May s, 1900.1 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
S49 
might he be to go fishing for ducks and catch perch in- 
stead. But near Kekoskee unusual things happen, so we 
must not make merry over the act of lucky Mr. Kinney. 
It is true. E. Hough. 
300 iSoycB £ini.oiNG, Chicago, IlL 
Stock the Preserve with Turkeys. 
While sportsmen are scouring the world .for suitable 
birds to stock their preserves with, it seems odd that the 
greatest of them all, the turkey, has been overlooked, 
probably tsecause he is considered a domestic bird, which 
he is not, but is a semi-domesticated game bird, only a 
few generations from absolute wildness, and always ready 
to relapse into the wild ways of his ancestors. His roving 
disposition still remains, and he never shows the least 
inclination to live among men, except on accoiint of food 
supply. When mating time comes, the hens always try 
to seek the woods, and their nests are secreted with all 
the care and cunning of their wild ancestors. When 
the young are hatched, the mother avoids the vicinity of 
man as much as possible, and if a man approaches her will 
hide herself and young. Unless found and driven home, 
she would never take her young ones to the house where 
she was raised, unless stress of weathe'r or starvation 
compelled her. 
I well remember when there were still a few wild 
turkeys left, and sometimes it happened that the tame 
ones roaming the woods were mistaken for wild ones, and 
a few of them were shot, but only a few out of a flock, for 
after that they became wilder than those that had always 
been "wild turkeys," and it was next to impossible to get 
any more of them. They actually kept the stock of wild 
ones from extinction for a number of years. 
If a good sized flock of tame ones were turned loose in 
a wild region suited to them (and they will live almost 
anywhere), there is no doubt about their breeding, and if 
they were shot at and occasionally one was killed, they 
would soon become experts at taking care of themselves. 
It would' cost but a trifle to turn a flock into the woods, 
and they would' prove a success. 
In selecting the stock, care should be taken not to get 
any of the highly bred varieties, of which there are a 
number bred for market. The proper kind to get is the 
"little old-fashioned black turkey." They are not so far 
removed from, original wildness as their highly bred 
cousins, are hardier and more inclined to relapse into 
barbarism. On account of large size and magnificent ap- 
pearance, the bronze variety would be most desirable, but 
owing to their having been raised in luxury and constant 
contact with man, they are not so well fitted to care for 
them.selves. The kind known as "Maltese" (the color of 
a Maltese cat) have an excellent_ color for protection, but 
like the bronze, are perhaps too highly bred._ 
It may be that the various kinds of vermin would make 
.serious "inroads on the flocks until they got educated, 
but 3=; they are very keen of both sight and hearing, and 
can fly, and the vermin cannot fly, thev certainly would 
not be exterminated from this cau=e. Thev begin to fly 
very young. A turkey no larger than a full-grown quail 
can fl'' 100 vards, and the instant the old hen gives the 
sign?!, the little ones are in the air and each one going it 
for himself. Thev know enough too, not to "cheeo" till 
tlie old hen calls them. O. H. Hampton. 
Turkeys. 
San Francisco Striped Bass Club. 
San Francisco, April 24.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Last July the club was formed with a membership of 
twenty anglers devoted to the sport of fishing for striped 
bass, and at the commencement of this year the mem- 
bership was increased to twenty-five. So successful has 
the club been that there are a number of names on the 
waiting list, and as this is the first club on the Pacific 
Coast formed for the exclusive purpose of angling for the 
striped bass, its members are very earnest and enthusias- 
tic. Striped bass were intioduced in California waters 
by the Fish and Game Commission of this State, and 
have increased "=0 rapidly that they are now one of tlie 
principal elements in the fish supply oi this coast. Bass 
weighing 58 pounds have been taken in nets, and are fre- 
quentlv seen on the counters of the fish market weighing 
over 40 pounds. Unlike trout, the bass may be caught 
adjacent to San Francisco, and one of the best places 
for this sport is the Oakland estuary, reached in forty-five 
minutes from the city at a cost of 10 cents each way. 
The bait most commonly used is the long-neck clam, 
while the live minnow in deep waters and the trolling 
spoon are "sure killers," and doubtless as the sport be- 
comes better known here other lures will be found to be 
equally successful. You will note in the copy of the con- 
stitution and by-laws inclosed that a number of prizes are 
given to stimulate the members in this sport, and that 
only sportsmanlike methods for angling are countenanced. 
