274 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March i, 1913 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
Charles Otis, President. 
W. G. Beecroft, Secretary. W. J. Gallagher, Treasurer. 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE— Forest and Stream is the 
recognized mediuau of entertainment, instruction and in¬ 
formation between American sportsmen. The editors 
invite communications on the subjects to which its pages 
are devoted, but, of course, are not responsible for the 
views of correspondents. Anonymous communications 
cannot be regarded. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $3 a year; $1.50_for six months; 
10 cts. a copy. Canadian. $4 a year; foreign, $4.50 a year. 
This paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 
the United States. Canada and Great Britain. Foreign 
Subscription and Sales Agents—London: Davies & Co., 
1 Finch Lane; Sampson, Low & Co. Paris: Brentano’s. 
ADVERTISEMENTS: Display and classified, 20 cts. 
per agate line ($2.80 per inch). There are 14 agate lines to 
the inch. Covers and special positions extra. Five, 
ten and twenty per cent, discount for 13, 26 and 52 inser¬ 
tions, respectively, within one year. Forms close Monday 
in advance of publication date. 
Entered as second-class matter at the Post-OfiBce, 
New York, N. Y. 
COVER PHOTOGRAPH. 
The unique photograph appearing on the 
cover of this issue was taken by Mr. Charles A. 
Hazen, President of the Bras Coupe Fishing 
Club, which is located about 125 miles north of 
Ottawa, Canada, in the River Desert region, to 
the northwest of the Gatineau River, and shows 
the interior of the club’s camp on Round Lake. 
In front of this cabin, in 1910, one of the mem¬ 
bers of the club caught a yka-pound small-mouth 
black bass. 
SHALL SPRING SHOOTING BE REVIVED? 
There are now under consideration in the 
New York Legislature two bills, apparently de¬ 
signed to again open the season on Long Island 
for the shooting of ducks during the late winter 
and early spring. One of these, extending the 
opening season for about thirty days, or until 
Feb. 10, has already been favorably reported 
from the committee, and may, perhaps, be rushed 
to a vote at any time. The other, a Senate 
bill, still in the committee, extends the open sea¬ 
son for wildfowl on Long Island until March 31. 
The questions involved in these bills have 
been thrashed over before the Legislature of the 
State of New York time and again, and some years 
ago that body in its wisdom enacted a bill clos¬ 
ing the season for the possession of wildfowl 
after Jan. 10. This law has received almost 
universal approval. Even wealthy people, who 
greatly desire to have wild ducks on their table 
during the winter—although during the first sea¬ 
son they complained greatly of the hardship of 
being obliged to go without these birds—are now 
satisfied that the present law is wise, and are 
willing to abstain from the luxury so long en¬ 
joyed, because they believe it is for the public 
good. 
The passage of the present New York law 
has enormously reduced the consumption—and so 
the killing—of ducks in their Southern wintering 
grounds, where it has always been the practice 
to kill as many as possible from the time when 
they appear in the fall, until the day of their 
departure for the North in the spring. The 
present New York law has thus an influence 
far wider than is apparent from the language 
of the statute, and is a peculiarly useful pro¬ 
tective measure for wildfowl. 
Persons who consider the sentimental side 
of the question will be influenced, no doubt, by 
the fact that certain species of ducks are mated 
in January and February, and should not be 
killed during the late winter. If the protection 
of any migratory game bird is believed in, there 
is no logic to support the spring shooting of 
wildfowl. If they can be shot in spring, why 
not shoot the woodcock, the snipe, or any other 
migratory bird? Blackducks, woodducks and 
other species which formerly bred in great num¬ 
bers in New York State, and which since the 
passage of the present law have again begun 
to breed here, are in precisely the same category 
as the woodcock. We have heard no one advo¬ 
cate the spring shooting of woodcock. 
Sportsmen -will do well to take all steps pos¬ 
sible to see that these bills—whether advocating 
the renewing of spring shooting, or merely start¬ 
ing an entering wedge which later shall accom¬ 
plish this end—are voted down by their repre¬ 
sentatives at Albany. 
PROTECTING THE PISH. 
Threatened extinction of the great game 
fishes of the Pacific coast has led the American 
Game Protective and Propagation Association, 
of New York, to join with Southern California 
sportsmen in their efforts to preserve them. 
