550 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Nov. i, 1913. 
at Sweetbrier is to begin to believe in the im¬ 
mortality of the soul. Horses have foals, cows 
have calves, hens have chickens, manifestly in 
the unfaltering belief that the world will not 
come to an end in a hurry. And to imbibe this 
sense of security and restfulness, to shake off 
the trammels of city life, to leave behind you 
its dust and fog, its worry and bother, and to 
cumber yourself only with the lightest of ap¬ 
parel, and a fishing rod and creel, the latter 
already crammed with great expectations, is to 
acquire a realization that life is worth living 
after all. 
Lucky is the man who can thus metamor¬ 
phose himself. Say he arrives a wan, sickly 
man. In a week he begins to think that hither¬ 
to he has been something of a fool, giving too 
much heed to the trumpery affairs of life. He 
begins to realize that a dime’s worth of sim¬ 
plicity is worth more than a dollar’s worth of 
fashion; that drugs are a fraud, and that new 
milk consumed with fresh air is more invigorat¬ 
ing than champagne, even though it were “cool’d 
a long age in the deep delved earth.” Fare¬ 
well, noisy streets and jostling crowds, and wel¬ 
come the long sweet sleep of the country, the 
simple breakfast, and with rod, line, reel and 
flies all in order, to try the first cast across the 
rushing, foaming river. 
There are many fine stretches of water be¬ 
tween Castella and Sims where one can be pretty 
sure of good luck. At the tail of the pool below 
the camp I have whipped out a savory breakfast 
before the rest of the campers were astir, much 
to their surprise, they being of the opinion that 
the fish would rise only in the afternoon and 
evening. Further down, amid clumps and 
thickets of azaleas, whose heavy rich perfume 
reminds one of the flavor of Bass’ ale, and where 
a dyke of basalt crosses the river, there are 
some excellent pools where an occasional three- 
pounder can be encountered. And here the 
thoughtful angler may well be excused if he 
pause and dream. The scene is one of won¬ 
derful beauty and charm. The canon widening 
out a little is a perfect garden of flowers and 
flowering shrubs, inclosed by majestic pine 
trees, while away to the north Mount Shasta 
and Castle Crags finish off the view; the one 
weaving fantastic gossamer webs of thin cloud, 
and the other changing to all the colors of the 
dying dolphin as the sun passes over it. Here 
is many a velvety turf or mossy rock where 
one can stretch out to rest or eat the frugal 
lunch and enjoy a pipe in a condition of peace 
unknown to the ginhorse life of commerce. 
As evening draws on, you return with a 
full creel, and with all sorts of stories as to 
those .you have caught, and of the wallopers 
that had not the sense to hold on and share the 
honor of being weighed and admired by the 
assembled campers. One of the pleasant experi¬ 
ences is the counting and weighing of the silvery 
spoils, giving lots of occasion for jokes and 
merriment. After supper the candles are lit and 
the day brought to a close with a few games of 
whist or “500”; or a chance visitor, an old 
residenter may join the circle round the camp¬ 
fire and tell stories of the early days of Shasta 
county, of Sisson Jim and Pitt River Charlie, 
and of the feverish hunt for gold “on the banks 
of the Sacramento.” 
Fly-fishing is not generally a companionable 
sport; it is enjoyed best alone. But there are 
exceptional circumstances, one of which stands 
out very pleasantly in my memory. I foregath¬ 
ered with two anglers and gained their con¬ 
fidence by explaining to them the futility of fish¬ 
ing for trout in clear water with salmon tackle 
and No. 8 flies, and by demonstrating to their 
satisfaction the rule, "fish up and fish fine.” 
During a casual conversation we discovered that 
we were all admirers of Kipling, and had all 
read and envied his experience on the Clackamas. 
We agreed to take a trip of some miles down 
the river together. Drawing straws, it fell to 
my lot to be caterer, so with some of the camp 
cooking utensils packed in a knapsack, off we 
started. 
