May 27, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM^ 
409 
try it. He thought that he would be able to kill some nice 
trout with it later on. I do not know how the Japanese 
workman handles his material, but should think Mr. 
Dunlap's way of removing half the feather would be prac- 
tical. 
A Trip to the Prairie. 
I have referred incidentally above to my little trip to the 
Prairie River this week. I ran up for a hurried look at 
this beautiful little stream, which is a pet water of my 
own. We went in by way of Merrill, on the St. Paul 
road, and had an eighteen-mile ride through the pine 
country, with a hundred colors in the woods about us 
and a thousand tints in the sky above. The sun was 
shining only in name, for the day was cold and windy and 
unsuitable for trouting. The river itself was rather bleak 
looking, and felt cold through one's waders. On the 
first evening the ingenue of the part}', who had never be- 
fore set foot in a trout stream, managed to extract one 
husky trout from his native element, much to her mental 
exaltation. That ended the first chapter so far as we 
were concerned, though later on Mr. Taylor came in with 
about a dozen and a half of fine trout, one weighing 
ij41bs. Mrs. Cone gave us baked trout for dinner, and 
they came in on a big platter, and they stuck out over 
the platter. I should say there were half a dozen fish 
which weighed over lib each, proof enough that there are 
big trout in the Prairie if you know how to get them. 
On the following day the weather was still more in- 
clement, though not enough so to keep us indoors. Mr. 
Taylor went along as guide-in-chief, and we two spent 
most of the day in an argument with a third member of 
the party, trying to convince her that she was not going 
to be forthwith drowned, overwhelmed and instantan- 
eously carried away by the stream. Really, the Prairie 
River is not a wicked water, but the sweetest wading 
stream on earth. On that day we fooled along coi|- 
fortably until afternoon, and I think took less than a 
dozen trout all told. On the next day Mr. Taylor and 
I went out alone, and this was the last fishing I had, as 
rain came on and the water rose ij^ft. The morning was 
of wintry cold, with a raw wind, which made it hard to 
keep a fly on the water. At noon the sun tried to shine, 
but gave it up. At 3 o'clock rain began to fall, and 
after that we had to give it up and go home. In spite 
of all this we killed nineteen fish between us, and with 
the exception of three, I think all of these fish would rtin 
above gin. in length. Had we had decent weather we 
must certainly have made nice baskets that day, and in- 
deed had nothing to complain of as it was. 
Fishing a deep bend of swift water together about 
noon, I said to Taylor that I surely ought to raise a trout 
at the cut bank under the alders across the stream. I 
slashed in here several times, allowing my fly to drift out 
with the current. This I repeated several times, the fly 
floating down close to Mr. Taylor, who stood in the 
stream below me. All at once there came a big boil out 
of the water not lOft. away from him, and a glorious, 
brilliantlj' colored trout flung himself upon my fly. 
"Pound and a half, sure!" shouted Taylor. "He's thick 
as your arm." And it did seem very likely that this 
broad tail betokened a goodly fight. The fish struck 
across the current, taking the line off the click reel, and 
it seemed to me that he was heading for the roots of the 
alders with a view to breaking away. Thinking it best 
to stop him if I could. I put on a gentle pressure, and to 
our intense disgust the hook came free. I presume the 
fish had been but very slightly hooked in the side of the 
jaw. 
"You didn't work that fish right," said Taylor. "If 
you had turned your line entirely free he wouldn't have 
gone across stream, but would have gone straight to the 
bottom. This old talk about keeping a tight line on a 
brook trout is all nonsense. If you set the hook in you 
can let the line go all you want to on a brook trout, 
though you can't on a rainbow or a black bass. The bass 
or the rainbow trout will jump and shake its head, but if 
you strike a brook trout his first thought is to go to the 
bottom." 
I have never had time to test this bit of angling lore, 
but will certify that in this instance my tactics lost me a 
fish, though I thought I handled him as gingerly as I 
dared. Mr. Taylor promised to go back and catch that 
trout later on, and I am sure I hope. he will. Within the 
next five days he will have grand sport with the trout in 
this stream. He very often gets them up to ij^lbs., and 
has taken them over 3lbs., though of course these are not 
usual weights. For the part of the stream which we 
fished I must say that the trout averaged better than I 
ever have taken in a Wisconsin stream. Of course, we 
used only the artificial fly, which is the only fit way to 
fish this stream. Of late years the Prairie has been vis- 
ited mainly by fly fishermen, though I regret to state 
that I heard of three members of a local family who last 
week caught 125 trout on bait and sold them at Merrill 
for so cents a pound. 
