Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1903, by Forest and Strkam Pubushing Co. 
Terms, $4 a Year. ^0 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, |2. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1902. 
f VOL. LIX— :No. 16, 
I No. 846 Broadway, New York- 
PROPAGATION OF THE GRAYLING. 
Dr. James A. Henshall, we opine, is destined to be 
remembered as the American angling writer who has done 
most to popularize the black bass as a game fish. His 
"Book of the Black Bass," published twenty years ago, 
served to draw attention to the bass, and had large part 
ill giving the fish the place it now holds. 
Dr. Henshall is in charge of the Bozeman, Mont., sta- 
tion of the United States Commission of Fish and Fish- 
eries, and he has signalized his service there by the suc- 
cessful propagation of the grayling, an achievement which 
bids fair to transcend in its far-reaching effects all that 
Dr. Henshall ever did for the black bass. A record of the 
grayling work was published in our issue of Sept. 20, 
1902, from Dr. F. M. Higgins, of Oswego, N. Y. There 
it was told that after several thousand grayling eggs had 
been hatched and deposited in the hatchery ponds, they 
refused the food which was taken by the young trout, and 
eventually died. But it was from these very starved fish 
that Dr. Henshall learned the secret of success in grayling 
culture. Putting them under the microscope he discov- 
ered that their mouths were equipped with minute sharp 
fangs.- "This discovery he thought solved the problem of 
the death of the grayling fry. The spring water used 
for the hatchery as it came from the rocks was walled up 
pnd roofed over, and was therefore absolutely pure water, 
or at least water entirely free from infusoria, and as the 
grayling fry had those invisible fangs in their mouth, they 
must derive their food from infusoria." The next year 
Dr. Henshall put his grayling fry into creek water, in 
which there was a native store of the food they required, 
and they lived. Since then he has shipped each season 
about a million and a half of grayling fry to Eastern sta- 
tions, some of them as far east as Maine, New Hampshire 
and Vermont ; and other plantings on a generous scale 
have been made in Michigan, where, it is not too much 
to hope, the grayling fishing may in time be restored. 
If all shall come to pass of which there now is reason- 
able promise, Dr. Henshall will deserve well of his coun- 
trymen, as one who has added substantially to the coun- 
tr3-'s fishing resources. 
A QUAIL PROBLEM. 
On Wednesday, Oct, 8, a woman and a boy who hap- 
pened to be looking out of the window of a house in the 
upper part of Manhattan Island, were astonished to "see a 
quail run along the lawn, across the drive and stop under 
the shadow of a Japanese quince. An elephant or a Ben- 
gal tiger, promenading over the grass near the house, 
would hardly have created more excitement. 
The two promptly went out of doors and approached the 
bird. It seemed disposed to cling to the cover of the few 
stems of the bush, and to be unwilling to run out over 
the short cut grass. Nevertheless, as they slowly drew 
near, it left its shelter and ran as hard as it could to the 
shadow of another bush, but a few yards away. While 
running over the grass in the full light it was, of course, 
distinctly visible to the observers who were within a dozen 
or fifteen yards of it, but when it gained the shelter of 
the bush, where there were patches of light and shadow, 
and stetns and perhaps a few leaves on the ground, the 
bird seemed to melt out of sight, and could hardlj"- be 
seen. 
It was not at any time badly frightened, and more thait 
once stopped on the grass in the open, always, however, 
choosing a place where there was a dead leaf or a little 
group of leaves, and when standing there it was hardly 
visible. Sometimes, Avhen it stopped at the foot of one 
of the shrubs, it walked about a little bit, and appeared 
to be feeding, picking up something from the ground. 
When under a bush near the road it disappeared. It 
was not seen to fly. What it probably did was to run 
to the road, keeping the bush between the observers and 
itself. It must have traveled east over the road for fifty 
or sixty yards, for after considerable search it was spied 
walking over the grass on a hill to the southeast. When 
next approached, the ground here being perfectly smooth 
and bare of cover, it took wing, flew off strongly toward 
the west, and was not seen again. 
