246 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
= eee eee eee ==\_C  oamamancrw—— 
HyaAorntus ror WINTER Bioomine.-——Nothing can be 
more charming and attractive during our dreary winter 
weather than afew glasses or pots of different colored 
hyacinths. Success in growing them depends upon a few 
simple rules which, if followed, will beyond doubt give 
abundant satisfaction. They will bloom equally well in 
pots of earth or glasses of water. If the former method is 
most convenient, fill the pot (a five or six inch one is plenty 
large) with light sandy soil; then press the bulb into the earth 
nearly even with the surface; water thoroughly and set 
away in a partially dark cool place—a cellar or dark closet 
will do, they should remain there four or six weeks, and 
need not be watered or cared for. If examined at this 
time it will be noticed that the roots will have grown so as 
to fill the pot, while the bulb has perhaps not begun to 
sprout. 
This is exactly what is needed, for the roots must get 
started first, in order that the plant may have strength to 
throw up a vigorous and well-filled flower shoot. On the 
other hand, if potted and immediately placed in the light, 
the top will begin to sprout and flower before the roots 
have made scarcely any growth, and the flowers, if they 
come out at all, look sickly and soon drop off. 
After they are brought out to the light they should have 
plenty of water or the flower buds will wither. They will 
bloom nicely if the pots are immersed in a vessel of water. 
If grown in glasses the same is true in regard to putting 
away in the dark; the glass should be filled so that the bulb 
touches the water, and in four or six weeks, if kept dark, 
the glass will be nearly filled with beautiful white roots; 
then if brought to the light they will flower in four to six 
wecks, and will well repay you for all extra care. 
As to the varieties, the single are usually the best for 
flowering, and the unnamed varieties, costing only about 
nalf as much as the named, produce as fine flowers, though 
the range of color is not so great.—Danbury News. 
Che Kennel. 
AFFECTION OF THE GREYHOUND.—A farmer turned up a 
rabbit's nest with the plough, containing her young ones. 
The rabbits’s being too young to stand the least chance of 
surviving, in their exposed situation, they were taken home 
as a treat for a greyhound bitch that was sucking a litter 
of six puppies. To their surprise, instead of greedily de- 
vouring the rabbits, as they expected, she carried them 
tenderly and car¢fully in her mouth to her nest, and seemed 
to consider them'a most welcome addition to her family, 
bestowing upon them the same fondling caresses, and offer- 
ing them a share of the same support, which nature had 
furnished for her own offspring. This the poor rabbits did 
not refuse, and there appeared no doubt of their doing 
well. Unfortunately, however, they were doomed to suf- 
fer death from their young companions, though not exactly 
in the manner that greyhounds generally kill rabbits. One 
after another got overlaid by its rude and robust foster- 
brothers and sisters, and the poor mother with evident re- 
luctance and regret, saw them carried away, and did not 
part from them, even when dead, without remonstrating 
against it as much as she durst. 
rt 
TRAINING SETTER PUPPIES. 
ae gees 
Accomac, Va., November 20, 1873. 
Epitor Forest AND STREAM :— 
Since my last to you from Northampton county, Va., I 
have been doing very little shooting, waiting for the geese 
and brant, but have occupied some of my-leisure in training 
a brace of setter pups, some short account of which may be 
interesting. My experience about breaking dogs is that, 
with theassistance of an old dog who can play the part of 
Mentor, the puppies have their natural instincts brought 
out quite rapidly. In this case you may remember my old 
dog, Hero, an orange and white setter (you can see him 
for a mile from his peculiar brightness of color, in the scrub 
oak), and Hero was ‘‘coach” and school master. About 
the beginning of this monthI received an invitation to go 
quail shooting with Colonel J. who, I think, is the best 
general sportsman in this section of country. At his re. 