The Dalles of the Prairie. 
We found time in our brief visit to go up above Dud- 
ley's place for a look at the beautiful "dells" of the 
Prairie River, where the stream pitches and tumbles for 
a quarter of a mile through a rocky gorge that might 
have been transplanted from the Rocky Mountains them- 
selves. This water is a hard one to fish, and constitutes 
a natural preserve. There are few more beautiful reaches 
along any trout stream that I have ever seen. 
Trout, Afbotas and Deer 
Of all wild things these three are the shyest, the wildest 
and most difficult of approach, and in their way are rare 
and beautiful. In this little journey to the Prairie I found 
the home of all three. In the hill country I discovered 
ancient runwaj's worn by the feet of many deer, and 
much fresh sign, and we saw one deer. Trout, and very 
beautiful trout, we had. And lastly, almost best of all, I 
found store of that wild, timid, sweet, unspeakably beau- 
tiful little wood's plant, the traihng arbutus. This last 
bv grace of a season unnaturally late. Far back in the 
hills along the Prairie dwelt the father of our landlady. 
Mrs. Cone, and to this plac» we went, hearing that ar- 
butus might be found not far from there. We were told 
that it was quite too late, and that all the blossoms were 
.gone, but a son of the family consented to go and show 
me where the arbutus had been. We went back a mile in 
the woods, waded through a cranberry swamp, and came 
to a little, mossy island. Here by mere good fortune we 
found a patch of the pink-white blossoms, in space that 
might have been covered by a tablecloth, but in quantity 
all that we desired. Of two trout baskets, one filled with 
trout and one with arbutus, I wis not which may be more 
beautiful, but surely both are exceeding good. Mrs. 
Cone, who rode with me through the wintry air on this 
quest, pronounced in favor of the arbutus. I ought not 
to omit saying that we put up at the farm of Delos Cone, 
about a mile and a half from Dudley. At the latter place 
we saw Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, of Denver, whom I had 
sent there earlier. They were having fair luck and in- 
tended to stay until good weather came, in which case 
they are sure to have some heavy fishing. On our way 
out of the woods we met a couple of gentlemen whom I 
do not know, but who were going into Dudley. I should 
think the best date to strike this country would be from 
May 20 to June l, this being in ordinary years about the 
earliest of the Wisconsin streams. My own trip, short 
and cold as it was, was a very great pleasure. 
How to Keep Flies. 
Lately I spoke of keeping flies in a glass jar, as sug- 
gested by Mr. Mather. A friend tells me that he keeps 
all his flies in a cigar box, and that the smell of the to- 
bacco makes his receptacle absolutely moth proof. 
Habits of Planted Trool. 
The same friend calls my attention to a fact which I had 
never before heard mentioned. "This roily condition of 
the water," said he (the Prairie River), "will spoil our 
fun, for these are planted trout. No trout are native to 
any of the Wisconsin streams which flow to the Missis- 
sippi tributaries, though they are found native in most 
of the Lake Superior streams, the reverse of this situation 
being true in regard to the muscallunge, These Prairie 
River trout were planted by old man Dudley about 
twenty years ago. I have always noted that in a wild 
stream where trout are native the condition of the water 
and weather have little or nothing to do with their feed- 
ing. On the other hand, in a stream where the trout 
are not native, the changes of weather and water make 
much more difference. The fish will not do much for us 
here so long as the water stays muddy and high, and 
we might as well be resigned. If this were a Superior 
stream I should not so much mind, for I should feel sure 
we could take at least a few." 
I give this information for what it is worth, considering 
it at least good for consideration and investigation, and 
fit to be included in the trout iconoclasm with which I 
have recently had a bit to do, what witli fly-cutting, fly- 
casting with a short line, and other heterodox things as 
earlier recorded. 
E. Hough. 
- 480 Caxton Building, Chicago,- 111. 
Fly-Ffsli][ng for Shad. 
New York, May 19. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
dimly recall having seen an article a number of years 
ago on the taking of shad with the fly. My impression 
is that this article is in your paper, and that it was 
written by Dr. Wm. C. Prime, but of this I am not 
certain. 
