352 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The Bass Is King Again 
J UNE marks the opening of the bass season 
in most northern States. Reams of poetry 
and tomes of ponderous wisdom have been 
accumulating for centuries on the subject of 
trout and the joys of capturing him, but the 
literature of the black bass, while modern in 
nature, from the fact that the bass is not a 
world-wide fish, is also growing apace. Dr. 
Henshall was the first American author to give 
the bass a proper place in angling literature. It 
is only fair to say, however, that the bass had 
been sung in song and stories for many years— 
prior to the time perhaps when the learned 
Doctor bent his first pin and impaled thereon 
the wriggling angling worm. 
Some people of idle mind and superficial view 
call the black bass the fish of the bourgeoise, 
reserving to the trout the title of real aristoc¬ 
racy of game fishes. This is snobbishness of the 
most flagrant kind. Never has there been born 
a man too good to fish for bass, and never to 
the end of time, or until the streams of earthly 
joy are merged in the pleasant channels of celes¬ 
tial existence, will such a condition arise. At 
the risk of incurring the wrath of the trout fish¬ 
erman; at the risk also of inviting the sneer of 
the army that goes forth to tackle the lordly 
aristocrats of the sea, we repeat with good Dr. 
Henshall his famous dictum, “Inch for inch and 
pound for pound,’’ the bass is the “gamest fish 
that swims.” He takes the fly like the trout, he 
fights the fight of the warrior, he leaps like the 
silvery salmon of the Atlantic, and when he 
lowers his colors in defeat, proud is the victory 
of him who has accomplished the capture. But 
ye who love him—and all men should—be gen¬ 
erous in your campaign against this noble Amer¬ 
ican representative of the finny tribe. He is as 
the gift of gods to humanity, a delight that 
makes earthly existence more tolerable and 
keeps the blood and vim of youth across the 
path of advancing age. 
The Real Friends of Game Laws 
H ATS off to the sportsmen who have 
worked faithfully during the past win 
ter and passing spring to induce th< 
legislatures of the different States to strengther 
the game laws. In the majority of instances 
they have been successful, and as the records oi 
the different State assemblies come to hand, il 
is plain that an era of better game protection is 
dawning. We have held always and have 
proved the point time after time that the real 
friend of game and fish conservation is the 
sportsman. Be his interest selfish or unselfish— 
and nine times out of ten, his enthusiasm par¬ 
takes not of the selfish spirit—the fact stands oul 
that it is to him in a larger measure than he is 
ever given credit for, that we have as much wild 
life left in the country as reported to-day. 
Who has fought year after year to shorten the 
game season, to limit the bag, and stop the sale 
of game? The sportsman, individually and 
through his associations. We will not deny to 
other organizations or other individuals the full¬ 
est measure of assistance and results, but the 
real hunter and the real angler have borne the 
brunt of the fight. 
Take for instance the new Pennsylvania game 
law, which was put through the legislature 
largely through the work of the Wild Life 
League of that commonwealth. Pennsylvania, 
one of the largest States in population in the 
Union, has inaugurated a movement which will 
largely increase its game resources. The estab¬ 
lishment of refuges in the different counties, the 
close protection of these areas by appointed war¬ 
dens and the strict enforcement of seasonal 
shooting, is no longer an experiment. Under the 
new law the refuge idea will be extended to 
cover the whole State and with the sentiment of 
organized sportsmen behind the plan, Pennsyl¬ 
vania will become again one of the great game 
States of this country. The most notable vic¬ 
tory from one standpoint was the success which 
Pennsylvania sportsmen met with in wringing 
from unwilling political hands some three hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars of excess license revenue, 
which otherwise would have been diverted from 
game protective purposes to separate funds. In 
the light of past experience this news seems al¬ 
most too good to be true. In Minnesota the 
legislature has been induced to adopt the game 
refuge idea; Michigan has already put it into 
force, not to mention other States where 
progress is being made along the same lines. 
It may be argued that these measures come 
late in the day and are made necessary only by 
the excesses of the past. That is not the point; 
the cheering fact is that the sportsmen of to-day 
are a unity in favor of game conservation and 
they are numerous enough and influential enough 
to establish, through commonsense conservation, 
their right to reasonable recreation and its con¬ 
tinuance in the future. 
