FOREST AND STREAM. 
35 
for fortJl arut St train. 
NORTH CAROLINA HUNTING RESORTS. 
T O those among: ns who have been nceustoined during 
the past fifteen years to look north for our sport, the 
"Winter is a time when wo oil up our guns, repair our 
tackle, rend the Poukst and Stkeam. and do little else but 
sigh for n return of warm weather when we can frequent 
our accustomed haunts with comfort and pleasure. Hut if 
any such wish to take a trip during January, or any Winter 
month, I challenge the country to produce a locality that 
will exceed in attractiveness that which ourrounds Weldon, 
North Carolina. 
The accessibility of Weldon is n great advantage. You 
may leave New York at 3 P. M. one day and reach Weldon 
next day to breakfast, or you may leave New York at 9 P. 
M. and ’reach Weldon next day to tea. 
As Winter is the lime when most sportsmen would visit 
the locality, n prominent question is what kind of weather 
they would find. Of course most people would say if they 
are going south they want to go where it is warm, hut, 
from experience, that is what I propose never to do again. 
The unlucky man who goes to a warm climate, say to 
Florida, and is obliged to return to New York before the 
first of May, will shake with chills, or suffer in some other 
way from the very great change of temperature. But in 
the neighborhood of Weldon the climate is bracing, and 
permits a man to he out all day without an overcoat, if 
walking, and not feel the cold. The temperature is say 15 
degrees warmer than New York. As an instance, I went 
after birds on a certain Tuesday in .January, and found the 
air delightful, but my advices from New York reported the 
thermometer that nay two degrees below zero. The 
weather is about what we have in New York on our 
warmest days in Winter, and the change of a return to 
New York, therefore does not result disadvnntngcously. 
The climate is not debilitating, and yet it is temperate 
enough for a man to enjoy out of door sports. 
The chief game around Weldon are deer, wild turkeys 
and quail. Before I came I expected to find deer about as 
thick as on Long Island, but the first thing I saw in the 
dining hall of the Weldon Hotel was a buck’s head with a 
fine pair of antlers magnificently mounted. The pro- 
prietors hail sent it for mounting to the Smithsonian In- 
stitute. There were also half a dozen pairs of horns on 
the rack, which with one exception, came from bucks shot 
near the place. I saw enough around Weldon to prove to 
me that deer are abundant. My first day after deer we 
started two or three; the second we started a fine herd of 
four or five, and brought hack one, a fine fat yearling buck; 
the third any we started two, and but for a dirty gun 
would have brought home at least one. Deer have been 
seen within half a mile of town. The game is so near one 
can start in the morning after breakfast from the hotel and 
return to a four o’clock dinner, with the certainty of see- 
ing at least one deer, and generally of bringing’ one in. 
I -saw tracks everywhere I went, and was surprised at the 
number of deer through the country. Twenty miles down 
the Ifoanoke river they are more abundant still, but one has 
>»<> tuiud to go so far. 
For wild turkeys the ground down the Iloanoke, or on the 
other side opposite Weldon, is better. There the colored 
people are not so thick. They seem to have a special afltn- 
ity for turkeys, and consequently linve driven them uwav 
from the immediate viciuity of Weldon. Yet, on the other 
side of the river, within four miles of Weldon, I Hushed 
three which were undoubtedly only a small part of a larger 
gang. A few miles further off I found another gang, hut 
so wary they just eluded me, and filled me with regret 
lliut 1 had not another day to go after them. 
The manner of hunting is that of all open countries. 
Every gentleman you meet in the South is a sportsmau, 
and I may add every man you meet among the respecta- 
bility is a gentleman. He has his pack of hounds, and at 
u moment’s notice is ready to jump into the saddle and take 
a day’s sport with you. There is no race of guides here. 
Ilappy is the man who falls into the hands of such men as 
Mr. Pulgum, Mr. Pope, Mr. Day, Mr. Howell, Air. Evans, 
and others, 1 might mention. A deer hunt is arranged by 
choosing stands on runways, the course of the deer beiug 
well known by those acquainted with the country. One 
of the party, on foot or on horseback, takes the hounds 
across country. The deer is shot, not basely in the water 
when he has no chance of escape, but on the full run, ns 
he hounds past you with the sound of the deep mouthed 
hounds behind him. To shoot a deer under such cir- 
cumstances is something to be proud of. 
A turkey hunt is a subject for reverent consideration. A 
wild turkey is a big bird— few bigger, but it will fly like a 
hawk. Nothing surprised me more, who had only tait.a 
wild turkey before, than to see him sailing over the tops 
of the huge pine trees, as if he never expected to alight. 