Our rendezvous was at a point where a 
small creek emptied into the river, where we 
were to meet at noon precisely. One commenced 
about two miles up and fished down, the other 
held on down for the same distance and fished 
up, while I stopped at the creek and made the 
necessary culinary arrangements. In half an 
hour’s fishing I had enough trout for a meal 
for the three of us. A bed of watercress in the 
creek supplied a toothsome salad, and a black¬ 
berry patch nearby provided a delicious dessert. 
I baked hot biscuits in an oven made out of a 
piece of bent tin, with the fire placed under and 
over it. Here is our menu: 
Watercress Salad 
Trout, fried in olive oil 
Trout, boneless, fried in bread crumbs 
Hot biscuits Blackberries 
Black tea 
As we stretched ourselves out for an after¬ 
noon siesta we agreed unanimously that this 
meal tasted better than any ten dollar a plate 
banquet at which we ever had been. Returning, 
we fished up stream and reached camp with full 
creels. 
There are several creeks in the neighborhoed 
where good sport may be obtained, Castle Creek, 
North and South Forks and Flume Creek each 
having its own individual charm and beauty of 
landscape. 
The devotees of hunting and of mountain¬ 
eering may indulge their propensities to the full 
measure here. 
And when the time comes to bid a reluctant 
farewell to these scenes and return to the duties 
of active life, the recollection of these pleasant 
and virtuous days are as an Eden in the memory 
when harassed amid the acidities and the asperi¬ 
ties of life. 
Maple is Holding its Own. 
Though at one time in the early history of 
the country an average of 6.000 maple trees were 
destroyed in clearing the ordinary New York or 
Pennsylvania farm, maple is to-day, according 
to the Department of Agriculture one of the 
most widely used and valuable native hardwoods. 
A bulletin on the uses of maple just issued 
by the Department states that the wood finds 
place in an enormous number of articles in daily 
use, from rolling pins to pianos and organs. It 
is one of the best woods for flooring, and is 
always a favorite material for the floors of roller 
skating rinks and bowling alleys. It leads all 
other woods as a material for shoe lasts, the 
demand for which in Massachusetts alone ex¬ 
ceeds thirteen million board feet annually. 
Sugar maple stands near the top of the list 
of furniture woods in this country. The so-called 
"bird's-eye” effect, the Department explains, is 
probably due to buds which for some reason 
cannot force their way through the bark, but 
which remain just beneath it year after year. 
The young wood is disturbed each succeeding 
season by the presence of the bud, and grows 
around it in fantastic forms which are exposed 
when the saw cuts through the abnormal growth. 
Maple, the Department goes on to say, is one 
of the chief woods used for agricultural imple¬ 
ments and farm machinery, being so employed 
because of its strength and hardness. All kinds 
of wooden ware are made of maple, which holds 
important rank also in the manufacture of shut¬ 
tles, spools and bobbins. It competes with black 
gum for first place in the manufacture of rollers 
of many kinds, from those employed in house 
moving to the less massive ones used on lawn 
mowers. Athletic goods, school supplies, brush 
backs, pulleys, type cases and crutches are a few 
of the other articles for which maple is in de¬ 
mand. 
Seven species of maple grow in the United 
States, of which sugar maple, sometimes called 
hard maple, is the most important. The total cut 
of maple in the United States annually amounts 
to about 1,150,000,000 feet. Nearly one-half is 
produced by Michigan, with Wisconsin, Penn¬ 
sylvania, New York and West Virginia follow¬ 
ing in the order named. Sugar maple, says the 
Department, is in little danger of disappearing 
from the American forests, for it is a strong, 
vigorous, aggressive tree, and though not a fast 
grower, is able to hold its own. In Michigan 
it is not unusual for maple to take possession 
of land from which pine or hardwoods have been 
cut clean, and from New England westward 
through the Lake States and southward to the 
Ohio and Potomac rivers few other species are 
oftener seen in woodlots. 
The Republic of Colombia is said to have 
excellent regulations for its national forests. 
Lumbermen who take cedar and mahogany are 
required to plant young trees of the same species 
in the cut-over spaces. 
Makers of small hickory handles for ham¬ 
mers, chisels and the like, are now trying to use 
the waste from mills which make hickory spokes 
and pick and ax handles. 
