472 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. is, 1900. 
central fin and shut her mouth hard, as it proved. There 
wa'^ a straggle which carried ihe pair some dirtance irom 
the bed. and it seemed as though the female was ^hak.ng 
the male fish, as he was helpless back downward, until 
finally he ceased to struggle and the female released him 
and returned to her bed with an air wh ch indicated to my 
companion and mvself that she intended to convey the 
impresfion to the "defeated male that that was her bu=y 
day and she would brook no interference with her domes- 
: tic plans and work, 
Fiih DistribwtJon. 
At the December meetng of the Forest, Fish and Game 
Commission the State Fishculturist submitted a report 
which gave -among other things the summary of the fi h 
p'an ed in the waters of the State of New York durmg 
the fiscal year end ng Sept. 30, 1900. This summary may 
not be exactly correct according to the detailed statement 
to be made next month, as there are a few applications 
vet to be added. The egg taking for this fall sea on of 
1900 was not computed when the meeting was held but 
from the figures from the hatcheries that had completed 
the taking of brook and brown trout eggs, the 'ncrease this 
year over last at same hatcheries amounts to 1,000,600 
eggs, in a total of 5,947,500. 
Niw Fish Applications. 
New fish applica ions have been adopted by the Corn- 
mission for black bass and fish fry. The black bass appli- 
cations have figures of the two species of black bass, the 
large-mouth and the small-mouth, with a brief de-cription 
■ of each under the cut of the fish. The fish fry aDplicatibns 
have figures of the mascalonge, the pike, ihe pickerel and 
the pike-perch, w th a short description of each. The 
cuts, with the common and specific name under each, 
should enable the applicants to determine the kind of fish 
they really desire, and not ask for p.ke when they wish 
p.ke- perch. While the cuts of the fish are of necessi.y 
small, they are accurate, being prepared for the Fore-t. 
Fish and Game Commission by the United States Fish 
Cbmmission, and show the d stinguishing scales on the 
cheeks arid gill covers of the ma=calcnge, pike and 
pickerel, and no one can mistake a pike-perch for any of 
the other fish named when it is observed that the pike- 
perch has two dorsal fins and each of the other fish but 
a single dorsal. The same blanks are used for tomcats, 
smelt, Adirondack frostfish and other fish except trout 
and black bass. A. N. Cheney. 
Public and Private Waters. 
'Canandaicua, N. Y.. Dec. 8. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The ar.icle of Mr. Van Cleef in your issue of 
Dec. 8 must prove of great interest to all persons who 
believe in the protection and increase of our game fish. I 
hepe it will provoke earnest discussion in Forest and 
Stream, for it would seem to be important in the highest 
degree to settle at aa early stage the distinction between 
public and private waters. • 
At first the force of Mr. Van Cleef's proposition that 
"nearly all the streams of this Sta.e are essentially pri- 
vate waters, and not public in any sen'^e of the term" 
seemed almost irresistible. But upon thinking the matter 
over, it seems wrong to concede the correctness of that 
assumption, and although I feel by no means secure in the 
posit'on that I am about to take. I will hazard a gue=s or 
two in regard to streams, leaving ponds and lakes out of 
the question., ... 
1 be' ieve water courses may be loosely divided into three 
important classes:. 1. Those-in which the tide ebbs and 
flows. 2. Navigable rivers and streams. 3. Streams 
not nav gable. 
It' will be conceded that waters of the first class are 
public as far as the tide flows. ■ 
I believe it will be conceded also that waters of the 
second dass are public, as there can be no question that 
a navigable stream is a public h'ghway just as much as is 
a town road. And although the adjoining owners may 
own the bed to the middle of the stream and although 
they may have ihe exclusive right of fishing so far as their 
land extends, the water is nevertheless public. 
True, no person has a right to fish in such water with- 
out the consent of the adjo'ning owner, but neither has 
one the right to dig bait by the roadside without the 
consent of him who owns to the middle of the road. Yet 
it is none the less a public highway. 
So it would seem that the streams referred to by iMr. 
Van Cleef as private waters must be included in the 
third class — that is, non-navigable streams. 
I am strongly impressed with the idea that the logic 
of the protection and increase of game, fish in this Stale 
demands that Jie phrase "private waters" be applied to as 
few waters as possible. And I believe just as strongly 
that the common sense interpretation of the phrase tends 
in the same d rection. . 