quest I brought Rapid and Punch, my two youngsters, to- 
gether with Hero, their father. I stopped overnight with 
Colonel J., and in the morning early we started for the 
,birds; with my friend’s setter we had four dogs. In the 
first ground—a cornfield of some fifteen acres—the two old 
dogs taking to the right and left, quartering cleverly, the 
pups followed each one straight, after the old dog their father 
keeping their heacs well up. Suddenly Hero stopped 
short, and it was wonderful to see the two little fellows 
backing up their sire, their back-bones and tails as stiff as 
pokers, their fore feet daintly raised, the living pictures of 
old Hero, and as perfect in every respects if they had 
been in training for years. I knew by the look of the old 
dog that there was a bevy of quail ahead. I walked up 
steadily, all the dogs remaining staunch; the birds rose and, 
I killed three with a left and.right. Keeping the pups to 
heel, I told the old dog to fetch and he returned the birds 
one by one without ruffling a feather. The Colonel, in the 
meantime, had found birds, his dog pointing, so he told me, 
at two cock quails fighting, one of which he killed, missing 
the other. Over a fence we came to a wood and hoing on 
the dogs, Hero again cameto a point. The conduct of 
Punch and Rapid had been, so far, admirable, and they 
were backing the old dog, when suddenly Punch, getting 
impatient, made an unlucky plunge, running in and 
flushing the birds. Though not prone to whip dogs in the 
field, in this present instance, as the puppies were at 
school, I was forced to inflict a slight castigation on the 
“spot which Punch was the recipient of. I believe I never 
lose my temper on such occasions, but I could not help 
suppressing a smile at the contrite appearance of the father 
and brother of the offending puppy, and the amazement 
with which;they seemed to appreciate the flagellation of a 

member of their distinguished family. Here Hero did 
something which was quite wonderful. He seemed fora 
moment to hesitate whether my action in the premises was 
exactly proper, and having after mature thought come to 
the conclusion that it was, with the utmost deliberation, he 
walked up to the contrite Punch and knocked him com- 
pletely over. . 
AsIwas keepinga dog school and the Colonel was 
shooting, his bag far exceeded mine. After this first dis- 
cipline Punch was a trifle shy and hesitating for a while, 
and was not anxious to place himself too much in promi- 
nence, and no longer backed the father but backed his 
brother Rapid. The next three points of the puppies were 
in good style. On going through a swale the old dog got 
his fore feet in a hummock, his hind-quarters being in the 
water, pointing at what I thought must have been an En- 
glish snipe. Rapid and Punch did not exactly understand 
this, but nevertheless attempted to back him, which was 
highly meritorious and duly appreciated by me. I how- 
ever called the puppies to heel, which order they obeyed, 
when, holding up my finger, I cried ‘‘Down charge.” was 
walked into the swale and kocked up a pair of jack snipe, 
of which I shot one, winging the other badly. The 
wounded bird flew about sixty yards, I suppose, and fell. 
Hero retrieved the dead bird, and on sending him after 
the wounded one he soon got on the trail, and in ten min- 
utes, after quartering all over the ground, brought it to me. 
All the dogs now were very wet, and I waived them back 
to the ground we had been shooting over, in order to give 
them a run and to keep up theircirculation,as it was getting 
cold. Inthe meanitme the Colonel, on the other side of 
the wood, had failed to find any more bevies, and on join- 
ing him, we turned our steps towards home. Just before 
we came to a cotton field within three hundred yards of 
the house, neara clump of persimmon: trees, the old dogs 
both stood on a point, the puppies backing as usual. I told 
Colonel J. to shoot as I wanted to try an experiment with 
Rapid, as he seemed to be the stauncher dog of the two 
young ones. *The Colonel killed two birds I 
sent in Rapid to retrieve them. Rapid had 
had two months’ instruction with dead quail and with old 
Zloves, and was a fairpup retriever. The old dog did not 
appear to like this usurping of his privileges, so they both 
started together, the pup leading. He seemed, however, to 
understand it, and it was a beautiful sight to see the old 
sire allow his son to go ahead and retrieve his bird, the 
father following close every one of his son’s movements. 
After picking up the bird, Rapid seemed in doubt what to do 
with it. Here Hero became the tutor, and led the way up 
tome. As Rapid raised his muzzle to my hand, with the 
bird daintily held in his mouth, Hero was apparently tell- 
ing him what he should do. My companion here remarked 
to me, ‘that he had often seen first-class academies, with 
their instructors, but had never seen a teacher yet who had 
such facility in imparting information as my good old dog 
Hero.” Our combined bag was five jack snipe, twenty- 
eight quail, one rabbit, and a plover. Iam going to see 
my old gunner Jake about geese, as he is painting some 
stools especially for my benefit, and may write you again 
in afew days. Sincerely yours, C. B. 
