248 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April i, 1899. 
ruminants, together with specimens of the rapidlj^-disap- 
pearing water fowl of the country, 
C. Lincoln Fall. 
Sportsman's Association of Cheat Mountain. 
The Sportsman's Association of Cheat Mountain have 
within the past two years started a very successful brant 
hatchery, under the care of Mr. A. G. Buller, formerly 
of the Pennsylvania State hatchery at Corry, Pa. 
The first year we hatched over 200,000 purchased eggs 
and secured about 15,000 brood trout. The results have 
far exceeded our expectations, and the operating expense 
is quite small comparatively. We have twelve large ponds 
supplied by springs from the mountain side, and from a 
branch of the Cheat River above the club house. The as- 
sociation contemplates putting in an artificial lake in the 
near future.. The fish grow very rapidly in these waters. 
Since the lumber camp has been removed Irom the 
vicinity, we notice a marked gain in the number and size 
of the trout caught. The railroad is now completed to 
within ten miles of the club house, thus cutting off seven- 
teen miles of rough staging. The association, as usual, is 
in a good financial condition, and is constantly making im- 
provements. Hunting is prohibited for five years in West 
Virginia, and our steward tells us that there is quite a 
large increase in the game, noticed in the neighborhood. 
We have hatched out a great many Mongolian pheasants, 
but it is too soon to give a report on the ones liberated. 
W. F. Robeson, Sec'y- 
The Upper Saranac Association. 
Dr. Samuel B. Ward, President pf . the Upper Saranac 
Association, writes: "We have turned over to the State 
most of our township and no longer possess any preserve 
to speak of." 
The Caton Park. 
Judge Caton's game park at Ottawa, Illinois, was the 
pioneer fenced preserve of the modern t3'pe. While deer 
parks were common before Caton's time, especially in 
Virginia, his was the first park of which we have any 
knowledge where general stocking was attempted with 
the different species of American game. Mr. R. F. Pretty- 
man informs us that at the present time there are thirteen 
deer in the park. One escaped recently and was killed. 
In Caton's lifetime it is probable that there were never 
more than 100 animals in the park at any one time. 
Jerseyfield Preserve. 
Your favor asking for any recent information regarding 
the Jerseyfield preserves is at hand. In reply would say 
that the trout (fontinalis) caught the past season, drtr- 
ing May and June, averaged smaller than is usual. The 
cause for this fact is not evident, but I have noticed from 
past fishing records that every third or four year seems to 
have been an off year for large fish. We do not fish after 
the middle of June. Ruffed grouse are still scarce and 
wild, conditions which again emphasize the necessity of 
the adoption of the Forest and Stream Platform Plank, 
as this vicinity is a natural breeding ground for the.«e 
birds, and none have been killed on this preserve for two 
years past. Deer I believe to be slowly gaining in num- 
bers, although some hounding and illegal killing i.s prac- 
ticed outside our preserve by the residents of the adjacent 
settlements. These violations of the law it is difficult to 
prevent or punish without the favorable support of tmblic 
opinion in the localities where they occur. Although the 
number of deer in the whole Adirondack region seems 
to have increased during the last two years, due, no 
doubt, to the facts that the present game law covering 
deer is the best so far enacted in this State, and that 
the majority of our people are law-abiding, it is my belief 
that if the game supply in this State is to be preserved for 
many future generations, more interest in and intelligence 
concerning the subject must be shown by the general pub- 
lic, and sufficient funds must be appropriated to accom- 
plish the proper enforcement of the existing game laws, 
which will then be continually improved as public opinion 
requires. It is gratifying to note the good work which is 
being done by Forest .^nd Stream and the protective asso-. 
ciations throughout the State and elsewhere, in educating 
the public in fish and game protection. Let the good work 
go on. Chauncey P. Wtlliams, 
Adirondack League Club. 
In the matter of cultivation of game, the work of the 
Adirondack League Club during the past year, as in pre- 
vious years, has been entirely devoted to the propagation 
of the different varieties of trout and to the protection of 
the deer in its 100,000-acre preserve. We have not un- 
dertaken to sow any land or cultivate any crops to furnish 
additional food for the deer, for the reason that the spring, 
summer and fall food seems to be ample, and the provid- 
ing of additional winter food is a large proposition. We 
believe that the difficulties of protecting and of rigidly 
enforcing the game law and the club law have been almost 
entirely overcome. - We kill about fifty deer a year, and 
we have evidence for believing that only one deer was 
killed during the past year in violation of the game code. 
