Ai]gu>t 7 , 1875. 
2s4 
SUEBIES AiVB A<NSWE«S. 
O. W. B.. Franklin.— i? the ordinary laying of the qnail? 
Ax«. — From thirteen to fifteen eggs, occasionally the number i« much 
larger. 
Answer. — I f Hebron will drop a solution of nitrate of silver, ten 
grains to the ooi ce, in his dog’s ear, and cover the ears with a can- 
vas cap, he will soon effect a core. ** Blue Rock.” 
R. H. B.. Baltimore.— In what part of this country do you think the 
best duck shooters can be found* Ans. — No men in the world can 
beat the Chesapeake market shooters on ducks alone. 
S. \r.. Philadelphia — 1. What do you consider the best form of 
seton? 2. Do yon approve of their use* Axs. — 1. Either horse-hair 
or saddler's silk, rubbed with cantharides. 2. Yes, under certain cir- 
cumstances, though chronic results can generally be obtained by other 
means. 
Subscriber. — 1. Are Parker guns bored on the “double close' 
plan* 2. Would a “Stuble twist ** gun be strong enough to with- 
st.and the strain when bored on the new or “ choke " system, and 
would such barrels be likely to retain their shooting powers* Axs. 
— 1. Ves. 2. Yes. 
Kexnel, Chicago.— What is the best bedding for dogs: I mean 
that least likely to breed vermin? Axs. — Cedar shavings. The bed 
should in all cases be taken out every day and well shaken and aired. 
It should be renewed as fast as broken up. after that removed. 
D. P.. Portland. — In sailing for ducks, which i« the proper way to 
approach them so as to get the best shots* Axs. — Go down on the 
wind. Ducks turn toward the wind before ri.sing. and by this plan 
you can get nearer to them than in any other way. 
Smith. — Please inform me through your columns which is the 
best illustrated work on birds, and also one on fishes. I want one 
that gives good colored illustrations as well as description. An?. — 
“ Baird on Birds." “ Cones ou Birds,*’ “ Norris on Fishes," colored 
illustrations are very costly. 
Look on.— AYhai is the rule when the word “pnll” is given and the 
bird comes walking up within eight or ten yard<. then rises and bird 
is killed. Is bird counted, or is the bird to be counted misused: also, 
if a gnn is properly loaded and misses fire is bird counted a lost bird 
or not. An?. — Cannot answer without knowing what rules yon are 
shooting under. 
G. S. T., Kent. — How can I make leather boots water-proof for 
shooting; it does not do for me to gel my feet wet, and robber is 
too hot for comfort* Ans. — Take of beef suet and roj-in one quarter 
of a pound each, beeswax half a pound, simmer over a slow fire, 
stirring well all the time. MTien needed for use. melt and rub into 
the boots with a sriff bru.«h before the fire. Frequent applications 
w ill be necessary. 
J, W.— 1 . Will yon tell me the best way to keep a fine gnn from 
getting spotted on the inside? 2. Should a fine gun in coming home 
from bnnring be set away clean or dirn*. If set away clean, how do 
you keep it from spotting in damp weather? Ans.— Loon oils, 
winter pres.«5ed oil or mercurial grease, either will keep it in good 
order. We prefer to put away guns clean, and keep them so by the 
brush and rubber. 
Greenhorn. — Would a rifle barrel thirty inebee in length shoot 
with more force and accuracy than one of twenty-four inches in 
length, everything else being the same but the length of barrel and 
increase of the twist? Would yon recommend the explosive bullets 
safe to use in Winchester rifles? An?. 1. — Yes; although there is a 
point at which the length of barrel result? in loss of explosive power. 
2.— So we have always believed. 
H. I. S. — Will yon please answer the following question : At a 
match, with rules tweniy^ne yards rise ; no boundry. but four 
minutes to gather bird; bird shot, hit and bleeding, but flew and 
was canght within twenty feet of score, and handed to shooter not 
more than one minute after shooting;— w'as he entitled to the bird? 
Ans. — If the referee had a doubt and thought the bird could have 
fiown out be could have given the shooter another bird, but other- 
w ise it should he scored a dead bird as the shooter is not responsible 
for acts of bye-standers. 