$$$ ee ———_—__—___ 
—The sale of mastiffs on Saturday last attracted a good 
deal of attention. The dogs were sold by auction at Baker 
& Chase’s. The mastiffs belonged to Mr. McHenry, of 
Sudbury, Maryland, and were of afine breed. The old dog 
was imported and fetched $60. The female and whelp 
brought $50 and $35 respectively. The male whelp brought 
the highest price, $80. Mr. Williams, of Williams & Guion, 
owns the purest breed of thoroughbred mastiffs in this 
country, purchased, or presented by a member of the 
Mastiff Club in England. One of his sons is owned by Mr. 
Clay of Hackensack. 
ro 
THE DOG OF MONTARGIS. 
——$ 
N October, 1861, there occurred a memorable fight be- 
tween a man, who was known as the Chevalier Mac- 
aire, and a dog, which has passed into tradition as the dog 
of Montargis. The contest took place on the Isle of Notre 
Dame, in Paris, in the presence of King John. The tradi- 
tion formed the plot of a play which was presented at the 
Bowery Theatre a few years ago. The story goes that M. 
Aubrey de Montdidier, a gentleman of Montargis, in passing 
the forest of Bondy, was murdered and buried at the fdot 
ofatree. His dog was with him at the time, and remained at 
the grave till driven away by hunger, and then found his 
way to Paris to the house of an old friend of his master. In 
Paris, he did nothing but howl. At intervals he would 
catch the pantaloons of his dead master’s friend, in his effort 
to drag him out to where poor Aubrey was'buried. For 
some time, the dog was not understood, but at length, con- 
necting Aubrey’s absence with the inseparable companion- 
ship of the man and dog, and the viclent pertinacity of the 
animal in attempting to draw them after him, they follow- 
ed, and after a time he led them to the foot of the tree in 
the forest of Bondy, where they dug the earth away and 
found the murdered man. There was no doubt that Aubrey 
was murdered, but there was no evidence to convict any 
living being with the crime. The eyes of God had seen, 
and the dog had seen too, but dogs aredumb. A certain 
Chevalier Macaire had been the enemy of M. Aubrey. 
Perhaps in consequence of the knowledge, somebody, the 
friend for instance, had his suspicions of the Chevalier, and 
confronted the dog with him, thinking, very likely, if the 
dog had reason enough to lead them to Aubrey’s grave, he 
would have enough to detect his murderer if he saw him. 
In these concltsions they were right. The dog, diyectly he 
saw Macaire, attacked him with an almost invincible fer- 
ocity. Wherever he saw the Chevalier he attacked him; 
and as the friends of Aubrey took care, as may be sup- 
posed, to throw the dog as much as possible into the 
company of the now suspected man, the life of the Chev- 
alier came to be diurnally uncomfortable. To have an 
unpleasant dog eternally flying at your cravat and anywhere 
else lying open to his fangs, may be seriously regarded as 
the reverse of cheerful. The Chevalier Macaire probably 
thought so! The conduct of the dog towards this particular 
man—he being notoriously of a gentle disposition and kind 
to every one else—quickly became the talk of certain circles 
in Paris. It was known to the court; it reached the ears 
of John, and then the king ordered the dog to be brought 
before him, and the Chevalier to be placed among the 
courtiers as one of them at the same time. Being at court, 
the dog conducted himself with perfect propriety for a short 
time, until he saw Macaire mixed up among the Courtiers, 
and then, dashing at him furiously as usual, with an awful 
growl out of his great red throat, he pinned him against the 
wall. In those days the judicial arbitrament of battle was 
in full force; the popular belief being that the “ judgment 
of God” would be manifested in favor of the innocent and 
against the guilty. The known enmity of the Chevalier to 
Aubrey, the fact of Aubrey’s murder, the dreadful antag- 
onism of the murdered man’s dog—these settled the ques- 
tion with King John, and it was directed that the man must 
fight the dog, as the only way to justify himself in the eyes 
of Paris and purge himself of the suspicion of murder. - It 
was the custom in the middle ages occasionally to try the 
lower animals for offences with much of the parade and 
ceremonial bestowed in the cases of their supporters, and 
from this we may understand that a combat between a man 
and a dog was not so strange an occurrence :fter all, away 
back in the fourteenth century. There was no cathedral 
of Notre Dame in Paris in 1361, and so the open space of 
the island served as a capital place in which to pitch a rin 
for the combatants. The Chevalier Macaire was arme 
with a strong heavy stick, and the dog of Montargis had his 
teeth and a tub. This last, which might more properly be 
called an empty cask, was an ark of refuge for the dog to 
retreat to and make his springs from. But the dog of Mon- 
targis had no use for the tub. He scorned it. He flew 
with astonishing activity and fury at his opposer, first on 
one side, then on the other, he dodged under the cudgel, 
and finally with a terrible bound, fastened his deadly grip 
on the murderer’s throat, and there was an end of the 
Chevalier Macaire, who lived just long enough to confess 
his crime before King John aitel the court. Of course every- 
body in Paris cried, ‘ Well done dog,” and was more than 
ever satisfied of the truth and justice of ‘trial by battle.” 