The period of experiment at Combs Brook hatchery is 
ended, and the methods are so well established that we 
shall next season quadruple its output. We distribute no 
trout that have not been fed and reared to a self-protect- 
ing age, but that age varies from two or three months to 
two or three years. During the past season we have dis- 
tributed 155,669 brook, salmon and lake trout, and the 
capacit}' of the hatchery has been increased so that we 
expect to have about 1,000,000 eyed eggs, of which about 
two-thirds will be brook trout and the balance Atlantic 
salmon and Great Lake Salmon. We are avoiding any" 
further experiments with other varieties of trout, in which 
we have had a somewhat mournful experience. So far as 
the law will permit us to do so we are getting rid of the 
predatory brown trout. In spite of their quick growth 
we do not want to have anything to do with them. One of 
our plant of brown trout was taken this summer, which 
weighed gibs. 
We find on our tract the ruffed grouse in considerable 
numbers, and we have been frequently urged to intro- 
duce the Mongolian pheasant, but so far we have not been 
able to see our way clear to getting sport from these beau- 
tiful birds in our region. There is no difficulty about 
food or successful wintering, and by so much as we could 
reduce the foxes and owls the game birds woulci syrely ip' 
crease. But hunting these birds without a dog is rather 
dull sport, and a setter dog is rather out of place in the 
Adirondack woods. The Erethison dorsahis exists a good 
many to the acre, and he has a singular attraction for a 
blooded 4og. A setter with his mouth full of hedgehog 
quilb is an unhappy and useless animal, and a sore trial 
to his owner. He learns nothing from his bitter experi- 
ence with the hedgehog, but will attack them again and 
again, so that it is practically impossible for us to use bird 
dogs in our region. 
Have any of our brother sportsmen anv suggestion to 
make in this matter? 
Macgrane Coxe. 
Mr. Macgrane Coxe has a preserve consisting of about 
Soo acres of land at Southficlds, in Orange county, about 
100 of which is surrounded by a wire fence 8ft, 2in. high, 
and containing fourteen strands of wire. The property is 
stocked with trout and some birds, and is preserved, Mr. 
Coxe is also a director of the Sterling Iron Railroad Com- 
pany, which has in the same region a tract consisting of 
22,000 acres of land, which has been for some years pre- 
served under the statute. 
Tranquility Park. 
Mr. Rutherfurd Stuyvesant's game preserve at AUa- 
muchy, N. ]., includes an area of about 4,000 acres en- 
closed with a close board fence 9ft. high, with one barb 
wire at the top. Mr. C, W. Puffer, superintendent of the 
park, writes: 
The game are doing well. The elk number seventy- 
six. Last fall five were killed, and we had one die 
this winter. The deer are doing well. There are, as 
near as we can estimate, about 300. The beaver are in- 
creasing and building dams on the streams. It is impos- 
sible to tell their numbers, for they are very shy and only 
work in the night. There is a lake in the park of about 
seventy-five acres, and it has been stocked with black bass. 
The bird department is managed by Duncan Dunn and 
Adam Scott. They have succeeded in hatching and turn- 
ing loose about 2,000 birds. These birds are the English 
pheasant; they are hatched in April and May, and kept 
in a preserve until the last of August, when they are 
turned loose, so a great many of them migrate all over 
the country and get wild, so it makes good shooting. I 
wish to make a comment in regard to our game laws in 
New Jersey. The deer law is undoubtedly all right, ex- 
cept as regards deer in private parks. As it stands, it 
only allows park owners ten days to kill and ship deer. 
It seems to me that a gentleman owning a private park 
which is fenced should have the privilege to kill and ship 
his game at such times as deer are allowed in the markets 
of New York city. 
Kildare Club. 
Game conditions in the Kildare Club park were ttever 
better than now. The rabbits and hares are a continual 
prey for owls and foxes. Birds, other than native, do well 
except pheasants. They catmot procure feed in the 
■winter. 
