311 
Gamc''mT Central Indiana. 
Cartersbubg, Ind., April Editor Forest and 
Stream: It is seldom any game notes from this, the 
central part of Indiana, appear in Forest and Stream, 
though Mr. Hough seems to cover the northwestern part 
pretty well With us the past winter was a very open 
one, but one light snow a few inches deep in the early 
winter, and one sleet storm of short duration. Last fall 
there was a very heavy crop of rag weed and fox tail, two 
of the main sources of food for quail, besides the thou- 
sands of acres of wheat stubble, which gave our quail 
unlimited quantities of their favorite foods. The quail 
went into winter in splendid condition, full grown and 
very fat. Hawks are rather numerous, but on account of 
the heavv mat of rag weed in their feeding grounds, and 
heavy coverts of thickets and corn fields, not many quail 
have'been killed by them; in fact, I have seen the remains 
of but one quail since the closing of our shooting season 
on Dec. 31 last. 
Last fall we had the heaviest crop of quail that has been 
known here for years, and as comparatively few were 
killed during the open season, the prospects of this being 
the banner quail section next fall are encouraging indeed. 
T know of twenty-five coveys of quail within a radius of 
three-quarters of a mile of my house, containing from 
eight to ten birds to the coA-ey. 
Duck shooting does not amount to much here, as our 
streams are all small, and there are no lakes or marshes 
in this part of the State, but occasionally one or two are 
killed during the flight. A few snipe are killed in the 
small swamps surrounding springs, generally the last 
week in March and the first of April, but they did not 
stop with us this spring. 
On March 28 I saw a bunch of about seventy-five wild 
pigeons flying in a southeasterly direction, just above 
the treetoos. They were taking the same course of the 
last big flight we had, back in the seventies. A neigh- 
bor, who followed trapping them during this flight, said 
he saw a similar bunch a few days before, but these were 
fljang in the opposite direction, and so low down that he 
had a splendid opportunity of observing them. 
A perfectly white possum w-as killed by Mr. Charlie 
Ford a few days ago. It is the first otie I ever saw, and T 
never heard of but one other. Are they considered a 
rarity? The tanned skin occupies a space on the wall of 
my denj alongside that of a jet black skunk, and the 
contrast is very striking. Arthur M. Davis. 
Utica Association, 
Utica, N. Y., April 12. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The Utica Fish and Game Protective Association held 
its annual meeting in this city last evening. There was a 
good attendance, and a great deal of interest was mani- 
fested in the proceedings. Secretary John D. Collins sub- 
mitted his annual report. An interesting talk concern- 
ing fish and game matters followed. Treasurer George 
L.° Bradford presented his annual report, which showed 
the financial condition .of the Association to be highly 
satisfactory. Both reports were accepted. The Secretary 
offered apipropriate resolutions on the death of Amasa S. 
Oatley, one of the directors of the Association, and the 
same were adopted. The President and Secretary were 
authorized to sign on behalf of the Association a petition 
asking for the appointment of George W. Nelson, of 
OrLskany. as one of the State game protectors. 
The following officers were elected for the ensuing year : 
President, Gustavus Dexter; Vice-President, William M. 
Storrs; Secretarv, John D. Collins; Treasurer, George 
L. Bradford; Directors, M. M. Colby, W. E. Wolcott, 
Elon G. Brown.: T.-Jay Griffiths, George L. Bradford, 
William M. Storrs, W. C. Logan. Adjourned. 
W. E. Wolcott. 
In the Sourdnchtink Country. 
Boston, April 5. — I have been a reader of your journal 
and its predecessor for fully twenty-five years. It may 
interest your Mr. Burnham that last November I followed 
his route (using his rough map published two years ago 
in Forest and Stream) from Sourdnehunk Lake, by 
little Sourdnehunk, Thissell Pond and stream down to 
■\Vebster Lake and found it absolutely correct. 
