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FOREST AND STREAM 
levying an extra tax on sportsmen, whose licenses 
already are helping to support the schools. 
“To illustrate the importance of the department 
being allowed to use some of the fund in propa¬ 
gating game,” he said recently, “I will say that 
unless patriotic sportsmen come forward and put 
up money, Georgia may lose the opportunity for 
securing a herd of fifty elk from Yellowstone 
Park, which have been allotted to this state 
through the good offices of our senators. 
“If I could use funds there would be no uncer¬ 
tainty about securing this herd, but now it is de¬ 
pendent on the public patriotism of sportsmen.” 
GAME CONDITIONS IN CANADA. 
Editor Forest and Stream: So far as weather 
and snow are concerned, this is one of the best 
seasons for the wintering of game that I have 
ever known. Around the Bras Coupe lakes, and 
in the Lake Desert country there has been but 
little snow, and deer and moose are able to travel 
everywhere. The light snowfall also means that 
wolves cannot kill off the deer or worry the 
moose as in past winters. The weather it is true 
has been intensely cold. On January 12th, the 
thermometer here read 47 degrees below zero, 
rising to 20 degrees below on the 14th. Then 
until the 19th it stood between that and 42 below, 
but this cold weather does not affect the deer as 
long as they can get food. 
DAVE HOWE, 
Warden Bras Coupe Fish and Game Club. 
Bras Coupe Lake, Quebec. 
NON-SALE OF GAME IN CALIFORNIA. 
Capitola, Cal., Jan. 30th, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
At the last session of the legislature in Cali¬ 
fornia, a bill was passed which prohibited the sale 
of all wild game, except wild geese, “rabbits,” 
prohibited the sale of wild ducks, except during 
the month of November. 
This bill also prohibited the shipment, or 
transportation of wild game. 
Subsequent to the adoption of the bill a refer¬ 
endum petition was put in circulation, the 
matter of whether or not the sale of wild game 
will be permitted in this state will be decided by 
the ballot at the next general election. 
WALTER R. WELCH, 
Game Warden. 
MUST PAY WELL FOR POACHING. 
Aggressive prosecutions and convictions for 
illegal hunting in Columbia county, New York, 
along the Massachusetts state line, are likely to 
check Massachusetts pothunters from border 
raids on York state deer, which are protected. A 
Canaan man recently was fined the extreme pen¬ 
alty, $100, for this offense, and warrants were 
issued for his alleged partner. Heavy fines have 
been imposed for other violations of the game 
law, and imprisonment is promised for a second 
offense. 
TO BREED WILD DUCKS. 
A scheme for breeding wild ducks in semi¬ 
captivity, to increase the supply of wild game, is 
published in the February Bulletin of the Ameri¬ 
can Game Protective Association, in the form of 
a letter from Lord William Percy, the English 
sportsman and ornithologist, to Frederic C. Wal¬ 
cott, a director of the Association. The proposi¬ 
tion is to pull the stumps of wing-clipped ducks 
just before migration time, to induce the birds to 
nest in the neighborhood, instead of going north 
when the feathers have grown again, which takes 
about three weeks. This method is one which is 
being followed in England, where it is regarded 
as doing much toward inducing the multiplication 
of rare species. 
WILL HUNT IN C\NAL ZONE. 
Ex-Congressman George Shiras of Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., and H. E. Anthony of the staff of the 
American Museum of Natural History left New 
York recently to hunt and take pictures of wild 
game in the region of the Panama Canal Zone. 
Mr. Anthony will try to get specimens of the 
wild game in the region of Gatun Lake. Mr. 
Shiras, who is an expert photographer, took at 
least a dozen cameras with him. The explorers 
will live in a houseboat and will also use a power 
boat. The filling of Gatun Lake has driven many 
wild animals from their haunts and perhaps it is 
expected that they will be found from fifteen to 
twenty miles inland. 
In an article reviewing the history of early 
fishing clubs, “The Field” (England), brings to 
light the interesting fact that the oldest fishing 
club in the world is not to be found in England, 
but on this side of the pond. The organization 
to which “The Field” awards this historic honor 
made its home along the banks of the Schuylkill 
river, near Philadelphia. 
