630 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Conrad has a small box in his back yard filled 
nearly to the top with black earth. It is about 
two feet square and six inches deep. Every 
square inch of space in the box is marked by a 
heavy wire in a vertical position. 
In this box Conrad raises angleworms. From 
three to four times a day he deposits in each 
corner, on the surface of the earth, a “meal” 
of coffee grounds and cornmeal. The worms, 
always at the bottom of the box at lunchtime, 
wriggle in and out among the wires to 'the “feed." 
In doing so, meeting with the wire opposition, 
they develop what Conrad calls “the domestic 
wiggle.” Thus do they fit themselves to become 
excellent bait, being far superior to the ordinary 
worm, which travels always along the line of 
least resistance—the poor, lazy worm not prop¬ 
erly coached in wiggling. 
“It is the wiggle of the worm that attracts 
the fish,” Conrad declares, “and that’s a reason¬ 
able assertion in the light that all fish act on 
their power of sight- That is why I develop 
the ‘domestic wiggle’ in my worms. I can catch 
a mess of fish with my educated bait, while 
other anglers sit about cursing a black cat which 
crossed their path the night before.” 
Conrad attributes all his success to the “do¬ 
mestic wiggle” of his angleworms. He got his 
idea of feeding the worms on coffee grounds 
and cornmeal over a year ago from a story 
which appeared in a newspaper describing the 
angleworm farm of W. Orton Moon of Grand 
Rapids, Mich. That diet was recommended by 
Moon. 
Worms are used by Conrad only in connection 
with still fishing, but his idea regarding the 
“wiggle” is carried out when he is in quest of 
bass or pickerel. Whenever he starts out on an 
excursion for big fish he haunts the reedy shores 
of a lake long enough to capture several garter 
snakes. He kills the reptiles and detaches the 
tails with a sharp knife. 
It is a well-known fact that the tail of a 
snake will show signs of life long after the 
snake is dead. The old saying that “the tail 
will not die until the sun goes down” is good. 
Conrad knows this and he baits his large bass 
hooks with the tails. He uses them for trolling 
and again, with his line well leaded, he uses the 
unusual bait for casting. Always his fortune 
has been the 'best. 
From the five lakes near this village he has 
secured many large fish and the majority of 
his catches have been made with the wiggling 
tail of a garter snake impaled on a hook. 
“If all fishermen would adopt my system they 
would have just as good luck as I do,” Conrad 
declared. “They should fix a box like mine 
and develop the ‘domestic wiggle’ in the worms. 
After that it is no trick at all to catch a nice 
mess of perch and blue gills. And the snake idea 
is a good one. It will work every time. It’s 
the wiggle that does the business and the sooner 
anglers grow to realize this fact and discard the 
old idea that size and flavor count the sooner 
they will meet with no reverses on their fishing 
parties.” 
DOG SHOWS AND FIELD TRIALS SCHED¬ 
ULED FOR 1914 AND 1915. 
Pittsburgh, Pa-, Oct. 27th, 1914. 
November 2-4—Northern Hare Beagle Club’s 
field trials, North Creek, N. Y., E. B. McIntyre, 
secretary. 
November 5—National Beagle annual field 
trials, Bluemont, Va. Ramsay Turnbull, secre¬ 
tary. 
November 5-7—Ladies’ Kennel Association of 
Southern California, at Los Angeles, Cal. Mrs. 
F. M. Connor, secretary. 
November 8—National Beagle Club speciality 
show, Bluemont, Va. Ramsay Turnbull, secre¬ 
tary. 
November 11-12—French Bulldog Club of 
New England, Boston, Mass. Walter Burgess, 
secretary. 
November 12—Western Beagle Club, Kirks- 
ville, Mo. J. S. Cusson, secretary. 
November 21—Philadelphia Airedale Terrier 
Club show, Philadelphia. H. M. Donovan, secre¬ 
tary. 
November 24-27—Eastern Dog Club, Boston, 
Mass. T. Dickson Smith, secretary. 
November 26—Boston Terrier Club of De¬ 
troit, Detroit, Mich. George Robertson, secre¬ 
tary. 
November 30—Pointer Club of America, third 
annual trials, High Point, N. C. J. C. Weiler, 
secretary. 
December 1-2—Fort Orange Poultry and Pet 
Stock Association, Albany, N. Y. J. W. Stott, 
chairman committee. 
December 5—Airedale Terrier Club of Amer¬ 
ica, New York city. T. Cadwalader, secretary. 
December 9-12—Canton Kennel Club (li¬ 
censed), Canton, O. Clyde E. Schaffert, secre¬ 
tary. 