I write to ask if you can put me in way of getting de- 
finite information in regard to this matter, or give me 
such information yourself, as will enable a friend of mine, 
in whose interest I write, to make trial of this style of 
fishing. 
I wish to know whether it has been or where it can be 
practiced, and what flies have been successfully used. 
T. H. S. 
[We have from time to time printed notes on fly-fishing 
for shad, at Washington, D. C, Holyoke, Mass., and 
elsewhere. The best flies are small and light colored pat- 
terns, like the white miller, or white and ibis, dressed on 
hooks corresponding in size with No. 6 or No. 7 sproat. 
The current number of the Game Laws in Brief and 
Woodcraft Magazine contains an enthusiastic paper on 
"Fly-Fishing for Shad," by S. T. Hammond.] 
Salt-Water Fishing. 
The first weakfish of the season in Princess Bay, Staten 
Island, were taken on May 17, two fish, weighing 2lbs. 
each, caught by Mr. Isaac Smith. 
The Paris Exposition. 
We have received from the Commissioner-General for the United 
States the following classification of Group IX. at the Paris Ex- 
position of 1900. As already noted the conduct of the exhibition of 
this group has been intrusted to Dr. Tarleton H. Bean: 
Group IX.— Forestry, Hunting, PlsfaiDg, Gathering Wild 
Crops. 
CLASS 49.— APPLIANCES AND PROCESSES USED IN 
FORESTRY. 
Collection of seeds. Specimens of indigenous or exotic forest 
products. 
Special implements for gathering, preparing, testing and pre- 
serving seeds; drying houses. Implements for nurseries. Equip- 
ment for tree culture and forest industries. 
Processes of culture in nurseries. Processes of culture and of 
the management of forests. 
Forest topography. 
Forest virorks; keeper's houses, sawmills, tracks for hauling 
timber, sanitation, re-stocking (with animals, etc.). 
Terracing: re-planting, turfing, etc. Planting to hold the surface 
of dunes. 
CLASS 50.— PRODUCTS OF THE CULTIVATION OF FOR- 
ESTS AND OF FOREST INDUSTRIES. 
Specimens of forest products. 
Wood for cabinet work, for building, for fuel, wood that has 
been worked; lumber; staves. Dye woods. 
Cork; textile barks. Tanning^ fragrant, resinous substances, etc. 
Products of foreign industries; cooper's stock, basket work, 
manufactures of esparto, wooden shoes, wood wool, corks, kiln- 
dried wood, charcoal, raw potash, etc. 
CLASS 5L-HUNTING EQUIPMENTS. 
(Manufacturing Appliances and Products.) 
I. Special machinery and tools used in the manufacture of arms* 
machines for straightening barrels; special lathes for instantaneous 
reproductions; machines for finishing the interior boring of bar- 
rels, boring machines; machines for punching gun barrels; special 
machines for making wooden gun stocks; milling machines, th^ 
chines for reproducing different parts of arms in steel; machines 
for polishing and finishing tempered pieces. 
Material and tools for the manufacture of cartridges and am- 
munition. 
2. Side arms. 
Arms for trophies; copies of ancient weapons. 
Missile weapons. Bows, cross bows, etc. 
Fire arms, guns, rifles, pistols, etc 
Accessories for fire arms. 
Bullets, solid or hollow, explosive. Percussion caps, primers, 
cartridges. 
Hunting equipments, appliances for training dogs. 
Apparatus used in fencmg schools. 
CLASS 52.-PRODUCTS OF HUNTING. 
Collections and drawings of land and amphibious animals, birds 
and eggs. 
Skins and furs in the rough. Skins prepared for the furrier. 
Taxidermist's work. 
Hair, horse hair and bristles. Undressed feathers and bird 
skins. 
Horn, ivory, bone and tortoise-shel). 
Musk, castoreum, civet, etc. 
CLASS 
53.— FISHING EQUIPMENTS AND PRODUCTS- 
FISH CULTURE. 
1. Floating appliances used in fishing. Nets, tackle and imple- 
ments for sea fishing. Nets, weirs, traps and appliances for fresh 
water fishing. 
2. Marine fish culture; fish, Crustacea, molluscs, radiates, etc. 
Fresh water fish culture; installation, equipment and processes 
used in pisciculture; fish ways; culture of leeches. 
3. Aquariums. 
4. Collections and drawings of fish, cetacea, Crustacea, molluscs, 
etc. 
