

































ea 
Fr 5 <1 
A WEEK 
DEVOTED TO FrELD AND AQUATIC SPoRTS, PRACTICAL NATURAL History, 
Fish CULTURE, THE PROTECTION OF GAME, PRESRVATION OF FoRESTS, 
AND THE INCULCATION IN MEN AND WOMEN OF A HEALTHY INTERFST 
IN OvUz-L20R RECREATION AND StuDY: 
PUBLISHED BY 
, Sorest and Stream Publishing Campany, 
ate 
108 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 
Seer SESS 
Terms, Five Dollars a Year, Strictly in Advance. 
Se anes as 
A discount of twenty percent. for five copies and upwards. 
sending us two subscriptions.and Ten Dollars wil 
Hallock’s ‘‘ Fisarmve Tourist,’ postage free. 
pee ee 
s, Any person 
receive a copy of 
Advertising Rates, 
In regular advertising columns, nonpareil type, 12lines to the inch, 25 
cents per line. Advertisements on outside page, 40 cents per line. Reading 
notices, 50 cents per line. Advertisements in double column 25 per cert. 
extra, Where advertisements are inserted over 1 month, a discount of 
10 per cent. will be made; over three months, 20 per cent; over six 
months, 30 per cent. 
ae a la cen ce LS as a 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 1874. 
Sa = 
To Correspondents. 




All communications whatever, whether relating {o business or literary 
sorrespondence, must be addressed to Tue ForEsT AND STREAM Pus- 
LISHING COMPANY. Personal letters only, to the Manager. 
All communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 
real name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names will not be published if 
objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 
y, Articles relating to any topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Ladies are especially invited to use our columns, which will be pre- 
pared with .areful reference to their perusal and instruction. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor us with brief 
notes of their movements and transactions, as it is the aim of this paper 
to become a medium of useful and reliable information between gentle- 
men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other; and they will 
find our columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements. 
The Publishers of Forrest anD STREAM aim to merit and secure the 
patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re- 
fined intelligence enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 
1s beautiful in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 
the legitimate sports of land and water to those base uses which always 
send to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise- 
ment or business notice of an immoral character will be received on any 
terms; and nothing will be admitted to any department o the paper that 
may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 
We cannot be responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 
money remitted to us is lost. 
Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, if possible, 
CHARLES HALLOCK, 
Managing Editor. 
enn LETTE 
A PLACE FOR THE NATURALIST IN 
LEGISLATION. 
eee gets 
U is almost within the recollection of to-day when no 
place was accorded in the Congress of Nations to the 

man of letters. 
ellers of one hundred years ago influenced men’s minds 
quite as much as did the legislators of that period, the po- 
sitions granted to the former were of a secondary charac- 
ter, Men in those times, though thoroughly appreciating 
the power wielded by those master minds who wrote for 
and instructed them, were prone to make a distinction, and 
a disparaging one, between the bookman and the states- 
man. 
England has only learnt within the last seventy-five years 
that the man who could write the life of the nation, who 
could depict the emotions and passions of the inner life of 
the individuals making up that nation, that he who could 
travel to a far distant land and bring back instructive les- 
sons from an age long passed away, had a right to repre- 
sent his country and aid her by his words and thoughts, and 
to-day these men are listened to with respect, and not only 
England but the world at large is all the better for their 
counsels. Napoleon’s slighting appreciation of the great 
La Place, “‘that he was good to analyze Nature’s secrets, 
but unable to explain any of the phenomena governing 
man,” may be fully appreciated as representing the 
thoughts of a period in regard toa certain class of men, 
which most absurd opinion, fortunately, does not belong 
to the age we live in. 
If this change—the introduction of other elements into 
the legislative body—has been fully appreciated and its 
value accepted, it may be asked, ‘‘Why has not the natu- 
ralist, the man of science, yet taken a position among the 
law-givers?” 
The question at first sight is not readily solved. It can 
arise in no way from the all-absorbing effects of the char- 
acter of the work the man of science has selected. It 
comes, we should suppose, rather form a disinclination on 
the part of the individual himself to plunge into the tur 
bid waters of politics; it comes from the man and not from 
his profession. 
It may be all very fine to read those abstractions written 
on the advance science has made, and _ how its immaterial, 
unseen power governs insensibly the material and visible. 
If the learned feel and know this, the ignorant, uninitiated 
raass of the people do not. They must be taught it. 
It is curious to discover how men, pure scientists, work- 
jng, with a common end in view, the solution of which to 