By inquiry you first find some man who wants to go on a 
turkey hunt, and who is acquainted with the country’. lie 
will always have a turkey dog. Arrived at the woods 
where they are known to congregate, you go through the 
woods following the trail as best you eat! where the bird first 
scratches gravel uud then Hies half a mile. Then you find 
your gang — easily said, but accomplished only by ’many a 
tramp— and huving found them you flush them, scatter 
them, set your dog on them, run in y'ourself and Are your 
gun at them, though with no prospect of getting your 
bird that time. When well scattered, you arrange your 
turkey hliDd, and settle yourself for a quiet season of 
watchfulness. Let a half hour pass, and theii if no bird 
calls, cull yourself to initiate proceedings. The call is an 
ingenious contrivance, and simulates the bird exactly. The 
habit of the bird is to reassemble at the point they were 
scattered, and when they approach, “stretching out their 
heads, and mincing as they go," then improver the golden 
opportunity. 
But the visitor to Weldon may wish to go more into the 
int .-rior, and away from settlements. The surrounding 
eountrv can he easily reached from Weldon, either by rail 
or the Itoauoke itiver. On the latter are two lines of boats 
which make trips down the river about twice a week. If 
Gareyshurg is a good place to stop, nnd is three miles 
from Weldon on the railroad to Norfolk The proprietor 
of the hotel, W. I*. Her, kuows all the best stands for 
deer, and where every gang of turkeys works around him. 
He owns the hunting privilege on about ten thousand acres 
of land, nnd makes it Ids business during the Winter 
months to hunt with sportsmen, or alone. "What Is your 
occupation r" said a Judge recently when Mr. Kee was 
called n.s a witness. “Huntsman" was the sturdy reply, 
lie will hunt in his immediate vicinity, or take a party 
down the river. I dropped iu on him to dinner one day ; 
six snt down to the table, and the following were the meats: 
Shoulder of pig cold, shoulder of pig hot, large venison 
stew, broiled chicken nnd baked qunil pie. 
The Weldon Hotel, under the cave of its genial and ur- 
bane proprietors, Messrs, McLauriu & Bussell, is fast win- 
ning a name which hitherto it never enjoyed. Though 
young men, they have had experience in the hotel business 
in the North. They cnino to Weldon Inst. Full, nnd brought 
with them one of lMmonico’s cooks. Travelers pussing 
through Weldon will do well to remember this, and im- 
prove the twenty minutes for breakfast or tea, which the 
change of trains allows. For invalids it is sometimes very 
desirable not to travel at night, nnd such cun here find com- 
fortable beds, and then take the morning trains, ai riving at 
Wilmington or Washington at night. The charming wife 
of the senior proprietor will give personal care to any 
ladies who may specially need it. Among those spending 
Hie Winter in the Weldon Hotel is the dignified nnd cultt- 
tivated wife of Senator (and General) Hansom, and her 
family of children. 
Tlii9 much for the traveling public, nnd now for sports- 
men I will say that Mr. Bussell kept Martin’s Hotel in the 
Adirondacks one year, is a crack shot with a rifle, and 
owns one of Lewis' make, of Troy. Dr. McLaurie has a 
$150 breech loader, nnd as their tastes are all in the line of 
hunting, they have the disposition nnd the ability to make 
it. attractive to their sporting friends. They have a good 
reputation with the surrounding gentry, and their introduc 
tion secures l he hearer every attention and facility for sport. 
Weldon is the centre of this country, and whatever you 
propose to do after you get there, you want first to buy your 
ticket for Weldon. T. G. 
I aadlaitd , Jfann and (garden. 
FOREST TREES-FOR CULTIVATION. 
Paul, a farmer on the Western Prairie.— What 
you propose to do has been successfully car- 
ried out to considerable extent iu the West. Tim 
practice of raising this tree from the seed is the beat al- 
ways. You can safely transplant them when small. I 
have recoin ineuded the taking up of the tree in question— 
the red cedar— when quite small, size from six to eighteen 
inches, and reset in rows, in good ground, running from 
East to West. Plant them eight inches apart, iu rows, 
nud cultivate by keeping clcur from weeds. In much ex- 
posed situations, where the plants are exposed to full sun- 
shine, it is best to shelter them by a low fence made from 
hoards. This is to lean from an upright position slightly 
to give a moro extended shade. Several of these shade 
fences may he needed in large fields, say one to every 
eight rows. Shade is always beneficial to young plants of 
the evergreen species. 
Let your plants, remain in the aced row three years, care 
being had to preveut uu accumulation of rubbish among 
the plauts. 
Upon removing them from the nursery, at two or three 
years of age, your transplanted plants will have attained a 
hardiness of habit that will carry them through the first 
season with entire safety. In planting trees for forest use, 
or shelter fence, etc., you are to alwuys follow the sugges- 
tions of the out-door world all you can; from Nature you 
daily receive innumerable hints as to the future of your 
common agricultural work. 
