76 
FOREST AND 
STREAM 
February, 1919 
For Blistered Feet 
I HAVE often read of using soap as 
a preventive of blisters, but have never 
known how to apply it. An old relative 
of mine, when questioned, said the socks 
should be woolen, if possible, and that 
the common yellow bar soap should be 
coated on the inside from the ankles 
down, and that the application should be 
repeated for two or three days, by which 
time the feet would be hardened. I did 
not take much stock in the idea but I tried 
it, and on a long hike last summer I was 
the only one who did not suffer from foot 
troubles. This woolen socks were used 
and roomy, but not too large shoes; a 
shoe that is too large will ruin the foot 
almost as quickly as one too small. 
R. L. Howard, Pittsburg, Pa. 
Concerning Fly Dope 
'TX) write, at this time of year, on the 
subject of dope may not be quite 
apropos, but the man with the long head 
makes a note of anything useful he 
comes across, against the future, while 
he of the long ears passes by anything 
that does not concern the immediate 
present. 
A good dope was advocated by one 
of your correspondents several months 
ago. Let us call it the Three C’s. Here 
is the formula: 
2 parts oil of citronella, 
2 parts spirits of camphor, 
1 part oil of cedar. 
Nearly forty years ago I began using 
a certain dope while fishing in the Ad- 
irondacks, and have been using it, as 
occasion required, ever since. Let us 
call it the Fisherman’s Friend. Here 
is the formula: 
9 parts castor oil, 
8 parts sweet oil, 
2 parts carbolic acid, 
1 part oil of pennyroyal. 
The past summer, owing to a very 
backward spring in the high lands of 
Maine, the usual aerial pests were un- 
commonly late in appearing, so that 
when my wife and I arrived at a certain 
camp in Piscataquis County on August 
1, we found the mosquitoes still lively 
and most worthy representatives of the 
old scratch. Fortunately, dope was not 
lacking, and it was immediately brought 
into requisition and well tried out. We 
found both the dopes already mentioned 
very effective and about equally repel- 
lent to the mosquitoes. After we got 
matters on a running basis, I found that 
my wife pinned her faith exclusively to 
the Three C’s, while I just as tenaciously 
clung to the Fisherman’s Friend. The 
reason is not far to seek, the former 
being considerably more agreeable to the 
besmeared one, while the latter is a good 
bit more durable, one application of it 
brings, I should say, more than equal 
to three applications of the Three C’s. 
However, both are effective and can be 
recommended. 
I had been told that a little oil of 
eucalyptus in a saucer standing near 
one’s bed would give one a night free 
from the attentions of mosquitoes. We 
tried it last summer and it did not work 
at all for us. 
E. B. U. (Commodore), Maryland. 
E are depending upon the 
friends and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or wrote of 
them with quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camping 
and “going light” have been adopt- 
ed by the United States Army; his 
canoe has been preserved in the 
Smithsonian Institution; and we 
hope that all good woodsmen will 
contribute to this department their 
Hints and Kinks and trail-tested 
contrivances . — Editors. 
Duck Food Collecting 
F or many years there has been a 
movement gradually gaining strength 
for better laws and better facilities for 
game preservation. An interesting part 
of this development is the one devoted to 
the betterment of feeding grounds. A 
glance at a map showing wild fowl mi- 
gration will show that the birds follow 
each year the same routes and that these 
routes are largely determined by the 
presence of food. 
A few weeks ago I visited a game pre- 
serve and was astounded by the extensive 
business carried on in duck foods. Seeds 
and bulbs were being collected by tons 
for shipment to all parts of the country. 
The plant maintains a superintendent 
who has general charge of the collections, 
a modern office for the handling of cor- 
respondence, a laborator yfor the prepa- 
ration of educational exhibits, and an 
advertising manager. The proprietor 
spends most of his time on the road giv- 
ing personal attention to the matter of 
planting and preparation of soil. 
In addition to the business of food 
collection, several hundred mallards are 
raised for decoys. These are shipped to 
private clubs for use during the hunting 
season. 
As a sportsman I was glad to feel that 
at last the sentiment is spreading for 
better game conditions. It means that 
the pot-hunter will soon be a matter of 
past history in America. I hope to see 
more written on this subject and a more 
active campaign conducted toward better- 
ing conditions for wild fowl. 
The variety of foods was of interest 
to me. I confess I did not realize there 
were so many important foods for ducks. 
Among the varieties collected were 
wapato bulbs, cress, celery, lotus, rice, 
millet, chupas, and coontail. Different 
foods were used for deep and shallow 
waters. 
An attendant told me that several 
states through the departments of con- 
servation had employed the service of 
experts to give advice and surpervise 
planting of foods. This means that the 
movement is more than local and will 
affect the hunting over large areas. It 
also means that the whole country is 
awakening to the fact that more than 
the limiting of a day’s kill is necessary 
to give protection. 
With the co-operation of the maga- 
zines it is certain that those interested in 
wild life will soon make it impossible for 
those inclined to repeat the tragedies of 
the past. 
Raymond E. Manchester, Wisconsin. 
Make Your Own Duck Decoys 
"^HIS is a message to the brother duck 
hunters who want some “knittin’ 
work” for the winter evenings and who, 
incidentally, want to lessen in another 
way, the high cost of shooting. 
It is a simple process for the manufac- 
ture of duck decoys for the different va- 
rieties of latter season birds, viz., blue- 
bills, whistlers, red heads, mallards, etc. 
In the vicinity of hunting grounds, 
there are usually to be found condemned 
and discarded cork lifebelts. (If some 
old “salt” does hold them for a price, usu- 
ally a plump Havana with a bright red 
band or a well turned boost will do the 
trick.) In each section of the life pre- 
servers you will find, after ripping off 
the canvas, a solid, rectangular block of 
cork. Place two of the blocks firmly to- 
gether and drive through them five pine 
or cedar, wedge-shaped pegs of small di- 
ameter. This makes one solid block and 
constitutes the body of the decoy. With 
a sharp, long-bladed knife or keyhole 
saw shape the cork to the desired size — 
length and width — lea\nng the bottom 
flat. 
