Jan. 6, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
11 
After a half-hour spent under the combined shelter of 
the tree arid the umbrella, the rain had an intermission, 
and the chill of inaction warned us to put our blood into 
more active circulation, and so we went forward to the 
next farm. Here, too, the ghastly crumbling ruins of 
masonry walls marked the spot where I had before 
known a happy domestic circle. The imsettled aspect of 
the heavens warned me to hurry forward, hoping to find 
in some one of these familiar farms a kindly shelter from 
what now appeared to promise an entire day of rain. 
We now entered the farm Paso-Seco, where had been 
our old club house, in which we always met at meridian 
to breakfast together on shooting days, and on our very 
entrance Dash announced to us that a good covey of 
quail was there to receive us. It flushed at our bidding, 
and the first one of them fell to cur right barrel, but our 
left made the first miss of the day. 
I turned away with a sickening sensation from the 
blackened and crumbling walls that are all that remains 
of the once cheerful and comfortable club house of the 
Havana Field Sport Club, and pushed onward to the ad- 
joining farm, Menocalita. No vestiges now mark the 
spot where stood either of the two domiciles, but a growth 
.of bushes covers their sites. 
There was no habitation within three miles of us, and 
a heavy shower was again fast approaching. We had just 
reached the farm Artilleria, when it burst upon us, and 
we took refuge again under a friendly tree. Again the 
sensation of chilliness warned us to keep in motion, so 
We broke out before the shower was quite finished, and 
moved rapidly about. Dash now made a stand, and a 
good bevy left us but one to engross our string ; but the 
clouds broke up and the genial promoter of all life again 
smiled upon us, and helped the winds to dry our clothing. 
It was already nearing the meridian, and this reminded 
us of the sandwiches in the maw of our shooting coat, and 
of the well in the adjoining farm, Catalina, which we now 
mvaded. While en route, Dash again announced game. 
The wind was rather high, and this proved to be another 
scattered bevy that was running. Dash located and I 
flushed five single birds, missing the first and then re- 
peating my performance of the morning, making four 
straight kills 
In La Catalina the well is all that has not been de- 
stroyed by the belligerants. A part only of the blackened 
walls of the house remain to tell the sad tale everywhere 
visible. Both here and in Artilleria some cattle are now 
grazing, which with a few hogs and the framework of a 
rude cabin are evidences of returning confidence. A 
battered tin petroleum can and a piece of half-rotten rope 
furnished us the means of extracting water from the 
well, and its broken stone curb gave a seat during our mid- 
day lunch. After that the wild guinea fowls that were 
wont to perambulate the wooded part of this farm were 
looked for in vain, and our return to the railroad sta- 
tion showed us several bevies of quail in wooded or bushy 
fields, also, that flushed wild, but which gave us several 
random shots, generally misses, but completed our dozen 
birds with which we reached home. 
Dr. Erastus Wilsox. 
I 
The Rhode Island Season. 
Providence, R. I., Dec. so.—Editur Forest and Si ream: 
As Sunday is a close day under the Rhode Island law, to- 
day marked the close of the shooting season in this State. 
It is doubtful if any of the present generation of sports- 
nien ever witnessed such a fall, as far as weather condi- 
tions were concerned. It has been a season marked with 
very few stormy days, and the lovers of sport afield had 
but one complaint to make, and that was that the weather 
was too dry. Often it has been so warm that hunting 
was not an agreeable pastime during the high hours of 
the day, and some days it has been so warm that the dogs 
actually suffered from the heat. It has been an ideal 
fall, and the sportsmen appreciated it after the shooting 
of a year ago, when the good shooting days were the ex- 
ception. The bird hunters have found their work hard, 
for the birds have not been very numerous. Quail suffered 
from the severe storms of last winter, and where a few 
coveys were known to exist the shooter was careful about 
divulgmg the place of habitation. The partridges have 
been more plentiful than usual of late, and good bags 
have been made. The rabbit men have had little chance 
to hunt as yet. and with this weather holding on, they 
long for the days v^'hen the law allowed them to hunt 
until February. It is only a short distance to the Massa- 
chusetts border, and there they still are allowed to rut 
the rabbits for a few weeks vet. W. H. M 
Maine Game Shipments. 
The Bangor &• Aroostook Railroad sends out a com- 
pilation of statistics of the game shipped from points on 
the hne for the season of 1899 as compared with ship- 
ments of previous j^e.ars: 
October. November. December. Toial. 