The deer would do well all around here if the law was 
enforced. I think the State ought to pass a law to oblige 
every person that is not a citizen of the United States 
to paj' a license of .$20 to hunt or fish in this .'^.tatc, and 
to -put up a bond of $T00 to respect the game laws, and 
that the implements of hunting or fishing should l)e proof 
of the misdemeanor. The Canadian-French are the worst 
enemy the deer and trout have in these parts of the 
woods, and -they don't care for the law or anything else. 
When an American goes to Quebec to hunt or fish he must 
pay $20 or $25 for a license. Henry Day. 
The Liberty Club. 
Mr. T. A. James, Meriden, Ct.. writes: I visited 
the Liberty Club ground last October, and the 
warden reported quail more abundant than usual. Part- 
ridge and gray .squirrels were fairly plentiful. The pheas- 
ants have not done as well as anticipated. I think there 
has been quite a number liberated during the nast five 
years, but it is very seldom that any are seen in the 
woods, I am hoping to see the day when more interest 
will be taken in stocking our Connecticut woods with 
deer, as I think they will give better returns to the sports- 
man than quail or pheasants. Foxes have not been so 
numerous in 3'^ears as they are at present, and one fox 
will kill more pheasants and quail in one season than a 
sportsman would in ten years. 
Mr. Charles T. Barney. 
Mr, C. T. Barney writes: In regard to my small pre- 
serve "^t Southampton, Long Island, it has not been very 
.successful. I am on the south side of the Peconic Bay. 
and as a consequence feel the full effect of the northerly 
winds of winter. Therefore the country is too cold for 
quail to thrive. 
Adirondack Timber and Mineral Company's Park, 
The park now contains 31,000 acres. Deer in this park 
are increasing rapidly since the abolition of hounding. 
The reason for this is twofold. First, there has not been 
over one-fourth as many deer killed in this vicinity since 
hounding was prohibited, and secondly, deer have 
wandered in here from adjacent parks, where they have 
been longer protected and have become more plenty, not 
being harassed by dogs, have remained here. Many 
thousands of deer winter on the park, Last winter there 
was a yard of deer containing an estimated number of 
500 deer wintered within two and a half miles of my 
house. A thing that has not occurred before for fifteen 
years. Partridge are quite plentiful. Bears were also 
quite plenty last fall. Trout in ponds where I can effect 
perfect protection from the public are getting much more 
plentiful. Have not introduced any exotic game. 
Charles Fenton. 
The Dot Island Preserve. 
The preserve of the Yellowstone Lake, Boat Company 
is located on Dot Island, in Yellowstone Lake, in the Na- 
tional Park, Mr. E. C. Waters, President and General 
Manager of the company, writes as follows : 
In our game preserve in the Yellowstone National Park 
during the past two years all of our animals have done 
well We have raised two young buffalo, one last year 
and one in 1897. The elk are in fine condition, and I 
think we will have three young elk next season. The anti- 
lope^and mountain sheep are doing well. I would like very 
much to buy some more mountain sheep and antelope, but 
they are hard to find. I send you for your information a 
photo of the elk, buffalo and mountain sheep. These ani- 
mals are, of course, now in winter quarters, and have to 
be fed. The steamer on its trips stops each day at the 
island, where these animals are kept, and it seems a source 
of much pleasure to the traveling tourists to see them. We 
have one little antelope that comes down to meet the 
steamer upon its arrival, and she is shot at from once to 
twenty times each day by the kodak carriers while she is 
eating sugar or cakes, frotn the hand of some of their 
party. 
Our game preserve is located on Dot Island, in Yellow- 
stone National Park. The buffalo bull, McKinley, every 
one says is the finest specimen they ever saw. I killed a 
bull that weighed 2,6oolbs., and he, I think, is larger than 
the one I killed. E. C. W.sters. 
Utah Notes. 