Lime.— W ill you please be so kind to let me know what they 
mean by fishiog wiih a fly. I have never beard of it before, and do 
not know what it means? Your paper, the Rod and Gun, is wel- 
come here every Saturday. Where can I bay a good dog— a setter- 
cheap. and about six months old? ^ bat cartridge is best to use for 
a Wesson 32 calibre rifle? Ans. 1 — Fi^biDg wiih a fly means baiting 
the hook with an artificial fly and skimming the top of the water in 
imitjtion of the movements of the natural fly, 2.— Read our adver- 
tisement columns, there is plenty of choice before yon. 3. — Any 
gunsmith will fit your rifle, and Wesson follows standard calibre. • 
E. T. J., Mlihurn.— I have a Newfoundland dog about fourteen 
mouths old. Some time since he had an eruption, ana his hair turned 
white and came off in bunches. Some of my friends said he had the 
mange, so I washed him with carbolic soap, and he got along nicely, 
but a week or ten days since be was bitten on the back of the neck, 
and in a few days a tumor broke out on the back of the neck and head, 
the hair ha? come off and the place now presents a running sore. As 
the flies trouble him. I have washed the sore with carbolic soap 
and put a weak solution of carbolic acid so as to keep the 
flie« away. Can you tell me what to do for him * An?. — 
Bathe the spot with a weak solution of corrosive sublimate in 
water twice a day. and give internally six drops of Fowler's solution 
of arsenic at night, for ten days orjtwo weeks, even if the sore heal? 
The arsenic will purify the blood and drive away any taint of the 
humor. 
C. D.. Jacksonville.- At what age should the training of a pup be. 
gin? Ans. — Your work should be begun when the whelp is abou^ 
four months old. He should not be urged along too fast, but each 
lesson thoroughly inculcated before the next is attempted. He should 
be taught to come in promptly, to charge, stop at the word, return 
come to heel and go forward in any direction indicated by motion be' 
fore he is taken into the field at all. A-s soon as be takes notice of* 
small birds he may be taken out where there is game for a few mo, 
ment« daily, in company with an old dog. Till he begins to get an idea 
what he is for. when he should be worked entirely alone till his 
breaking is perfect. 
Grouse. Indiana. — Mv dog was^bitten in the fore-leg, on the inside, 
last fall: tlie wound bled ver>' freely, and after it healed a small red 
sore, the size of my finger-tip. appeared. This is hot. soft and hair- 
less. is easily injured, and when cut bleeds so that it is difficult to 
stop the flow of blood. I have endeavored to keep this covered with 
plaster, but cannot make it stick, I am anxious to get the dog cured 
before shooting commences. What can I do for him ? Ans.— The 
sore is a varicose vein caused by the bite. Tie a piece of waxed silk 
round the sore, as cloee to the leg as possible, and in a few days the 
whole will fall off; don't, however, attempt to hasten the process, 
but let nature take her course and she will close the vein behind the 
ligature so that no bleeding will take place. 
F. B. A., Boston. — Is there any process of crossing different breeds 
of dogs by which either a setter or pointer can be produced without 
recourse to these strains of blood? This question is called out by 
some “ directions for breeding a setter," which I lately found in an 
old book. Ans.— There is no process by which a setter can be mann- 
facrored. There is no doubt that he is a dog of original and distinct 
blood, unmixed with other strains, and derived from the pure old 
spaniels of which he is an improved type, brought out by breeding 
from selected specimens. The pointer cannot be breed in any way 
except by slatting with some strain of pointer blood, and as our pres- 
ent race of pointers is as fine as can be. experiments would be un- 
profitable. It is. however, generally conceded that the present 
pointer is a made dog, obtained by crossing the spaniel with the 
hou nd. 
EELS. 
Dr. E. Sterling read the following; paper before 
the Kirtland Societ}* of Natural Sciences, Cleveland. O. : 
Marchand (k Son have at their store Ja magnificent eel iAnguilla 
Auc^orvm) taken in a pound net at Dover Bay, twelve mile? west of 
this city. The fish is in most perfect condition for the table, in fact 
one rarely see? a finer specimen. It three feet four inches long 
and weighs about five pounds. Numbers of the silver eel have bten 
Taken on the south shore of Lake Erie by book and line within the 
last twenty-six years, but this is the first one. to my knowledge, 
taken in a net. An eel taken at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, 
eight years ago. weighed eight pounds, and ten more caught on the 
south shore at the mouth? of Black. Rocky. Cuyahoga and Fairpor. 
river? weighed on the average three poimds each. The question its 
how did this fi.-h find its way to Lake Erie* Twenty year? aso a 
barrel full were placed in Buffalo creek, but I doubt if any of them 
ever reached the localities mentioned, a? they are local in their habit? 
until the migratoiy ?eason, which is in October, and then their course 
is down stream to the sea. where they reproduce their ?p<*cies. In 
the ca.se of the Buffalo creek planting, on migrating, they immediately 
struck the strong current of the Niagara river and passed over the 
falls never to return by that route. The eel is found very abundant 
in .season at the base of the Great Fall?, but here it meet.s an impas- 
sable barrier. The Welland Canal, then, nottvithstanding the many 
locks intervening, offers the only passage for the eel from Lake On- 
tario to Lake Erie. It Is now well kno\\*n to naturalists that the eel 
is brought forth from the egg in the same manner as most of the 
fishes, and it i*- also known that thi« process of reproduction must 
take place in the sea, exactly contrary to the habits in this respect of 
the salmon and shad whose home i.s the sea. and \isit the veiy* 
sources of our fresh water stre.'uns in the warmer mouths to deposit 
their spawn. The New York State Fish Commissioners, this ppring. 
placed in Buffalo creek 36,000 eels of '^ix month? growth, a most 
worthy undertaking, but I fear that about the middle of next Octo- 
ber, when •• longing for sea air," they will take the course and make 
the fatal leap of their predecessors of twenty years ago. I believe if 
this number had been ifiaced in some of the stream.? at the head of 
the lake the majority of them would have remained and increased in 
time to the size of those already mentioned. 