Grant that adjoining owners hold the stream bed to the 
mfddle of the stream. Grant that if the same, person owns 
land adjoining the stream on both sides he owns the 
whole stream bed as far" as his land extends. The water 
itself can never be the subject of their, ownership. It 
is here to-day and miles away to-morrow on its way to 
the sea where all waters are public. The owner must not 
divert it from its natural cour-e. He must not confine it 
or restrain it to ihe injury of those above him or be'ow. 
He must not pollute it,, he must not increase or dim nisli 
its flow to the detriment of .any other. He can use it 
surely, to his heart's; co'ritent.; but own it. never. Neither 
dioes he own a single fish in the waters which flow oyer his 
laiiVd lihtil he reduces it to possession by legitimate cap- 
ture. He has not the right to prevent a fish from going 
up. or down except as seems good to the people of the 
Staite. It is they who prescribe the manner in which and 
the extent to which arid the time when every fish may be 
taken. It is the public who, can say to each'owner. "You.; 
shall not even on your own premises, disregard tlie Jaws 
which we deem .wis.e,." , i' 
As.niredly ihe owner, may restrain all persons from fish- 
ing on his premises. . That .privilege the public- can not 
expect, pud the .^taje cahn®t grant. ' The owner has the- 
5ny to the u.-^e of his premises and the State has the 
say as to ihe canture of the fish. Whereas, in the case of 
"private waters" tii? owner Jj^s Oig say ^ lo lx)th„ 
Therefore, it seems to me that th's class of waters, if 
they are not public, at least ihey are not private within 
the meaning of that term, as used by iMr. Cheney when 
he said that State fish would not be furnished for private 
waters. 
1 understand the phra.se "private waters" to signify 
either waters wholly owned or controlled by one person 
or an association of persons, and stocked at private ex- 
pense or a private park established and mainta ned pur- 
suant to Sect'oris 200-204 of the Forest. Fish and Game 
Law, in which latter case the waters may be either public 
or private, but must be slocked at private expense. 
F. A. C. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Chicago Fly-CastJnT; Club Inilial Banquet, 
Chicago, 111., Dec. 8. — The first winter meet of the 
Chicago Fly-Casting Club was scheduled for the evening 
of Dec. 7, and it goes without saying that there was a 
good assemblage of fly-casters, their w.ves and sisters 
and other fellows' sisters. The meet, which was of an 
informal nature, was held at the Leiand. and will be 
followed later by others of these pleasant occasions. 
What Artificial Propagalion Does. 
Judge J. M. Kenyon of Toledo, O.. writes be'ow re- 
garding some notable results in a private trout stream, 
and his communication is interesting as show.ng what 
modern me.hods can do with such wild creatures a^ brook 
trout. He says : 
"I inclo.se the record of a Toledo member of a private 
trout stream in this State since 1889. It shows what 
artificial propagation will do, as the stream had no trout 
naturally, and is, in fact now all made s.ream. There are 
over fifty members. This man's record is among the top 
ones, but not the tcp< Wish I was one of 'em. They are 
now rearing their fry in ponds until fall, and turn "them 
into the stream when S to 7 inches long, and will soon 
have it swarming with fish." The record follows: 
Days Days 
Year. Fished. Caught. Lbs. Year. Fislitd. Caught. Lbs. 
18S9 10 61 21 1-8 1895 14 178 71 3-4 
1890 11 73 2-i 3-8 1896 18 183 09 
1891 10 98 32 1-2 1897 li 141 51 1-2 
1892 15 157 53 1-2 1898 12 142 56 
1893 15 130 55 1-2 1899 14 157 71 
1894 15 161 72 1-2 19U0 18 2t0 91 1-2 
Hartfokd Buii-ding, Chicag^o, IIU 
E. IIOUGU. 
More Eel Problems. 
East Wareham^ Mass.. Nov. 27. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: There is a small pond near my house which had 
no connection with salt water until some twenty-five 
years ago a di.ch was dug through a cultivated field and 
wooded elevation, necessitat ng a 6-foot trench; then a 
piece of upland meadow was crossed, the ditch finally 
reaching a swamp drain which in ordinary seasons flowed 
to the salt water for eight or nine monJis in the year. 
