April 13, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
291 
San Francisco Fly-Casting CIuf>* 
Medal contests, series 1901, contest No. 2, held at 
Stow Lake, March 30. Wind, light, southwest; weather 
beautiful : 
Event Event 
No. 1, No. 2, 
Distance, Accuracy, 
Feet Per cent. 
Acq % 
90 
88 
88 
80.4 
85.4 
88 
82.2 
93.8 
87 
82.8 
Battu ; 
Event No. 8,- 
Dcl. fi 
70.10 
71.8 
7.S.10 
75.10 
72.6 
76.8 
75.10 
81.8 
72.6 
,79.2 
referee, 
Net* 
80.5 
79.10 
81.11 
78.1 
79 
82.4 
79 
87.8 
79.9 
80.11 
Muller ; 
Event 
No. 4, 
Lure 
Casting!( 
clerk. 
Wind, 
86.8 
87 
72.6 
79.9 
68 
60.4 
91.4 
74.2 
82.9 
91 
92 
S3'.4 
75.10 
79.7 
87 
91.4 
89.4 
68.4 
78.10 
86 ' 
88 
91.8 
66.8 
79.2 
67 
47.8 
76 
69.2 
72.7 
72.6 
90.4 
90.4 
75 
82.8 
. 95 • 
87 
95.8 
75.10 
85.9 
77 
82.8 
92.4 
71.8 
80 
105' 
90 
95 
67.6 
81.3 
91 
90 
91.4 
69.2 
80.3 
72 
90.8 
87 
60 
73.6 
93.4 
97 
77.6 
87.3 
95 
90.8 
81.4 
69.2 
75.3 
96.6 
94 
91.8 
74.2 
82.11 
71 
90 
86.4 
71.8 
79 
Battu 81 80.8 
Brooks 84 81.4 
Brotherton .... 95 88.4 
Golcher 110 88 
Grant 92 78.4 
Mocker 88 63.10 
Muller 92 93 
Mansfield 92 
Edwards 92 87.8 
Babcock 91 
Smyth ... 68.8 
Judges, Mocker and 
Smyth. 
Contest No. 2, held at Stow Lake, March 31. 
southwest ; weather, beautiful : 
Smyth 
Kierulff ... 
Battu 
Roos ...... 
Heller 
Daverkosen 
Turner .... 
Golcher . . . 
Reed 
Blade 
Mansfield .. 
Grant ...... 
Brotherton 
Judges, Mansfield and Grant; referee, Muller; clerk, 
Smyth. 
Rhode Island Notes, 
Providence, R. L, April 6. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The trout law went off at midnight Sunday last, and at 
that hour there were many anxious anglers ready to throw 
their lines into the brooks in every section of the State. 
The best trout fishing in Rhode Island is down through 
the central part of the State, and the trolley cars which 
now invade these sections have carried many a fisherman 
to these destinations during the week. The catches re- 
ported indicate that there is plenty of fish to be caught. 
Dr. Arthur C. Pierce, author of "The Man for Corpus 
Christi," is seriously ill at his home in Riverside, R. L 
The Providence Telegram of March 31 published the 
following in its OIneyville correspondence: "Since the 
ice has thawed on the small ponds a great number of fish 
has been found dead and the lovers of sport greatly de- 
plore this. This condition is noticeable in the small ponds 
near Hartford avenue. At these places the late Fred 
French stocked the ponds with pout and pickerel. Dur- 
ing the past winter the ponds were frozen solid and the 
fish killed. The shores are now I'ned with the dead 
fish, some of which weigh one and two pounds." 
Large flocks of geese going north have been reported 
from various parts of the State the past fortnight. One 
flock estimated at containing thousands of birds was re- 
ported as flying northward over Pawtucket Valley. 
Flatfish are commencing to bite in Narragansett Baj^ 
and good catches are reported. 
Most of the early birds have arrived and from the 
numbers already in evidence it is apparent that the song 
birds will be more numerous this year than in .several 
years past. Ospreys are reported as unusually plentiful 
this spring at Bristol. W. H. M. 
Mmnet 
Notice. 
All cotnmunications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing' Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
Training the Hunting Dog. 
By B, "W&iexs, Author of "Fetch and Cafry: A Treatise 
on Retrieving." 