The object 1 propose is merely transplanting, not for reproduction, 
for this 1 believe an impossibility, but for increase of size and fatten- 
ing on the food which is everywhere abundant. On the same prin- 
ciple that the seed and other sized oysters from Virginia are trans- 
ferred to the Chesapeake Bay and more northern localities. wonJd it 
not then be well for the members of the Winons and Hone's Point 
clubs on Sandnsky River, together with the shooting and fishing fra- 
ternity of Toledo, who have an interest in the development of the 
wealth of the waters of the Maumee, to introduce yearly from 50,000 
yo 100.000 young eels and plant them on the margin of tbein marshy 
stream. The cost of fish and transportation would be trifling com- 
pared with the same for yonng shad and white-fish. The first can 
live in wet gras? from i\venty-five to thirty hours, while the latter 
have to be well cared for in pure, well aerated water, which process re- 
quires the constant care of one or two men, Shonld this plan be 
well carried out, I have no doubt that within two or three years after 
work is commenced as fine eels will be raised a.? are now brought to 
the Western market. Then in addition, those that like the sport can 
bob for them also. 
Commercially speaking, the eels are of great value. Holland alone 
sends yearly to the Loudon market lO.OOO.OOO.and retain? as many more 
for other markets and home consumption. The majority of them are 
raised in marshes and canals that have no connection with the sea. 
The lagoons of Comacchio, on the ea^^t coast of Italy, have since the 
twelfth century produced annually on the average $60.(i00 worth of 
this fish alone. From Sandusky Bay to the Maumee are thousands 
of acres of lagoons as well adapted to the culture of the eel as tbo^e 
of Holland or Ital y. 
“Belgravia" thus chants the praises of fly fi.ehing.— It is a 
beautiful sight and a most seductive example of the great principle 
of all true art.tbe art edart artem.xo watch an accomplished fisherman 
drop his flies lightly npon the glassy surface of a trout stream, and 
float them tenderly and gently over or past the hole which is suppos- 
ed to be the boudoir or sulking-room of an ancient trout: the skill 
with which the angler avails himself of all the possibilities of bank 
and bush to conceal his eidolon from the sight of the fich. his rapt 
attention and silence, and the way in which he woos “ the breath of 
the sweet South" to waft his bait with loving care to the very spot 
desired, dropping it “ A^ falls the snowflake on the river." ju.?t 
where it may be “ One moment white, then gone forever." 
into the mouth of the “trout bedrapped wi' crimson hail.” 
whose capture is so earnestly desired. The mere manual skill in 
throwing a very light “cast " of flies is very great, and almost in- 
credible to those unpracticed in the art. It is .-^ely the very poeliy 
of fishing, whether we consider the ethereal lightness of the bait, the 
graceful crfires of the rod. the whi?rle of the line as it swi>h s 
through the air. the great beauty of the mby-eported fish to be 
captured, the lovely .scene#* in which the prey i? to be sought, the 
crystal streams in which it delights, or the con.?nmmate lightness and 
frkill with which the fisherman makes hi? ca.<t.?. The season for the 
sport, tco. is generally the loveliest of all, when the year is bursting 
once again into its full and lusty life: and the weather shonld be 'K)ft 
and gracious, for it is when “ The wind'? in the south *' that it 
“ Blows the bait into the fi-h‘s mouth." Compare it with grubby, 
muddy “ bottom-fishing." us it is called, with a wretched worm or 
maggot impaled upon a cruel book, and writhing in vain and hope- 
less agonies till swallowed by a leather-mouthed carp or tebch smell- 
ing of the rank leaf-mud at the bottom of the pond. Or compare it 
with the brutal “trolling" for pike or perch, where the fisherman's 
bait i.« a miserable gudgeon with its month sewn up around a leaden 
plummet, swinging about witti that dreadful mouthful until it be- 
comes the mouthful of some ferocious jack, who gobbles it up in a 
moment, and whose own .?tomach has to be cut open by the fi^he^men 
to regain his hook and free the captive. 
