June 5, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
90 T 
The Rangeley Lakes in Early Spring 
Upper Dam, Me., May 27.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Nature acts to-day as it has for cen¬ 
turies and the ice goes out of the lakes almost 
always in the month of May. From this one 
it disappears on the fifteenth, when the trout, 
freed from an imprisonment of months beneath 
their cold embracements, seek the surface with 
activity, and some fall victims to the industrious 
fishermen, who are already gathering at the vari¬ 
ous resorts. Although I have been a visitor here 
for many years, I cannot say that of late years 
I have witnessed any sensible diminution of 
trout in these extensive waters; while the land¬ 
locked salmon {Salmo confinis), introduced a 
score of years ago, has largely increased. In 
many waters where introduced—several hundred 
lakes, ponds and streams in Maine alone—these 
fish do not reach a maximum of much over five 
pounds as in the Schoodic lakes and streams 
where they have existed before the memory of 
man. In the Rangeley Lakes and in Sebago 
Lake and a few other waters they attain a 
rrj^ximum of fifteen and eighteen pounds. 
I think that one reason why these lakes hold 
on so well in trout is the introduction of salt 
water smelts, which have proved a great success 
and are now found in hundreds of Maine waters 
furnishing an abundant food supply. We owe 
this to the judicious action of the fish commis¬ 
sioners. This nimble and beautiful fish is a 
rapid breeder and seems to do well wherever in¬ 
troduced. As a food supply it cannot be sur¬ 
passed. 
Observations on the smelts at the Rangeleys 
show some curious features. That there are 
evidently three distinct sizes; by far the more 
numerous being small ones of about three inches 
in length. They are silvery beauties, and when 
laid on the sand in the sun are of singular trans¬ 
parency. They are of fine flavor and not a bad 
imitation of the Greenwich whitebait. A larger 
class is from five to seven inches in length and 
another class of very large smelts running from 
ten to seventeen inches in length, some of which 
weigh over a pound. Those most familiar with 
the fish claim that these three classes are quite 
distinct and breed and run independently of each 
other. The first to appear on the shallow sandy 
spawning beds in the quick water below the dams 
—with the lakes still frozen over, and before the 
May flowers show their rosy white buds—are 
the largest smelts which crowd upon the beds 
and occupy them night and day in their spawn¬ 
ing, so fearless and eager that they can be 
grasped by the hand. 
In a few days after the appearance of the 
largest size come those of middle size, and by 
the time the lakes are cleared of ice the myriads 
of the small ones swarm into the quick waters, 
choking it with thousands upon thousands so 
that with a large landing net barrels of them 
may be dipped out without apparent diminution 
of their numbers. As the spawning of these 
little ones proceeds, masses acres in extent move 
away on the surface, and in my boat I have 
paused among them visible continuously upon 
the surface for half a mile around me. These 
smelts apparently live wholly upon infusoria, and 
which is most abundant in these waters. 
Prominent among these are the Polegastrica 
and Rotatoria, white and visible to the naked 
eye. In winter I have many times witnessed 
their movements, slow and often rotary, at the 
surface of the water, some of them of pin head 
size clearly seen by lying on the ice at a cut 
hole with a blanket over one’s head. After 
such a hole has been cut for a day or two, at¬ 
tracted by the light they increase in numbers. 
They are also observable close beneath the ice 
which first freezes over the lake, seeking the 
light. 
All of the anadromous families of fish when 
hatched out have the umbilical sac which fur¬ 
nishes their support. When this is absorbed hun¬ 
ger drives the minute fish to the infusoria until 
it grows to a size when it can secure minute 
insects in the water, grubs and innumerable 
other food sources. So it goes on until it preys 
cannibal-like on its own kind or other fish. 
No life is more widespread than the infusorial. 
It is found in the opaque puddle of the road¬ 
side, in the rill from the glacial flow, in the 
thermal spring, in the saltest of seas. Freezing 
does not affect it, nor the drying up of the pools 
which contain it, for in the dust blown away it 
revives on reaching moisture in full breeding 
power. It is the basis of all fish life, of the 
Fontinalis and Salar to the gigantic Orca gladi¬ 
ator and its kindred cetaceans. 
J. Parker Whitney. 
A Stream with no Trout. 
Watertown, N. Y., May 29. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: In the town of Pitcairn, St. Law¬ 
rence county, New York, adjoining the Adiron- 
dacks, is a stream of suitable size for good trout- 
ing and in apparent good condition, there having 
been no lumber operations in many years, in 
which no trout have been taken this season. The 
indications are there are none. 
