Oct. 8, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
579 
shoulder is very ineffective. The guides in New 
Brunswick could not carry half the loads that 
are easily carried with the tump in Ontario. 
The pack basket used in the Adirondacks is con¬ 
venient for a light load. The pack sack used in 
some parts of Ontario, which combines the shoul¬ 
der strap with the tump over the forehead, seems 
to be very effective. My guides seemed to like 
it and to be able to carry very heavy loads by 
its use. 
I have another fad which has caused me much 
satisfaction, and that is the use of a small mat¬ 
tress. The sweet balsam boughs sound very 
poetical, but when we came down to sleeping on 
a rock—the only level place to be found in that 
country—something besides boughs is necessary 
for an old man. The air bed is ideal, but is ex¬ 
pensive and heavy, so I have adopted a small 
mattress six feet long, two feet wide and two 
and a half inches thick. This weighs only five 
pounds, is easily rolled up with the blankets and 
adds much to the pleasure of sleeping. It should 
be made of some dark waterproof material and 
filled with the best hair. 
Much of what I have written may seem ele¬ 
mentary to the old camper, but there are those 
to whom it may be new, and for such I write it. 
I love this wild life. I have been following it 
off and on for fifty years, and I want others to 
love it, too. If they make a wrong start they 
may give it up, but if they benefit by the experi¬ 
ence of others and are willing to profit by it 
they may start right and so continue on even to 
old age. This must be my excuse. 
Take to the woods; there is nothing like it 
for health, enjoyment, sport, fun. It is inex¬ 
pensive, easy, once you get a start, safe and en¬ 
joyable. Make your plans now and go next year. 
I wish I could go with you. 
Silver Doctor. 
Crappie Fishing. 
Omaha, Neb., Oct. 1. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Roy Miller is back from a fortnight’s 
piscatorial expedition up in the wilds of Wis¬ 
consin. He made his headquarters at Beaver 
Lake and with his guide made trips to the dif¬ 
ferent waters in this vicinity. While the bass 
were rising nicely, he experienced much diffi¬ 
culty in securing bait. Minnows were exceed¬ 
ingly scarce, and frogs, owing to the long dry 
spell absolutely non est. This necessitated im¬ 
provising bait, which was done by cutting small 
perch into bits, and it proved fairly attractive. 
Roy caught several bass running up to four 
pounds or more, but found the greatest sport in 
the quieter pursuit of crappie, which he said 
could be taken by the boat load, and weighing 
from one to one and a half pounds. The blue- 
gill sunfish are biting vigorously up at Horse¬ 
shoe Lake and along the adjacent sloughs. 
Sandy Griswold. 
Drum and Bass. 
Asbury Park, N. J., Sept. 14. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: The series of articles now running 
in Forest and Stream and written by Leonard 
Hulit, are most interesting and wholly true to 
the subject. Years of observation have con¬ 
vinced me that there are distinctive differences 
between the red drum and the channel bass, as 
pointed out in his recent article, having exam¬ 
ined both species. J. F. Seger. 
American Fisheries Society. 
The fortieth anniversary meeting of the Amer¬ 
ican Fisheries Society was held in the Aquarium 
and the. American Museum of Natural History 
Sept. 27-29. inclusive. Over eighty members took 
part in the proceedings, and about 125 applicants 
were elected to membership. 
Seymour Bower, the president, opened the first 
session, and the address of welcome was de¬ 
livered by Director Charles H. Townsend, of the 
Aquarium, who followed this with the reading of 
a fifty-pound channel bass. 
Taken at Harvey’s Cedars, on the New Jersey Coast, by 
Matt Stratton. 
a paper on “The Conservation of our Rivers 
and Lakes.” 
In the proceedings that followed it was de¬ 
cided to amend the constitution to make possible 
the election annually of five vice-presidents, to 
be in charge of as many divisions of the society’s 
work. 
The election of officers and committees resu'ted 
as follows: 
Pres'dent, William E. Meehan; Vice-President, 
S. F. Fullerton; Recording Secretary, Ward F. 
Bower; Assistant Recording Secretary, Miss 
Ethel M. Smith; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. 
Hugh M. Smith: Treasurer, C. W. Willard. 
Vice-Presidents, of Divisions—Charles G. Atkins, 
fish culture; Dr. B. W. Evermann, biology: John 
W. Titcomb. commercial fisheries; John E. 
Gunckel, angling; Dr. T. H. Palmer, protection 
and legislation. Executive Committee—Dr. 
Charles E. Townsend, Chairman; G. F. Matthew- 
son, Jabe Alford, H. B. Ward, D. B. Fearing, 
D. H. Powers, J. B. Babcock. Committee on 
Foreign Relations—Dr. IT. M. Smith, Chairman ; 
E. N. Carter, Prof. Edward Prince, Dr. F. M. 
Johnson, FI. F. De Puy, Dr. Henshall. 
The society endorsed the efforts being put forth 
to conserve the nation’s natural resources, and 
expressed gratification over the settlement of the 
Newfoundland fisheries dispute. The following 
resolutions were also adopted: 
“Resolved, That the Society recommends that 
all States encourage commercial fishculture by 
suitable legislation, providing for the sale of 
game fish under regulations of the commission¬ 
ers, such as tagging, etc., and securing adequate 
provision against the sale of wild fish.” 
"Resolved, That the American Fisheries Society 
feels cognizant of the fact that fish propagation 
without fish protection and the maintenance of 
the water free from pollution, cannot secure a 
full measure of success in the conservation of 
fish life and the development of the fisheries; and 
it recommends that all proper means be adopted 
to secure more effective legislation, both Federal 
and State, looking to the disposal of waste 
without polluting lakes, rivers and small streams.” 
The number of papers presented was so large 
that only a portion were read; the others were 
filed and all will be published by the society in 
due time. 
It was decided to hold the next annual meeting 
in St. Louis, beginning Oct. 3, 1911. 
Rainbow Trout in Ponds. 
Some years ago, when the rainbow trout was 
said to be going to be the salvation of such 
waters, says a correspondent of The Field, I 
turned some rainbow into a pond of.about i l / 2 
acres, which, though fed entirely by surface 
drainage, seemed in other respects to be fairly 
suitable. After doing fairly well for two years, 
they became infested with fresh-water lice, 
ceased to rise, and finally, as usual, have en¬ 
tirely disappeared. There are now no fish in 
the' pond except sticklebacks, and I am very 
anxious to try the experiment of stocking with 
large-mouthed black bass. The Encyclopedia of 
Sport says that the small-mouthed black bass 
was once introduced into ponds in this country 
without success, but as this fish is mainly found 
in running water- in the States the failure may 
be accounted for. There is no record, so far 
as I can find, of the large-mouthed bass having 
been introduced into England, though the same 
book speaks of it as successfully introduced into 
Germany. At my request Mr. Cookson, of the 
Norton Fishery, Baldock. wrote to Herr Jaffe 
for information; but that gentleman replies that 
the eggs are unprocurable in Germany, and that 
black bass are not liked in that country. He 
does not say whether it is the large-mouthed or 
small-mouthed species that is unpopular, or 
why it is disliked. 
The Australian Championship. 
The Australian fly-casting championship meet¬ 
ing was held in Centennial Park, Sydney, Aug. 
27, and the results will reach us in due time. 
Of the five events, one was for distance casting 
with unlimited rods, one for dry-fly, distance; 
accuracy dry-fly; delicacy and accuracy; and 
obstacle casting. This was the closing event of 
the season’s series. 