“The Schuylkill Fishing Company,” says our 
British contemporary, “was organized in 1732, 
and was a frankly social affair, which had its own 
clubhouse or ‘castle,’ and which was chiefly con¬ 
cerned in fishing as a recreation. A history of 
the club was published so long ago as 1830, writ¬ 
ten by Wm. Milnor, Jr.; but it must be a very 
scarce little book, in England at any rate, and we 
have never seen a copy. A larger history, a hand¬ 
some and well-illustrated volume, was published 
by the members of the state in Schuylkill in 1889, 
and this is a worthy memorial of what is styled 
in the preface ‘the oldest social organization 
speaking the English language.’ It includes Mil- 
nor’s history and carries the story down to the 
year 1888. 
The history of the Schuylkill Company is much 
more animated than that of any English fishing 
club, for many of its members took an active 
part in the War of Independence, echoes of which 
are to be found in the pages of its annals. It 
differs from English clubs also in its much great¬ 
er formalities and the solemnity of its councils 
and proceedings, a mock solemnity, be it under¬ 
stood, which admits of plenty of humor in the 
narrative. Governor, counsellors, secretary of 
state, sheriff, coroner—a fine pomp was kept up. 
The clubhouse, as said before, was the ‘castle,’ 
while the two fishing boats were styled the ‘fleet,’ 
or sometimes even the ‘marine.’ The delightful 
record of fun and good humor given by the 
History of the Schuylkill Fishing Company, is a 
valuable addition to the library of any angler 
who has an affection for the good old times.” 
ORCHARD LAKE CLUB. 
The annual meeting and dinner of the Orchard 
Lake Club was held at the Princeton Club, New 
York, February 3rd. A large number were pres¬ 
ent. After dinner Mr. John B. Burnham gave 
an interesting resume of game conditions 
throughout the country at the present time as 
compared to the days, of Frank Forester, and 
showed slides on the screen to illustrate the work 
the American Game Protection and Propagation 
Association has been doing for some years past 
WANTS OPEN SEASON ON PHEASANT. 
An open season on pheasants for at least one 
year was advised recently by Deputy Commission¬ 
er Macker, of North Grafton, for which there is 
now a bill before the Legislature. 
“It would be a good thing in many ways,” said 
Mr. Macker. “There is no doubt but what the 
birds are doing a great amount of damage to the 
crops, especially during seed time. Farmers 
claim, and rightly, too, I believe, that the pheas¬ 
ants in some sections are a worse pest than the 
crows. They claim that one bird will follow a 
drill where the corn is just sprouting about the 
soil and will destroy more tender corn plants than 
crows ever have.” 
in the effort to rehabilitate the game in certain 
sections of the country. Mr. Burnham’s address 
was followed by a series of moving pictures illus¬ 
trating fish culture, and an antelope hunt in New¬ 
foundland. 
Mr. Hendrickson, naturalist, talked of game 
destroyers, other than the gun. He argues that 
more game is killed each year from other causes 
than by the gun, and suggests that work to de¬ 
stroy these destroyers should preceed legislation 
to limit shooting seasons. 
The report of the treasurer showed the club 
in most excellent financial condition, and with 
the condition of the fish hatchery it would seem 
as though the members were assured exceptional 
fishing this coming season, and lots of real en¬ 
joyment in the privileges of their club. 
GOLDEN TROUT FOR SIERRA SUMMIT. 
A recommendation that all the summit waters 
of the fourth district of California be planted to 
golden trout was embodied in a recent report of 
Commissioner A. D. Ferguson, who said: 
“I would recommend that in the summer sea¬ 
son of 1914, this office be permitted to undertake 
the work of transplanting Golden trout on a scale 
sufficiently large to cover Yosemite National Park 
as well as the other mountainous sections of the 
division. 
“While it will require many years to ultimately 
reach all of the lake waters of the upper Sierra 
region with stockfish, it is nevertheless entirely 
feasible to reach some part of every important 
section of these now barren waters, in a single 
season. 
“As wide distribution of each consignment as 
possible, would be made; and thus bases for a 
future supply would be established, to the end 
that eventually the whole upper water-shed could 
be reached and stocked by reason of annual pack- 
train operations.” 
NEW FISHING CLUB IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
The Hiawatha Fishing Club, comprised of 
seventy-five sportsmen from the Lehigh and 
Delaware valleys, was organized recently at 
Easton, Pa. A large clubhouse will be erected on 
a 12,000-acre tract, northeast of Stroudsburg, and 
it is expected to increase the membership to 200. 
The entrance fee is $100. The temporary officers 
are: President, Dr. H. A. Burkhardt, Bethlehem; 
secretary, J. H. Swartz, Allentown; treasurer* 
Cicero Gearhart, Stroudsburg. 
Oldest Fishing Club is in United States 