XVI. — Ref rieving, 
Ali^ough in America retrieving is made a part of the 
dog's field work, it is not a natural quality in the sense that 
pointing, reading, etc., are so. There are those, how- 
ever, who maintain that it is instinctive, and moreover 
that it is so implanted in the dog's nature for the es- 
pecial benefit of man. The fact that an exceptional puppy 
will grasp a bird in his m.outh on opportunity in his first 
' experiences afield and carry it with more or less direct- 
ness to his master is cited as proof of its natural origin. 
The fact that the puppy will grasp the bird on his own 
account, even if his master is absent, is entirely ignored. 
Whether in a wild or domestic state, if his prey is of 
.a size which permits of his doing so the dog frequently 
carries it to his home-. That he should attempt to carry 
it when in the presence of his master has therefore no 
special significance as an instinct whose purpose is the 
furtherance of his master's interests. 
Whe«n the puppy first grasps the bird and makes what 
is termed a natural retrieve his every expression and pur- 
pose denote that the act has an entire reference to him- 
self. His eyes srlare with the triumph of possession; he 
grasps the bird with unnecessary firmness, oftentimes 
rolling and crushing it in his m.outh, and he goes near to 
where his master stands as being the most secure and 
restful place under the circumstances. He would do 
precisely the same thing when he ceased work and 
wished to rest. At the juncture when the dog is near 
to him the trainer interposes, and by intimidation and 
restraint robs him. as it were, of his prey. If he is of a 
mild or timid disposition he may yield his prize to his 
trainer at the first stern word or act in reference to it. 
Under siwilar circumstances he wbiild in like manner 
desist from any other purpose or act in which he was 
engaged. But if the puppy is left to his own pleasure 
in the matter he retains possession of the bird, lies down 
in a place to his liking and proceeds to devour it. 
The mere picking up of the bird in the presence of 
the trainer and the success of the latter in plundering 
the 'dog of his prey are exceedingly limited data on 
which to found a theorj^ that the act of retrieving is 
instinctive. Intelligent retrieving in the service of the 
gun is the result of education. 
If the dog retrieved naturally for the benefit of man he 
would exhibit and maintain a consistent purpose of doing 
so, instead of a consistent purpose to possess and eat the 
bird. Furthermore, it would seem that if the dog re- 
trieved naturally for man the latter would know instinc- 
tively why the dog pointed and retrieved, but man has to 
be taught these things before he knows them. 
Some dogs, it is true, learn to retrieve much more 
quickly than others, and take a great interest and delight 
in it. But this may be said of any other work imposed 
on the dog by tnan. 
The average dog is exceeditigly susceptible to praise 
or flattery, and if he is skillfully handled in this respect he 
will do many things of no special interest or benefit to 
himself other than the vain gratification which he feels 
from evoking the approbation of his master. His keen- 
ness of observation and discrimination in determining 
what acts are pleading and what are displeasing to the 
latter are purely matters of mental discernment. 
The fact that almost any dog, whether he be cur or 
well bred, may be taught to retrieve indicates that the act 
is not a matter of instinct peculiar to setters and pointers. 
When done with any degreeof finish and intelligent purpose 
it is an educational act quite as much as is the act of 
shooting the bird when displayed by his master. In- 
cidentally, is it not strange that the dog should in- 
stinctively retrieve the bird which his master has learned 
to shoot, not instinctively, but by skill derived from 
education? It would seem that inbtinct would work 
alike in respect to both man and dog. 
Dogs, as individuals, whether pointers or setters, vary 
greatly in their aptness for retrieving. Some manifest 
the greatest delight in it, and in fact in any other act 
within their compass which wins the approval of their 
masters ; others perform in an indifferent or perfunctory 
manner, while still others detest and rebel against it 
heartily. 
As a general proposition, by far the greater/ number 
of pointers and setters may be taught to retrieve with 
some degree of satisfactory ability. However, dull nose, 
weak intellect or constitutional indolence will affect the 
dog's performance adversely in this respect as they will 
in all the other parts of his field work. 
As a matter of good training it is much better to defer 
all attempts to teach retriveing till the dog's second 
season. When the teacher attempts to combine retriev- 
ing with the dog's other field schooling he retards in- 
stead of advances it. 
The disadvantages consequent to retrieving are as fol- 
lows: Nearly all puppies — and indeed many old dogs — 
take' an unbounded pleasure in capturing their prey. 