W. T. Jenkins. 
Hotels for Sportsmen* 
Persons who are conducting hotels or camps in regions 
where there is good shooting or fishing should under- 
stand that the best way to make their places known to 
persons interested in these sports is by advertising in the 
Forest and Stream. Sportsmen have come to depend 
on the hotels which are advertised in Forest and Stream, 
and registered in its Information Bureau, and the hotel 
keepers who patronize these columns are unanimous in 
declaring that they receive most satisfactory returns for 
the money investsed. 
NAMELESS REMITTERS. 
The Forest and Stream Publishing Co. is holding 
several sums of monejr which have been sent to it for 
subscriptions and books by correspondents who have 
failed to give name and address. If this note comes 
to the eye of any such nameless remitter we trust to 
kear from him. 
Take inventory of the good things in this issue of 
Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund was given 
last week. Count on what is to come next week 
Was there ever in all the world a more abundant 
weekly store nf m>nrt«men'« readlngr? 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at the 
latest by Monday and as mu<?h earlier 3s pra?t5<;atil«t 
ANGLING NOTES. 
^riog io theiAdircndackb 
Mr. L. Martin writes me from New York city: "Will 
you kindly inform me if there is likely to be fly-fishing 
in rhe Adirondacks as early as the week of April 22 to 29, 
and also where is the best region to fish? I have had 
Lake Pleasant and also Cranberry Lake recommended 
to me and would like to know if there is a choice between 
them. If the snow water is not out by the 22d I shall 
have to wait until the last of May, in which case I should 
like to take my sister with me, and ask if the trip can be 
made through Fulton Chain to Raquette, to Long Lake, 
to Anthony's Ponds, to Tupper Lake and Childwold Sta- 
tion, and if these are good fishing grounds, or if you 
can suggest a better ten days' trip." 
It is a most difficult thing to do, suggest fishing 
grounds for another, for what may be good fishing 
for one may be indifTerent fishing for another, and con- 
ditions may exist which will cause poor fishing where it 
is ordinarily fair to good. I was in the office of the Fish- 
eries, Game and Forest Commission in Albany when I 
read the letter which I have copied, and I showed it to 
Major Pond, Chief Protector, who recently returned from 
the very region mentioned, and asked him to make a 
memorandum replj', which follows: 
"From the present outlook, as the weather has been of 
late, the snow will not be out of the Adirondacks by the 
week commencing April 22; neither will the ice have left 
the principal lakes. 
"With that state of affairs you .could hardly expect to 
take many trout, particularly with the fly. Cranberry 
Lake fishing does not, as a rule, open as early in 
some other waters. Of course, you know that to reach 
tliere you have to drive about thir5'-odd miles, either from 
Canton or De Kalb Junction or over a rough road of 
ten or twelve miles from Bensor Mines. 
"The latter part of May is much better for a fishing 
trip in the Adirondack Mountains, and as a rule at that 
time the fisherman will be ahead of the black flies, which 
begin operations about June i. The waters will all be 
open the latter part of May, and then one can go by 
boat through Fulton Chain to Raquette Lake, and 
throitgh by Long and Tupper Lakes to Childwold. Your 
correspondent would have a short drive from Tupper 
Lake to Childwold, but the road is very good. He will 
find fairly good fishing all the way through, and after he 
reaches Childwold, it the fishing about Masseweepa Lake 
is not satisfactory, a day's trip back to Bog River would 
land him where there is excellent trout fishing." 
I have quoted Major Pond's memorandum in full, as 
it may be of interest to others than Mr. Martin who con- 
template visiting the Adirondacks for the early fishing; 
but for fishing pure and simple, with no idea of touring 
the North Woods, the Seven Chain Lakes is an excellent 
place, though somewhat removed from the beaten paths. 
To reach the Seven Chain Lakes take cars to Saratoga 
Springs, and thence to North Creek over the Adirondack 
Railroad, and stage from North Creek to Indian River, 
sixeteen miles. From Indian River to the Chain Lake 
House (Alvin Hutchins, proprietor, P. O., Indian Lake) it 
is seven miles over a road that is not a turnpike; but the 
fishing is better, because, perhaps, the road is no better. 
