686 
the lake in November, when they were from four 
to five inches long. At that time of year the 
bass were out of the way so that the young 
salmon could protect themselves until they be¬ 
came acclimated. 
One of the practical experiments made by the 
association in 1912, was placing 60,000 two-inch 
salmon in a screened area in the meadow of 
Pike brook. These fish were watched and fed 
twice a day until November, at which time they 
were five inches long, and were allowed to run 
down into the lake. 
This same experiment is to be tried with the 
100,000 that have recently been hatched for the 
association. 
It is believed by many that as soon as the 
fish reduce the large number of smelts, it will 
FOREST AND STREAM 
be possible to take both salmon and trout with 
a fly in Lake Sunapee. 
Lake Sunapee is well screened and its abun¬ 
dance of smelt assures steady feed. 
The association secured 100,000 salmon eggs last 
fall, and these eggs have hatched. The fish 
will be planted in Sunapee next November. 
There were planted in the lake last November 
by the association 40,000 brook trout and 5,000 
rainbow trout fingerlings. This makes 10,000 
rainbow trout that have been planted in the past 
three years. 
No other lake in New England has been 
stocked with so many trout and salmon in the 
past five years. It is’ for this reason that the 
eyes of the fishermen have been turned to 
Sunapee. 
Game Conditions In Yellowstone National Park 
While it is true that the capture and ship¬ 
ment of 800 elk was duly authorized by the De¬ 
partment of Interior from Yellowstone Park, it 
has been possible to ship less than on hundred this 
winter on account of the mild weather and light 
snows. The winter of 1913-1914 was one of the 
mildest ever known in the vicinity of the Park, 
and as a consequence the elk as well as the other 
game have not been driven down to the usual 
winter grazing grounds. The elk have fed very 
little on the flats near Gardiner, where they are 
usually caught. 
Elk in Yellowstone Park act contrary to other 
game under the efficient protection accorded 
them. The deer, antelope, mountain sheep, and 
bears have become used to people and as a rule 
are indifferent to their nearness to them, al¬ 
though they are averse to undue familiarity. The 
elk, on the other hand, do not become indiffer¬ 
ent, but remain wild and shy. While they are 
the most numerous of the large Park animals, 
still their shyness renders them the least ob¬ 
served of any by the tourist who confines him¬ 
self to the main roads. In the usual winter the 
conditions are changed, and the elk are forced 
to approach the traveled roads and the settlements 
at Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner. But 
this winter they have not been forced down to 
these winter ranges. 
The mild winter has been a great blessing to 
wild animals. They have come through the bit¬ 
ter season with very few deaths, and are now 
in splendid condition. Of the 10,000 head of 
elk, deer, antelope, and mountain sheep seen and 
examined by the writer in the last month, not 
more than a bare dozen were in poor condition, 
and it is probable that even these will recover 
if not killed by the carnivorous beasts that prey 
upon them. 
The game have been particularly fortunate in 
1913, and so far in 1914. The spring of 1913 
was open with no crusts on the snow, grass 
and forage started early and were favored dur¬ 
ing the summer by frequent and heavy rains. 
So at the beginning of the winter season of 
1913-1914 all the various animals were in good 
condition to withstand the rigors of the ap¬ 
proaching winter. And then—the rigors did not 
materialize. Such cold weather as there was, 
was free from snow, and the experience has 
been that the Park game can stand the extreme 
temperatures if only they have enough to eat. 
The present administration of the Park is do¬ 
ing magnificent work in protecting the game. Not 
only has poaching become insignificant, but the 
Park authorities are co-operating in every way 
with the game wardens of the neighboring states. 
At frequent intervals hay has been spread for 
deer, antelope and mountain sheep, thereby pre¬ 
serving the natural range for the use of the elk. 
Too much praise cannot be given for the work 
that is now providing a fountain head to supply 
small herds of elk for other centers that have 
been depleted. Especially should be noted the 
recent increases in the number of the antelope 
and the buffalo. 
Antelope, or “prong-horn,” to use the correct 
name, cannot be raised successfully in captivity 
in small enclosures or reservations. They seem 
to require a large stretch of open, rolling coun¬ 
try, where they are undisturbed, during the 
breeding season especially. Once allowed to be 
depleted, the bands of this animal cannot be 
brought back. In the old days, when elk and 
buffalo were numerous on our great plains, the 
smaller prong-horns attracted little attention. 
