Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1910. 
< VOL. LXXIV.-No. 11. 
1 No. 127 Franklin St., New York. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1909, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Georgr Bird Grinhrll, President, 
Crari.es B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer, 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES. 
Not long ago we referred to the awakening 
of Newfoundland to the possibilities which are 
within her grasp. That was shortly after the 
Newfoundland Government had decided to en¬ 
trust the administration of its game and fishing 
interests to a board composed of a small group 
of men who had well earned this recognition. 
I his body, the Game and Inland Fisheries 
Board, has given careful consideration to cer¬ 
tain matters which affect the welfare of the 
island, because they attract to its shores the 
sportsmen tourists from Europe and the United 
States. It has recognized the necessity for 
revenue with which to prosecute reforms, and 
has decided to impose a tax of ten dollars on 
every non-resident who visits the island for the 
fishing. This tax is not likely materially to re¬ 
duce the number of salmon fishermen visiting 
Newfoundland this year, and so far the board's 
action will probably be endorsed at home and 
abroad. 
On its part the fisheries board has planned to 
exercise greater vigilance in conserving the sal¬ 
mon and sea trout which it now has, to restock 
depleted waters with rainbow trout, and, we as¬ 
sume, with native fish. It will require of its war¬ 
dens greater activity and will punish persons 
who despoil the salmon rivers. 
To render effective these plans, and to satisfy 
visitors who are to contribute toward the re¬ 
forms, it will be necessary for the fisheries board 
to exercise great vigilance and to perform tasks 
which, in view of the state of public sentiment 
in the island, seem very difficult of accomplish¬ 
ment. It cannot hope to attract anglers under 
the new plan unless it can assure them fetter 
fishing than they have found in recent years. 
Newfoundland’s natural advantages are very 
great, however, and it is safe to predict that, 
with adequate enforcement of law, a few years’ 
time will witness a change for the better that 
will satisfy all interests. 
In the light of past experience in America and 
elsewhere, the proposal to restock depleted waters 
with rainbow trout should be approached very 
cautiously and carefully weighed. At present 
Newfoundland has the salmon, the ouananiche 
in fair numbers, and an abundance of trout. In 
salmon streams the native trout is often objected 
to, and possible dangers to the present and future 
fishing suggest themselves in connection with this 
introduction of foreign fish. It seems to be an 
excellent opportunity to let well enough alone, 
at least until the present plan has been tried. 
THE MERRITT RESOLUTION. 
There are several objectionable features in the 
Merritt concurrent resolution which is now be¬ 
fore the New York Legislature. 
In the first place, it proposes to permit the 
storage in the forest preserve of water for power 
purposes and the transmission of electric current 
"under State control,” the Legislature to author¬ 
ize the details. 
Secondly, it would permit the building of high¬ 
ways by and at the expense of the State through 
the forests. . .. a . • 
Thirdly, it would authorize the forest, fish and 
game commissioner, with the approval of the 
governor, to lease plots of five acres or less for 
“camps.” 
Finally, it would give the commissioner au¬ 
thority to remove and dispose of dead and down 
timber in the forest preserve, and to sell or ex¬ 
change State lands under- certain restrictions. 
Of these provisions there is only one which 
is worthy of a moment’s consideration at this 
time. This is the one which would enable the 
commission to remove bona fide dead and down 
timber from the forest preserve, where it is now 
a total loss and a menace to standing timber 
during forest fires. The report of Commissioner 
Whipple for 1909 shows, however, that with the 
improved facilities for fighting fire now at his 
command, this menace has been minimized. 
The constitution provides that the State lands 
now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting 
the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall 
be forever kept as wild forest lands. The propo- 
sitiofis in the Merritt resolution referred to are 
not in keeping with the will of the people as ex¬ 
pressed in their constitution. It is, therefore, 
the duty of every person who loves -the deep 
woods, the lakes and the streams of the Adiron- 
dacks to write to his Senator and Assemblyman, 
and protest vigorously against the passage of 
this concurrent resolution. 
The New York Senate has passed the bill of 
Senator Hubbs, which provides that there shall 
be no open season for deer on Long Island for 
three years from the time this bill is enacted. 
It also strikes out the provision permitting tak¬ 
ing dogs into forests inhabited by deer during 
the present open season for deer in Long Island. 
* 
An international exposition will be held at Rou- 
baix, France, from April to October, 1911. Ar¬ 
rangements have been made for the classifica¬ 
tion of exhibits, which include, among other 
‘things, forestry, fishing, sports and games, travel¬ 
ing and camping equipments, guns, sportsmen’s 
goods, etc. 
THE HISTORIC YEW. 
In the days when the longbow was employed 
in warfare and in sport, and yew was a standard 
material, the forests of the old world were be¬ 
reft of all the yew trees that could be utilized 
in making self yew bows; that is, of one piece. 
Later the practice of backing a bow of some 
other wood with yew kept pace with the de¬ 
crease in the supply of good yew, and to-day 
lancewood, lemonwood, beefwood, washaba and 
hickory are largely employed, either in self bows 
or in those backed with yew. The best self 
bows of Italian and Spanish yew now sell for 
as much as a good rifle. As the available bow 
material in a billet of yew is small because of 
the nature of this wood, the waste has always 
been an important item, and in the palmy days 
of the longbow, when every yeoman carried an 
extra stave of yew, in case his bow should be 
broken, there was also waste through loss and 
in battle. 
Bavaria furnished a great deal of good yew 
for longbows, and her old trees were then cut 
without thought of the future. According to 
Consul Ifft, this cutting was prosecuted all over 
Germany, so that to-day, except for individual 
specimens, which are carefully preserved, even 
German foresters regard the yew as very rare. 
There is, however, a tiny yew woodland still 
in existence in the Bavarian Mountains, near 
the village of Paterzell and not far from the 
royal city of Munich itself. It covers an area 
not much more than a half mile square. Here 
along the peaty shores of the dried-out lake of 
Zell grow the last of the yew trees. It is prime¬ 
val forest land and, according to a recent count, 
comprises some 845 large and 1,456 small trees. 
The larger trees are at least 200 to 500 years 
old and perhaps hundreds of years more. The 
smaller trees are all under fifty years. The 
largest of the trees, at a height of four feet 
from the ground, has a circumference of eight 
feet eight inches, and quite a number of them 
are more than six feet in circumference, and 
have heights varying from fifty to sixty feet. 
The larger trees are much damaged by storm 
and still more through the cutting away of the 
young sprouts in the spring. These dark-green, 
needled branches are much sought for wreaths 
and for decoration. 
Fortunately, if it may be so put, the old trees 
are all more or less rotted and their wood thus 
rendered useless, for to this fact undoubtedly 
is due their preservation. A small part of the 
yew woodland belongs to the community of 
Paterzell, but by far the greater part is included 
in the State forest reserve. An effort is being 
made to preserve these trees. 
Although the merchants of Bagdad seem to 
prefer British goods, Consul Simpich says there 
is a demand for American revolvers, low-priced 
shotguns and motorboats. 
