Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. I NKW 
Six Months. J1.50. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1908, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary. 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer. 
346 Broadway, 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. 
NOTICE OF REMOVAL. 
On and after the first of May next the address 
iof the Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
■will be 127 Franklin street, New York city. 
The business offices and editorial rooms will 
be removed to the new address during the latter 
'part of the present month, and on May day 
Forest and Stream will be in larger quarters 
than those pccupied during the past twelve years 
in the New York Life building. 
--- 
'^IMPORTANCE OF THE APPALACHIAN 
BILL. 
1 Of the benefits to the country at large to be 
'derived from the passage of the Southern 
Appalachian and White Mountain Forest Re¬ 
serve bill, the improvement of tlie water supply 
is far the most important. 
Commercial New England depends in large 
(measure on its river system for the running of 
;its mills, while on the other hand the rivers that 
■have their upland sources in the Southern Appa¬ 
lachian Mountains are of the highest importance 
to the country through which they flow, be¬ 
cause they furnish waterways by which the 
produce of much of the country is transported. 
To improve these southern waterways, vast 
sums of money—nearly $30,000,000 up to June 
30, 1905—have been expended, and if the Ohio 
River—largely supplied with water from those 
mountains—be included, the sum is much 
greater, yet the water transportation over these 
rivers is comparatively trifling. 
The reason for this is that during a consid¬ 
erable portion of the year, the rivers carry in¬ 
sufficient water. In seasons of high water ves¬ 
sels pass up and down fully loaded with freight, 
but a little later the water falls and navigation 
I stops. Moreover, during periods of high water 
(millions of tons of soil snatched from the slopes 
of mountains and hills are carried into these 
rivers and tend to make them each year more 
shallow. The bare slopes of the Southern Ap¬ 
palachian are constantly being eroded and their 
soil carried into the great rivers which flow 
into the Atlantic on the one hand, or the Ohio 
I on the other. The reforestation of the South- 
; ern Appalachian Mountains would tend speedily 
' to render more uniform the flow of springs and 
brooks which supply the heads of these rivers, 
YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL n 
and also to hold together the soil and prevent 
its being carried down to block these water 
channels. The growth of trees or shrubbery 
upon these mountain slopes, binding together 
the soil, prevents it from being carried away, 
while the leafage which receives the heavy rain 
breaks it up and causes it to reach the ground 
gradually, often no faster than it can be ab¬ 
sorbed. 
The proper protection and gradual reforesta¬ 
tion of the White Mountain and Southern Ap¬ 
palachian regions will give to two great sec¬ 
tions of the Atlantic coast great storage reser¬ 
voirs, which will be of enormous pecuniary 
value to the United States. 
The bill ought to be pushed to a vote. 
LIGHT TACKLE. 
At first thought it would seem that the South¬ 
ern California sea angling enthusiasts are going 
a little too far with their light tackle movement. 
Not content with offering special prizes for game 
sea fish taken on nine-ounce rods and nine-thread 
lines, they now propose to establish a competi¬ 
tion in which rods of six ounces and six-thread 
lines only can be used in taking yellowtail of 
fifteen to thirty pounds weight. Their object is 
stated in the terse phrase “More sport, fewer 
fish,” and is in keeping with that other move¬ 
ment in Southern California waters to liberate, 
without gaffing, all fish that are not actually 
wanted for food. 
These waters have at times been the scene of 
the most wanton destruction of fish life by men 
who would have been indignant had their sports¬ 
manship been questioned. For a long time this 
waste went on and when we first called attention 
to it and advocated improved methods there were 
those who felt that their integrity had been at¬ 
tacked. But the butchery itself brought about a 
revulsion of feeling, and the desire to be photo¬ 
graphed with a hideous rack of fish as a back¬ 
ground was replaced by higher ideals. 
Attempts to cut down the power of the rod 
have only been met half way by some of the 
most influential clubs. The desire to kill the 
largest game fish on light rods was present, but 
few interested persons cared to come out with 
bona-fide light rods. The compromise rod is not 
a fair one, and can never be classed as light 
tackle, for while the weight of the tip is limited, 
that of the butt is not, and such rods are by no 
means light. 
Last year a nine-ounce rod, nine-thread line 
movement was started and became popular, but, 
as we predicted, these outfits had their limita¬ 
tions, and while suitable for sea fish of moderate 
strength, were out of place in fishing for big 
tuna or black sea bass, whereas by adding an 
ounce or two a very good light rod would have 
been the result; a rod in every way entitled to 
be called light. One of the large clubs has now 
, VOL. LXX—No. 15. 
I No. 346 Broadway, New York, 
declared in favor of a ten-ounce rod for this 
year’s fishing. 
The proposition to fish for medium-sized yel¬ 
lowtail with six-ounce rods and six-thread lines 
will be watched with interest. It seems freaky 
now, as we said before, but the spirit behind the 
movement deserves praise, coupled as it is with 
the practice of liberating small fish. If a big fish 
is struck and it snaps a tip or carries away the 
angler’s line, he will find himself in a similar 
position with the brook trout fisherman whose 
three-ounce fly rod and gossamer drawn gut 
leader are too frail to stop the big brown trout 
he occasionally raises. 
Light tackle is to be commended just so long 
as it tends to call out skill rather than strength 
on the part of the angler, but it can be and has 
often been carried to extremes. Every effort 
should be exerted to adapt the tackle to the fish 
angled for and thus prevent needless waste and 
cruelty. 
Senate bill No. 255, which was introduced by 
Mr. Cobb late in January, and which it is pro¬ 
posed shall constitute Chapter 31 of the General 
Laws of the State of New York, has been 
amended, ordered to third reading and reprinted 
as amended. The section relating to shooting 
licenses has not been altered materially. The 
wildfowl provision has been changed to stop all 
shooting at night between sunset and sunrise, 
but the Long Island brant open season remains 
as it was—Oct. i-April 30, inclusive, one of the 
bad features of the proposed law. The number 
of grouse and woodcock to be killed in one day 
has been reduced, and so has the trout weight 
limit. It was expected the bill would be acted 
on finally last week, but it is still pending as we 
go to press. It is understood that every effort 
will be made by friends of the bill to secure its 
passage without loading it down with numerous 
and—to some interests—objectionable amend¬ 
ments. 
at 
The police now patrolling the Catskill water¬ 
shed have disarmed a number of aliens found 
in possession of dangerous pocket weapons, and 
it is to be hoped they will go even further and 
confiscate the shotguns carried by these men on 
Sundays and holidays. In the first place, aliens 
have no right to carry guns imclose season; and 
secondly, they shoot every living thing they find 
in the woods. The Croton watershed is infested 
with gun-toting foreigners, and the Catskill re¬ 
gion will probably suffer the same fate, now that 
large numbers of laborers are stationed there. 
K 
The experiment of liberating Mexican wild 
turkeys in the hill country of California will be 
watched by sportsmen with deep interest. These 
turkeys are hardy, good rustlers and should 
adapt themselves readily to the new conditions. 
Possibly, however, they may wander southward 
if they survive. 
