10 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
cution against a person for having killed reed birds 
during the open season would result in a conviction, for 
the reed birds destroy insects in large numbers, and the 
prohibition of the law against killing insectivorous birds 
is certainly sweeping. In order to remedy this difficulty 
your Commission would suggest the naming of the birds 
which are to be protected. 
Complaints from all parts of the State have been 
numerous regarding the <^cstruction of game, especially 
the immature, by dogs running at large. To pi-ovide 
t.hat all dogs should be kept on chain would be un- 
reasonable, but the protection of our game indicates the 
necessity of applying this rule to hounds. The latter 
are used for tracking game, and they generally destroy 
the game when they overtake it; this is not the case 
with setters, ]iointers and other kinds of dogs, and your 
Commission does not think that it would be inflicting 
a hardship on the owners of hounds if those dogs were 
kept on chain or in confinement excepting during the 
open season for rabbits. This also suggests a slight 
change in the section prohibiting hunting on Sunday. 
A great many persons are fond of taking their setters 
or pomters to the fields and woods on Suiidays for the 
innocent amusement of watching the dogs trail garne;^ 
this does no injury to game, and for this reason should 
not be prohibited. 
The most vexatious parts of the fish and game laws are 
the sections which provide open and close seasons for 
partridge or pheasant, quail, hare, squirrel and other 
game of the woods and fields. Experiments at dividing 
the State into two sections, deemed feasible at one time 
on account of the difference in the climatic condition? 
between the northern and southern parts of tlie State 
have proven failures, for while such a law might be satis- 
factory to the extreme upper and the extreme lower parts 
of the State it, created dissatisfaction in the large terri- 
tory lying between the two extremes. It is absolutely 
necessary that the seasons for the killing of game should 
be shortened, for at the present day the open seasons 
are longer than they were ten and twenty years ago 
when there were far fewer gunners and more cover for 
game. It is on this account that your Commission sug- 
gests the adoption of a general open season for tlie wIioTe 
State. The principal difficult^' in the way of the ac- 
complishment of this much-to-be-desired end is that if the' 
season is not opened until Nov. I the gunners in the 
northern part of the State are deprived of their October 
woodcock shooting. It is admitted that woodcock gen- 
erally take their flight southward during the last light 
moon in October, and that if gunning for woodcock 
were prohibited in the northern part of the State the 
gunners there would get no woodcock, whereas the gun- 
ners m the southern part would reap an almost undue ad- 
vantage. For this reason it is probable that July wood- 
cock shooting will have to be tolerated for the present 
at. least. As a matter of fact, woodcock are becoming 
very scarce everywhere, and if the manifest advantages 
of a general open season are considered it must be 
admitted that far more is gained in general results than 
is lost by the deprivations of sport in a part of the State 
by closing the month of October to woodcock hunters. 
-After a due consideration of all the arguments which 
have been advanced on the subject, your Commissior 
is of the opinion that a general open season from Nov 
1 or 10 to Dec. 15, or at the latest Jan. i, would be best 
lor the interests of all concerned. Partridge or pheasant 
IS generally con>;idered the best game bird, and unfor- 
tunately this bird is rapidly decreasing in number, and 
it is impossible to secure more birds for stocking pur- 
poses, the extremely wild nature of the bird rendering 
transportation next to impossible. Most of th'^ Western 
States have adopted drastic measures for the protection 
of this bird; Illinois has gone so far as to prohibit its 
killing excepting during the month of September, a 
month when, on account of tlie foliage and the density 
of the undergrowth-, it is also impossible to success- 
fully hunt the birds, New Jersey at present permits the 
killing of the birds from Jan. i, the close of the quail and 
rabbit season. If, instead of closing the season for twentv 
days in December, that period were left open and the 
month of October taken away, the law-abiding gunners 
would have very nearly as much time for gunning for 
this bird as he has at present. Your Commission would 
also suggest the opening of the quail and rabbit season 
on Nov. I or 10, and the closing on Dec. . 15 or Jan. i. 
