878 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[JUNE 2, 1906. 

would probably claim their share ere my work 
was accomplished.. To commence with, therefore, 
I dated and numbered nineteen nests, this within 
a distance of three miles along the beach. Each 
day at 3 P. M. I took my six eggs from the nest; 
for the first three days I failed to secure an em- 
bryo, but the third day, or fourth morning, I pro- 
cured a few embryos out of 100 eggs, for they 
were so delicate that a touch destroyed them. 
Thus far the waste of eggs was so great, that | 
began to consider how to avoid it. Noticing that 
the shell was changing from a delicate pink- 
white to a dull opaque-white at one spot on the 
egg at the age of twenty-four hours, and that 
each succeeding day increased the size of this 
spot, I searched there for my treasure and there 
I found it. 
The collection of each day from the same nest 
showed a marked difference in development ac- 
cording to the position of the egg, and this dif- 
ference continued until the day of hatching. I 
also found in each nest about twenty eggs that 
never developed an embryo; this I considered a 
wise provision of nature and supposed that these 
eggs were in some way useful to the young turtle. 
Some nests I found were buried by the drifting 
sands deeper than the mother had placed her 
eggs, so deep in fact, that without assistance the 
young turtles must inevitably have perished; but 
the “spirit crabs,’ for the sake of the unfertile 
eggs and perhaps young turtles, makes a fine tun- 
nel direct to the nest, and of this the little pris- 
oners avail themselves to effect their escape. 
When the turtles unaided leave the nest, they 
seem to accomplish the feat by constant crawling 
and climbing, dislodging the sand above them 
until they emerge on the-beach, and hasten to the 
sea. Of the many young turtles I have liberated, 
carrying them as close to the barrier as possible, 
not one made a mistake in going straight to the 
ocean; and although repeatedly tossed back by 
the surf they always righted themselves and made 
for the water again. 
For an experiment I brought part of three nests 
home, handiing them with great care, placing 
them in warm moist sand in the same position 
and depth as I had found them, and where they 
would. be exposed to the full heat of the sun. 
They did not develop as rapidly as the eggs on 
the beach and the embryos were poor and feeble. 
The first indication of life and movement I found 
on the twentieth day, and sixty days from laying 
to hatching I found to be the correct time for 
the twenty-three nests I have carefully observed. 
In New England. 
_ Boston, Mass., May 26.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Ex-President James Russell Reed re- 
turned this week from a two weeks’ outing at 
his cottage on the Cape at the border of the 
Sandwich woods. He reports taking, in a stream 
where the fishing is free to everyone, two trout 
which weighed 214 pounds each. In the same 
stream he caught several trout of smaller size 
and several pickerel. 
James H. Young, of the State Association, and 
his friend, James Suter, are putting in a few days 
at the Tihonet Club, Wareham, where they are 
sure to find good sport on the Old Slug and 
Frog-foot brooks, on which the club controls the 
fishing privilege. 
Commissioner Delano informs me that the 
deputies have rounded up quite a number of vio- 
lators of the trout law for having in their pos- 
session trout less than six inches in length. He 
expresses the opinion that, while the season 
opened late, it is proving somewhat better than 
that of 1905. The new sawdust law, he thinks, 
will practically put a stop to the work of the 
Board in preventing sawdust pollution of 
streams. During the past year the Commission 
has sent seventeen legal orders to mill owners 
to cease from allowing the sawdust to be de- 
posited in streams. Previous to 1905 there had 
been issued 120 such orders. Unquestionably this 
has been of much benefit to fish life, and it is 
to be regretted that this line of work—one of 
the most important in charge of the Commission 
—should be interrupted by untoward legislation. 
For violation of orders served in 1903-4 four- 
teen different owners have been called to court, 
one having been twice convicted, making a total 
of fifteen convictions for that offense. Under 
the new law owners who feel aggrieved may have 
their cases reopened, may demand a hearing be- 
fore the Board and, if dissatisfied with the result, 
they have an appeal to the Superior Court, which 
is given power to annul, alter or confirm the de- 
cision of the Commission. 
The Board has inaugurated a change in its 
regulations to contral fishing in stocked ponds; 
in those hereafter stocked the State ponds will 
be open to fishing every day in the week from 
June 1 to Nov. 1, instead of on © Mondays, 
Wednesdays and Saturdays. Sunday is a close 
eet on ponds that have been stocked by the 
tate. 
A Scotch Sea Trout. 
A trout of this variety has recently been taken 
from Craig’s Pond, Me., that weighed 11 pounds. 
Some of this species were planted in that pond 
in I9OI, 1902 and 1905. 
The fishing in Green Lake, Branch Pond and 
Phillips Lake has slacked off, hundreds of fisher- 
men returning from those lakes empty handed, 
according to reports. One reason assigned is 
that owing to high winds the water has been too 
rough for trolling. Enormous catches are re- 
ported from Grand Lake, and it is predicted that 
there will be twice as many anglers there this 
season as there were last. 
At Moosehead fishermen are numerous, and 
while a few have taken fish the feeling prevails 
that bettér luck will come with warmer weather. 
Among those who have had some success may 
be mentioned the Foster and Wildman party of 
Boston and A. L. Anderson, of Lynn, 
The first salmon of the season taken at the 
Union River pools was caught this week by Mr. 
French and weighed 9 pounds. Later he took 
one of 10 pounds. While. many large salmon 
have been secured in the weirs at Bucksport’ and 
Verona, only a few have been caught at the Ban- 
gor pool the present week, but the success of the 
weir fishermen forbodes sport with the fly rods 
in the near future at the famous pool. 