Where can this bird have come from? Certainly not 
from New Jersey, to the west, for the river is a mile or a 
mile and a half wide, a distance far too great to be cov- 
ered by the flight of a quail Hardly from Central Park 
to the south, for that is a region infested by cats and 
dogs w^hich in their continual hunting wottld be likely to 
destroy the ttests of any ground-inhabitkig birds, if not 
the birds themselves. Long Island, to the east, is equally 
ottt of the question, and there remains only the mainland 
to the north — ^the Borough of the Bronx. 
Thirty or forty years ago there were still a few quail 
'to be found north and west of Van Cortlandt Lake, in 
what is now Van Cortlandt Park, but it is not to be 
supposed that any of their descendants still inhabit that 
populous region. Of course, it is possible that this quail 
was a bird which had escaped from confinement, but this 
hardly seems probable. 
On the other hand, this is just the season of the year 
when quail and grouse set forth on wanderings which 
lead them they know not whither, and which often result 
in death. We have seen a half a dozen cases where ruffed 
grouse have been killed by flying against houses, and once 
years ago, at this season of the year, knew of a quail fly- 
ing into the open window of a bedroom in which two 
persons were dressing. 
A few years since it was not very unusual to see wood- 
cock in the little parks of New York, and in the gardens 
of the upper part of the city. Indeed, it is but a year 
since one was seen and flushed several times. A migratory 
bird like a woodcock might well enough drop down 
anywhere in city or country, if it became tired in its 
flight, or saw an attractive spot. But a bird like the 
quail or grouse, most of wdiose wanderings are performed 
on foot, would hardly be expected to penetrate to the 
middle of a great city, since this involves foot journeying 
over miles of distance, during which it must pass thou- 
sands of people, many of whom would observe it, and all 
of whom would wish to destrov it. 
SHALL WE PRESERVE THE WOODCOCK? 
The suggestion recently made in Forest and Stream 
that there should be a close season on the woodcock for 
a term of years, has been received with much favor by our 
readers generally. 
The older men who can recall the days when woodcock 
were fairly plenty, and who, still keeping up their shoot- 
ing, realize how scarce woodcock are to-day, are espe- 
cially earnest in their advocacy of such action. The 
jounger men, who know less about woodcock, are natur- 
ally less interested. 
The woodcock is one of our vanishing game birds which 
is disappearing with a rapidity that is genuinely alarming. 
Of all game birds, he is least able to take care of himself. 
Shy, nocturnal in habit, and during the day haunting for 
rest the darkest thickets of wood or swamp, he is easily 
found by the dog, and when flushed rises close to the 
gunner, and, perhaps bewildered by the glaring light of 
day, flies uncertainly a little way and then drops back 
to earth. In some covers, and under certain conditions, 
not one bird in five is likely to escape the aim of the ex- 
pert shot. Now that our woodcock are so few in number, 
it seems as if for a while all men might be willing to 
unite in stopping their slaughter. 
We should be very glad to hear from readers in differ- 
ent localities as to how they may feel with regard to this 
question of absolutely protecting woodcock for a term of 
years. Obviously if any good is to be accomplished by 
such protection, it must be general. To have one or two 
or half a dozen States or Provinces protect the bird, and 
still to have it shot in other States or Provinces, would 
accomplish nothing, and would be a waste of effort. To 
accomplish the best results, all Canadian Provinces and 
all the States of the Union east of the Mississippi River, 
should unite in measures looking toward the protection 
of this fin'e game bird — not only one of the most delicious 
of birds for the table, but a bird about which cluster tradi- 
tions, sentiment and memories that make him especially 
dear to the sportsman's heart. Obviously these different 
political divisions cannot act together, but game protective 
and natural history organizations in each Province, or 
each State could, if they thought best, agitate the matter 
within their own territory and urge upon their legislators 
the passage of the proper laws. As has frequently been 
pointed out, the slaughter of the woodcock is great in the 
South in winter and early spring, "but it i? also great in 
the Northern regions where the few that are left rear 
their young. It is well worth while to urge strongly on 
sportsmen the importance of an effort to give the wood- 
cock an opportunity to recover the grotind that it has 
been losing constantly for the past twenty years 
What do the sportsmen of America think about this? 