As far as rabbits are concerned, there appears no good 
reason why these should not be shot during the first 
daj's of November, and as for quail there are reasons 
peculiar to New Jersey why the season might better open 
a. few days earlier than it does at present. The supply of 
quail in New Jersey would in most parts of the State have 
been exhausted years ago had it not been that hundreds 
of these birds are annually brought on from other States 
j^nd released in New Jersey. Your Commission has in- 
variably' brought birds from the West, when the appro- 
priation permitted such' a course, for it is a well-known 
f,act that birds from equally high latitudes in the West 
fu-.e^ not so apt to migrate as are birds brought on from 
t^ii^ -South. But there are hundreds of sportsmen and 
fiishrand game associations who purchase the Southern 
birds, on account of the lower price. As far as quail 
a,f^" concerned. New Jersey is approaching conditions 
ppervailing in England and other European countries 
wh'pre. the supply of game is almost wholly dependent 
upon stocking, and for this reason our laws should be 
made to conform to those of similar countries, as far as 
the somewhat modified conditions here indicate. Birds 
dq'not migrate singly, nor in pairs; when they leave on 
account of cold weather, they do so in flocks. Now it is 
seldom that there is any extreme cold .weather before 
the first of November, and if the birds were shot at a 
f-e.w times before cold weather sets in it would serve to 
scatter . the. flocks and thus effectually prevent them 
from migrating. That even the Southern quail can 
sta-nd our, severe winters has been shown on numerous 
QGcaS:ions,, and under these circumstances it would be 
thje part -of wisdom to follow the examples of European 
qpuntries bv preventing them from migrating by scat^ 
tsnng the flocks. It has been suggested by some that 
^^fhaps a close season on quail for a term of years 
ihigiit be advantageous, but the experience of the older 
countrfes, of Europe is directly to the "contrary. Iri 
England, where estates were tied up and all gunning pro^ 
hibited. for a-;riumber of years, it was .found that at the 
expfrati&ij,©f thaf ptaiosi there were fewer birds of the 
quail species than there were when the cluse season 
began. The difliiculty with quail and other birds which 
gather in flocks is that the older birds insist on dominat- 
ing the younger, and when they are sot distributed 
or scattered the older cocks will frequently prevent the 
mating of the younger or, when mating has taken place, 
interfere with their domestic arrangements. It is an- 
other case of too much mother-in-law or too much 
father-in-law. A surplus cock in a flock will do more 
i lischief than can be counteracted by the proper be- 
havior of a dozen mated birds. For this reason it is to 
(he advantage of the numerical strength of the birds 
;'f the flocks are scattered, for a flock of birds reduced 
;)y one-half and scattered will produce more young than 
A'ould the flock if kept entire and together. 
There is no reason apparent why the present open 
md close seasons for taking of fresh-water fish should 
be disturbed. .But your Commission would urge tlie 
amendment of the law in such a manner as to prohibit 
the use of the spear altogether. Of late years violators 
of the law have resorted to this means for the unlawfid 
capture of fish. In the first place, when spearing is done 
f\t night, as is almost invariably the case, it is diffi- 
..ult to tell the difference between the various kinds of 
jshes, and it is also difficult to resist the temptation 
'vhile spearing for fish whose capture is permitted by 
aw in this manner, to take others which are protected 
jy law against the spear. Another very advantageous 
thange would be if fishing at night were prohibited, for 
this kind of fishing is almost exclusively followed by 
persons who have little or no regard for the law. As to 
the use of bait nets, your Commission would suggest a 
modification by increasing the size of the nets to be' 
used in the larger lakes. At present the law prohibits 
the use. of a bait net longer than 25 feet, an ample 
'length for small streams and small ponds. But a net 
of that size is practically worthless for Lake Hopatcong 
and Greenwood Lake, and for this reason your Com- 
mission would suggest that it may be lawful to use a 
larger net in ponds having an area of over 100 acres. 
Unless some proper protection is afforded to the dif- 
ferent species of fish introduced into the waters of this 
State during the past few years all hopes of estabHshing 
these fish here and all further experiments in this 
direction might as well be abandoned. If laws were 
passed prohibiting altogether the taking of these fish 
angling for other kinds would be seriously interfered 
with, and for this reason your Commission would sug- 
gest protection to these fish such as is accorded to other 
and indigenous fish of similar natures. 
A novel contrivance for the taking of fish has been 
recently patented and placed upon the market, and it 
has been followed by stringent enactments in several 
States against its use on account of its exceedingly de- 
structive character. The contrivance is generally known 
as the "clothespin" bait, and its use should be pro- 
hibited. It bristles with hooks, and no fish, large or 
.?mall. which once strikes it has the slightest chance for 
its life; the very essence of sport, giving the animal to 
be taken a chance for its life, is practically eliminated. 
