20 
Forest and Stream 
A BUCKET DREDGE 
HAT wonders are to be found at 
the bottom of the sea. Deep-sea 
divers, coming back from extreme 
depths, tell tales of what they have 
seen that taxes our imagination. But 
exploring the ocean beds is both ex¬ 
pensive and highly dangerous. 
We can, however, examine the bottom 
of the old mill pond, and though it re¬ 
mains motionless and silent, sleeping un¬ 
der a mossy blanket of green algae, the 
creatures living in its murky depths are 
both interesting and varied. If you don't 
believe it, make a bucket dredge as 
shown, some afternoon, run the old flat- 
boat out of its hiding-place and see. 
The dredge itself is made by knock¬ 
ing the bottom out of some pail, no 
longer useful, and attaching to the rear 
part a sack made either by cutting wire 
screen to fit or a gunny sack. For most 
purposes the screen sack will be better. 
It pulls through the water easier and 
collects the fine material. 
Screen which is one-quarter inch mesh 
or smaller will be suitable. Lap the 
edges together and sew with twine or 
small wire. Then slip this over the bot¬ 
tom of the bucket until about one-third 
of the way over the pail. Punch several 
small holes along its upper edge and 
fasten in place with small wire, running 
through the holes and meshes of the 
sack. Then bend the pail so that one 
side of it is almost flat, as shown. When 
you have tied a small rope to the pail, 
the dredge is ready for use. The dredge 
is dropped into the water and slowly 
pulled along, whatever being loose on 
the bottom being scooped up. Now and 
then the dredge is raised and the con¬ 
tents sorted. What is to be saved for 
the aquarium is put into a pail of fresh 
water and the rest dumped overboard. 
A Reader. 
E are depending upon the friends 
and admirers of our old corre¬ 
spondent Nessmuk to make this de¬ 
partment worthy of his name. No man 
knew the woods better than Nessmuk 
or wrote of them with quainter charm. 
Many of his practical ideas on camp¬ 
ing and “going light ” have been adopted 
by the United States Army; his canoe 
has been preserved in the Smithsonian 
Institution; and we hope that all good 
woodsmen will contribute to this de¬ 
partment their Hints and Kinks and 
trail-tested contrivances .— [Editor.] 
A PHOTOGRAPH EN¬ 
LARGING OUTFIT 
HE owner of a small camera need 
not go without large realistic prints 
if he is willing to spend a little time in 
the construction of an enlarging appa¬ 
ratus. The ordinary enlarging box is 
made with special lens within to properly 
bring out the enlarged details. Yet, by 
simply reversing the plan, a camera may 
be used for this purpose instead. It may 
be better understood if we propose to 
let the negative be the object or view 
to be photographed. Then, since the 
image will be a negative, that is, light 
where shadow normally is, and vice 
versa, the image, as it falls upon the 
screen behind the camera lens, which in 
this case is the sensitive enlarging paper, 
will be positive. And the fact that fo¬ 
cusing can be done, to a large extent, 
with the focusing attachment on the 
camera, much construction detail is done 
away with. 
The exposing box itself is a box with 
inside dimensions equal to the outside 
dimensions of the camera box, at one 
end and widening to eight by ten or ten 
by twelve inches at the other end, inside 
dimensions. It is forty inches long. The 
side pieces are cut from soft pine and 
the edges carefully fitted together and 
glued. It is essential that all joints are 
absolutely tight so that no light can get 
in. The method of fitting the camera 
will be taken up shortly. 
The baseboard which is shown is also 
of pine, four feet long and the width 
of the rear end of the enlarging box at 
one end. The other tapers from about 
the middle to six inches. After being 
cut to shape the edges are smoothed 
down with sandpaper. 
When the box and baseboard have 
been prepared, the box is mounted upon 
two taper strips, also of one-inch mate¬ 
rial, so that a line running through the 
center of the box will be parallel to the 
baseboard. These tafier boards are cut 
in the manner shown in the drawing 
marked “support.” They are nailed or 
glued, or both, to the baseboard and the 
box fastened to them by small finish- 
nails which are driven through the lower 
side of the box into the upper edges. 
It will be seen that the front end of 
the baseboard supports the vertical nega¬ 
tive holder. This holder, made of soft 
wood, is held in place by a single strip 
of tin, cut to shape, and slides back and 
forth. This feature is provided to help 
in the focusing of the image at the back 
of the box. 
The negative holder is six inches wide 
and about eight inches high. A rectan¬ 
gular opening is cut in it the size of the 
negatives to be used and a flange left 
at the back side. Then when the nega¬ 
tive is inserted from the front and the 
two buttons turned down, it will be 
securely held. The buttons may be made 
of tin, cut to shape and held with small 
brads. 
Select a smooth sheet of tin four 
inches wide and ten inches long. Mark 
two lines, denoted by the dotted lines in 
the drawing, with a pencil or sharp nail, 
and bend on these lines so that the ends 
turn at right angles to the strip. Then 
with a pair of old shears cut each end 
into the shape shown. 
I N mounting the negative holder, slide 
the tin strip under the baseboard, 
which will just fit between the upturned 
ends, and then bend the prongs, two on 
each end, down onto the upper side. 
Shell screws are put through the holes 