Deer. Moose. Deer Moose. Deer. Moose. Deer.Moose. 
1895.. 669 
1896.. 1029 
1897. .1546 
1S9S..1318 
1899. .1433 
8 177 
13 
53 
501 
21 
411 
38 
79 
718 
19 
498 
35 
65 
1023 
37 
671 
47 
71 
1347 
77 
683 
54 
SO 
1960 
63 
363 
23 
1001 45 
3581 112 
2245 133 
2940 139 
3377 202 
3756 166 
The moose shown as shipped in December are those 
villed m open season and shipped by special permit or 
;eft with a taxidermist to be mounted. 
The above statement, compiled from records kept by 
itation agents, comprises only game shipped by visiting 
sportsmen, and does not include that killed by native 
lunters, nor the large quantity consumed in camps. 
Tricks and Wrinkles. 
Thf. Frenchman said: "I give to yo', naw tres belle, 
)artndges. Yo' cook heem and r-r-return to me one 
setle humming bird I" 
It was dry as a chip, ruined. 
Now if that bird or the quail or prairie chicken had 
leen split open, rolled in flour and fried half-done in 
utter, and then had a pint of sweet cream added, a little 
alt, and more Hour added to thicken to suit as it went 
a cooking, the result would have been good enough, as 
"le darkies said, "Ter mek er feller swaller his tongtia," 
New Jersey Fish Interests. 
From the lieport of tlie Game and Fish Commission. 
Stockinj;. 
All the work of keeping up the supply of fish and game 
has been prosecuted during the past year on the lines laid 
down some four years ago, it not being deemed expedient 
to attempt to introduce new species when those in- 
digenous to New Jersey or introduced in the past an- 
swered all the purposes. The only exception to this rule 
has been the introduction of the strawberry bass. 
There can be no question that New Jersey affords an 
excellent habitat for all the different kinds of fish and 
game which may be looked for in as thickly populated a 
State as this. The Delaware River continues to afford a 
livelihood for thousands of the dwellers along its banks; 
the fish along the coast are sought for by throngs of 
people who crowd our seashore resorts annually; our 
fresh-water streams and our woods have afforded health- 
ful exercise and amusement not only to our own citizens, 
but to many who come here from other States. Aside 
from the commercial enterprises along the Delaware and 
the sea coast, fish and game have alforded a consider- 
able source of revenue to the citizens of New Jersey, to 
the proprietors of hotels and to the farmers. 
The large numbers of applications received from all 
parts of the State indicate the general interest taken in 
this part of the work of your Commission, and it is pleas- 
ant to be able to record the hearty co-operation with which 
the efforts of your Commission were met in nearly all 
quarters. The applications which were not filled are very 
few in number, and their rejection was caused solely be 
cause the applicants were not sufficiently acquainted with 
the habits of fish and birds to enable them to judge as to 
what would constitute a suitable habitat for them. As 
far as possible your Commission endeavored to make an 
equal distribution, ignoring no part of the State. Still 
statements have been made that some counties received 
a larger proportionate share than did other co'inties; 
wherever there is any ground for such statements it was 
due to the fact that in some counties the people were more 
anxious for fish and game than in others, and your Com- 
mission deemed it only proper that those who made appli- 
cations and who were willing to look after the welfare of 
the allotment as far as possible should be first attended to 
even if some sections of country, where none seemed 
sufficiently interested to make applications, were disre- 
garded in the distribution. The policy pursued in divid- 
ing the fish and birds to be distributed was to treat all 
alike, making generous allowances, however, wherever 
the country to be covered was peculiarly adapted 10 the 
development of the particular species under consideration. 