Each one has a keen desire to have individual possession 
of it. In their own eagerness to be the first to the dead 
bird and gain possession of it they forget or disregard 
their training or obedience, so far as it refers to steadi- 
ness to the gun. The desire to retrieve incites the dog 
to break shot; to be riotous when drawing on birds in- 
stead of being careful, and to lawless casting about after 
the gun is fired in search of a real or imaginary dead 
bird, the report of the gun having to him but that one 
significance. The energetic efforts of the trainer at such 
junctures avail but little. The dog furiously charges about 
to find the bird. When at length the trainer gets con- 
trol of him, his mind is still filled with the ardent desire 
and purpose to find the bird, and if freed he again begins 
his riotous search. If at length the trainer, by energetic 
effort, gets control of him and leads him away a quarter 
of a mile, more or less, from the place where the dead 
bird is supposed to be, when released the puppy returns 
and persistently searches for it till he is pleased to desist, 
regardless of his handler's whistling and ordering in the 
meantime. At every report of the gun the puppy's mis- 
behavior is amplified or modified, accordingly as the cir- 
cumstances permit. If there are scattered birds about, 
his riotous charging is sure to flush them all, while he, 
heedless or oblivious of them, is absorbed in the one idea 
and effort to possess the dead bird. 
This lawlessness, incorporated as a part of his field 
work, complicates matters seriously and harmfully. It 
lowers the standard of all his work as it relates to the 
service of the gun. The idea of possession incites^ him 
to lawless alertness. The real or imaginary dead bird is 
a constant inducement to independent and lawless effort. 
■ If the dog has been properly schooled the first season, 
he is steady to shot and wing, besides having acquired an 
interest in working for the success of the gun. In the 
second season retrieving may be taught as a special 
branch, the dog having a preparatory goo'i schooling 
to steadiness in his work to the gun as a finder. It re- 
quires no argument to prove that it is easier and better 
to perfect the dog first as a finding dog one season and 
secondasaretrievertheensuing season than it is to attempt 
to perfect him in both branches at the same time. 
Nevertheless, some dogs will exhibit all the undesirable 
traits enumerated; other dogs one or more of them, 
while others again may engage in retrieving with dis- 
couraging indifference. As a general proposition the 
majority of dogs may be educated into being good re- 
trievers, while a part may be educated into excellent ones. 
Dogs of superior "bird sense" learn to engage in all 
the details of field work with an intelligent compre- 
hension of what constitute proper effort and action in 
every part of it. 
Notwithstanding the disadvantages which are likely to 
accrue when the dog is used both as a finder and re- 
triever, the demands of sport as conducted in America 
require that the dog be so used. The average American 
sportsman owns but one or two dogs, and he desires that 
they serve him as finders. He has neither the time nor 
inclination to bother with a dog whose sole specialty is 
retrieving, and as a matter of economy some sportsmen 
would not consider that his services counterbalanced the 
extra expense. . -\ , . 
The average Amenc^n sportsman has but a few da^r? 
of shooting in each season, and therefore his one dog in 
his service 'must be broadly proficient. While the dog 
may not be so good a finder if he retrieves, nor so good 
a retriever if he finds, a compromise may be established 
which will insure at least passable performance in both 
finding and retrieving, thus affording to the shooter the 
advantages of both. Moreover, two dogs, the one a 
finder, the other a retriever, could not be handled at the 
same time by the average American sportsman, who, as 
a rule, finds quite enough difficulty in handling one dog 
at a time. 
Without a retriever the success and pleasure of a day's 
shooting is materially impaired. Birds which fall in 
heavy weeds or grass or bushes are extremely difficult 
to find, and such as fall in mud or marshes, though in 
plain sight, are gathered with much difficulty and dis- 
comfort. When the shooter does his own retrieving a 
large percentage of dead and wounded birds and much 
time are lost. 
As to the specific injuries to the work of the dog 
employed as a finder-retriever, they are as folloys: The 
best manner of seeking live birds, in respect to the 
manner in which the dog uses his nose, is distinctly 
different from the best manner of using it in retrieving. 