It is_ a matter that they must take in hand themselves. 
No one will do it for them. 
Is the woodcock to take its place as a museum speci- 
men by the side of the wild pigeon, the pied duck, the 
great auk and the buffalo? 
FORESTRY IN NEW YORK. 
Both of the political parties in New York have adopted 
a forestry plank in their platforms. The Republicans set 
forth : 
We regard the Adii^ndack and Catskill parks, with their forests, 
waters and fauna, as one of nature's priceless legacies to our im- 
perial State, which the dictates of prudence, wise public policy and 
foresight require should be carefully safeguarded and protected, 
not only as health resorts and pleasure grounds for the people, but 
as a conservator of the water supply for our rivers and canals so 
necessary for the continuous supremacy of the State. We, there- 
fore, favor the resumption by the State of the purchase of lands 
within the limits of these parks. 
And the Democrats, whose convention came later, said: 
We condemn the policy of the present Republican government in 
abandoning the purchase of lands within the limits of the Adiron- 
dack Park. These woods are necessary for the protection of the 
water supply of the rivers and canals of the State, and serve also 
as a pleasure ground and health resort for the people. If in- 
trusted with authority, we pledg^ ourselves to the immediate re- 
sumption of the policy inaugurated by a Democratic Governor for 
the acquisition, for the sole benefit of the people, of the Adirondack 
forest lands, and we recognize the necessity of furnishing full and 
adequate protection for game animals, fishes, song and game birds, 
and we pledge ourselves to secure the enactment of just laws to 
this end. 
The forestry question is not reckoned by political man- 
agers to be one of lively interest, and probably nothing 
more will be heard on the subject from either party dur- 
ing the campaign. It has come to a pass, however, where 
neither party can afford to ignore the Adirondacks in the 
party declaration of principle ; and it is something to have 
both of them thus committed to the right side of the 
question. 
GAME AND POLITICS IN WISCONSIN. 
Game protection has entered into Wisconsin politics 
this year, one of the candidates for the governorship 
promising that if elected he will abolish the protective 
system and relieve the taxpayers of the burden of sup- 
porting the wardens. This comes close to bosh. As 
President Plambeck, of the Wisconsin Game Protective 
Association points out, the farmers are not anxious to 
have the game laws done away with, nor are the people 
groaning beneath a heavy burden of taxation for game 
protection. On the contrary, the intelligent landowner 
recognizes the advantages of protection and would retain 
it, and as for the expenses, these are borne out of the 
funds collected for shooting licenses and for fines. In 
other words, the wardens are paid by the sportsmen and 
by the law breakers who are gunners but not sportsmen. 
In one case cited, seven Michigan hunters were fined $50 
each, and the entire $350 remains in the county treasury 
available for paying all expenses of taking in another law- 
less set of hunters. It is said that more than $60,000 have 
been collected for hunting licenses this year at one dollar 
each, and a large surplus remains in the treasury to the 
credit of the game protection fund. Under these cir- 
cumstances a political candidate who talks about relieving 
the people of Wisconsin of the cost of protecting the game 
rnust think that his audience is composed of idiots. 
THE GAME AND THE GOVERNMENT. 
In another column Mr. Edward A. Samuels writes in 
advocacy of the oft-suggested plan of giving the National 
Government control of migratory game. Although it is 
manifest that stich a system would have its advantages as 
well as its disadvantages, we have never been able to per- 
suade ourselves that the National Government could con- 
stitutionally assume control of the game, or that a con- 
stitutional amendment to grant that power wottld ever be 
seriously considered by Congress. The fact — and we must 
reconcile ourselves to it — is that if migratory game is 
to be saved, it must be saved by the machinery of the 
individual States and by the States working in some sorti 
of union of effort. We are not unaware that numbers 
of men, who, as Mr. Samuels, have labored long in the 
cause of protection and pondered the problem; believe ini 
the recourse to Washington -as the. only solution; butj 
none the less is it clear that under our Gonstitiition th? 
game is not to be preserved' in that wai^, ^ j 
I 