A law prohibiting the use of any contrivances having 
more than three hooks would obviate the evil without 
L.i any way interfering with tJife legitimate sport of 
angling. 
Your Commission would also suggest following in the 
footsteps of many States younger and less populous 
than New Jersey by tightening the lines about the ex- 
port of game. Our game covers, in many places arti- 
ficially stocked and everv'where protected at the expense 
of the State, cannot afford to supply the markets of 
New York and Philadelphia with partridges, quail and 
some of the other more valuable species of game. There 
is not the slightest desire on the part of your Commission 
to suggest any interference with reed birds and other 
.animals which on account of their large numbers and 
migratory habits form a commercial product in the 
gathering of wliich many citizens of New Jersey are vi- 
tally interested, but the traffic in the more valuable and 
scarcer varieties should be stopped. 
There is one more feature of the general fish and 
game act to which your Commission desires to call at- 
tention, and that is the section in regard to trespassing 
on private property. According to the law the officers 
of the State have nothing whatever to do with the pro- 
tection of property reserved for gunning by private 
individuals and by associations, but the fish and game 
wardens are required to enforce the laws against fishing 
on private property. This, it will be admitted, is an 
anomalotis state of affairs. The fish and game laws were 
never intended to afford protection to private land 
wners; that belongs to an altogether dift'erent branch of 
legislation. In order to obviate this difficulty your 
Commission would suggest the repeal of the section re- 
quiring wardens to enforce the laws reTative to trespass- 
ing for fishing, and at the same time increase the powers 
of land owners in the protection of their private domains. 
The complaints from along the sea shore relative to 
the existence there of large nets, which stretch hundreds 
of yards into the ocean, have been just as severe during 
the past few years as in preceding years, and your Com- 
mission cannot but reiterate what previous Commissions 
have, said on this subject — that these nets are detrimental 
in many places, and that some law should be passed 
governing them. Not only do these nets interfere with 
the gaining of a livelihood by thousands of hardy fisher- 
ment, but when they are erected near the outlets of bays 
they prevent the fish from entering the inland tide waters 
for the purpose of spawning. Pound nets are regulated 
in all other States, and are made .subject to taxation; 
in New Jersey the mcst destructive method of taking 
fish is absolutely unrestricted. 
The law passed by the Legislature last winter liiniting 
the size of clams which can be lawfully ' retained is an 
anomalous enactment. It prohibits the taking, posses- 
sion and offer to purchase of hard clams less than an 
inch across the hinge or back, and soft clams less than 2 
inches across the hinge or back. Although the State 
has an oyster commission, the enforcement of the clam 
laws was made part of the duties of the fish and game 
wardens. Aside from the fact that no appropriation 
whatever was made for defraying the exoenses of such 
enforcement, the m.oneys placed at the disposal df your 
Commission being all aporopnated for certain specific 
purposes, tha law is a difRcult one to enforce. The 
first problem which presented itself was "as to what is 
the back of the clam and where does the back begin and 
end. None of the United States reports and none of the 
reports of numerous shell fish and fish and game com- 
missions use the word "back." The clam diggers along 
our coast were of different opinions as to the definition 
of the term, some asserting that it meant the thicknessj 
others the length of the clam. Other States have passed 
laws requiring licenses to take clams, limiting the num- 
ber a person might take for the purpose of selling them 
and imposing taxes on the clams taken, but New York 
and New Jersey are the only two States which ever 
attempted to limit th-e size of the clams to be taken. 
In 1895 New York passed a law. limiting weight of 
dredges and prohibting the taking of clams less than i 
inch in thickness, making it also unlawful to use dredges 
or tongs with teeth less than an inch apart. This law 
was amended two years later by removing the prohibi- 
tion against having small clams in possession, and in 
the following year the whole law was wiped out. The 
cause of the repeal was due to the fact that it was con- 
sidered poor policy to remove the breeders from the 
water and leave behind those too young to procreate 
the species. According to the New Jersey law not only 
is the clammer himself amenable, but every person who 
buys or even offers to buy a plate of "Little Necks" may 
be prosecuted and convicted. According to the law 
which provided for the appointment in New Jersey of a 
Board of Fish and Game Commissioners, that body is 
to look after all fish and game; clams come in neither 
category, and for this reason your Commission would 
suggest the repeal of that part of the clam law which 
provides that it shall be enforced by the wardens. 
