discolored. 
However, their water is somewhat cooled and partially 
filtered by its passage through the creA'ices of the rock, 
so they are always to be preferred for drinking purposes* 
though with not much advantage to boast of. 
Just before reaching the end of our ride, we cross a 
turbulent little brook, the waste overfloAV from the Dela- 
caria, or Receiving Reservoir. This noisy stream in its' 
course has a good many first-rate pools, which are sonrie- 
times filled Avith bass, but they don't stay long. A few 
old-time fishermen, who have knoAvrT it for nearly a 
.score of year,s, keep tab on it, atid if an imprisoned baSs 
happens anyAvhere along Its line, all -sorts of indxiee^ 
ments are of¥ered him to change his quarters. . 
Last fall a neighbor who has fished it many seasmtfs, 
and occasionally had great sport after a spate, as the 
En.g]ish call a freshet, spent an afternoon here. Pie 
had been fishing all the morning in the river for bass, 
without a rise, and Avas driyen to "try something else-." 
Avith bob and worm he took a basket of the gamy, loag- 
cared sunfish Avith Avhich the pools seemed to be filled, 
and Avas nearly as proud of his catch as if they had. been 
better fish. '"Better" here means only larger, for there 
are no better in auA'' other sense. 
Arriving at the house, we turn the horse over to- the 
boys — sons of the Lock-keeper — ^put on our Avading cos- 
tumes in the unused loAver story, and cross the canal 
over the .gate of the Lock, always trying first for a bass 
in the tail of the flume or waste race, Avhich carries the 
surplus water from the upper leA'el around the Lock. 
As is well known, the canal has lots of good bass in it 
and many a stray one is picked up at the discharges of 
these flumes in the loAver level, Avhere the bass come 
to feed on the boat refuse Avhich comes from above, or 
on the snistller figli whijcli gather here for the same pur- 
pose. 
On the writers first visit to this place, his first cast 
•in the mouth of the Avaste was rewarded Avitli a fine bass 
so hungry it seemed to meet the fly almost half-way, and 
he has never been able to pass the place since Avithout 
trying for another that does not come. Maybe next 
time. A story is told of a man who. on his way to work, 
accompanied by a favorite terrier, jumofed a hare, Avhich 
the terrier would have caught, only the hare went through 
a hole in a nearby wall. For five years the man and 
his pet passed this place ttA'ice a day, and never once 
that the terrier did not investigate the hole in the wall, 
evidently with the expectation of finding that or another 
rabbit, So strong are asso.ciatioii and meinpry and hope 
in all of us. 
The procession of canal-boats that sXl da.y ''like a 
wounded snake drags its sIoav length along," at intervals 
sends a lazy tub into the Lock to be Hfted up or dropped 
down, loaded Avith coal from Cumberland, or grain or 
hay, and usually going back light. Life on a house-bo^t 
has always an attraction for the fisherman, and with the 
curiosity natural to all of us Ave linger while one is pass- 
ing, looking for something odd about the boat, its cargo 
or its people, and not always disappointed. Sometimes 
in the season Ave get a melon or tAVO, for our noon rest, 
■of some captain enterprising enotigh to have risked part 
of his capital in garden truck. Occasionally a boat hap' 
pens along having a baby Avith a strap around its waist, 
•Avith a couple of 3'ards of rope fastened to a staple in the 
roof of the cabin that gives the young one a certain free- 
•dom of movement, and fresh air, without the risk of tum- 
bling into the raging canal. After seeing several hun- 
dreds of these boats whose general style of architecture 
tends to monotony, one becomes so nearly indifferent 
that the announcement that another is approaching will 
hardly meet Avith a response, if the fishers are already oil 
their Avay to the Avater. But "here's a kid on this one'^ 
has never been known to fail of securing an audience. 
It is half a mile to the principal channel of the river 
from the towpath, across a stony flat with great shalloAV 
pools in Avhich freshets usually leave some fish im- 
prisoned. Two years ago there were hundreds of fine 
