Wilbur F. Parker, - - Editor and Proprietor. 
THE OHLT JOURNAL PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES 
Devoted Exclasively to 
SHOOTING, FISHING, NATURAL HISTORY, FISH CULTURE, 
AND THE PROTECTION OF FISH AND GAME. 
Term* of Subscription; Four Dollars a year in advance. 
Ths Rod asd ths Gcts can be obtained from aU News Dealers. 
Thb Postage on this paper is pre-paid to snbscribers in the 
United States. 
Persons sending money to this office, by means of Money Orders 
should invariably make the same payable to Tee Rod axd 
The GtJii, at the West Meriden P. O. 
AU eommumcaiums must be accompanied by the fuU name cf the 
writer and addressed to 
THE ROD AND THE GUN. 
West Meriden. Conn. 
earnestly request all onr contributors to adopt the plan in 
regard to the use of scientific names which some of them have 
already adopted, viz; to PRINT all such names legibly in the manu- 
script, as this will prevent error by giving the compositor plain copy 
to follow. Above all things we say, do not venture upon the use 
of scientific names at all unless certain of their accuracy. 
SATCRDAT JCAE 5, 1875. 
CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 
Page. Page 
Treating on the South Side.. 145 The Decay of Vermont Trout 
The Leech Cup 1-55 Brooks 150 
Concerning Pocket Gophers. 146 Bison Hunting 151 
A Collector's Rambles 146 Library Table 151 
iNatural Researches in the The Cleveland Meeting 152 
Sierras 147 Vniformity of Kennel Orders 1.52 
The Fresh Water Fisheries of The Editor on the Wing 15;i 
Virmnia 147 The Waierrown Convention 154 
The Hifle 14S The National Sportsmen's 
Pigeon Matches 149 Convention 153 
Spring Sports with Gun and Letter^ from Sportsmen... 154 
Rod 130 iield Trials of Dogs Used 
The Spirit, if not the Sub- with the Gun 154 
stance of a Hunter 150 Western Items 155 
THE tLEVELAAD IIEETIAC. 
The convention of sportsmen to take plac^ in Cleve- 
land during the coming week, will be by far the most 
important meeting of gentlemen sportsmen that has been 
gathered together in this country; important not only 
in its relation to health and nmnl)' amusement, but also 
carrying with it consequences that may affect future 
population, future sources of subsistence, and reacting 
on the morals of society so far as they are involved in 
pursuits that strengthen mind and body, by bringing us 
into communion with open air nature, in place of the 
artificial pleasures found in the costly and frivolous 
dissipation of city life. 
The immediate business of the convention is to pro- 
mote a new system of laws that shall protect and pre- 
serve our fast decreasing game animals. Since this 
question was first mooted in the columns of this paper, 
a vast growth of public opinion has taken place. A 
few years ago there was no place even for. the discussion 
of such a topic as a game law . Game law was identi- 
fied with old lime aristocratic class privileges. Private 
land was the property of the owner and occupant from 
the zenith to the antipodes; everything above or below 
was his absolute property, to be used or abused as he 
saw fit. The public lands were nominally the property 
of the whole nation, an unknown ouantitv of which 
every squatter, prowler, trapper or hunter was a visible 
embodiment. The plains belong to the nation; the 
buffalo and antelope belong to the nation; “ the nation 
that’s me,” says the adventurer or pot-hur.ter, whether 
he squats on a placer, slays buffalo for the sake of its 
tongue, pounds fish, or snares prairie chickens and 
quail. 
AVithin the last few years we have advanced bev'ond 
this lawless license. The extirpation of game and fish 
has gradually, though slowly been forced on the observa- 
tion of the gentleman sportsman, and from him it has 
reached a few of the general public, i his knowledge 
first came home to us in the East, the old settled States, 
and thence the transition to the AVest was natural, where 
the population is more scattered. Of all the prodigious 
resources of this great country in animals of chase how 
few remain, has been a general regret among sportsmen. 
