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Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 , 1908 . 
VOL. LXXI.—No. 7. 
I No. 127 Franklin St., New York- 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1908, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary. 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer. 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
#111 be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
5n outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
Saste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
WHAT ARE THE SHOOTING PROSPECTS? 
As the summer advances and the nights grow 
longer, thoughts of the coming shooting season 
stir the heart of the sportsman. He cherishes 
the glorious memories of a past full of happy 
and exciting days, and looks forward to other 
days which shall yield him like pleasures. Now 
he must think of preparing for new days afield. 
The gun must be carefully looked over to see 
that no speck of rust mars its fair surface, with¬ 
in or without. The dog must be prepared for 
his work, and master and dog alike should get 
into proper training for the long tramps that 
are to be made this fall, if shooting is to be had. 
The question as to what we shall find when 
we get into the field interests every man who 
hopes to have a few days’ shooting this autumn, 
even though these days may be very few. In 
like manner it interests many who do not them¬ 
selves expect to have a single day’s shooting, 
but who realize the keen delight taken in their 
outing by some one who is dear to them. 
What, then, are the prospects for the autumn’s 
shooting? What have we seen, those of us who 
have been so fortunate as to be out in the fields 
and woods, along the hedge rows, in the stubbles 
and by the brooks? What of the partridges, the 
quail, and the prairie chickens? Were they for¬ 
tunate in their nesting? Did they hatch out 
good broods, and has the weather been such that 
those broods have grown and attained a certain 
measure of hardiness before the local storms of 
late July and early August came upon them? 
For our part we have heard of not a few 
broods of ruffed grouse and quail and prairie 
chickens? Reports sent in by anglers have 
been very encouraging and it looks as if the 
sharp weather of the autumn would see a better 
crop of birds than for several years. 
The scarcity of the ruffed grouse last year is re¬ 
membered by all, and for several years past quail 
have been scarce and hard to find in many places, 
for several severe winters • have almost exter 
minated them. Just at present they seem, how¬ 
ever, to be on the up grade and there is hope 
that this may continue. On the other hand, great 
self-control is called for by every gunner for, 
under the most favorable conditions, our game 
birds are perilously near the vanishing point. 
Since the subject is one that interests all read¬ 
ers of Forest and Stream, whose favorite wea¬ 
pon is the gun, we ask each reader who has had 
an opportunity to make any observation on the 
shooting prospects to report the results of these 
operations to us without delay. We have re¬ 
ceived a number of letters on this subject, and 
shall hope for many more. 
COLD STORAGE BIRDS. 
For some years a keen interest has been felt 
in cold storage game, and this interest lends 
peculiar force to Miss Mary E. Pennington’s re¬ 
cent inquiry into the changes which take place 
in chickens in cold storage. 
A study of a considerable number of birds, 
some of them kept in cold storage for less than 
a year, some for two years, and some for three, 
shows conclusively that a marked degeneration 
takes place in cold storage birds. It is not nec¬ 
essary to make microscopical or chemical exam¬ 
ination of fowls kept long in cold storage to see 
what their condition is; the degeneration is ob¬ 
vious to the unaided senses. 
Within the past few years the refrigeration of 
foodstuffs has increased enormously over the 
whole country, but with this increase there has 
been no corresponding improvement in the meth¬ 
ods of inspection of the material held in cold 
storage, nor any systematic observation of the 
methods of the cold storage men. It is there¬ 
fore of high importance that careful examination 
should be made of these frozen materials, which 
are kept preserved under widely varying condi¬ 
tions. Without such inquiry we cannot know 
how they should be treated in order to be of¬ 
fered to the public as a wholesome food. After 
this has been learned, legislation governing cold 
storage warehouses will be needed. 
THE CANOEISTS. 
During the present fortnight there is a gath¬ 
ering of men and women on one of the islands 
in the St. Lawrence River. In some respects 
this is similar to those reunions that occurred 
annually among the Iroquois Indians centuries 
ago at the same place. The American Canoe 
Association owns several small islands in the 
Admiralty Group, and there two or three hun¬ 
dred members meet annually to rest from the 
year’s labors, to fraternize, cruise, race, fish, 
bathe and renew their youth. 
The main camps are on Sugar Island, but each 
club has its own bay or cove, and each site has 
a name by which it is always known. There is 
New York Bay, Knickerbocker Cove, Innitou 
Terrace, Buffalo Wallow, etc—all named for old 
and well-known clubs of the various cities, while 
the camp of the men who are accompanied by 
their families is known as Squaw Point, which 
flourishes beneath a pure white banner, bearing 
the profile of an Indian maiden’s head. 
The association is composed of one Canadian 
and three American divisions, with representa¬ 
tions in every part of the land. For thirty years 
it has stood for clean amateur sport and for sane 
and healthful recreation. Its objects were 
echoed in a brief sermon delivered on Sugar 
Island one Sunday by a Canadian clergyman, 
whose words impressed all his hearers. Stand¬ 
ing under the maple trees, in the center of a 
wide circle of browned men and women seated 
on the grass, he said that vacations had come to 
be not a fad but a necessity, something that in 
our busy life we must take occasionally or suffer 
the consequences. 
“When you go on your vacation, however,” he 
urged, “do not leave your religion behind, as 
some do, but take it with you to camp or sea¬ 
shore, always remembering the rights and the 
happiness of others.” 
The drouth continues in nearly all of the 
Middle and Atlantic States. Local rains have 
been light and have had small effect in lowering 
the temperatures or increasing the water supply. 
Springs have dried up, brooks have ceased to 
flow and streams have dwindled to mere rills. 
The late trout fishing has been less satisfactory 
than during the drouth of a year ago, while bass 
fishing has not been at all satisfactory. If relief 
does not come before September it is likely game 
fish streams will be hard hit. In view of the dry, 
hot summer it is not easy to explain why black 
flies, mosquitoes and other insect pests have been 
present everywhere in such unusual numbers, as 
they are generally associated with a wet summer. 
K 
An opinion respecting the license law has been 
rendered by Attorney Ward, of the New \ork 
Forest, Fish'and Game Commission. He holds 
that the forests and fields of the State are not in¬ 
cluded in the Penal Code designation of public 
places,” and that persons under sixteen years of 
age and aliens may therefore be permitted to ob¬ 
tain shooting licenses. 
* 
When the library of the late E. J. Stanley 
was sold in London recently, a copy of Hasle- 
wood’s reprint of Juliana Barnes’ “The Book 
of Hawking, Hunting, Etc.,” brought the small 
price of $16.25, and a first edition of Manwood’s 
“Lawes of the Forrest” went for an equal sum. 
A first edition of Scrope’s “Salmon Fishing” 
sold for $22.50 and Meyer’s seven-volume “Brit¬ 
ish Birds and Their Eggs” for $20.60. 
* 
The forest fires which caused so much loss of 
life and property in British Columbia recently 
were partly checked and in other instances 
burned themselves out. In Montana and Idaho 
several bad fires have been burning for a fort¬ 
night and valuable property is still threatened, 
but so far no loss of life has been reported 
south of the international boundary. 