There were extensive fires last year at the 
headwaters of this Greenwood Creek and natives 
state many dead trout were seen following same, 
the evident cause being the action of wood ashes 
when the rains came. 
If'all this is true it indicates a lamentable con¬ 
dition and one from which years will be neces¬ 
sary for recovery, and it indicates also, a duty 
on the part of the State and sportsmen, greater 
than ever, to seek to replenish and restock. One 
can but wonder how general those conditions 
may be. A. 
Salmon at $I 25 a Pound. 
The salmon season on the Penobscot River 
has been open several weeks, and it is legal to 
take fish from the waters until July 15. For 
days veteran anglers have been getting their 
tackle ready for the Atlantic sea salmon fish¬ 
ing. The first salmon taken is worth $1.25 a 
pound. This has been the standard price for 
years. John MacGregor, the spool manufac¬ 
turer, who died at Lincoln a short time ago, 
had a standing offer at that price for a fish 
which he sent to a friend in Newark, and his 
son has announced that he will continue the 
practice.—Kennebec Journal. 
THE NATURAL FXAVOR 
of the richest and purest cow’s milk is re¬ 
tained in Borden’s Peerless Brand Evapor¬ 
ated Milk (unsweetened). It is especially 
adapted for use either plain or diluted on 
breakfast fruits or cereals. In coffee and 
chocolate it is much better than fresh cream. 
It enriches all milk dishes.— Adv. 
Anglers’ Association of Onondaga. 
In his annual report to the members of the 
Anglers’ Association of Onondaga, President 
F. S. Honsinger tells of the work that has been 
accomplished by this large Syracuse organiza¬ 
tion. He said in part: 
Nineteen years ago this organization started 
with a membership of eighteen broad-minded 
men, whose interests were not selfish but whose 
ambitions were to improve local conditions for 
the benefit and enjoyment of all. It was con¬ 
ceived in the spirit of old-school sportsmanship; 
it has been nurtured through these many years 
by men in whom the same spirit was innate, 
and it approaches maturity to-day with an en¬ 
thusiasm which has caused the same spirit of 
sportsmanship to waken men not only in this 
State, but throughout the country to a desire 
to roam the' woods as did our forefathers in 
search of game, and when in a poetic frame of 
mind to drop their lure in likely places. Our 
club has been favored during its existence with 
the membership and personal influence of 
sportsmen of national renown. How many 
clubs can boast of having had among its active 
members such notable characters as Reuben 
Wood, Eugene McCarthy, John N. Babcock, 
and General Dwight H. Bruce? 
Our membership, which has increased 
wonderfully during the past two years, has been 
made possible because of the sincerity of pur¬ 
pose which has been displayed by our active 
members. During the past year we have en¬ 
deavored to educate the foreigner regarding 
our game laws, and have encouraged him to re¬ 
spect them. In order to do this we have had 
notices printed in Italian and posted in con¬ 
spicuous places throughout the woods and fields 
of this country, calling attention to the game 
laws and the penalty for violations thereof. In 
addition to that, similar notices were printed in 
two Italian papers of this city.- The better edu¬ 
cated of the Polish people were instructed to 
tell their friends of the value of the birds, and 
warn them of the penalty for destroying them. 
Owing to the prevalent habit of boys using air- 
guns and small rifles, and knowing that their 
nature and incipient sportsmanship prompted 
them to shoot at something on the wing — the 
song birds being their main targets — it was con¬ 
sidered advisable by the executive board of this 
association to do something toward educating 
the rising generation regarding the value of 
the song and insectivorous birds, both from a 
sentimental and economic standpoint. There¬ 
fore. we caused to be printed 29,000 copies of 
a bird folder, containing on the fron't page a 
picture of the Baltimore oriole in natural 
colors, and on the other pages the State law 
regarding song birds and reasons, both senti¬ 
mental and economic, why these birds should 
be preserved. In addition to this, a poem was 
inserted with the subject, “I Used to Kill 
Birds.” These folders were placed in pack¬ 
ages containing a sufficient number for each 
school in the city and for each district school 
throughout the county. In most schools these 
were given out on Arbor Day. The poem was 
committed to memory by a great many of the 
pupils, and every child carried one home: and 
in most instances, I believe, they are still pre- 
{Continued on page 917.) 