In another generation or two they will all have passed 
away. Mark the contrast between Europe and ourselves 
in this matter, and j'et their population is twice, thrice 
as compact as our most populous states. Hence arose 
ilje idea of game laws, of protective , associations, of 
sportsmen’s clubs. __ _ 
The practice of pisciculture, imperfectly known in 
China and to Europe of the Aliddle Ages, was revived 
in France, and eagerly adopted by some of our pracli- 
cal scientists. How much do we not owe to Baird, Seth 
Green, Ainsworth, Garlick and others. Already we 
feel the benefit of their patriotic efforts, but nothing has 
been done for game except in an isolated and perfunc- 
tory manner. The public have not been reached. 
Even sportsmen themselves are terpid and indifferent, 
while the market hunters and dealers have a direct in- 
terest in obstructing the law and making their present 
gains, regardless of what comes after 
It is a settled proposition in fiee countries that laws 
themselves without the support of j ublic opinion areef 
no effect How to create and direct this public opinion. 
It was the happy idea of the Amehic.vn Sportsman 
to consolidate the sportsmen and scientists into one 
strong, central representative bod}', from which should 
emanate a model law and a.code of usages bearing upon 
the practice ot field sports and the preservation of game 
animals, having due respect to private rights and pub- 
lic sentiment. Just a year ago this body was convened, 
and its inception was a success. The first meeting was 
necessarily one for organization, and for the laying 
down of principles. A year has passed, and we are on 
the eve of the first 3'early meeting, at which practical 
business will doubtless be done, and we shall take a 
step in advance towards the final objecis of the Asso- 
ciation. 
The administrative department of the National 
Sportsmen’.s Association will be, of course, a part of the 
business of the annual meeting. AVe shall know how 
far the central Association is supported by the local 
bodies, and what constituenci. s are unrepresented. The 
question of funds will be an important topic, for it is 
impossible to carry «n the bnsioess of any organization 
without revenue and expenditure. The law com- 
mittee will probably submit some project of law bear- 
ing on the necessiiyof general protection, in the fram- 
ing of which scientists will doubtless have been con- 
sulted with a view to the migratory habits of various 
animals, and the close seasons to be kept in ihe several 
latitudes of this widely diversified country, so th at the 
laws of the various regions may dovetail with each 
other, and may not be diverse and uncertain. AA’e may 
also look for reports on ut menclature of animals and 
uniformity in sporting terms: something also on the 
amendment of our dog laws; some recommendations, 
perhaps, on the rights of private individuals on public 
lands, with suggestions on the law and usage of trespass 
on private property in search of game, and the recipro- 
cal rights and duties of the landowner and sportsman. 
The draft of a general model law, should one be of- 
fered, will ncces.s;irily involve the method by which that 
law is to be I’roiight up in Ihe several legishitures. AVe 
do not expect that anyone will contend for any especial 
rights of demesne in Congress, except, perhaps, over 
the Territories or to some extent over navigable rivers 
where the riparian states jurisdiction is not affected. 
Finally, there may tie a suggestion of several local or 
central ofiicers, game commissioners analagous to State 
or U. S. fish commissioners with advisory and executive 
powers 
Experience thus far in the attempt to regulate the 
taking of animals of chase has shown one of our chief 
difficulties to lie in dividing lines; whether these should 
be state lines or isothermal lines will be a question both 
of expediency and scientific induction. It is obvious to 
the simplest common sense that a mere hair line run be- 
tween adjacent territory would be a temptation to the 
chicanery of law-breakers. It was one of the original 
ideas of the National Sportsmen’s Association projectors 
that the British Possessions should be invited to join in 
this Association on a reciprocity basis and for the pur- 
pose of making the laws of both countries uniform. 
The As.sociation is now ripe for the negotiating of such 
a compact if it shall be held advisable. 
Altogether there is work to be done, and we trust that 
the attendance will be such as to show a widespread 
sense of the important interests thus briefly sketched, 
and that a spirit of harmony with a determination to 
carry the intent of the National Sportsmen’s Associa- 
tion to Its legitimate issues will distinguish the Cleve- 
land meeting. 

Mr. E.-iymond’s Laverack bitch, Kuby, whelped on 
May hist, having four — two blue beltons, one black, 
tan and white and' one liYor and white. ^ They are by 
Pride of tbe^ Border,' 
r.MFORRITY I \ KEW EL ORDERS. 