The Vestiges of Human Depravity. 
Havana, Dec. 29. — I in the past week revisited, for the 
first time since four years, five of the twenty-five cattle 
farms which constituted in years past the reserves of the 
Havana Field Sport Club, of which I was at some time 
the president. During six or seven years I took weekly 
outings over them with dog and gun, enjoying upon them 
many a fine day's sport, and frequent hospitality of the 
families hving upon them in comfortable competence, and 
many of them in the best class of country houses. 
Three years of the anarchical bushwhacking war, such 
as is only seen in Spanish-American countries, has ex- 
cluded civil sportsmen from these fields during this length 
of time, a war in which both sides sought, not each the 
other in the shock of battle, but, on the contrary, both 
made inglorious and cruel warfare upon the properties 
of the country in order that the opposing enemy might 
not collect taxes irom them with which .to carry on the 
war. 
Only the restraining hand of Uncle Samuel has pre- 
served this island from utter desolation, and even now 
something near akin to it confronts us on every side as 
soon as we go three leagues outside of our city. 
With pleasing anticipations, I took the train to revisit 
the old shooting groimds so dear to me, and at 7 o'clock 
A. M. I left the train at Calabazar, about twelve miles 
outside Havana. 
The weather looked capricious, so I had my man Fri- 
day take an umbrella, as I had taken the precaution to 
bring my rubber coat. 
We had scarcely got irltO the fields of the first farm 
when the rain commenced to drizzle, and compelled us to 
seek the protection of the umbrella, and to add to our 
discomfort I found the pastures, in the absence of cattle, 
now thickly grown up with guava and other biishes, many 
of them of vigorous growth. Instead of a passing shower, 
the sky became quite overcast, , and the rain carne on with 
force and obliged us to reinforce the protection of the 
umbrella with a thick clump of vine-tangled bushes dur- 
ing a half-hour, until an interval came in the rainfall, 
when I sought to make my way to the house of a farm 
— the Esperanza — (every farm has a name in this i.sland). 
But I ■ found that what I had before known as open 
fields are now, after four years without cattle, filled with a 
vicious growth of bushes, which were loaded with water 
that showered upon me as I brushed through them, until 
I became soaking wet before I reached the spot where 
the house used to be. And what a sad disillusion indeed 
when, instead of the old familiar comfortable domicile and 
hospitable hosts, I found only the crumbling masonry 
well-curb, whence I had taken many a crystal draught, and 
a mound of broken tiles that had covered the roof, the. 
entire site now being occupied by a robust growth of 
shrubs, interspersed with trees of considerable height. 
Here I tarried in painful sadness but a few moments, until 
a chilly sensation from my wetted shooting garb notified 
me that I must take to active exercise in order to escape 
a corresponding catarrh, so I hurried on to an adjoining 
field of gravelly soil that the woods had not invaded, and 
where I was wont to find game. 
Dash soon came to a stand, and I flushed a gallanula, 
that fell to my right barrel; but Dash manifested that 
other game was near to us, and after trailing a short dis- 
tance, came to another stand. This was balm to my 
saddened imagination, and I stood for a moment in the 
pleasing anticipation that was reacting upon my state of 
mind. I then went forward, when a single pair of quail 
flushed; both of them turned up their toes to my right 
and left barrels, and were added to my string alongside of 
Rallus elegans. Dash was again cast off, and soon again 
made game, so that I now felt sure I had to do with a 
scattered bevy. I flushed this time a single bird that 
turned a pretty somersault in the air in response to my 
right barrel, when another got up and also paid homage 
to my left barrel. Lest I may be thought as jollying, I 
will here say that this was unusual luck for me. I had 
so far used that morning but five cartridges and had made 
five straight kills, all within about fifteen minutes; and 
this operated as an agreeable stimulant, animating me with 
hope for a good day's sport. Here let me note a fact, and 
wonder if fellow sportsmen have experienced it. It is 
that it has frequently happened to me that in early morn- 
ing in my first shots I ,have made two or three straight 
kills, and afterward as many straight misses. 
Several other birds got up wild, and a heavy shower 
was then rapidly approaching, and although my clothing 
wa.s already nearly saturated, we made for the friendly 
shelter of a large mango tree of thick foliage, which we 
reached just as the ^rst large drops began to f aU. 