Pearls, shells, mother of pearl. Coral. Sponges. Tortoise shell. 
Whalebone. Spermaceti, Ambergris. Fish oils and fats. 
CLASS 54.— APPLIANCES FOR GATHERING WILD CROPS 
AND PRODUCTS OBTAINED. 
1. Appliances and implements for gathering the products of the 
soil obtained without culture. , 
2. Mushrooms. TruiHes. Edible wild fruits. 
Plants, roots, barks, leaves, fruits obtained without cultivation 
and used by herbalists, in pharmacy, dyeing, the manufacture of 
paper, oils, or for other purposes. 
India rubber; gutta percha. Gums and resins. 
he MmmL 
Fixtures. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
Sept. 4-7.— Toronto, Can.— Toronto Industrial Exhibition Asso- 
:iation's eleventh annual show. 
Nov. 22-24.— New York.— American Pet Dog Club's siiow. S. 
C. Hodge, Supt. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Nov. 6.— Bicknell, Ind.— Indiana Field Trial Club's trials. S, 
ff. Socwell, Sec'y. 
Nov. 14.— Chatham, Ont.— International Field Trial Club's tenth 
annual trials. W. B. Wells Hon. Sec'y. 
Nov. 14.— Washington, C. H„ O.— Ohio Field Trial Club's 
trials. C. E. Baughn, Sec'y. 
Dec. S.— Newton, N. C— Continental Field Trial Club's trials, 
Thos. Sturges, Sec'y. 
Manitoba Field Trials Club. 
Winnipeg.— £rfiYor Forest and Stream: At the twelfth 
annual meeting of the Manitoba Field Trials Club, there 
being quite a fair attendance of members, the secretary- 
treasurer's report showed the financial condition of the 
club to be most satisfactory. The election of officers for 
the ensuing year resulted in the following gentleiuen 
being unanimously re-elected: Patron, His Honor, 
Lieut.-Gov. Patterson, of Manitoba; President, John 
Wootton; First Vice-President, Thos. McCaffry; Second 
Vice-President, N. G. Leslie; Honorary Secretary-Treas- 
urer, William C. Lee; Managing Committee, W. F. Ellis, 
W. E. Macara and Jos. Lemon. 
After considerable discussion, it was finally decided to 
hold the annual trials at Morris, on Wednesday, Sept. 
6. A derby for setters and pointers will be the first 
stake, they to have been whelped on or after Jan. i, 1898. 
Purse of $225, divided into $100 to first, $75 to second 
and $50 to third, entries closing July i, 1899. This will 
be followed by an all-age stake for setters and pointers, 
with a purse of $225, divided into $100 to first, $75 to 
second and $50 to third, entries closing Aug. i, 1899; 
forfeit $5; starters $10 in each stake. 
Votes of thanks were passed to the management of the 
Manitoba and Clarendon hotels, to the press, to Mr. 
Frank Richards, who judged the trials of 1898 so satis- 
factorily, and to the officers of the past year. The old 
grounds at Morris will be again given a trial, but are 
to undergo a thorough inspection first. 
William C. Lee, 
Honorary Secretary-Treasurer. 
New England Fox Hunting, 
Barre, Vt. — Editor Forest and Stream: On the fox 
hunt I attended. New England style, the dog drove the 
fox to earth ; one of the hunters filled in the mouth of 
the hole with stones and earth, to prevent the escape of 
the animal. In the evening I was notified that the fox 
was in the ground and was told to be on the spot at an 
early hour the following morning. Four able bodied men 
(myself inclusive) with as many dogs and with ample 
excavating tools were there at the appointed time. It 
was an old fox burrow, with many entrances. The dogs 
soon located him, and he was unearthed and delivered 
over to the jaws of death. This was the only fox the 
writer ever assisted to dig out. I consider it brutal and 
unsportsmanlike, and I would like to know from your fox 
hunting readers what the common feeling is about dig- 
ging out. - B. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 
ment, instruction and information between American sportsmen. 
The editors invite communications on the subjects to which its 
pages are devoted. Anonymous communications will not be re- 
garded. While it is intended to give wide latitude in discussion 
of current topics, the editors are not responsible for the views of 
correspondents, S 
Subscriptions may begin at any time. Terms : For single 
copies, $4 per year, $2 for six months. For club rates and full 
particulars respecting subscriptions, see prospectus on page iv. 