Set your red cedars four feet distant from end) other in 
rows, and they will grow, with the ordinary usage gener- 
ally bestowed upon Indian corn. 
I have had very good success in raising and cultivating 
many kinds of evergreens, and the above method, on a 
large or small plan, will give satisfaction. You will 
notice wherever you find a good maple grove bordered by 
the red cedar, as often found in many locations, that l lie 
westerly Autumn winds scatter these red cedar seeds, the 
maple leaves cover them, the Winter snows press them 
down, and the Spring sunshine brings them forth in great 
numbers. Now having followed our hint thus far, go on 
and make your nursery for your future cedar forest, your 
fence stock, or your sheltering row. You arc in the pos- 
session of all the information I can give you, with tin- as- 
surance that it is not a theory, hut the result of a well- 
known, tried fact. Ollh-od Quill. 
THE CHESTNUT AS A FOREST TREE. 
anyone does not mind being away from telegraphic com- 
munication lie will he amply repaid by a trip. Jf a purty 
is made up to go, they can take a cook and servants, and 
nil die necessaries from the Weldon Hotel. A stay of a 
week would he rewarded by as many deer as you could 
wish, and wild turkeys in abundance. 
A boat is a necessity to enable sportsmen to hunt either 
side of the river. There are several small places on the 
Boanoke where one can he accommodated, and from which 
daily excursions can be made. 
A WESTEHN agriculturist reminds us to-day that “we 
have an unanswered request of his, made last Octo- 
ber, laying round among our papers," and desires us to 
make the “amende honorable” by an unswer to his letter at 
our “earliest convenience." Begretting much our having 
overlooked his paper, we would place before hiiu the fol- 
lowing as answers iu part to his inquiries- 
Chestnut wood is a good, firm limber; hard and pos- 
sessed of much vitality during its growth from the sapling 
to the tree. The chestnut is at the present time reckoned 
a scarce wood, and it is comparatively a costly wood, 
being used largely in cabinet work, and particularly Sum- 
mer furniture. Fashion hs well as utility therefore adds to 
the value of the chestnut wood, and In price the same has a 
steadily advancing value. 
Let any man possessed of one hundred acre* of land, such 
as mnny of our western farmers have, which is lying 
comparatively idle— land which they do not know what, to 
do with — plunt it out with chestnut. Let them wait at the 
farthest twenty five years for a crop, which they will not 
have to do, nnd they will pronounce this job of work the 
most remunerative they ever performed willdn a like given 
time. As the chestnut grows very rapidly, nnd flourishes 
exceedingly well on soils that are entirely unsuited for the 
growing of ordinary farm crops, we have not to wait for a 
place in which to plant our future chestnut forest; we have 
not the tedious prospecting for a pluee to plant our tree, or 
drop our clioetuot. We have at hnnd In great abundance 
acres and acres of k thc forestlcss prairies of the West. , 
Here is our planting ground, here Is the future hope for the 
chestnut woods of America. After planting out a 
tor»st of chestnut trees, you will not have to await for a 
long period of time for a market for your wood, a peculiar 
value at this time being attached to Mils wood for interioB 
finish, anu the decoration of fashionable dwelling houses. 
he great beauty of Its grain will carry It ns a commercial, 
wood far and wide, la fact, the real and true value of the« 
chestnut will scarcely bo known for fifty years to come. 
It Is destined to he one of the most valuable woods grown - 
for decor at I vo work. 
As a timber tree for railroad vise, the chestnut has alwnys 
lx <m in great demand; the chestnut ties or our western 
irrowth are not unknown in the far off Pacific, or along the 
defiles of Denver uud the overland routes. Time may 
bring some new and now unknown material Into use, and 
(lisp ace the well known “chestuut tie" of the day, hut wo 
think our western fanners can venture to plant ehestnut 
lorests for at least twenty-five years to couvo without fear 
or any undiscovered rival. 
Therefore, we say go ahead, western farmer, plant out f 
your twenty five, fifty or one hundred acres in chestnut, 
and von will find one good crop of timber from land suited 
for the growth of these trees worth more than twenty poor 
crops of wheat or corn. Iu order to have a good chestnut 
forest, you should procure as soon as possible after ripen- 
ing the chestnuts you are to use for your scud Thuae you 
can plant out tp soon as you please after they n£gutli 
ered, provided the ground is ready to receive them. If not 
desired to plant those seeds, they can he kept safely until 
the Spring time by packing In dry moss and burying below 
the frost hi dry soil. They may also he mixed with three 
times their hulk in dry sand nnd plnrud in a warm Cellar. 