The pond very rarely rises high enough to flow out 
through the drain un.il late in the winter, and the over- 
flow lasts but a few days at a time and ceases in the 
spring. It has not flowed to the sea this year, and now 
lacks 6 feet of its maximum height. This pond has eels 
of large size, and had a reputation for eels before there 
was any connecting di.ch between it and the sea. I have 
been told that they were dug up in the mud when a 
swamp joining it was ditched more than forty years be- 
fore the drain was dug to the sea. 
I have also been told of yottng ducks being taken by 
large eels. Th's is by no mean^ imoossible, but it might 
have been done by turjes instead. Do the female eels go 
down to spawn so late as Christmas? Would they get 
caught in by the pond falling and stay an indefinite time? 
The ditch has not been cleared out for years, and it is 
doubtful if an eel can ever get up or down until it i? 
cleaned out. For the last four years I have kept watch 
of this pond and stream to see if it were pos^'ible that 
they could go up or down, and at no time could they do 
so except in winter after December. There are other 
seemingly landlocked ponds that contain eels, btlt I do 
not know enough about their conditions to make out a 
case. The waters I have spoken of contain red perch and 
roach and frogs, all of which Cc's will eat. They will 
thread their way up through artificial ditches and drain ^, 
and catch frogs, for I have seen them do it. They will 
work their way for long distances through peat meadows. 
I know by seeing one dug out, when my father was d g- 
ging a water hole for his cows in the upper end of an 
English meadow; this eel was about 14 inches long. 
The meadow in question had been a salt marsh which 
fifty years before was reclaimed by diking; a small salt 
pond was also taken in and became entirely fresh. In this 
pond eels lived all the year, and in winter bedded 'n mud 
the same as in salt water, and I used to soear them 
through holes cut in the ice. The ditches in this meadow 
have eels of all sizes, from 2 inches up to 2 feet in 
length. The overflow from meadow and pond passes 
throtigh the dike by a wooded trunk, which is clo=ed by a 
gate (clapper) that works automatically as the tide ri'ses 
and falls. Eels can go in and out at low water, but part 
of the t'me a .screen has been maintained to keep the trout 
with which the pond was stocked from escaping. A 
sunnlementary dam was also built and fitted with screen 
and flu=h boards. None of these things acfYected the eels ; 
they thrive the .=ame as before any obstacles were placed 
in their way. Is it not possible that the pond is their 
permanent home, and that both male and female e^ls Hve 
there? If these fish have to pass into the sea and de- 
posit 1:heir s^awn, and the female must, firid a .male to 
assist in fert'li^ation. how do the tiny ones ."^urmounti all 
obstacles and find their way into the di'ches? . •■ 
^ They are verv desfructive. and as t'-ie waters just men- 
tioned are storked with trout, it is i'mer^Jt've that- c^ls 
be kept Gu^ T am aware .that, this subiect- ha^'been well' 
aired, but T havp grave doubts as tn all the fact= being 
known. Two things are certain, eels must be endowed 
with great persistence an<i niUSt J-v-^ to a g-eat age. 
"W^J-TER B. Savarv, 
Ye Gods and Lhtic Fhhcs. 
Under this title Dr. James A. Henshall has written a 
"Travesty on the Argonautic Expedition of the Golden 
Fleece." It makes a handsome volume of 250 pages, and 
is decorated with designs by J. L. Ludlow. The argument 
is thus set forth : 
"A witty, humorous, satirical, political and philosophical 
account of the voyage, exploits and adveninres by sea and 
land of Jason and his s'x y demigods in the quest for the 
Golden Fleece, The route, and the evcnt'^ and incidents 
of the expedition from Thessaly to Colchis, and the re- 
turn voyage, as chronicled by Apollonius Rhodius, are fol- 
lowed but narrated from a modern standpoint, 
"The say ngs and doings of Ja>on, Hercules. Orpheus, 
Meleager. Pollux and Castor, Atalanta and others of the 
crew, and the deeds of Juno, Venus Neptune. Triton, 
Thetis and other gods and godesses in aid of the quest are 
vigorously expressed in a pseudo-pcetic and mock-heroic 
style, illumined by the searchlight of the nin;iteenth cen- 
tury. 
