June 27, 1908.] 
1015 
sideration at Ottawa, need not be commented 
upon here. The fact that the Federal authorities 
have had the right of making regulations for the 
proper preservation of the fisheries since 1867, 
and have left the fisheries to be destroyed dur¬ 
ing close season in certain localities noted for 
natural spawning grounds, cannot be success¬ 
fully defended; nor can the action of that 
authority be justified in using the most de¬ 
structive nets possible in dragging over the 
spawning beds at the breeding time in the Bay 
of Quinte waters, to take fish for the purpose 
of obtaining eggs to put in the waters where 
they have removed the close season for that 
particular kind of fish, while the netting is being 
carried on and millions of these eggs taken with 
the fish, which if permitted would have deposited 
them on the natural spawning beds. This is 
robbing Lake Ontario of the remnant of the 
whitefish for the very doubtful benefit of Lake 
Erie.” 
California Shooting Notes. 
San Francisco, Cal., June 6. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: County Game Warden Welch, of 
Santa Cruz county, is meeting with success in 
his commendable work in the junior branch of 
the county fish and game association. His plan 
is to educate the boys to take the real sports¬ 
man’s view of the preservation of game and 
forests and the lads are enthusiastic over the 
work. The teachers of the schools in the rural 
districts write Mr. Welch that the boys are eager 
to join the movement, and observant men travel¬ 
ing down the coast say they can see the good 
results of the work already. In other sections 
there is a noticeable scarcity of game, but on 
entering the district of Warden Welch and his 
league an abundance of small game is seen and 
an occasional deer. 
Boys under sixteen years may join the asso¬ 
ciation without the payment of any fees, and 
after they are enrolled they receive copies of the 
State and county game laws and literature deal¬ 
ing with the preservation of game, fish and the 
forests. Much interesting and valuable knowl¬ 
edge is thus put in the hands of the young 
people of Santa Cruz county which will surely 
work for the good of the lovers of the sports 
to be found in forest and stream in the years 
to come. 
Another organization which promises good re¬ 
sults for the hunter and the angler is the newly 
organized Honey Lake Outing Club, made up 
of the people of the valley of the Honey Lake 
district in Lassen county. This district was 
formerly a paradise of the hunter, game of all 
kinds abounding in the woods, and ducks com¬ 
ing in great bands to the lakes in the fall. There 
has been a marked falling off in everything ex¬ 
cept duck hunting in the recent years, however, 
and the people have just awakened to the re¬ 
alization that if they do not protect their game 
it will soon be too late. 
All residents of the valley are eligible to mem¬ 
bership in the Outing Club on the payment of 
a five dollar fee, and the yearly dues are fixed 
at a like sum. The present officers are: Presi¬ 
dent, J. A. Pardee; Vice-President, W. E. 
Dozier; Secretary and Treasurer, W. D. Harri¬ 
son. The club will see to the stocking of the lake 
and adjacent streams with fish as well as protect¬ 
ing in every possible way the game of the valley. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Although there is no protected game which 
is now on the open list, hunters should be think¬ 
ing of renewing their hunting licenses, as July 
15 is not very far distant. All licenses expired 
on the first of June. It is not necessary to have 
a license to shoot rabbits or other unprotected 
game, so some of the officers ceased issuing 
licenses during the closed season. The hunter’s 
license this year will not be the metal tag of 
last year, which was inconvenient to carry and 
easily lost, but will be of durable linen and of 
a size easily carried. 
Throughout the State the game wardens are 
showing an amount of activity in running down 
the violators of the law that is very gratifying 
to sportsmen. Numerous convictions for shoot¬ 
ing doves and other protected birds have been 
secured and the offenders are paying high for 
their fun. 
There is some activity going on in the prepara¬ 
tions being made to stock certain parts of the 
State with various game birds. The Fish and 
Game Commission has received word that the 
trapping of wild turkeys in Mexico, preparatory 
to shipping them here, is meeting with success, 
and a number of birds have been caught. 
A. P. B. 
The Floods in Minnesota. 
Aitkin, Minn., June 8. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Government flood, which occurs 
annually on the Mississippi at this point in May 
and June, is now in full sway. 