Among these fish are the largest specimens of 
the finny' tribe which are taken on hook and 
line. For game qualities combined with great 
size, no other fish has equaled the tuna, and 
there are half a dozen species of even greater 
weight which have attracted anglers from all 
over the world to Southern California. 
These fish spawn in the kelp beds where 
they are taken in such numbers by net fishermen 
that the future of the supply is in serious 
danger. Charles F. Holder, as chairman of the 
Los Angeles committee, has recommended to 
the State Legislature that netting be prohibited 
within the distance of three miles of the shores 
of Catalina Island, and it is hoped that a law 
will be passed this winter which will give the 
fish this necessary statutory protection. 
MOVING THE BUFFALO. 
This is moving time for the buffalo in Ne¬ 
braska, and a small but quite important mixed 
herd of bison, elk and deer have been transferred 
to the care of the Department of Agriculture, 
and a good sized reservation has been set aside 
for their care. The herd was the property of 
J. W. Gilbert, a wealthy ranchman near Valen¬ 
tine, Nebraska, and he has donated the animals 
to the Government on condition that they re¬ 
main inside of the State. As the department 
has a reservation located on the old Fort Nio¬ 
brara reservation containing 12,000 acres. Dr. 
Gilbert was informed that his conditions would 
be gladly met by the Government. This reser¬ 
vation has been a bird refuge for some time, 
and it was determined to extend its use as a 
big game reserve also. The citizens of Valen¬ 
tine raised by public subscription a fund suffi¬ 
cient to place a fence around 200 acres of the 
reserve, an area large enough to care for the 
big game until the Government could secure an 
appropriation to inclose the entire reserve. 
There are eight bison, fifteen elk and some deer 
in the herd, so that it is the basis of what will 
probably be quite a thriving herd in the course 
of a few years. The Niobrara tract will con¬ 
tinue to be used as a bird reservation, and is 
one of fifty-nine others in various parts of the 
country under the care of the department. 
These refuges are not evenly distributed by any 
means, some States having several and others 
none. It is hoped by the officials of the depart¬ 
ment and by bird lovers as well that within a 
short time each of the States will have at least 
one bird reservation within its borders, as it is 
believed that this would do a great deal toward 
solving the problem of game and bird conserva¬ 
tion and preservation throughout the entire 
country. 'U^ith such a refuge in each State, 
laws both State and Federal for the protection 
of migratory birds would be a matter of a short 
time. 
THE PRAIRIE DOG. 
It is estimated by the Biological Survey 
that the prairie dog is the most destructive of 
our rodents, and that the daily forage consumed 
by thirty-two adult dogs equals the amount re¬ 
required by a sheep, while approximately 250- 
prairie dogs eat in a day about the same amount 
of forage as a cow. As some of these dog towns 
cover thousands of acres and contain millions 
of rodents, the extent of damage done annually 
may easily be imagined. Their destruction has 
become quite a problem, and the experts of the 
Biological Survey are engaged in experimenting 
with the best and most economical method of 
exterminating these little pests. 
GENUINE SPORTSMEN. 
The Winona Sportsmen’s Club has appointed 
a delegation to urge the defeat of a bill before 
the Legislature to permit spring shooting. The 
proposed law would allow hunters to kill geese 
and bluebills during the spring flight. The 
Winona sportsmen very sensibly take the view 
that no one but an expert could or would dis¬ 
tinguish these birds from some others. A law 
to permit hunting of geese and bluebills in the 
spring would offer an excuse to be out in the 
field with a gun and would result in promiscu¬ 
ous shooting of all kinds of game. 
It is this sort of sportsmen’s club that does 
honor to its title and whose being means preser¬ 
vation of game. 
The Farmhouse Hearth. 
BY A. L. W. 
What though without the aurora’s shifting glow 
Dim lights the orchard mantled all in snow, 
The high stars glitter cold, the icy wind 
Assaults each rattling pane and shivering blind— 
Within the hickory logs aroar 
Flash warmth and light athwart the floor. 
Before the andirons apples hiss 
In ecstasy of sputtering bliss. 
Tbe boys are hammering forth the sweets 
Of garnered shellbarks—laughter greets 
Each pounded finger, while at hand 
Full mugs of tangy cider stand. 
Child David, perched on father’s knee, 
Hears tales of long ago with glee. 
The girls wind off the scarlet skein, 
While mother’s needles click amain. 
The dreaming haoun’ dog twitches on his bed 
As phantom rabbits scurry through his head. 