The Denver (Col.) TVi-Jr/na says: “ An amusing incident was wit- 
nessed by the crowd collected on Larimer street bridge, over Cherry 
Creek, yesterday, waichiug the rush of its wonderful waters. 
sprightly little dog, barbarized so as to represent a lilliputian lion, by 
some untoward circnmstaDce fell into the burly flood. He at once 
turned bis face up >-tream and stemmed the torrent bravely, but to no 
purpose, for he barely kept his position opposite the shore. He then 
turned about and attempted to sw im down stream to a landing place, 
near which were colic-cted a number of his canine ^nu.? looking with 
seeming indifference upon his struggle for life. It seemed a- though 
time was up for the unfortunate purp. when he was fortunately 
caught in a whirling eddy and brought to shore. No sooner had he 
landed than, with tail erect, he "went for' those ‘other dorgt' who he, 
perhaps, thought viewed his unfortunate plight with ill-res^Kct. and 
more than one of them had cau?e to regret that he had not drowned. 
Such a stampede of dog? yon never did see." 
A PLAGUE of rat? is doing much harm on the coffee eofatrs of 
several district? of Ceylon, and nmneron? complaints from plantt rs 
appear in the Colombo papers. 
♦ 
I 
Three dollars per inch. Discoant on permanent advertisements. 
Want.s and Excliauges. 
Advertisements under this head are inserted at 35 cents for two 
lines. Send money with order. 
WESTERN SHOOTING— Book finely illustrated— only 25 cents. 
Address Bbo. Spoet3M.vm, Box 3S4, Sedalia, >lo. 
LIVE PIGEON for trap shoolins. constantly on hand. Clii'is 
supplied at short notice. 
Address, E. T. Marti?;, 475 W. Huron St., Cliicaso. 
FOR S.4LE. — Two beantifni black and tan bitches, two mouths 
old, from Queen Bess. 2d, and sired by the celebrated Drake dog of 
Stonghton, For particnlars address Basssett & Thompsos, F.>x- 
boro. Mass. Box 163. 
FOR SALE — An antbenticated si>ecimen of the black footed fer- 
ret, nicely mounted; price, f25. W. H. Tatlor, Cheyenne, Wy. 
FOR SALE— Two beantifni fine-bred Springer spaniel pnps. six 
months old, ready for the breaker. Also a handsome black and 
white setter dog, two and one half years old: broke on woodcock, 
rail, qnail, snipe, etc. : is an excellent watch dog, price moderate. 
.\ddres8 P. O. Box 316, Bloomsbnrg, Pa. 
FOR S.ALE. — The following Whelps: A Setter. 9 months; Fox 
Hound. 4; a Newfoundland. 11; a Ball Terrier. 6; a Pointer Biich, 
8. Also. Englisb Ferrets. Stamp (or reply. .1. Harding. 51 Broad- 
way, Cleveland, Ohio. 
FOR SALE.— A pair of pure black Cocker Spaniel.", from import- 
ed stock. 10 months old ; dog and bitch, not related ; dog works wel 1 
on woodcock. Price. $40. Apply Box 22, Windsor, Ontaiio. 
FOSTER MOTHER WANTED.— Any one having a Bitch sniiable 
as above to whelp about 15th Angnst. will find a purchaser at a rea- 
sonable figure, by addressing Legoe, this oflice. 
FOR SALE. — A liver and. white Bitch. 14 months old. we'l house- 
broken. good retriever, bright and intelligent, from first-class native 
stock. For farther particulars address L. J. Gaines. West .Meriden, 
Conn. 
FOR SALE. -Eight beam if nl black and tan Gordon setter pnps. 
from Queen Bess, pronounced as handsome a bitch as can be found 
in America; sired by the Gordon dog Pelte, owned by Nesbitt of 
Cambiidge. For particnlars as to price, address Bassett <fc Tdomp- 
soM. Foxboro, Mass. Box 163, 
AN IRISH GORDON PUP, seven months old, Ang. 19, 1875 (red), 
by E. F. Stoddard's (Dayton. Ohio), "Mar" ("Mar " by “Plunket"), 
ont of Stoddard's “Dniies- " (by "Ranger"). Pedigree famished. 
For further particnlars, address 
L. J. Gaines. 
West Merid- n, Ci iin. 
FOR SALE— A fine Laverack Setter, imported stock (blue Ben- 
ton), well trained. Theodore Meter, 318 Eighth street, Jersey 
City. 
FOR SALE.— Liver-colored cocker spaniel dog, 9 months old, bred 
from pore stock. Price, $15. Sold on yas owner has no time to 
braak him. Geo. C. Lord, Kennebe -, Me. 
A FIRST-CLASS Allen breed: -loader, lOgange, bat litUe used; '20 
steel shells; cost $150— to exchange for a first-class foot-power 
latbe, with slide rest and tools. -Address Rod and Gvn. 
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