November, 1921 
as gradually I played it into shoal water 
until I was able to kick it onto the beach. 
The latter seemed unsportsmanlike, but 
there was no alternative. Then a Par- 
machenee Belle was bent on the leader 
to replace a worthless Hackle, and this 
fly proved a great success, for soon all 
the fish were secured that could possibly 
be used before they were spoiled. 
Returning with my catch I soon had 
a fish dressed and in the pan. Never 
since nor before has anything tasted so 
delicious. And also came the satisfac- 
tion of having fished with a fly at better 
than 69 degrees north. 
W. Sprague Brooks, Mass. 
TROUT IN MICHIGAN 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
VY 7 E HAD a closed season here in 
Y* Michigan on partridge that helped 
save a lot of seed birds or enough to 
reestablish themselves in many localities 
that otherwise would have been com- 
pletely shot out and there never would 
have been any seed left. It was a wise 
thing to stop the shooting of partridge 
in Michigan for two years. If we did 
the same thing with our trout streams, 
stopping the catching of trout in some 
of them for one or two years, it would 
bring them back. Now nearly all of 
Michigan’s trout streams are fished out. 
The North Branch of the Au Sable, 
reached mainly at Lovells, in Crawford 
'County, is a fished-out stream. It has 
been commercialized to such an extent 
by advertising it as a tourist resort and 
'Stopping place, that its bottom is tramped 
by a continual procession of would-be 
fishermen, mainly worm fishermen who 
'exterminate the little fish before they 
Shave ever had a chance to reproduce. 
There should be an 8-inch limit and not 
r over twenty a day. The season should 
be shortened fifteen days in the fall ; in- 
stead of closing the 1st of September it 
.'should be the 15th of August, and then 
ibest of all no one should be allowed to 
Ifish for brook trout except with an ar- 
tificial fly. If this was done, by and by 
maybe there would be fishing for the 
multitude, but the hatcheries have got to 
be kept grinding out fry in quantity and 
the fry have got to be planted properly 
and understanding^ ; but nowadays 80 % 
of the hatchery fry is wasted in the 
planting. 
Wm. B. Mershon, Michigan. 
BLACK CHESAPEAKE 
,BAY DOGS 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
IN reply to your correspondent, Mr. H. 
*■ S. Frye, in the September Forest and 
Stream, regarding two litters of Chesa- 
peake Bay dog puppies being born black 
in color, I beg to say that although the 
first recorded ancestors of the breed 
were black and dingy red respectively, 
ihis breed has, since 1850 or thereabouts, 
been of a color very similar to what it 
is at the present day: varying from a 
“fawn” to a light brown. During that 
period from 1865 until about 1880 a 
number of outcrosses were introduced, 
■ due no doubt to the scarcity of the pure 
FOREST AND STREAM 
blood at that time, and it is from these 
outcrosses we get the liver and seal- 
brown colors, as well as the curly or 
scant coat seen in some of the dogs bred 
and sold as Chesapeakes. 
There were sufficient of the pure-bred 
Chesapeake Bay dogs left, however, in 
the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay to carry 
the breed on in its ante-bellum purity. 
All authentic records of the breed 
show that their Adam and Eve were 
brought from Newfoundland. History 
records the fact that the Newfoundland 
dog was of two distinct types, one large 
and black, or black and white in color, 
known as the Greater Newfoundland, 
and the other smaller, black, brown, or 
red in color, sometimes slightly marked 
with white. It is from these latter, 
known locally as the St. John’s or Lesser 
Newfoundland, that the Chesapeake Bay 
Cuffy in process of taming 
dog, as well as the Labrador dog, is 
descended. 
Both these breeds are very much alike 
in size, type, disposition and physique, 
the chief difference being in the color 
of their coats. The Labrador has been 
bred for generations for black color, 
but despite this fact, occasionally brown, 
sandy, or red puppies are born in a litter. 
On the other hand, while the Chesapeake 
Bay dog, in its purity, has been bred for 
75 years or more for, among other quali- 
ties, the faded sedge color, there is no 
record of any black, or in fact anything 
darker than a light brown color being 
produced in any litter. This fact in con- 
junction with that of the occasional 
“red” Labrador, goes to show that the 
natural color of these breeds is not 
black, or even dark brown, and that the 
color must have been to a very great 
degree “fixed” before their exportation 
from the island of Newfoundland. 
I have been gradually leading up to 
the point where I can venture to sug- 
gest to Mr. Frye that in all probability 
the sire of these pups — if the same dog 
sired both litters, and indications point 
that way- — is not a Chesapeake Bay dog, 
but a brown Labrador Retriever which, 
coming from black parentage, would in- 
fluence his get along that color line. 
If, on the other hand, the sire has a 
straight Chesapeake Bay dog pedigree, 
507 
1 can only conclude that the pedigree is 
not correct for that dog; if so, it is the 
most remarkable instance of atavism on 
record and I would like to hear further 
along those lines from Mr. Frye. 
The fact that the sire is a bench cham- 
pion does not count for much, as not 
more than one bench show judge in ten 
knows enough about the breed to say 
whether pr not the dog before him is 
approximately correct in type, coat or 
color, or otherwise. When Mr. Alf Del- 
mont, one of the leading bench-show 
judges in the United States had a class 
of 18 placed before him a few years ago 
for his judicial decision, he asked the 
show superintendent what breed it was. 
0 si sic omnia! 
F. E. Richmond, 
American Chesapeake Club. 
TAMING A GREY SQUIRREL 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
HAD fallen asleep in my easy chair 
1 by the window, and was awakened 
by the soft thud of a body on the porch 
roof — a grey squirrel had jumped from 
the overhanging branches of a maple and 
was stealing forward to sniff at the 
crumbs from my lunch that had been 
scattered on the roof for the birds. 
Presto ! I was transformed by the 
magic of memory into a child again, in 
checked gingham pinafore seated on the 
ground of the tree-shaded lawn in the 
country home of my childhood; around 
me scampered my favorite pets, two grey 
squirrels, now seated on my shoulders 
eatings nuts, now burrowing into the 
pocket of my pinafore for other deli- 
cacies they were always sure of finding ! 
The picture faded and I lay very still 
watching the shy little visitor— could J 
tame this timid creature as I had those 
of my childhood ? It was not an easy task- 
— day after day I put nuts close under 
my window and sat motionless while the 
grey squirrel would cautiously advance, 
retreat, advance again and finally after 
much hesitation would seize a nut and 
scamper to a safe distance, eat the nut. 
then repeat the performance so long as 
the supply lasted. 
Gradually becoming accustomed to my 
presence and unafraid, the squirrel would 
timidly take food from my hand ; in a 
few weeks it would cautiously slip into 
my room to get the nuts placed as a lure 
just within. At last it became so gentle, 
it would climb upon my shoulder and eat 
nuts (incidentally dropping bits of shell 
down my back), would steal chocolates 
from the bon bon dish, sample any fruit 
that might be at hand and with untiring 
energy, having satisfied the demands of 
hunger, carry off every nut left in the 
bowl. 
Apropos of nothing, I named the squir- 
rel “Cuffy.” When I sat on the porch. 
Cuffy soon discovered me and would 
perch upon the arm of my chair, or the 
hammock and with seeming enjoyment 
nibble a nut while I stroked its shining 
fur. From the vantage point of mv arm- 
chair, Cuffy would vigorously scold any 
cat or dog that chanced to stray across 
the lawn. 
( Continued on J'aijc 524 ) 
