Dec. 20, 1913. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
795 
line and cast in the dead water, caused by the 
two currents coming together. The line had 
scarcely settled when under the float went. I 
struck, but nothing was doing, except the bait 
was gone. I cast again with the same result. 
Then I began to think I was supplying a break¬ 
fast to some vile turtle. But the third trial 
brought different results, as I had hooked a fish 
that made the line fairly cut the water in an 
endeavor to get in swift water. But I held it 
out and as soon as it showed weakness I started 
it for the shore, and landed a four-pound blue cat. 
I fished there for a time without any result, so 
I moved up stream and removed the float, put on 
an extra sinker and fished in the swift water 
and caught six channel cat that would weigh 
about a pound each. But they quit biting, so I 
consulted my watch and found it nearing the 
noon hour. I wended my way back to where the 
lady had been fishing, but she had retired to the 
shade, near the team. We spread the lunch, and 
oh, such appetites, developed in so short time. 
After eating everything in sight, we decided after 
a short rest we would go home. Thus ended an 
enjoyable day’s fishing on the Nodai 'y. The only 
regrets were with the scribe because he did not 
succeed in landing the yellow fellow from the 
show me state. 
National Organization to Study Forest 
Insect Problem 
Washington, December 15.—The enormous 
losses due to forest insects have led to the forma¬ 
tion of a society for the advancement of forest 
entomology in America. The members of this 
society hold that the work of insects has not 
received the attention which it deserves. 
Henry S. Graves, United States forester, the 
newly elected president of the society, on being 
asked about the purposes of the organization, said 
that they were, in general, to call attention to 
the part which insects play in forest problems. 
“We have had,” he said, “widespread and specific 
interest in insect pests such as the San Jose scale 
and the boll weevil, which affect all of us as to 
what we eat and what we wear. Forest insects 
through their destruction of timber increase the 
cost of a necessity which enters quite as much 
into the daily life of the individual as do the 
products of the field and orchard. If the import¬ 
ance of the protection of our forest resources 
from insect depredations is generally recognized, 
a large part can be prevented or avoided. 
“Right now in the National forests the Bu¬ 
reau of entomology and the forest service are co¬ 
operating to stop insect ravages by discovering 
their beginnings, and stamping them out. A few 
isolated trees attacked by insects may form the 
nucleus of a mountainside devastation quite as 
serious as that from a forest fire. The oppor¬ 
tunity for combatting insects, however, is in one 
respect better than that in the case of a fire, 
which runs rapidly, because it takes several years 
for an insect devastation to spread until it be¬ 
comes of such proportions as that which over¬ 
spread the yellow pine forests in the Black Hills 
in 1906. Watchful care on the part of forest 
officers, lumbermen, and private individuals will 
make it possible to catch these infestations before 
they get a good start. By cutting and burning 
the trees, or stripping off the bark, the insects can 
be killed. As in all such cases, an ounce of pre¬ 
vention is worth a pound of cure.” 
“Who make up the membership of the or¬ 
ganization?” was the next question asked of Mr. 
Graves. 
“It is open to any one interested in the sub¬ 
ject,” Mr. Graves replied. “It seems to me that 
the relation of forest insects to forest protection 
touches almost every one. Of course, we expect 
that new members shall be recommended by the 
present membership, which is made up largely of 
persons who have studied the forest insect prob¬ 
lem at first hand. In order, however, that the 
objects of the society shall be kept foremost, it 
is required that at least four of the seven officers 
must be chosen from among professional forest 
entomologists. It is expected that honorary vice- 
presidents representing Federal, state, and pri¬ 
vate interests will be elected to promote the ob¬ 
jects of the organization in many localities 
through the country.” 
“How will these objects be attained?” 
“In the first place, the objects of the society 
are largely educational. As in all questions of 
large public importance, the main idea is to give 
the public an opportunity to know just how im¬ 
portant they are. In the second place, the society 
will form a clearing house for information, and 
its meetings will discuss the most advantageous 
methods of insect control. Take, for example, 
the ravages of the gypsy moth and the brown-tail 
moth in the northeastern states. If we can bring 
about a general knowledge of these insects and 
of the harm they do, and are able to instill into 
the mind of the individual the necessity for and 
the proper methods of their control, how much 
easier it will be to combat them than when the 
work is confined only to governmental agencies!” 
Carnegie Museum Expedition 
Washington, D. C., Dec. 6, 1913. 
ROF. W. E. C. TODD, curator of ornitholo¬ 
gy of the Carnegie Museum at Pittsburgh. 
Pennsylvania, the first man to make a com¬ 
plete survey of the east coast of Hudson Bay 
for the purpose of platting the bird and animal 
life there, is now in Washington to compare a 
collection of South American birds owned by 
the Carnegie Institute with a collection in the 
National Museum. He recounts a story of many 
hardships on his trip to the far north. For many 
miles he traveled afoot over the snow and frozen 
ground, for a part of the journey with his bare 
feet protruding through his worn out boots, in an 
effort to reach civilization before his food supply 
became exhausted. Sufficient food for only two 
meals remained when he and his exploring party 
finally reached a habitation. Notwithstanding the 
many difficulties he encountered Prof. Todd is 
planning another expedition to the Hudson Bay 
country for the next season. While in Washing¬ 
ton he submitted his records to the scrutiny of 
the National Geographic Society. The members 
of the Carnegie Museum expedition in addition 
to Prof. Todd included Alfred E. Preble and C. 