The rules read: 
Rule I. — The season for taking striped bass shall be 
between the first day of January and the first day of 
December of each year. 
Rule II. — The official days when bass may be taken by 
the members of the club shall be on all legal holidays dur- 
ing the season. 
Rule III— No fish weighing less than 3 pounds shall 
count as a record fish, and all record fish must be taken 
with rod and line. 
Rule IV. — Any member using a drop line, throw line 
or any other contrivance but rod and line on an official 
day shall be ineligible to compete for a prize on that day. 
Rule V. — All record fish must be weighed in the pres- 
ence 01 one or more members of the club. 
Rule VI. — There shall be four official outing days dur- 
ing the season, the dates thereof to be appointed by the 
executive committee. A prize of the value of $7.50 will 
be awarded on each of these days to the member catching 
the largest striped bass, 
The prizes for fishing contests are: (No member shall 
be entitled to more than one prize in this event.) First, 
split bamboo rod; second, split bamboo rod; third, Vom 
Hofe reel; fourth, fishing basket; fifth, steel rod; sixth, 
rod case; seventh, telescope gaft'; eighth, minnow bucket; 
ninth, leather reel case. 
Casting contest; One prize, rod. 
Ripley "'High-Hook" medal: This medal shall remain 
in the possession of the member catching the largest 
striped bass in conformity with the club rules. He shall 
surrender it to the member catching a larger bass, and so 
on. This medal shall remain in the permanent posses- 
sion of the member catching the largest bass in the sea- 
son. No witness shall be necessary, and all days shall 
be record days to compete for this medal. 
Jas. S. Turner, Sec'y. 
and average 300 dozen pairs a week the year round. At 
present they are coming in faster than they are going out, 
and there are now in that little pond 6,000 dozen frogs. 
They are shipped to New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, 
Cincinnati, Chicago and various other points. 
"The turtle industry is not so large, but I shipped 
thirty-five tons of them last year. They are mostly 
caught in nets. They are mostly of the kind that resemble 
the terrapin, though are not the same as the Eastern 
terrapin. I have named them Indiana terrapin. They are 
shipped either alive or dressed." 
A visit to the packing house gave a better idea of the 
size of the business than the figures do. In boxes and 
barrels were ten bushels or more of live frogs; on a big 
table were bushels of legs — thousands of pairs of them. 
Around the tables stood a lot of girls who, with the quick- 
ness acquired by long practice, stripped the skins off at 
the rate of perhaps forty pairs a minute. The dressed 
legs are strung in bunches of a dozen pairs and packed 
in boxes for shipment. Everything is kept clean_ by 
plenty of washings as the meat goes through the various 
operations of cleaning and packing. The only disagree- 
able sight about the whole process is the way the legs are 
severed from the bodies. They are snipped off by a pair 
of shears, and the still living bodies thrown into a tub and 
continue to live and try to crawl about for quite a while. 
It certainly would seem less cruel if the heads were 
snipped off before the legs were severed from the body. 
O. H. Hampton. 
Maine Spring Fishing. 
Boston, April 28. — The ice is out of several of the 
Maine trout and salmon lakes. Cobbosseecontee, Marana- 
cook, Annabessacook and the Belgrade lakes and ponds 
cleared on Wednesday. Lake Auburn cleared on Thurs- 
day morning, and wa< almost immediately covered by the 
boats of local fishermen. Some good trout and salmon 
(?) are looked for, since that lake is one of the best 
stocked in Maine. The State hatchery is on Townsend 
Brook, only a short distance from the lake, and a great 
many, both trout and salmon, fry and yearlings, are 
turned loose every year. 
Augusta and Gardiner fishermen were early on Cob- 
bosseecontee, and specials to the daily press say that the 
fishing is good. E. L. Duffer and Eliza Hollenbaugh each 
caught 4^-pound trout Thursday. J. M. Stevens has 
landed a squaretail that weighed 3 pounds and 14 ounces. 
C. W. Jones also took a 4-pound squaretail. S. W. Tib- 
bets and Isaac Bennet have taken four trout, the largest 
weighing 55^ pounds. Boston fishermen are going to that 
lake. Commissioners Carleton and Oak have been. 
The Commissioners have already fished Swan Lake, 
near Belfast, Me., which cleared of ice several days ago. 