This was a matter of comparative ease with trout and 
with quail, for these may be obtained at any time in the 
market. Whatever disappointments there were fell to the 
lot of those who expected fish from the Great Lakes, or 
who made applications for bass, pickerel and perch. Re- 
moving fish so great a distance as intervenes between New 
Jersey and Lake Erie is at best a precarious undertak- 
ing and losses cannot be wholly guarded against. When 
the fish arrive in New Jersey they are frequently not in a 
sufficiently strong condition to stand further removal, and 
for this reason they are frequently placed in the nearest 
suitable water, on the principle that it is better to have a 
plentiful supply in one place than to have none at all any- 
where; unfortunately when these fish are released it is 
next to impossible to again take them by the use of a 
net, and for this reason some waters will have to wait 
until further shipments are made or until the fish brought 
to New Jersey have increased in numbers to such an 
extent as to make their netting and further distribution 
advisable. The latter stage has not as yet been reached; 
Jiange of habitat frequently works injuriously to fish and 
it sometimes takes a few years before the fish become 
thoroughly accustomed to their new surroundings. There 
is no market where black bass, pickerel and perch can be 
secured, and when these are wanted New Jersey is re- 
stricted for a source of supply almost altogether to its own 
streams and rivers.. It is but natural that residents along 
our waters should object to their depletion, no matter in 
how small a degree, by the use of a net, even if the f.sh to 
be removed are intended for waters where they are badly 
needed. In order to avoid any such objections, your Com- 
mission in securing these fish has had recourse to waters 
where no persons had any interest in the fish, or where 
their removal would be a positive advantage. Among the 
latter waters are the reservoirs of the East Jersey 
Water Company in the counties of Passaic and Sussex; 
in order to preserve the water in these reservoirs suit- 
able for domestic purposes, the owners have interdicted 
fishing, the result being an increase in the number of 
fish until there were more than were desirable. Recourse 
has .also been had to the canals of the State, waters into 
which the fish found their ways, frequently to be de- 
stroyed by the lowering of the water. Unfortunately 
this kind of work could not be pursued as diligently as 
might have been desired, the difficulty being lack of 
funds. 
Opinions will undoubtedly differ as to the practical 
results attending the work of stocking. There can, 
however, be no question that the number of quail has 
materially increased, for results are easily observable 
when the fields are stocked with these birds. The 
quail distributd by your Commission all came from the 
West, and all reports agree that the birds not only 
multiplied, but that they showed no disposition what- 
ever to migrate, differing from the Southern birds in 
that respect. There may be fewer native quail in some 
parts of the State, but the fact is indisputable that the 
total number of quail has been increased by the exact 
number of the Western birds and their progeny, for no 
instance has as yet been brought to the attention of your 
Commission where these birds, did not do well. 
_ As t° the introduction of the ring-necked pheasants 
It IS rather early to speak definitely, for these birds have 
now been protected only since last spring; before that 
time they were ruthlesslv shot of? by pot-hunters who 
kept within the letter of the law which permitted the 
killing of these birds. The experiment is one which 
has been hardly given a fair trial, for Jhe birds were 
released when the law afforded them no protection and 
it was a comparatively easy matter to kill off the semi- 
domesticated fowl; there is every reason to believe that 
if the birds had been left alone for a few years after 
their first introduction, their progeny would have taken 
the place partly at least of our ruffed grouse, a bird the 
diminution in the numbers of which is noted with pain 
by every lover of our wild fauna. 
Nor has the time yet arrived when it may be said 
definitely that the introduction into our waters of the 
pike-perch, the white bass and the channel catfish has 
been either a success or a failure. It is true that these 
fish have been taken in the waters in which they were 
placed a year or two ago, but if the first lot planted had 
spawned the young would hardly be either large or 
numerous enough to have made much of a showing as 
yet. Pike-perch 2 and 3 inches long have been taken in 
Greenwood Lake, and although this is a promising sign, it 
cannot be taken for granted as yet that it has been 
demonstrated that the water of that lake is suitable for 
their propag'ation ; the young may not attain maturity or 
they may be stunted in their growth. Channel ;atfish, 
weighing from 2 to 7 pounds, have been taken in Green- 
wood Lake and in the Delaware River, but it is evident 
that these are of the lot brought hither from Lake Erie. 
No evidences have been found so far that these fish have 
propagated. The least encouraging of all the experiments 
was the introduction of the white bass, for very little has 
been seen of this fish since it was brought here. Although 
to the pessimist the above may be regarded as indica- 
tions of failure, persons at all cognizant with results of 
stocking will find a great deal of encouragement in 
them, and there is certainly good reason to believe that 
success will attend at least some of the experiments. But 
the fact is patent that the experiment in none of the 
various species has been carried far enough to give 
a guarantee of success, taking for granted that the fish 
found their new habitat in every respect suitable. Com- 
pared to the size of the bodies of waters the fish were 
exceedingly few in number; in order to warrant any be- 
lief in success the stoclcing should be kept up for several 
years in succession. Your Commission was exceedingly 
anxious to do this and attempted to save sufficient of 
the funds accruing to the Commission from sources 
other than State appropriation in order to continue the 
work. Unfortunately litigations in which the Commis- 
sion was involved by appeals to higher courts, a reduc- 
tion of the income from menhaden licenses and expenses 
which could not be avoided, reduced the surplus in 
the treasury to so small an amount that your Commis- 
sion saw itself compelled to forego its cherished hopes. 