Once at Chain Lakes there is nothing to do but return 
by the same route followed in going in, unless one de- 
sires to follow a trail and water ten miles to Newcomb. 
and my advice would be to return to Indian River and 
home by reail. The Seven Chain Lakes will always have 
a very tender place in my affections, for my first visit 
to the Adirondacks was made to these lakes, long before 
any timber was cut on, their shores, and before any one 
dreamed of erecting a camp there for any purpose. It 
was not a journey of a summer's day to get in there when 
I was a boy, and to this day the great tide of Adirondack 
trarel has passed bj' the place, leaving it ot? the beaten 
path of the Adirondack tourist. 
The Fish Show in Boston. 
The editor of Forest and Stream has referred to me 
a letter written by Commissioiner Wentworth, in which 
he shows that he is not altogether pleased with one of 
my notes on the fish exhibit in Boston, and now Mr. 
Harding criticises the same note on this subject in the 
current issue of Forest and Stream. What is the head 
and front of my oftending? 
My friend Mr. Archibald Mitchell, of Norwich, Conn., 
wrote me a Itter, from which I quoted, saying that the 
Boston fish showed fungus, and I was not impolite 
enough to contradict him and say it was not so. There 
was no fungus on the fish when I saw them, and Mr. 
Harding quotes me correctly when he says it was the 
best fish exhibit I have seen anywhere at any time, etc.; 
but it did not follow that there could be no fungus on 
the fish when Mr. Mitchell saw them later. And what if 
there had been? It did not reflect in any way upon the 
management of the fish in Boston or the excellence of 
the exhibit, for it would not have been at all surprising 
if the fish -showed fungus after handling, for trout have 
always shown fungus when the skin is abraded, and they 
will to the end of the chapter, and it is not an alarming 
matter if they do. YearHngs nibble the fins of one an- 
other and produce fungus, and male trout at spawning 
time fight one another and produce Avounds that cause 
fungus, and no man can prevent them from so doing. 
Instead of criticising or comparing the Boston show 
with die New York show to the detriment of the former, 
I went entireh"^ out of my way in my friendly feeling for 
the Boston management and the show, which I had com- 
mended in the superlative, to explain why fungus was not 
to be considered as evidence that the fish were not healthy, 
and said: 'Tt is almost impossible to transport large 
fish and confine them in small space, as Is necessary in a 
nsh can. and in tlie tank at the exhibitions, and not have 
the fish suffer more or lessjrom bruises, and fungus fol- 
lows wherever the skin is abraded; but it does not fol- 
low from this condition that the general health of the 
fish is badj and fungus can be cured and is cured," 
I mentioned that it was more of an unidertaking to 
move large fish and keep theiti in good condition than 
was apparent to the ordinary observer at the show, and 
added: "In the most careful of handling the fish may 
be bruised, or they will bruise themselves, so that often 
their noses will give one the impression that they are in 
a worse condition than they are; but they recover their 
normal condition, as a rule, when they are returned to 
the stock ponds from which they were taken." 
In other words, a gentleman had written me that he 
had discovered, after I had been at the show, that some 
of the fish were fungused, and I had said it did not 
amount to anything if he had; and then two active gen- 
tlemen let their imaginations play tricks with their rea- 
son and arraign me for praising the show and defending 
the management by giving excuses for a condition, which 
the first gentleman believed he had discovered. 
However, to be more specific and answer Mr. Hard- 
ing categorically, I did not intend that the publid should 
understand that the fish at Boston were not in as good 
condition as those I exhibited in New York, and noth- 
ing that I have written can be so construed, even by the 
mo-st specious reasoning; but Mr. Mitchell had a perfect 
right to comment upon what he believed he saw at a 
public show, and I had no right to say his comments were 
not true. The only comparisons that have been; made 
between the two shows are made by Mr. Harding at 
considerable length in last Forest and Stream. In 
Forest and Stream of March 10 I did say: "Coming 
from Boston to New York. I saw the sportsmen's shows, 
one directly after the other, and so could compare the 
fish exhibits at the two places if I had the desire; but I 
have not the desire. * * * The latter (New York) 
is the smaller exhibit, as no attempt has been made to 
show more than a sample of the work of the Commis- 
sion in rearing trout for public distribution; and under 
the present conditions existing at Madison Square it is 
not possible to have more than a meager exhibition of 
the products of the State hatchery stations." 
