633 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May i8, 1912 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
127 Franklin Street, N ew York. 
Charles Otis, President, 
\V. G. Beecroft, Secretary, 
S. J. Gibson, Treasurer. 
CORRESPONDENCE, 
Forest and Stream is the recognized medium ot 
entertainment, instruction and information between Amer¬ 
ican sportsmen. The editors invite communications on 
the subjects to which its pages are devoted, but are not 
responsible for the views of correspondents. Anonymous 
communications will not be regarded. 
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THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14 , 1873 . 
STATE GAME REFUGES. 
Unusual consideration for the rights and 
preferences of others has been shown in draft¬ 
ing House Bill No. 23839, which is printed in 
another column. 
It has long been too much the practice for men 
deeply interested in particular subjects to con¬ 
sider such matters solely from their own point 
of view and to urge on legislators action which 
will give them what they desire, without regard 
to the effect that such action may have, or may 
be thought to have, on other interests. In draft¬ 
ing the bill in question, for the protection and 
increase of State game preserves, this has been 
avoided. The measure forces nothing on any¬ 
one, but leaves it to any State to apply for a 
game refuge if it wishes one. These refuges 
are to be so small in size that they cannot inter¬ 
fere with the commercial pursuits of any class 
of the community. 
The bill will appeal strongly to all big-game 
hunters, and to all who are interested in the 
preservation of the rapidly vanishing species of 
North American big game. The large and in¬ 
creasingly influential benevolent societies of Elks 
is likely to feel a peculiar, interest in the meas¬ 
ure, since the noble animal from which that as¬ 
sociation takes its name is likely to receive first 
attention in this protective scheme. 
An interesting example of public spirit and of 
effort in behalf of the community at large is 
shown by the Boone and Crockett Club, which 
has declared that it is prepared—if this bill be¬ 
comes a law—to restock certain of these game 
refuges. 
Scattered all over the United States are men 
who are deeply interested in this subject, and 
each one of these can assist in the passage of 
this bill by a direct appeal to the Congressman 
of his district. 
CONGEALED SPRING. 
The early May fisherman has been badly 
treated in the weather line. Baby Spring, due 
this long time, kicked the bed clothes off when 
it was yet too cold and retired with a cold in 
her young head. After a time she emerged with 
an umbrella and rubbers. She smiled seldom and 
then without warmth. Back to tears she re¬ 
lapsed. As she grew older she became unkind 
to the plants and fishes, inviting them out only 
to give them the cold shoulder, numbing them 
so that they showed no inclination to take care 
of themselves, and many perished. The fisher¬ 
man, so fond of sprightly spring airs, could only 
sneeze the spring song; he was too stuffed up 
to sing. The fly-caster, than whom there is no 
more persistent thing, pulls up his boots and 
down his slicker, and with icicles in his hair 
goes on casting the lure to the chilly fishes and 
wishes for a ray of sun. 
GEORGE BORUP. 
George Borup, after withstanding the rigors 
of the arctic winter, was drowned a few weeks 
ago, when he was upset from a canoe in the 
placid waters of Long Island Sound. 
Of all the explorers thus far recorded, Mr. 
Borup was the only one who found any amuse¬ 
ment along the way. His book, “A Tenderfoot 
with Peary,” fairly teems with humorous inci¬ 
dent and entertaining anecdote. The many 
amusements he recites would lead one to be¬ 
lieve that while the trip is not all “beer and 
skittles,” neither is it one “demnd horrid grind.” 
He tells of spending a month, in the long night, 
teaching a dozen Eskimo maidens to dance the 
pony ballet. Everything with a sunny side found 
a place in this cheery young man's day’s work. 
Throughout the entire trip he exercised his 
humor as he exercised his legs, and still found 
time to contribute his share to science. 
ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO AGRICUL¬ 
TURE. 
Trade once more makes a bid for publicity by 
advertising in the unusual way. Sir Thomas 
Lip ton, recognizing what wondrous advertising 
could be had for tea and jam, had builded a 
yacht. Of course Sir Thomas had an eye to 
the America’s cup, as well as to advertising. He 
got the advertising. 
Now comes a Chicago mail order house for 
its bit of publicity. It is reported to have of¬ 
fered $1,000,000 to improve crop productions. 
The first instalment of $100,000 to be devoted 
to sending men into one hundred counties to in¬ 
struct the farmers in the subject of agriculture. 
The expenditure of the $900,000 balance to de¬ 
pend upon results from the first $100,000. Re¬ 
gardless of the fact that this sounds like an ad¬ 
vertising scheme, and whether it is or not, the 
idea is sound business sense. For almost all 
mail order business comes from the farmer, so 
that he is getting back only the interest on the 
money he has spent. At the same time, in im¬ 
proving the farmer this mail order house is rais¬ 
ing money, a large part of which will come back 
to it. It is putting back into the soil seed money 
to produce more golden grain, which will profit 
the farmer, the country and the mail order house 
in Chicago. This literally is giving back to 
nature. 
THIS IS TOO MUCH. 
Last week Commissioner of Fisheries Geo. M. 
Bowers issued a statement that if Congress 
would allow him an appropriation he would put 
the price of diamond-back terrapin so low as to 
be within the reach of us all. On top of this 
comes news from Nova Scotia that lobster ship¬ 
ments from there will be enormous this year, on 
the strength of which the price in Bangor, Me., 
already has tumbled to twenty cents a pound. 
With roast beef selling at a dollar a rib; lamb, 
in sheep’s clothing, almost too expensive to cut; 
eggs for custard pie parading under the strictly 
fresh tag at a price beyond the dreams of 
avarice; when a boiled New England dinner 
foots up as much as a Delmonico evening meal 
used to come to, we are on the verge of being 
saved from impending starvation by foods here¬ 
tofore served only to patrons of lobster palaces 
and owners of steam yachts. Malaclemmys 
paJiistris for the every day man seems beyond 
our most sanguine expectation. Lobster, for 
years the companion of the cold bottle, during 
the closed season on quail and terrapin a staple 
only at banquets and dinners in high places, to be¬ 
come the white man’s hope in reducing the cost of 
living, passeth all understanding. And yet. Com¬ 
missioner Bowers is responsible for the promise 
of terrapin, while Nova Scotia already has 
brought down the toothsome crustacean. For 
years past lobster has been sold at fifty cents 
a pound, while sixty dollars a dozen was not a 
high price for the diamond-back turtle. W. T. 
Hornaday tells us, “It is a difficult matter to get 
a specimen for exhibition purposes that is more 
than half grown.” It is not the red-bellied ter¬ 
rapin, or “slider,” that Commissioner Bowers 
promises to add to the food supply of the under¬ 
fed populace, although that often is served in 
the guise of diamond-back. It is the genuine 
Malaclemviys palustris, of the flavor that lasts, 
that has fattened epicures and been sung by the 
poets fortunate enough to have sat at the table 
with it. It is the practice of terrapin breeders to 
herd these costly reptiles in yards and feed and 
fatten them for winter market. The time seems 
to be imminent when terrapin yards will be 
dotted about like chicken coops in every salt 
water section. The water farmer will drive into 
town with crates of terrapin to the exclusion of 
poultry. The Bureau of Fisheries is ready to 
begin culture work at the Beaufort, N. C., labor¬ 
atory' as soon as the appropriation be forthcom¬ 
ing from Congress. The reduction of cost of 
living was not hoped for from such a quarter, 
and the assurance seems too good to be true; in 
fact we may say again — This is too much. 