H. M. Barrett, the latter gentleman having since 
his return become connected with the United 
States Biological Survey. The expedition started 
for the Hudson Bay country in the early summer 
and consumed six months in exploration, having 
just returned from the arduous trip. “The de¬ 
sire to explore this part of North America,” de¬ 
clared Prof. Todd, “came to me when a boy. 
When I began the study of birds I found that 
there was practically nothing known about the 
birds and animals north of the ‘Canadian life- 
zone.’ On my recent trip, however, I was able 
to collect 1,300 specimens from a country about 
which little was heretofore known. The expedi¬ 
tion reached Fort George on James Bay without 
much trouble. It was on the return journey that 
the principal difficulties were encountered, as 
guides were hard to obtain and still more difficult 
to retain. On our return homeward the weather 
grew bitterly cold and we ran into heavy snows. 
We had two Indian guides, and for long distances 
going up stream we found it necessary to tow our 
canoes with ropes, allowing the Indians to re¬ 
main in the canoes to guide so as to avoid the 
rocks, as they were far more expert in handling 
the crafts than were we. My boots wore out and 
my feet stuck through the soles, but I kept going 
by stuffing pieces of birch bark in the bottoms of 
my boots. At the very last stage of our journey 
before reaching civilization, our canoes were 
frozen in the ice overnight. Luckily, we had but 
twelve miles to go. At the risk of dislodging the 
ice in the river and causing it to heap down on 
us and thus crush our canoes, we cut the craft 
loose and pulled her up on shore. We thus 
reached the last leg of the journey on foot, but 
as we had but twelve miles we made it on our 
last two meals left of our commissary when we 
reached the first habitation we had seen in many 
weeks.” 
Jack rabbits, prairie dogs, and ground squir¬ 
rels are overrunning the agricultural section of 
the Rocky Mountain states, according to Con¬ 
gressman Smith, of Idaho, who has recently in¬ 
troduced a bill in the House of Representatives 
appropriating the sum of $20,000 to exterminate 
the rodents. Mr. Smith declares that 18,000 rab¬ 
bits were recently killed in a grand round-up in 
Idaho, but the difference in the number of rab¬ 
bits since the slaughter has not been noticeable, 
mainly for the reason that the rabbits multiply 
so rapidly. He asserts that the jack rabbits are 
ruining the crops of western farmers, and he de¬ 
sires the Department of Agriculture to experi¬ 
ment as to the best method of exterminating the 
pests. Sportsmen who are fond of the chase 
might enjoy some exhilarating sport in hunting 
the western jack rabbit and the citizens would 
doubtless offer every aid in the matter. 
More than a billion menhaden were caught 
off the coasts of New Jersey, New York, Dela¬ 
ware, Virginia, and North Carolina during the 
past year, according to the United States Bureau 
of Fisheries in reciting the prosperity which at¬ 
tends the business of catching fish and transform¬ 
ing them into oil and guano. The season for this 
business was one of the most successful in the 
past half century. The oil derived from the fish 
according to the Bureau’s figures, totaled more 
than 6,500,000 gallons, while 90,000 tons of fer¬ 
tilizer was produced. Forty-eight factories and 
150 vessels engaged in the business. Some in¬ 
stances of abuses in the taking of the fish were 
found by the bureau investigations. In the Ches¬ 
apeake Bay herring and perch, suitable for human 
food were knowingly taken and converted into 
fertilizer. This abuse the bureau declares is to 
be corrected through the local net fisheries at the 
head of the bay. The House Committee on Mer¬ 
chant Marine and Fiseheries now has two bills 
before it aiming to correct these abuses, and the 
chances are that one of the bills may become a 
law during the present session of Congress. 
The first roll call in the House of Represent¬ 
atives was ordered this week on a resolution 
offered by Representative Anderson, of Minne¬ 
sota, calling upon the Postmaster General to in¬ 
form the House what regulations -he had issued 
regarding the transmission of game through the 
mails by parcel post or otherwise. There are 
state laws which it is claimed involve a conflict 
between the Post Office Department and the 
states which prohibit the shipment of game. Air. 
Anderson stated that he wished to know what 
action the Postmaster General had done in the 
matter in view of the latter’s statement that game 
is mailable. The House rejected the resolution 
and laid it on the table. This action shows that 
the game conservationists must adopt stout meth¬ 
ods to interest Congress in amending the present 
parcel post law relative to the shipment of game. 
Raleigh Raines. 
Perhaps some people knew of your goods or 
your store five or ten years ago. Since then new 
generations have come into the market. Adver¬ 
tise now. 