"The stirring scenes and doughty deeds, the pcr'h of 
storm and disaster, the pleasant features of angling, 
shooting, hunting and the tournaments of ath'etic snorts 
are vividly depicted in a style of burlesque and hypei'bole, 
as viewed by a modern angler, sportsman and yachtsman." 
Law* 
There is a rule or law practiced by the London 
anglers, particularly those who fish in the Lee, which is 
that of waiting for any of their party that may drop in 
the rear. It aro'e from the following circumstance: 
"Some years since, several anglers were proceeding on 
a trolling excursion to a favorite spot at some distance 
from London, up the Lee River, when it happened that 
one of them, without being observed by the rest, loitered 
behind, and his absence was not discovered till they had 
traveled a considerable way. They waited in hopes their 
cornpanion would overtake them, but his not coming up, 
they halloed and called him by name, but received no 
answer. Alarmed for his safety, they retraced their steps, 
when to their utter astonishment and horror they found 
him quite dead with his throat cut from ear to ear and 
robbed of everything he possessed. Itvis supposed he 
stayed behind for a moment or two and was attacked 
and murdered while in a defenseless position. Since this 
lamentable occurrence, if an angler has occasion to rest 
he has only to call out the word 'Law' and the whole 
party will wait till it is convenient to continue the 
journey." — London Anglers" Book, 1835. 
Fixtures. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
1901. 
Jan. 14. — Greenville, Ala.— Fifih annual field trials of the Alabama 
Field Trials Club. John 1!. Koaen.siilil, Sec'y- 
Jan. 21. — Uenton ( ouniy, Miss.— Tenih annual field trials of the 
United Slates Field Trials Club. \V. 15. Stafiord, Sec'y, Trenton, 
1 eiiu. 
BENCH snows. 
1901. 
Feb. 26-March 1. — Cleveland, O. — Cleveland Kennel Club's annual 
bench show. C. M. Munlial', Sec'y- 
March 6-9.— I'iitsburg, I'a.— 1 )uquesne Kennel Club's annual 
berch show. F. S, Stedman. Secy. 
Training the Hunting Dog. 
By B, Waters, Author of "Fefch and Cany; A Trea'Jse 
on Retrieving." 
X. — Backing. 
Backing, back.setting and backstanding denote the act 
of one dog standing more oi" less rigidly by sight to the 
point of another dog. The backing dog generally as- 
sumes much the same attitude when backing that he does 
when pointing, though in many instances the rigidi y 
and intenseness in it are less. Not infrequently some 
backing dogs stand in a slack position, as they do 
naturally when there are no points at all to consider. 
However enthusiastic and spir.ted may have been the 
backs at first, the act in time, as the enthusiasm of youth 
and novelty pass away generally -becomes perfunctory. 
The dog learns that its purposes, as enforced by the: 
trainer, are repressive, that he is not to interfere with 
the pointing dog, and that therefore there is nothing of 
self interest in it. The act, which the dog displayed 
with a natural purpose, is nevertheless generally per- 
sisted in from education and habit. 
Backing is an act resulting fro in a process of reason, a 
perception of cause and effect. Some dogs take readily 
to backing, others are induced with much difficulty to 
observe it. and again others cannot be induced to back 
at all. iMuch depends upon the intelligence and tempera- 
ment of the individual as to whether he will back or not. 
The act of backing has no reference whatever to a 
man with a gun, who desires that his purposes with it 
shall not be obstructed. It has been maintained, a-s 
again.st the theory and practice of inteliigent backing, 
that the dog, first pointing the birds instinctively that a 
man might the better kill them thereby, also backed 
instinctively on occasion so that he would not interfere 
with the 'dog which was pointing, and thus would not 
jeojpardize the success of the shooter. In stipport of 
this contention, the fact that young puppies, when point- 
ing sparrows and other small birds in the kennel yard 
and elsewhere, back each other, was adduced as proof 
positive of the instinctive origin of the act. So much, by 
the old w'riters, was ascribed to instinct by way of ex- 
plaining the doe's ac's that one could justly wonder why 
the dog had brains at all, or having them why he used , 
them so little. - , „• 
How an act wh'ch cou'd be talisht to' bht a relatively 
small number of the ca^^ine race, has to all the race be- 
come instinctive by inheritance, and hnw manv othe'' 
acts, taught to dos-s generally. ^-sVt r<ot become likewise 
instinctive, is left by the old writers for the reader's O'Wri 