The best manner of finding is with a high nose, and 
therewith the dog cannot go to the birds too quickly 
cotisistently with steady performance. His work then 
is on both bevies and single birds. As a retriever his 
work is entirely on single birds. He has a puzzling 
single trail to follow if the bird is wounded, and none 
at all if the bird is dead. To best find the wounded or 
dead bird it is essential that he carry his nose close to 
tiie ground and trail slowly, and this manner of retrieving 
the average dog soon learns. Unfortunately, this manner 
may be used after a time by the dog when seeking live 
bircis, thus using the one manner whether seeking or 
finding. 
It is comporatively easy to mar the best manner m 
vv'hich the dog uses his nose in finding, and when so 
marred it is beyond the power of the trainer to correct it. 
American' Ganoc Association, J900-J90I. 
Commodore, C. E. Britton, Gananoque, Can. 
Secretary-Treasurer, Herb Begg. 24 Kmg street, West loronto, 
Canada. . , ^ a 
Librarian, W. P. Stephens, Thirty-second street ana Avenue A, 
Bayonne, N, J. 
Division Officers. 
ATLANTIC DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., Henry M. Dater, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Rear-Corn., H. D. Hewitt, Burlington, N. J. 
Purser, Joseph F. Eastmond. 199 \radison street, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
CENTRAL DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn., C. P. Forbush, Buffalo, N. Y. 
Rear-Com., Dr. C. R. Henry, Perry, N. Y. 
Purser, Lyman P. Hubbell, Buffalo, N._Y. 
EASTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., Louis A. Hall, Newton, Mass. 
Rear Com., C. M. Lamprey. Lawrence, Mass. . 
Purser, A. E. Kimberly, Lawrence Experimental Station, 
Lawrence. Mass. ^^^^^^^^ DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., G. A. Howell, Toronto, Can. _ 
Rear-Corn,, R. Easton Burns, Kingston, Ontario, Can. 
Purser, R. Norman Brown, Toronto, Can. 
WESTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn., Wm. C. Jupp, Detroit, Mich. 
Rear-Com., F. B. Huntington, Milwaukee, Wis. . 
Purser, Fred T. Barcroft, 408 Ferguson Building, Detroit, Mich. 
H 
Official organ. Forest and Stream. 
^Mid Reef and Rapid —VH. 
BY F. R. WEBB. 
The eariy settlers of the valley and mountain regions 
of the Virginias seem to have been blessed with a singu- 
lar paucity of invention when it came to naming their 
rivers. The scarcity of Indian names is readily accounted 
for when we recall the fact that, numerous as they were 
in the lower countries and along the seas and bays, no 
Indian tribes dwelt in the valley or in the mountain 
regions, only visiting these regions from time to time 
when on hunting or other expeditions, and affixing their 
names to but few streams besides the Shenandoah and 
Potomac among the mountain streams; hence the settlers 
were called on to name the streams themselves, and the 
numerous North forks. South forks, North rivers. South 
rivers, etc., bear testimony to their lack of ideas in this 
respect. There is the North Fork and South Fork of the 
Potomac; the North Branch of the South Fork and the 
South Branch of the South Fork. There is also the North 
Fork and the South Fork of the Shenandoah, besides 
the North River of the Shenandoah, also the North River 
of the James, both of which latter streams are in Augusta 
county. 
There are two South rivers of the Shenatidoah — the 
South Fork, as the larger stream or main river, upon 
which we were now cruising, is termed, above Front 
Royal, where the North Fork unites with it,_ and the 
smaller South River of Augusta county, which, with North 
and Middle rivers, unite to form the South Fork or 
main stream of the Shenandoah, and there are also two 
North rivers of the Shenandoah — the North Fork, which, 
emerging from the mountains through Brock's Gap, in 
Rockingham county, meanders down the beautiful Shenan- 
doah Valley and unites with the South Fork, the main 
stream, at Riverton, near Front Royal, and the smaller 
North River of Augusta county, which, rising in the 
Alleghany Mountains, flows out into the valley through 
the wild and picturesque North River Gap, its bold, swift, 
cold waters affording fine trout fishing among these fast- 
nesses, and meanders directly across the valley and the 
county until, just at the Rockingham line and almost 
at the foot of the Blue Ridge, it receives the waters of 
Middle River, which zigzags across the middle of the 
county in a remarkably sinuous course, to become merged 
into its sister stream. Five miles further down the 
third and smallest stream — South River — comes in, after 
pursuing a more direct and rapid course along the base 
of the Blue Ridge in the eastern part of Augusta.. At 