No Passports Required 
F ROM some source or other, rumor has 
gone abroad that intending visitors from 
the United States to Canada will be re¬ 
quired this summer, or during the continuance 
of the war which unfortunately affects our 
Dominion neighbors, to obtain passport privileges 
for use at the frontier. We are very glad to be 
able to deny these rumors. Not only will no 
passports be required, but Canada extends to her 
American brethren and sisters a very hearty invi¬ 
tation to visit her lakes and rivers and other 
resorts during the coming season. The larger 
this army of invasion, the better will our neigh¬ 
bors like it. Forest and Stream readers therefore 
may make their usual over-the-border prepara¬ 
tions in full security. We might add, also, as a 
corollary to the passport question, that no extra¬ 
dition papers will be required to bring home any 
of the summer outdoor tourists from the 
Dominion. The outdoor man and the outdoor 
woman are not of that variety of citizenship. 
Maine’s"Closed Moose"Season 
M AINE has placed a closed season of five 
years on moose. This legislation was 
not enacted any too soon—in fact, com¬ 
plaint has been made that all the good heads had 
disappeared from that State and that the results 
of several recent years of hunting have not 
been worth while. It is idle to discuss that 
phase of the question now, but it is a certainty 
that when the open season is proclaimed again, 
Maine will be restocked plentifully with the 
grandest game animal on the American continent. 
The laws of the future may never be relaxed to 
the extent that prevailed in the past, but immense 
regions in Maine, which seem to have been de¬ 
signed for the subsistence and perpetuation of 
the moose, ought to be a guarantee not only of 
future sport, but with anything like proper con¬ 
servation methods, the permanent restocking of 
one of the best hunting regions in the country. 
Fur-Farming 
T HE breeding of fur-bearing animals in con¬ 
finement for profit is a subject that is 
arousing more and more interest, and 
much experimenting is being done in this direc¬ 
tion. If we could credit the newspaper state¬ 
ments of the enormous profits made from fox 
breeding, and the great prices said to be received 
for living animals sold for breeding purposes, 
we should all desert our ordinary occupations and 
take to fur farming. 
Obviously, however, the matter is still in the 
experimental stage, though it has received some 
attention for many years. As long ago as July 2, 
1874, Forest and Stream printed an article on the 
breeding of minks in confinement, and since that 
time many people have tried their hands at it. 
Before a recent meeting of the Biological 
Society of Washington, Ned Dearborn, of the 
Biological Survey, who for some time has been 
experimenting with minks, read a paper which 
gave some interesting notes on the breeding of 
this species in captivity. He spoke of certain 
of the mink’s habits, of its profound diurnal 
sleep, its polygamous nature, and the fact that it 
seems to like the same food as cats. The number 
of young at a birth is from one to eight. The 
eyes of the young remain closed for one month 
after birth. The young may be weaned at the 
age of six weeks. Minks breed when a year old, 
and their fur is suitable for market at a year 
and a half. Different foods do not seem 10 affect 
the quality of the fur. Finally, Dr. Dearborn 
concludes that the breeding of minks for com¬ 
mercial purposes is possible. 
All this is extraordinarily interesting and sug¬ 
gestive. It is well within the bounds of possi- 
blity that a tme may be coming when the fur 
markets of the world will be in great measure 
supplied from animals reared in captivity. 
A New Idea For Refuges 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
At the Genesee County Home (otherwise the 
Poor House), there are about 300 acres of land. 
The Board of Supervisors have dedicated this 
as a bird and game refuge for ten years and 
the Conservation Commission has so declared it, 
according to the Conservation Law. The Super¬ 
visors also appointed a Committee with power to 
act and 31,000 trees have been ordered for re¬ 
forestation. There probably are certain por¬ 
tions of the land at nearly every County Home 
throughout New York State which are untill- 
able and suitable for reforestation and bird and 
game refuges. The reforestation is a matter 
of investment the Boards of Supervisors can not 
afford to overlook. 
While a gain to the sportsman in the matter 
of game birds and game, the refuge will be of 
much more benefit to the farmers on account 
of the protection to the insectivorous and song 
birds. Here is a matter for all sportsmen’s 
associations throughout the State to look into. 
CHAS. W. GARDINER, President. 