It is a curious fact that the Maine lakes and ponds, for- 
merly abandoned to pickerel, under first stocking with 
black bass, and later with trout and salmon, are rapidly 
improving as trout and salmon lakes. This is especially 
true of Maranacook. Annabessacook, Cobbosseecontee and 
some of the Belgrade ponds. In proof of this theory 
"Commissioner Carleton. after fishing Annabessacook the 
other day in a gale of wind, finally allowed his boat to 
drift down into Cobbosseecontee. Here he soon hooked a 
trout of sJ^ pounds, which he successfully landed. The 
trout soon disgorged a live smelt. In absence of a better 
bait. Mr. Carleton put this on his hook. The wind was 
blowing such a gale that he concluded to make a cast 
from the shore. In this way he soon caught a trout of 
6 pounds, one of the largest taken from that lake in a 
long time. Mr. A. G. Munroe. of Augusta, also landed a 
trout of 5 pounds the same day. 
The ice is out of Winnepesaukee. that lake having cleared 
Thursday. Winnesquam and the Smaller lakes and ponds 
in that section are clear of ice. The season of trolling 
for lakers has begun. One or two parties of Boston left 
for that locality Friday, and more went to-day. There has 
been some good fishing at Sebago, but there are more 
complaints of cold weather and high winds. But last Sun- 
day and Monday were fine days, and there comes a report 
of' thirty salmon taken at Songo and Muddy rivers on 
those days. The same days there were reports of a 
tremendous catch of salmon at Kettle Cove. One report 
makes the number forty and another seventy : both renorts 
given me by trulthful fishermen, though neither of them 
was there to see. The Sehncro CUih nartv. inchiding Judge 
Bolster, of the Roxbury Municipal Court; H. S. Fisher, 
treasurer of the club; W. T. Farley. W. B. Saul. H. L. 
Chatman, Fred Payne and J. L. Jellison fi=hed Sebago 
four days. Thev found the fishing noor, but Judge BoK-ter 
landed a fine salmon. There were also three other salmon 
taken and seventy trout. 
Boston, April 30. — Lake Auburn seems to be affording 
better fishing than usual. Later reports say that the water 
was "^o rough that only the boldest fishermen ventured otit 
on Friday, but those who did were well rewarded. John 
Tracey took a salmon of 8 pounds, Frank Cain a salmon 
of 8 pounds and one of 5 pounds. A couple of fishermen 
from Augusta also took a salmon of 8 oounds and one 
of 4 pounds. More large fish seem to have been taken 
than ever before. Frank Smith took a good one the 
day the ice went out. Besides the great number of local 
fishermen, a number of fishermen from out of town have 
been at the lake. wai>.!ng for the wind to go down. Fi^h 
Commissioner Stanley is there, waiting to take his usual 
big salmon. He ha> iust come from a trip to Swan Lake 
with Messrs. P. O. Vickery and Fred Kin^nen. both well- 
known Augusta fishermen. They had good luck at Swan 
Lake. 
Lewiston busines-s men, who are many of them great 
fishermen ' were vei^^ anxious for the ice to leave Lake 
Auburn before it went, and one laid a wager with his 
neighbor that he would have fresh fish for breakfast on the 
23d of his own catching. But on the niqht of the 
there vras no sign of the ice leaving. Some fresh fi«h 
must be caught. He took the electric cars for Nf>w 
Meadows Inn. one of the nearp^t down-river salt-wnter 
noints. Here he ^tooned over nisht. Bv the neen of dny 
he was un and fi'^hing for flounders. Rpfnre 6 o'rInrI< he 
V'-'d a 'Jtrino- and nt ortcp bnr»rd'»d the elfctricc for hooie. 
Here he arrived in time for a Lite breakfast to he rnnkf<!. 
which included ■=ome of the flniinders. Hi= friend wns 
invited in to share them, and he decided tliat the bet 
wa<5 won against him. 
Thfe New Hampshire trcwt and salmon lakes are clearing 
Did you ever hunt turkeys in gobbling time? If not 
you have missed fun a-plenty. When the warm sun of 
April begins to swell the buds and warm the water in 
the swamp, the old gobbler begins to strut. The old 
fellow, the boss turkey, does most of the gobbling, and 
leads the flock along the edge of the sloughs, sometimes 
wading feather deep, catching crawfish and getting fat. 
Their bright red shanks are polished and they are in 
every way in fine condition. The poost is generally far 
out over "the water, and they fly from tree to tree and 
select an old cypress, as a rule, covered with moss. 