I devoted a column and a half to the Boston show, and 
Mr. Harding has quoted what I thought of it. But to 
continue my categorical reply: I did not see any fungus 
at Boston, and would not have mentioned it if I had. as 
it would not have implied poor health of the fish under 
the circumstances. The last query I cannot answer as 
I would like, for some of the fish at New York were 
removed. First a tank broke and some few of the trout 
went out on the ground, and later the same tank cracked 
and the fish were removed until it was repaired; but no 
fish were removed for other reasons until the show was 
over; and whether they were or not has nothing to do 
with the case. Instead of trying to make a mountain out 
of nothing, it would have been much more simple for my 
critics to have said that the Boston fish were not fun- 
,gused and that tlie old salmon fisherman was in error in 
so thinking, and that would have been all that was neces- 
sarj'. although I believe when I wrote the note in For- 
est AND Stream quoting Mr. Mitchell I had then said 
all that was nocessary to explain away any possible ad- 
verse criticism of the Boston show, and certainly in 
return for praise I did not expect to get a brick. 
Black Bass Law ia New Jersey. 
Greenwood Lake is finally redeemed from the opera- 
tions of those who would catch spawning black bass, for 
New Jersey has passed a law which opens the fishing sea- 
son as follows: "It shall be unlawful to catch, kill, take 
or have in possession any black bass, pike-perch, yellow 
perch or white perch, except only from the 15th day of 
June to the last day of November, both dates inclusive, of 
each year; or any pickerel or pike, except only from the 
I St day of May to the last day of November, both dates 
inclusive, of each year, under a penalty of $10 for each 
fish caught, killed, taken or had unlawfully in possession; 
and it shall be unlawful at any time to kill or have in 
possession any pike-perch less than 12 inches in length, 
or any white bass less than 9 inches in length, except for 
the use of stocking waters in this State therewith under 
the direction of the Fish and Game Commissioners of this 
State, under a penalty of $10 for each pike-perch or white 
bass so killed or had in possession." 
The New Jersey Fish and Game Commissioners are to 
be congratulated upon their intelligent action in framing 
this bill, which is now a law, to give the black bass of 
the State sixteen days of grace from the statute which has 
been in force for so many years, and I will predict that 
before many years more have passed New York and 
New Jersey will be urging a uniform black bass law to 
open not before July i. New York has ceased to fur- 
aish the small-mouth black bass to applicants, and the 
people are beginning to understand that they must de- 
pend upon the natural increase of the fish if they \\;ould 
preserve their fishing, and slowly they are finding that 
black bass spawn through the month of June and that 
ihey must be protected during that period to keep up the 
stock. 
Commissioner Halsey, of New Jersey, who sends me 
a copy of the law I have quoted, writes me: "We had a 
hard fight at Trenton this spring, but we have changed 
the black bass law from May 30 to June 15, but in the 
"give an take" with southern members we were com- 
pelled to omit "This act shall take effect immediately." 
Thus, under our law, the black bass amendment will.not 
be in force until July 4, igoo." 
Why New Jersey should provide a legal limit of length 
for pike-perch, a fish which can be hatched artificially 
by the million upon million, and fail to provide a legal 
limit of length for black bass, which cannot be hatched 
artificially, deponent sayeth not. 
Fly-Casting Rods. 
My friend Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fishing 
Gazette. London, asks me to write a note in this col- 
mnn explaining why the fly-casting records of recent 
years in this country do not give the weights of rods and 
particulars of lengths used. I would do so if I could, 
but I do not know myself. Mr.- Marston gays the rec- 
ords we publish on this side are useless for the purpose ' 
of 'comparison with records on the other side, as no 
mention is made of the style of rod used, and this is 
true. In the days of the National Rod and Reel Associa- 
tion tournaments the weights and lengths rods used 
