332 
March i6, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
stead of one, as in many sections the seine being 
loaded from each end, while the middle is being 
worked up to the shore. When the two boats 
have the seine on board, they move to the outer 
boundary of the fishery, and the bag of seine is 
dropped between them as they move in opposite 
directions. As they throw out the seine, the 
boats curve inward to the shore, and w^hen the 
last of the net has gone overboard, grate upon 
the gravel. An active fellow in waist boots 
from each crew wades ashore with the line and 
quickly fastens it to another lying in the furthest 
sheath block. The engine starts instantly and 
the line begins to come in, straining upon the 
seine with its leads lying upon the bottom a mile 
away. Like a moving fence it advances shore¬ 
ward, turning back the bewildered fish, which 
in the grasp of the net, do not become frightened 
until it has closed upon three sides, after which 
only a few find their way around the ends. 
Steadily the net lines come in. 
The crews, in the meantime, preparing for the 
next haul, take the lines into the boat as fast as 
they are reeled from the drums, and lay them 
in great coils along the bottom of the boat. As 
soon as the ends of the seine reach the shore, its 
reloading begins. 
As the seine approaches the shore, silence pre¬ 
vails. The area of water inside the corks which 
line the seine shows signs of agitation. Quick 
swirls and ruffled wavelets cover the surface. 
Large fishes make rapid curves in and out again. 
The catches oftentimes are enormous. On Dr. 
Capehart’s plantation, at Avoca, nearly 200,000 
herring have been brought in at one haul of the 
seine. The pile when on the dock, measured 
80 feet long, 22 wide, 2 feet deep. For com¬ 
parison’s sake the fish would have filled twenty 
coal cars. It has been reliably stated that as 
many as 400,000 herring have been saved from 
a single haul of the seine in Albemarle. 
THE TOP RAIL. 
A PAPER devoted to mechanics describes and 
illustrates a method which, it says, will help the 
shooter to hold down light revolvers so that the 
recoil will not throw the bullet too high. The 
mechanism consists of a wire attached to the 
butt of the revolver, then bent so that the free 
end may be hooked over the wrist. When will 
the average person cease to give firearms credit 
for things foreign to them? If _ the German 
chemist, who says he has made photographic ex¬ 
posures at a speed of 1-3,000,000 part of a sec¬ 
ond, is within a mile of the correct time, where 
is the bullet by the time the recoil begins to act 
on the short barrel of the revolver? Both 
theories are pure moonshine. Any person can, 
with practice, shoot reasonably well with a re¬ 
volver which has a short barrel. The main cause 
of apparent inaccuracy is the short distance be¬ 
tween sights. Of course a longer barrel in it¬ 
self adds to precision, while it also permits 
lengthening the distance between sights. 
* * * 
Some of the pheasant shooters on the other 
side of the water, who are adepts at keeping 
game—until it is really gamy—sprinkle pepper 
over the heads of birds and into the feathers 
and wounds. Such birds, says an authority, 
should be examined every other day—and he 
goes no further than that. Grizzly King. 
Fish Propagation 
By ROBERT 
W EST VIRGINIA has been very properly 
called the “Birthplace of Rivers.” Al¬ 
most innumerable streams, originating 
in the mountains, have their source at the very 
top of lofty mountain peaks, and flow in all di¬ 
rections, some finding their way into the At¬ 
lantic Ocean, and some into the Gulf of Mexico. 
Amid our mountains and along these beautiful 
streams are picturesqueness and beautiful scenes 
unsurpassed in America. I have often wondered 
why it was that some of our rivers were not 
stopped in their course to pause here and there 
to form great lakes and beautiful ponds, but 
nature has seen proper to allow them to pro¬ 
ceed unmolested to the sea. The absence of 
large lakes in, and of large bodies of water 
bordering our State, has eliminated commercial 
fisheries of any particular value from West Vir¬ 
ginia. Therefore I shall only attempt to refer, 
and that briefly, to the game fishes inhabiting 
the waters of our State. 