\\ e Imve, as a general rule, recoinmendod the planting of 
the seeds pretty thickly in drills, in the Fall, and after 
sprinkling the soil lightly over them, rover with from two 
to two and a half Inches of leaves. Early in Spring you 
should carefully rake off most of the leaves, and as soon as 
the plants have started, say an inch and a halt in height, 
carefully draw up the fine noil around them. 
There aro two ways of planting the chestnut for profit, 
as a timber tree in forest, or nn orchard free. Iu forest 
cultivation you can plant us thickly as you desire, thinning 
out the smaller trees as desirable, or us wanted for fencing/ 
etc. In orchard planting you will find the following th* 
best plan to adopt; Your trees are to bo placed ten feet 
dlstn tit from each other in every direction, and your Held tr> 
ho well fenced as n protection from damage by cattle. In 
a few years your trees uro free from nil danger, and will 
protect themselves. During the earlier ycurs of the orchard 
you can cultivate it with cure and raise ordinary crops with 
benefit to your trees. The chestnut tree we boro write of 
and recommend for uso is the American chestnut, so culled, 
and is a variety of the European species, smaller iu size, 
hut superior iu firmness and flavor. It is greatly improved 
by good cultivation, and we believe all who have tlto 
ability nnd nerve to make a good chestnut plantation, will 
also have the patience to await the reward. 
Olmpod Quill. 
W ii 
Tnn Next Collkoiate IIkoatta. — The Amherst 
Stwltnt tukes the lmck track as respect* its opposition to 
sending a crew to Saratoga. It thinks that what is sanc- 
tioned by the Professors can ho borne by tho students. It 
says : — 
Amherst has docldcd to row next Summer, even if tho 
regatta bo nt Saratoga. It may he well to state why she 
lias taken this action. As is well known, lust your we 
strongly and fiercely opposed Saratoga as a suitable place 
for the regatta. Believing wo could best support our action 
in convention nnd best gain our ends by not rowing, wo 
voted not to send n crow to Saratoga. Tills year we are ns 
much opposed to that place as ever. But wo lmve hesi- 
tated about the expediency of going as far as wo did last 
year. A few months since, a mooting of college presidents 
was held at Hanover, N. II They uphold ho min g, 
thought its influence ou tho various colleges good, uud did 
not express any regrets that the regatta hud been carried 
from New England to Saratoga; and they wore the presi- 
dents of New England colleges. Of course it is not for us 
to criticise the doings of such a venerable body. 
We said last your, we did not believe the influences at 
Saratoga were such as to make the contest u “clean, high- 
toned, gentlemanly affair.” If the influence of homing Is 
good, of course we must have been mistaken. The con- 
test bust year wus quite gonticmuuly, lilgu -toned would he 
no name for it, ami clean — well, from wliut we can dis- 
cover, John Morrissey did nil he could to prevent students 
visiting his “hell," and hence, not much more lliuu half of 
those there pryed Into the “Eleusirdan mysteries." That 
influence must have been good which would lend college- 
bred men to refuse the offers of gentlemen and accept those 
of gambler*. Kill we muy be mistaken. We intend to 
see for ourselves. Wc want to fight Saratoga, nud lx- able 
to hack up our arguments with a vole, since a vot.? having 
u numerical value will prevail more than argument* with 
ni> assembly, where the member* have Just ability enough 
to count. 
— The Harvard Club held it-; ninth annual dinner on 
Friday night nt DelmonicoV Among the pi eminent per 
sons pretent were —Mr. Wiilium M. Evarts, Picsident 
Eliot, Dr. John (!. Stone, Professor Tlinyer, Dr. Sexton, of 
the Louisville University; Hon. John Bigelow, Mr. Gurduw 
and Mr. James II. Carter. Mr. Joseph II Choate pre-ided. 
After a short opening speech by Joseph II. Choate, Pres I 
dent Eliot responded to the toast of “Alma Mater," and 
spoke of the glories of the old college, referring to the 
many prominent people present as a test of what the insti- 
tution had accomplished. Tho lion. John Bigelow re- 
sponded to the toast of “American Literature;" Judge 
Howland spoke on the toast of “The Bench" and Dr. J. 
C, Stone on the “Medical Profession,” Peter B. Olney 
answered to the toast of "City Politics, " nnd spared neither 
side in hi* humorous criticisms. Dr. Bellows was down 
for the answer to the toast to “The Clergy" and James H. 
Carter to that of “The Bar." Mr. II. Jf. Sedgwick was 
one of the speakers and Professor Tlinyer answered to the 
toa9t of “The School. ” All went off very pleasantly, and 
the company did not separate until a very late hour. 