When day begins to break on a still April morning, if 
you are in the right place you will hear the old gobbler 
drum on his limb. He walks back and forth with 
his breast inflated, scraping the bark with his wjngs. The 
sound can be heard a long way oft'. You select a large 
tree, take a "chunk" for a seat and fix yourself comfort- 
ably with the tree for a background. He can't see you 
if you don't move. Now he has strutted long enough. He 
gives a short, quick gobble. A swamp owl near by opens 
up with his who-who-who-who-whoooo ; and now the 
turkey comes out with a double gobble, one following the 
other. You have your cedar box and piece of slate ready 
and give two or 'three low calls. No gobble or drum 
now; he is listening. You wait for five minutes. All is 
still. Be careful now; don't make a miscue. You call 
four times. It is a perfect call. Your L. C. Smith, is 
across vour lap. He is almost sure to come. The safety 
slide may not be pushed up — you must be sure. You push 
and push until your thumb looks like a nutmeg grater. 
You have slept in camp with wet feet, and a cramp strikes 
■you in the calf of the leg. The mosquitoes well knowing 
your predicament settle on your face and crowd each 
other for room. No time to kick or fight mosquitoes. You 
h'^^'r him Vave the limb, making as much noise as a tree 
falling. He alights within 50 yards of you on a half-strut 
as he settles down. Isn't he a beauty, with his beard 
touching the ground and his great tail half-unfolded as he 
listens for another call? Better get him now. He sees 
you make that quick move and starts zway like lightning. 
Your load of No. 6 in head and neck, and he is yours— 
the finest bird that ever wore a feather. You go to camp 
with 23 pounds of turkey; and as they say. in Mi^sissinpj, 
"Ti^rkey ri^ht." You have done what fifty hunters have 
tried to' and failed. There is a plenty of voimg gobblers 
to catch crawfish and they will not be afraid to gobble 
now since the boss is gone. Southern. 
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 
vmkly store of sportsmen's raft dine? 
Another Frog Farm. 
A FEW days ago while waiting for a train at North 
Judson, Ind., I noticed the following shipping tag on a 
box lying on the express company's truck: "From A. A. 
Sphung, Wholesale Frogs and Turtles, North Judson, 
Ind." 
In answer to questions, I was told that Mr. Sphung had 
a frog farm right on the edge of town, and that he actually 
bred and reared frogs for market. If this was true, it 
seemed that there might be something in it worth an inter- 
view with Mr. Sphung, so I went over to see him and 
his "farm." Mr. Sphung proved to be a talkative, genial 
sort of gentleman, willing to give any knowledge he pos- 
sessed about turtles or frogs, and he knows them pretty 
well, as he has made a living for himself and family for a 
good many years. 
"No," said he, "I don't breed frogs, because they can't 
be supplied with food. They will eat anything that is 
alive and not too big, but nothing that is dead. It is no 
trouble to collect the eggs and hatch them, but the frogs 
eat the tadpoles, and when they are gone the big frogs eat 
the little ones, until those that are left are too nearly of a 
size to eat each other. Then they are out of food and will 
starve. I know there is nothing they will not try to eat 
if they think it is alive, from, a bit of red rag to a half- 
, grown blackbird, for I found a blackbird inside a big bull- 
frog, and' once saw one that had tried to swallow another 
frog almost as large as him.self. He had tried to swallow 
it head foremost, and had got it all down but the hind 
legs, giving him the appearance of having a pair of legs 
on each end of him. It is not uncommon to find mice in 
their stomachs, and any and every kind of insect. Thdy 
seem to be very fond of potato bugs. They pursue their 
food with equal success under water, on the water, or on 
the ground. I think the only approach tliat couId_ be 
made to frog 'farming* would be to inclose a suitable piece 
of ground, so they could not get out, and let them take 
care of themselves ; and I don't think more than 1,200 
frogs cotrldlive on an acre of the best ground. 
"I get most of rriy frogs by purchase. One man brought 
in $30'worth to-day, and I nay out at' this season of the 
year fully $150 a week for them. The catchers get them 
by going on the marshes at night with lanterns and just 
picking them up. They are very easy to get just now. as 
it is the spawning season, but so soon as that is over they 
scatter everywhere in the grass, and very few are to be 
had until the cold weather drives them into the mud. 
They are then taken all winter by raking them out of the 
mud of the soring holes that do not freeze. Nearly all 
the catch in this section are grass frogs. They are not 
so large as the bullfrogs, but are better flavored. At 
present I am dipping goo doeen p^rs of legs pter wWA, 