Alany months ago Tite American Sportsman called 
attention to the necessity for uniformit}' in the orders 
used in breaking and handling sporting dogs, and the 
handling is of sufficient importance to warrant The Rod 
AND Gun in renewing the topic to which a recent letter 
from a Sportsman has invited notice. In nothing per- 
taining to the field are our sportsmen so careless, and 
the inconvenience and bad results of our piesent sys- 
tem are glaringly apparent. An experienced engineer 
finds no trouble in running any engine because all have 
similar valves and levers; such are indeed the orders 
which the engine obeys, and being all alike when once 
learned, the knowledge suffices for all. The same rule 
should apply to our field sports which should have their 
own regular formula. A properly broken dog is a ma- 
chine responding to certain orders no matter by whom 
issued, and though he will certainly work better for a 
well-known and long-recognized master than for a new 
one, in this he differs not from the engine, the individ- 
ual capacity and speed of which are matters to be 
learned by the engineer, though he will from the first 
be able to run it aud make it do some work, to be im- 
proved upon as he becomes better acquainted with its 
powers. 
The trouble with our sportsmen lies in the fact that so 
few have given much attention to dogs. The improve- 
ment in guns or experiments with new explosives have 
seemed matters of great interest, hut the old idea that 
if a dog will find and stand his birds that is all that can 
be required of him, has been so deeply rooted that until 
latel}' it has withstood all shocks of reformers, and 
though constantly disgusted with the bad conduct of 
their dogs, sportsmen have not attempted to investigate 
ihe matter to see whether the fault lies with them or 
their animals. It is a broad assertion hut nevertheless 
true, that more than one-half of American sportsmen do 
not know how to work their dogs; that is, they do not 
themselves know the proper orders to induce certain ac- 
tions. Every man has a system of his own, and he does 
net pause to discover whether it is a good or bad one, 
but demands obedience of it from his dog. Now if 
dogs never changed masters individual systems of hand- 
ling would be of comparatively little importance, since 
a man satisfied with his own S3'stem would be satisfied 
if his dog coruf lied with it, even though his neighbor 
deemed the dog the worst controlled brute to be met 
with. Unfortunateh’, dogs do exchange masters, and as 
there is no uniform code of orders, the dog, after pass- 
ing into new hands, receives strange commands, which 
he does not understand, and so fails to obe}', not be- 
cause he is a worthless brute, but bccaure he has no idea 
of what he is expected to do. A poor dog is not worth 
his keep, but the best one that ever made a point may 
be spoiled by a change in orders and severe punishment 
for disobedience which he did not intend. Sportsmen 
who do not break their own dogs have geneiallybut 
little gift in imparling knowledge of their desires to 
tlieir animals, and if hasty in temper are often unreas- 
onable, and lash their dogs for what is really their own 
fault. A good dog is always a sensitive animal, prompt 
to appreciate kinducss and equall}' quick to reient or re- 
sist brutality. He recognizes a superior in a firm but 
gentle master who explains his wishes before demand- 
ing submission to them; and he just as fully appreciates 
his own superiority to a careless, harsh master who re- 
quires obedience to what the animal does not under- 
stand. 
In reforming the great evil arising from this incon- 
gruit}’ in orders, sportsmen must first educate them- 
selves. AA'e do not mean by this that all must become 
dog breakers (though we do believe alt would be ben«- 
fited if they wouhl acquire that art) but we do mean 
that all must accept oue code, learn it thoroughly, use 
no other, and if the}’ have their dogs broken b}' profes- 
sionals, insist that the breakers use the same commands. 
This will at once and effectively do awa}' with the pres- 
ent trouble, and will refine sport b}- putting down what 
is an actU'jl barbarism. Order and uniformity are the 
bases of all perfection, and if nothing is induced by the 
effort be3’ond the improvement in sounds when two or 
more sportsmen are bunting together, that alone would 
be a result well repaying cultivated gentlemen for all 
the trouble it cost them. 
In our back files we have repeatedly given the code of* 
kennel orders used by English sportsmen, who in this 
respect at least are our superiors, and we commend that 
code to our readers. AA^e shall, be ever read.y to lend 
our assistance to all wishing c-vplanationB ni- t'thcr aidj 