The last Legislature saw fit to cut off the usual appro- 
priation for stocking, and so this source of revenue was 
gone; had the Legislature done as its predecessors for 
the past several decades did, the money accruing to the 
Commission during the winter months might have been 
used during the late fall in keeping up the supply of fish 
• from the West, and perhaps definitely determining 
whether our fish supply can be augmented by the addition 
of the most desirable Western species. 
Your Commission has paid considerable attention to 
the providing of food for the fish by the distribution of 
what is known as baitfish, for it cannot be .gainsaid 
that the output of table fish from a water depends al- 
most altogether on the food supply for the fish. The 
number of large fish in many lakes and streams could be 
materially increased by a generous supply of food. In 
addition to transplanting baitfish from prolific waters 
to others, your Commission attempted the introduction 
two years ago of the large and small smelts of the 
Maine waters. It is gratifying to notice that these fish 
have been taken in some of the waters in which they 
were placed, and that there is no doubt that they have 
spawned. The smelt is considered in Eastern waters as 
the best food fish, and if its propagation in the waters of 
New Jersey is not altogether ephemeral, gratifying results 
from their introduction may be looked for. 
Reference has been made above to the introduction 
here of the strawberry bass. Your Commission had no 
intention in this early stage of fish introduction to make 
any attempt toward introducing the smaller and less valu- 
able A^aneties of fish from the West, but the cutting off 
of the usual appropriation made some change in the 
programme desirable. The strawberry bass is the most 
attractive of the sunfish family ; it is easily propagated, and 
the opportunity was accordingly embraced of bringing 
some of them on, there being every reason to believe that 
they would be a welcome addition to our fish supply. The 
strawberry bass is known throughout the West by a num- 
ber of different names. It is frequently called the calico 
bass, and this name is more appropriate than any other, 
when the appearance of the fish is considered. It is also 
known m the West as grass bass, bitterhead, lamplighter 
and bank lick bass; in Lake Michigan it is invariably 
called the barfish, and in the southern part of the West 
it IS referred to as goggle-eye, or goggle-eved perch The 
strawberry bass is of a bright gold and black, with nu- 
m_erou3 varying shades, being one of the most beautiful 
of fish. It is fond of grassy bottoms and quiet and clear 
water, and objects to mud. Although specimens weighing 
2 pounds have been found, it is seldom that the nsh at- 
tains a weight of more than i pound. It is very gamy 
on the hook, and rises readily to the fly. It is frequently 
confounded with the crappie, a fish it very much re- 
sembles in general appearance and structure, the principal 
differences being that in the crappie the white predomi- 
nates where the gold is found in the strawberrv, and that 
the latter is not fond of muddy bottoms, as is the crappie 
Profe'isor Kirtland, in George Brown Goode's "Fisheries 
and Fishery Industries of the United States," speaks, as 
follows concernmg the strawberry bass: 
The grass bass has not hitherto been deemed xvorthy of consid- 
eration by fishculturistp; yet, from a long and intimate acauain- 
tance with Us merits, I hesitate not to prononnce it the fish for 
the mil ion. It is a native of our Western rivers and lakes, where 
It usually resorts to deep and sluggish waters; vet in .several in- ■ 
stances, where it_ has found its way into cold and rapid streams 
and even sm-all-sized bi'ooks. it has adapted itself to the change' 
and in two or three years stocked to overflowini? these new loca- 
tions. As a pan fish, tor the table, it is surpassed by few oih^r 
fresh-water foecies. For endurance and rapidity of increase it ! = 
.1 •• ""^ P^"^ ^^^^ '-^ perfectly adapted "to stocking i^onds 
It will thrive without care m very small ponds of sufficient den-h 
it wnll m no way interfere with the cultivation of any nutrber 
of .species, larcfe or .-imall, in the same waters. It will live har- 
moniously with all others, and while its structure n,id disoosition 
restram it from attacking any other but very small fry its formida- 
ble armature of spinous rays in the dorsal and abdominal fins will 
guard u against tlie attack of even Iha voracious pike. 