But now that the American people are awaken¬ 
ing to the many unique features possessed by 
this dainty little animal of the plains, they begin 
to realize what a matchless possession the prong¬ 
horn really is. All honor, then, to the Park that 
is preserving and increasing its herd of 600 
head for the future admiration and study of 
the naturalist as well as the sportsman. 
It is fortunate, too, that the people awoke in 
time to the necessity of preserving another of 
our wonderful animals, the buffalo. The Yellow¬ 
stone possesses not only a tame herd that is 
kept under fence in winter and allowed to roam 
in charge of a keeper in summer, but it has 
also what is believed to be the last wild herd 
of buffalo in the United States. Although sadly 
decimated, this little band now shows signs of 
increasing under the protection accorded it. The 
tame herd of over 160 animals is also well taken 
care of, and is steadily increasing in numbers. 
The only unfavorable factors in the Park 
game situation are the mountain lions, coyotes, 
and gray wolves. The mountain lions are not 
numerous and are kept down. The coyotes are 
more numerous and breed much more rapidly, 
and they are of considerable danger to the game 
herds, especially the young animals. A pack 
of coyotes will even run down and kill the calf 
and yearling elk. However, the Park authori¬ 
ties have the situation well in 'hand, and are 
keeping the coyotes down to a reasonable num¬ 
ber. The gray wolves present a more difficult 
problem. For some reason wolves have not been 
known to be in the Yellowstone until the winter 
of 1912-1913, when a small band appeared. This 
year the band has trebled, and the ravages 
among the elk have been considerable. But as 
the danger is now evident to the administration, 
we can look for prompt and vigorous measures 
to combat the threatening evil. Wolves are too 
hard to kill in such an extended territory as 
this, and their fecundity is too great to permit 
of the success of any but the most vigorous 
measures. --— 
AGAINST SPRING PLANTING. 
Offering reasons why the Federal and state 
fisheries should abandon spring planting of 
trout, a fisherman of Windber, Pa., who has 
planted trout for many years, said recently: 
“I have taken seven and eight-inch trout out to 
Shade Creek within a fortnight before the sea¬ 
son opens. Many of those trout were fished out 
in a short time after they were put in, and of 
course they were unable to propagate. That 
meant the purpose for which they were put in 
the stream was defeated. We don’t plant the fish 
simply with the idea of furnishing sportsmen 
with trout to be caught. Those fish are ex¬ 
pected to take part in the spawning, so that, at 
the end of the season, their presence in the wa¬ 
ters has resulted in the advent of other fish, not 
raised in the hatchary. But if all the able- 
bodied trout put in one spring are to be fished 
out before the season ends, then these fish have 
had no opportunity to multiply their kind, nulli¬ 
fying the forethought involved in their planting. 
“Of course, there are some considerations 
which urge spring planting of fish. Some people 
believe that trout planted in the fall months 
have a hard time surviving the winter. If this is 
true, then systematic feeding of the troutlings 
may have to come. But I don’t believe there’s 
any such necessity. Plant trout in August or 
September and by the time ice forms I believe 
the fish will be plenty able to care for themselves. 
Indeed, they will have grown considerably- and 
fattened by winter. Planting in the early fall, 
subject to the spawning season, will insure an 
abundance of good-sized trout the next spring. 
We want fishing, not just for one season, but for 
many seasons, and to get this we must give the 
fish a chance. I’ll confess to you that sometimes 
I’ve taken trout out to Shade Creek, just before 
the season opened, that were of such size and ap¬ 
pearance as to tempt me almost to fish for them 
in the can. It looked like wasting time—and 
trout—to cart them eight or ten miles and dump 
them, to be free for only a few days. I think 
that a little publicity along this line will add 
greater effectiveness to the Fisheries departments’ 
work.” - 
As an experiment, the supervisor of the Beaver¬ 
head National forest is stripping the bark from 
the bases of a number of lodgepole pine trees at 
various periods before they are to be cut for tele¬ 
phone poles. This girdling causes the trees to 
exude resin, and it is desired to find what effect 
this may have as a preservative treatment for 
the poles. 