We can readily understand that the faithful dog, having 
nobly avenged the death of his master, took up his quarters 
with his master’s friend, looked after the rats and was made 
comfcrtable the remainder of his days. This is only con- 
jecture, however, because he may have been put in the 
dog-pound for non payment of the tax; but what is not con- 
jecture is the fact that over a chimney in the great hall of 
the ancient chateau of Montargis, in France, there is a 
curiously carved representation of this memorable combat; 
and as long as the old chateau stands, and the wrought oak 
wainscoting is spayed the inroads of the worm, that carving 
will stand as the monument of the fidelity of a dog.— 
Hachange. 
dlatural History. 
PECULIARITIES OF ANADROMOUS 
FISHES. : 
—~—— 
NE of these characteristics is the infallible instinct of 
finding their way back from sea to the river, the 
tributary of a river or even a small affluent brook where 
they emerged from the ova. It has been pretty well ascer- 
tained that however they may mingle on their marine feed- 
ing grounds, when they are impelled by the reproductive 
impulse towards fresh water the Connecticut shad astend 
that river, the Hudson shad again passes up between the 
New York and New Jersey shores, and that those of the 
Delaware are again and always will be Delaware shad. So 
also with herring and salmon. 
At Little Russia, a point on the Bay of Chaleur, ten or 
twelve miles above Bathurst, the stake nets set off from 
shore sometimes take salmon seeking the mouth of the 
Restigouche as well as that of the Nepissiguit, and the 
habitans who attend these nets will point out a fish of each 
river with as much confidence as a stock fancier would an 
Alderney or a Durham cow. The salmon—and it is so also 
with shad—of some rivers are inherently small, or of some 
known conformation—short or long—of others very large. 
Another peculiarity of these fishes, which enter fresh 
rivers only to spawn—for the sea is their pasture ground 
where they acquire growth, fat and flavor—is that they are 
invariably found without food in any process of digestion 
in their stomachs after entering the fluvial portions of a 
river. That organ, after they have been in the rivers a few 
days, becomes a contracted cord, in appearance not thicker 
than a pipe-stem and filled with a hard cheesy substance, 
mixed, perhaps, with a little bit of yellow fluid. It is cer- 
tain that the young of both of the fishes mentioned, until 
their first migration to sea, feed on flies, theirlarve and on 
aquatic insects, which may be found in their stomachs; but 
on returning from sea to their native streams, it is solely 
that they may carry out the law of their nature to continue 
their species. 5 
‘‘ Why then,” the reader may ask, ‘“‘ does a salmon or 
shad rise occasionally to a natural fly or the counterfeit of 
the angler.” We can only refer such fact to a remnant of 
an old instinct or recollection of the food they fed on before 
their first migration to sea and their predatory habit, But 
the few natural flies they may devour do not, however, 
appear to distend the stomach in the least; no effete matter 
is pressed from the vent in handling them. » 
A young shad, according to Mr. Theodore Lyman, of the 
Massachusetts Fish Commission, during its sojourn in fresh 
water from the time its yolk sac is absorbed until it descends 
the river, is provided with teeth, which the adult shad has 
not. The naturalist mentioned has even found one or two 
small species of flies, and the larve on which they feed in 
the stomachs of shad fry. 
A young salmon, in its parrhood, in its habits, its food 
and manner of taking it, scarcely differs from a trout, and 