There are over one hundred species of fishes 
known to the waters of West Virginia, and 
among these are some of the finest game and 
valuable food fishes inhabiting the waters of the 
United States. The most important species of 
game fishes are the two species of black bass, 
viz., the small-mouth and large-mouth black 
bass; brook trout and rainbow trout. (The 
latter being an introduced fish.) The principal, 
food fishes are the wall-eyed pike, muskallunge, 
rock bass, white cat, channel cat, white perch, 
suckers and a few others of value. All of the 
fishes named, with the exception of one or two 
last mentioned, are propagated artificially, and 
are supplied upon application to the United 
States Bureau of Fisheries. 
One of the most important questions before 
the people of West Virginia is the conserva¬ 
tion of our natural resources, particularly the 
forests. LIpon the solution of this question 
naturally rests the success or failure of efforts 
to successfully stock and maintain the fishes 
in the streams of the State. Greed and in¬ 
difference along these lines has wrought de¬ 
struction and brought about a rapid decline in 
the supply of fresh water fishes in almost every 
State in the Union, West Virginia by no means 
excepted. And it has only been within the last 
few years that this decline in the supply of these 
fish has been arrested in a number of the States 
by the extensive fish cultural work being carried 
on by the Federal and State Governments. 
During the past summer we have seen the evil 
effects of deforestation, which, no doubt, was 
partly responsible for the extremely low waters. 
Great numbers of small creeks, and even large 
rivers have gone dry in many places, thus 
threatening the water supply of our cities, no 
doubt causing the spread of disease, and stop¬ 
ping navigation on several rivers, to say noth¬ 
ing of the destruction of the fishes. Under 
these conditions we should not expect the fishes 
of our waters to survive, much less increase in 
numbers. 
The brook trout, or mountain trout, as they 
are generally called in this State, is native to 
our mountain streams, and but within the last 
in West Virginia 
K. ROBINSON 
few years were found in abundance. By the 
stocking of many streams with fish produced at 
the various Government hatcheries they are still 
found to be comparatively abundant in many 
localities. 
I know of no other State where the stocking 
of streams with fish produced by artificial meth¬ 
ods so well applies as it does to West Virginia 
waters. Until within recent years the more 
common food fishes of our streams were very 
abundant, but with the great industrial develop¬ 
ment of our State, of which we are justly proud, 
have come evils which have wrought destruc¬ 
tion and has practically destroyed the aquatic 
life in many streams, and worked great injury 
in others. The “unwise and destructive meth¬ 
ods of the lumberman and miner,” and the 
pollution of streams by tanners, are largely re¬ 
sponsible for this condition. The logging meth¬ 
ods have undoubtedly destroyed the natural 
spawning beds, while the drainage from mines 
and refuse from tanneries have destroyed and 
rendered uninhabitable the aquatic life in many 
streams. 
Conditions, however, are slowly changing, 
and this is most noticeable in regard to the 
smaller mountain streams. The streams drain¬ 
ing various territories, and in which trout and 
other fishes formerly existed, are no' longer 
polluted and lumbering and mining operations 
have ceased. Here, then, are streams which 
can be easily stocked, and restored to their once 
former condition with regard to fish life. Such 
is the condition in many localities. Another 
noticeable and favorable feature is the interest 
now being taken by many manufacturing con¬ 
cerns of various kinds, as well as individuals, in 
stocking and protecting streams under their 
control. 
The advocacy of stocking public and private 
waters with fish produced by artificial methods 
I believe to be unquestionable, but what are the 
results? In order to touch upon this question 
briefly, I quote from authorities on the fisheries 
of several States in answer to the question: 
What benefits are derived by the people from 
the stocking of inland waters by the Federal 
and State Governments? From the State of 
Michigan I have this reply: “By this means 
(referring to artificial propagation) the fishing 
in these waters is being practically held' good, 
and numbers of streams that were practically 
fished out are well stocked to-day. The direct 
benefit to the State is estimated into the mil¬ 
lions of dollars through tourists being called 
here by the splendid fishing, which is wholly 
maintained by artificial planting of trout.” From 
New York State I have a similar answer with 
this in addition: “Many species of fish must 
have become nearly or quite extinct before this 
time, had not artificial propagation, fostered by 
State and governmental aid, come to the 
rescue.” The reply from Pennsylvania is especi¬ 
ally interesting as the conditions there are very 
similar to those in West Virginia. I quote 
from a letter of Hon. W. E. Meehan, formerly 
Commissioner of Fisheries, as follows: “Ac¬ 
cording to the declaration of fishermen and 