December 28-29—Toy Spaniel Club of Amer¬ 
ica, New York city. Mrs. H. S. Horris, secretary. 
February 11-13, 1915—The Kennel Club of 
Philadelphia, Philadelphia. J. Chandler Bar¬ 
nard, secretary. 
February 22-25—Westminster Kennel Club, 
New York city. William Rauch, chairman com¬ 
mittee. 
March 3-6—Duquesne Kennel Club of West¬ 
ern Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. R. W. Kenney, 
secretary. 
March 31-April 3—Mississippi Valley Kennel 
Club, St. Louis. M. Hodgman, secretary. 
April 19—Toy Dog Club of New England, 
Cambridge, Mass. Frank T. Eskrigge, secre¬ 
tary. 
May 22—Devon Dog Show Association, Dev¬ 
on, Pa. John Sinnott, secretary. 
June 2-3—Ladies’ Kennel Association of 
America, Mineola, L. I.—James Mortimor, 
superintendent. 
September 14—Lenox Dog Show Association, 
Lenox, Mass. F. S. Delafield, secretary. 
$100 OFFERED FOR PHOTOGRAPH OF 
LARGEST TREE. 
Washington, D. C. October 28—Foresters of 
the United States are interested in the announce¬ 
ment recently made by the American Genetic 
Association (Washington, D. C.), that two 
prizes of $100 each have been offered for two 
photographs—one of the largest tree of a nut¬ 
bearing variety in the United States, and one 
of the largest broad-leaf trees which does not 
bear edible seeds- In the first class, for exam¬ 
ple, are included trees such as chestnut, oak, 
walnut, butternut, and pecan; and in the second, 
trees such as elm, birch, maple, cottonwood, and 
tulip poplar. No photographs of cone-bearing 
trees are wanted, since it is definitely known 
that the California bigtrees have no rivals among 
conifers. At a later time the association may 
take up the same question as between the vari¬ 
ous kinds of conifers—as pines, spruces, firs, 
cedars, and cypresses. 
The purpose of the competition, as stated by 
the association, is to find out in what regions 
the native trees attain their largest growth, and 
under what conditions they thrive best. When 
these large trees are located and the measure¬ 
ments authenticated, the association hopes that 
it may be possible to secure seeds, cuttings; or 
grafting wood from thrifty trees in the region 
where they grow, to see whether finer specimens 
may be propagated in other parts of the coun¬ 
try. It is hoped in this manner to get some 
particularly choice strains of native trees estab¬ 
lished in regions where good specimens are not 
now found. 
The Influence of Heredity. 
It is assumed by the association that seed 
from the region where the largest trees grow 
ought to produce larger and stronger trees than 
from regions where only small trees are found.- 
By finding out where the large trees are and 
then planting seeds from them in other locations, 
the association hopes to demonstrate the practical 
value to horticulture and forestry of the laws 
of heredity. Now that reforestration is becom¬ 
ing a pressing problem, the question of seed 
trees which will produce particularly good off¬ 
spring is naturally coming to the fore. 
Other influences, of course, will have a bearing 
on the subject, and the results of the investiga¬ 
tion may help to settle the question as to whether 
trees can be acclimatized. Even if they can not 
be, there may be cases where trees in a new 
environmnt may make better growth than the 
best in their native range. This is said to be 
true of certain of the Australian eucalyptus, and 
of the Monterey pine, which does not amount 
to much in its native location in California but 
has proved of great value in New Zealand. 
The Federal forest service has conducted some 
studies along this line and has discovered, for 
example, that the Douglas fir of the Rocky 
Mountains and the Douglas fir of the Pacific 
Coast, while the same species, have different 
characteristics and will produce trees like the 
parent stock, modified somewhat, however, by 
environment. For example, if the two forms 
are planted together, during the earlier period 
of its life at least the Pacific Coast form will 
make a larger and stronger growth than the 
Rocky Mountain tree, provided it is not affected 
by adverse local conditions. 
Several other questions, such as the climatic 
requirements of trees grown in different local¬ 
ities, will, of course, enter into the final solution 
of the problem. It has been found in Germany, 
for example, that the Pacific Coast form of 
Douglas fir is not as hardy as the Rocky Moun¬ 
tain form, which has to endure in its native 
habitat severe extremes of temperature, and Ger¬ 
man foresters have been working to discover a 
strain of Douglas fir which will combine, as far 
as possible, the hardiness of the Rocky Mountain 
form and the large size of the Pacific Coast 
form. 
Trees Are Fastidious. 
Some authorities go so far as to say that even 
the ingenuity and perseverance of man are un¬ 
able to induce trees to change their habits far 
enough to adopt a country not closely like their 
native habitat. 