When the snow melted and the ice went out 
there was no perceptible rise in the riVer. Dur¬ 
ing April there was little or no rain and much 
bright sunshine. It became very dry and much 
damage was done by forest and prairie fires 
all over the Aitkin flood district. Buildings 
were burned within half a mile of where I live. 
We were several times in great danger of dam¬ 
age by fire. During this dry period the river 
began to rise by water released from reservoirs 
above that are used for lumbering purposes, 
and by the time it had rained enough to avert 
the danger from fire the river was brim full. 
For two or three weeks it rained much of 
the time, just a drizzle that had no appreciable 
effect on the river. But the river continued to 
rise and spread over the low land. At the end 
the rain finished with a downpour. The heavy 
rain only lasted about two hours, but on top of 
the Government supply it will spread over a 
large amount of land and much damage will be 
done, though full two-thirds of the settlements 
of four years ago have been drowned out and 
moved away or died in despair. 
But there are still a good many to suffer, my¬ 
self among them. For four years most effort 
has been destroyed in this way. Last year, with 
no rain at all during the flood period, the flood 
was only slightly less, the damage slightly less 
by reason of no rain at all to help out. 
Only recently there was held in Washington 
a conference of the governors of all the States 
called by the President to discuss ways to pre¬ 
serve the forsets and improve our waterways. 
You say in your editorial in regard to this con¬ 
ference that “much good is likely to result.” 
These floods are aided by Government reservoirs 
to help the lumber interest to strip the Min¬ 
nesota forest. The President who called the 
conference is commander in chief of the army. 
The War Department is the seat of the graft. 
Our governor, who has been much in the public 
eye of late and who was honored by being called 
to the chair while the President delivered his 
address, has full knowledge of the floods and 
why they are maintained. Of course the Presi¬ 
dent can fall back on the report of his army 
engineers, who say that the reservoirs are used 
to assist navigation and to prevent floods and 
report five steamboats as doing business, carry¬ 
ing freight and passengers where there is and 
never has been more than one that could be 
said to be doing business, and that one will have 
to stop for lack of traffic if many more people 
move out. 
Our governor can say that he has no authority 
in the matter, but he might have said a word 
as to the facts. He might say, too, that our 
representatives in the House and Senate are the 
ones to blame, which is true, but there seems 
to be large profit in reservation pine. We can 
always tell when a reservation is being tapped 
by the size and quality of the logs that go by. 
These always come on the crest of a rise. 
The outsiders are lumbering the very brush 
and a vast number of the logs that go by are 
mere poles. 
The chief of the forestry bureau was at the 
conference and had something to say, but he is 
yielding more and more of the reserve, set aside 
to conserve the water supply at the head of the 
river to the lumbermen each year. He, too, 
could say that he was over-ruled by our Senators 
and Congressmen, but he might have given some 
facts. He certainly has the information. 
One measure for improvement talked of was 
more reservoirs, and a site on Big Willow, a 
branch above here, is being talked of. The 
Weyerhauser lumber interests have a large re¬ 
serve of pine on that stream and we know the 
result of reservoirs in such cases. 
With a channel thirty to forty feet all through, 
the early summer navigator needs but little as¬ 
sistance here, and if all that water is needed 
below we want a very much improved water¬ 
way here. 
Looked at from this standpoint I do not see 
so very much hope in that lauded conference of 
governors. The army engineers say the reser¬ 
voirs are used to prevent floods, but if they 
were, there would be no floods. The excessive 
floods are caused by heavy rains during artificial 
floods and by heavy rains after a long dry spell 
which induces all the lumbermen to open their 
private reservoirs on the same day. Much of 
these later day floods are due to the frantic 
zeal to finish the loot ere justice meets and stops 
them by the way. 
Forest and Stream has been very, very 
liberal in the matter of space to discuss this 
matter in the past, and I can only say, give me 
this last shot, and if I do not wing the vulture 
I will promise to badger some other good- 
natured publisher with the next. 
E. P. Jaques. 
IN THI WOODS 
or in the mountains, no matter how far from 
civilization, fresh milk can always be had if 
foresight is used in packing the outfits. Bor¬ 
den’s Peerless Brand Evaporated Milk in cans 
keeps indefinitely until opened, and answers 
everv purpose. It is pure, rich milk, condensed 
to the consistency of cream, put up without 
sugar and preserved by sterilization only.— Adv. 