The new fish and game law of Utah is a compromise 
measure devised by a joint committee of the sportsmen 
on the one hand and t!ie commission men and seiners on 
the other. The principal provisions are as follows: 
It is lawful to take bass and trout, with hook and line, 
lictween the 14th day of june and the 15th day of Decem- 
ber following; unlawful to have in possession -during 
closed sea.son or less than 7in, in length. Deer, male or 
female, may be killed during October. Season for part- 
ridge, chicken, pheasant, grouse, from Aug. 15 to Dec, t ; 
for mourning doves from July i to Dec. i ; for quail (only 
in counties of Kane and Washington), between Oct. i and 
March i. It is unlawful to ship out of the State any 
game animals, game birds, or game fish at any :ime, but 
lawful to .ship out of the State carp, chubs, suckers, mul- 
let and bullhead, catfish, during time when it is lawful to 
take the same, and then under the direct supervision and 
inspection of game wardens; and all packages or boxes or 
other receptacles containing fish nmst have a tag attached 
bearing the signatures of the warden making the inspec- 
tion, the name of the shipper, date of shipment, and num- 
ber of pounds shipped. It is unlawful for any express 
company or any carrier to receive or carry any box, pack- 
age or parcel containing fish without said tag attached. 
The late Legislature appropriated $5,000, for the estab- 
lishment and equipment of a fish hatchery. This will be 
located either at Springville, Utah county, or on the 
Weber, near Ogden, The advantages of the proposed 
locations are equal. 
The unusually heavy snows in the Wasatch haA'e driven 
the deer down into the lowlands, and, especially about 
Springville and Provo, there has been considerable illegal 
slaughter. On Feb. 16, Game Warden Newell found near 
the mouth of a cation opening on Provo Bench a couple of 
deer just killed, and in wretchedly poor condition, also a 
saddle horse. The tracks of but one man w^ere foimd. .He 
had evidently spied the officer a long distance off, and had 
made good his departure. The deer were disposed of 
according to law. the horse was retained. In due time 
the owner of the horse put m an appearance. He remem- 
bered perfectly well to whom he lent it. The borrower 
had also secured on the same day a rifle from Indian Jim 
The result was the arrest of one Marion Draper, of 
Pleasant Grove. Draper endeavored to prove an alibi, but 
it was no go. He was in really indigent circumstances 
and Justice King let him oft' with the light fine of $15 and 
costs. The money not forUicoming, Draper will languish 
for forty days in the county jail. This does not seem 
nntch, but will have a good effect, as it is the first con 
viction of the kind in Utah that has been made to stick. 
Shoshone. 
Green Mountain Notes, 
MiLTOW, Vt — Editor Forest and Stream: I am g!a ' 
that I am at last able to report that the wild pigeon can 
now be classed with the birds that breed in this State. 
For the last half dozen years I have frequently seen wild 
pigeons in this town, sometimes single individuals, and 
again in small flocks of from three to a dozen. With but 
one exception all the birds were seen on the border of 
one of the large Lake Champlain marshes, where the low, 
marshy land is overrun with a dense growth of willow, 
a spot which a bird of such a shy, retiring nature would 
be most likely to select for its home. Last season a col- 
ony of perhaps half a dozen pairs nested and reared their 
young without molestation in one of these willow thick- 
ets, and two or three pairs nested in other portions of the 
same tract, seeming to prefer to be by themselves. None 
of the birds fell as prey to any of the local gunners, so 
far as I know, and I trust that they may make this their 
summer honie when the nesting season comes again. 
Ice-fishing is just now the prevailing sport along the 
lake, and during the past two weeks many large catches 
of perch have been made. The record catch at this 
place thus far is thirty-one dozen of perch in a Any, with 
only one line. Most of the fishing is done from fish 
shanties, which are diminutive structvires, but warmly 
built, and fitted generally with a .small stove, so that no 
matter what the weather is, the fisherman can fish 
through his trap door in the floor of the shanty without 
entailing a penalty of chilled feet or frost-bitten fingers. 
The ice-fishermen make use of a very clever device for 
luring the fish to the vicinity of the opening. It consists 
of a perch closely modeled from cedar or pine and 
weighted with lead; attached to the sides of the decoy are 
metal fins that extend parallel along the body. The fish 
is attached to a small cord and is lowered to the proper 
depth, when a sharp jerking of the cord sends it darting 
about in a way so natural that the average observer would 
be willing to take his oath that a real perch \vas cavort- 
ing about in the depths below. Often the decoy is sadly 
scratched by the sharp teeth of the pickerel, which, think- 
ing a genuine fish is before him, snatches the prize and 
dashes m.adly away with it, only to drop it in disgust 
when it is found to be only a bit of wood and metal. 
A few whitefish have been caught this winter, but the 
chief winter fish are perch, and anywhere a hole is made 
through Champlain's icy skylight perch in plenty will 
generally be found. 