Several good salmon have been taken from 
Cobbosseecontee, three that weighed 15 pounds. 
At Belgrade L. H. Pelouze, of New York, took 
the record fish, a trout which weighed 834 
pounds, the largest ever taken at Belgrade it is 
said. It is being mounted by W. D. Hinds, of 
Portland, and will help adorn Mr. Pelouze’s den 
in Madison avenue. Other trout caught at Bel- 
grade weighed from 2% to 734 pounds. 
H. H. Kimsatt. 
Quebec Fishing Interests. 
Hundreds of letters containing suggestions of 
various kinds for the better protection of fish 
and game were received at the Fisheries Depart- 
ment in Quebec in reply to invitations sent out 
just prior to the Fish and Game Congress in 
Montreal. It was impossible even to go over 
and classify all of them in time for action at the 
Congress. Nor was the Congress long enough in 
session to take up. any more business than was 
actually before it. But the officials of the Con- 
gress and of the Fisheries Department have not 
failed to make a careful study of the various 
communications received from sportsmen and 
others, and in compliance with an order of the 
Provincial House of Assembly, issued at its re- 
cent session, all this correspondence, together 
with a report of the proceedings of the Congress, 
will be laid before the Legislature at its next 
session. In the meantime, all the documents are 
also before the Minister of Fisheries and his offi- 
cials. It is not surprising to find, among so 
many suggestions, some that are quite impracti- 
cable. Others are exceedingly useful, and many 
were acted upon by both the Congress and the 
Minister. Others,.no doubt, may be later on. 
It is encouraging to intelligent friends of fish 
protection to observe the increasing attention 
paid to the unfortunate pollution of waters and 
the injury caused by dams. There is no doubt 
that the hundreds of mill dams along the banks 
of the St. Lawrence are one of the chief causes 
of the depletion of our fresh waters, and the con- 
stantly growing scarcity of fish. Almost every 
_ 1,100 feet to eleven miles. 
river and almost every small stream which pour 
their waters into the great river are now closed 
with dams in order to furnish power for saw; 
grist and other mills and manufactories, Some are 
new but many are fifty years old and over. Be- 
fore they came into. existence the fresh water fish 
in spawning time swarmed up to the head waters 
of these tributary streams to spawn. In doing 
so, they not only escaped the colder and harder 
waters of the St. Lawrence, but found plenty of 
nutriment for both themselves and their young, 
in the vegetable and animal matter brought down 
by the water from the higher levels. 
The absence of proper fishways in most of these 
dams has brought about a sorry condition of af- 
fairs. Millions of fish of all kinds seek their 
spawning grounds, only to be turned back at the 
dams which separate them from the higher and 
warmer waters. Hence they either perish or be- 
come the prey of poachers and the more fierce 
and better developed of their own kind. Even 
if the fish do spawn under these unfavorable con- 
ditions, the spawn cannot survive. It is either de- 
voured by other fish, or the young fish die for 
lack of proper food or become the prey of bigger 
ones. The attention of the Department has been 
directed to this important matter by several writ- 
ers, and it is understood that the Minister has 
issued imperative instructions to some of his offi- 
cers in reference to it. 
The method of constructing many of these 
dams also requires attention. In the spring time 
the water, surcharged with animal and vegetable 
matter from the upper levels, pours down stream 
to the dam, the sediment mingling there with the 
sawdust and other mill refuse from the neigh- 
borhood, until all foreign matter sinks to the foot 
of the dam and rots, putrifying the water and 
poisoning all fish life. It has consequently been 
suggested to the Minister that mill dams should 
be so constructed as to contain a gate at the foot 
which could be raised to flush them at regular 
intervals. E. T. D. CHAMBERS, 
Are Manufacturers Practical Sportsmen? 
Boston, Mass., May 22.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: After waiting for many years for reels 
and belt buckles to be placed on the market that 
do not fairly scintillate with high lights, even on 
dull days, while on sunny ones they become reg- 
ular heliographs, I have reluctantly come to the 
conclusion that the above question may be an- 
swered in the negative, though, of course, there 
are exceptions. Most rod-makers, too, seem to 
endeavor to trick out their handiwork as brightly 
and gaudily as possible, evidently going on the 
assumption that the average fisherman wants as 
many different colors in the wrappings of his rod 
as the rainbow contains. 
When will they start the movement which, in 
the military services, has resulted in the abolish- 
ment of brass buttons, gold lace, and all other 
conventional gewgaws that tend to draw the at- 
tention of the enemy? How often have we seen 
a trout flash out of sight with terror at the glint — 
of the back cast of a bright yellow ‘rod that 
sparkled in the sun. Surely steel can be blued 
and wood and bamboo tinted. Epwarp BrREcK. 
Length of Silkworm Fiber. 
AuTHorities and popular works differ greatly 
in their estimates of the length of the fiber in 
the cocoon of the domestic silkworm, Bombyx 
mori. Published statements of the length of this 
fiber could be cited which range all the way from 
Even so good an au- 
thority as the Encyclopedia Britannica places it 
at 300 yards. Recent measurements made in the 
Division of Entomology show that with certain 
Milanese yellow cocoons raised in the United 
States from eggs purchased from France the 
fiber varies in length from 888 to 1,195 yards. 
“Yes,” said the thin man, munching his apple, <i? ma 
strict vegetarian.” ; 
“You mean you think you are,’ 
’ 
replied the observant 
mean. ‘ 
“What do you mean by that?” — : ‘ 
“T mean that I noticed a worm in that bit of apple you 
just swallowed.” 