If the historians, the novelists, the trav- 
Py K nO od elite 
them seems but a philosophical abstraction, arrive at the 
end to quite a different object. When we hear, then, that 
Agassiz stated that whenever he was prosecuting a peculiar 
branch of study, and found that there was money in it, he 
abandoned it, we take this assertion, until better proven, 
as emanating from the great naturalist, with a certain 
amount of doubt. We do not suppose that the distin- 
guished man whose loss we mourn cared a jot for all the 
lucre of the world. But this is certaiu, that just as it is a 
tenet of art that the most beautful form is the one best 
adapted to use, so no object attainable by scientific re- 
search, be it an abstraction, can come to a solution that it 
does not add something tangible to the sum of those many 
things the Almighty has given to man for his naterial ben- 
efit, spiritual investigations alone excluded. 
It is time, then, that the naturalist should assert his posi- 
tion, and give to the world in louder tone, with more exec- 
utive power, the result of his researches. There are spring- 
ing up, especially in this new country of our, questions by 
the tens of thousands, questions vital to the health and 
well-being of the man, which must be solved by the natu- 
ralist, demonstrated by him, and defined by him in the tri- 
bune. Public education must be advanced not only by the 
books the naturalist writes, but forced by the living, fervid 
words he utters. 
To-day in the United States legislators are urging the 
saving of our forests. We want just here the naturalist to 
step forward, not as an expert, or one called upon as a 
witness to give a dry detail of facts, but as one clothed in 
proper authority, and to have the right to plan, to frame, 
to carry out laws in regard to those subjects which he has 
thoroughly mastered in every detail. Who could plead as 
would the naturalist for the birds and beasts and fishes, 
and make the laws which would tend for their preserya- 
tion and increase? The important position which the natu- 
ralist must assume in future legislation is an evident one, 
and we believe that our hopes of the benefit we are to de- 
rive from him in this position must soon be realized. 
———$—___— 50 ——___. 
THE BUFFALO. 
ee ae ae 
THE WASTE OF ANIMAL LIFE ON THE PLAINS AND HOW TO 
CORRECT IT. 
Aha Sn 
N an article whichappeared inthe columns of Forrsr 
AND STREAM of the 16th of October last entitled ‘“De- 
struction of Buffalo,” we alluded to the wanton waste of 
animal life and food in the west, and stated that the buf- 
faloes were slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands for 
their skins alone, and their carcasses were left to rot on the 
plains. A buflalo skin is worth out west, when green, not 
more than $1,50, while the carcass, averaging 1,000 pounds, 
if in good condition, when killed at the proper season, 
worth five cents a pound, is left to the coyote and the buz- 
zard. But almost every one knows this. We hear of the 
wanton waste by every mail. 
There is one effect of this indiscriminate buffalo killing 
which is entirely overlooked. Wehear of Indian outrages, 
of cattle stampeded belonging to settlers, of atrocities com- 
mitted, and in return we retaliate and kill the Indian 
whenever he crosses our path. The white men are abso- 
lutely robbing the Indians of their food, and by killing the 
buffalo are inciting the famished savage to murder and 
rapine. 
There never was a greater mistake than to suppose that 
the Indian places no restraint on his powers of securing 
game. Those who have read ‘‘Hunting the Buffalo with 
the Pawnees,” published in the Forest AnD STREAM, can 
satisfy themselves on this point. If the savage has an in- 
ordinate appetite, he only kills to eat and not for the amuse- 
ment of slaughter. His instinct teaches him that did he 
destroy indiscriminately the animal life of the prairie, he 
would deprive himself in time of his only food. The In- 
dian kills only what he wants for immediate consumption 
and in some cases prepares his buffalo meat, by drying it, 
for future use. Z 
In the article alluded to by us, we published what was 
apparently unknown to many residing in Colorado, where 
to-day these most senseless slaughters of buffalos take 
place, and that was, that a Territorial game law was ap- 
proved in February, 1872, which if enforced might prevent 
in some measure this wholesale murder. The substance 
of this act was, that any one killing any four-foote 1 game 
should not leave any portion of such game so killed to 
waste, but should take care and preserve or bring into mar- 
ket such parts of the game as might be edible. The penalty 
| for the violation of this section was twenty-five dollars. 
In examining more carefully the wording of this act we 
now see that it is defective in many points, and that its 
action, as far as preserving the buffalo may be considered, 
as almost useless. 
Mr. Fort,M. C., of Ill., has presented a law in regard to the 
killing of buffalo, which seems to us to be much more to 
the point, as it is specific in character. Mr, Fort proposes 
that every person not an Indian who shall kill, maim or 
injure a female buffalo of any age, or who shall kill or maim 
a male buffalo for any other purpose than that of food, or 
for the market, shall be fined $100 for each buffalo s2 killed 
or maimed, and shall be imprisoned for any repetition of 
the offence, We are perfectly cognizant how difficult it is 
to legislate in regard to the preservation of an animal when 
the territory it is found in covers many thousands of square 
miles. What we should think is absolutely necessary is in 
the first place that the Governors of Nebraska; Kansas, 
and Colorado should unite in carrying out one and the 
same form of action in regard to the preservation of the 
buffalo. Not only should the ofticiels do their duty, but 
FOREST AND STREAM 

they should endeavor to enlist in their behalf the traders, ° 
the merchants at the posts, and the people of the Terri- 
tories themselves. 
sale of green buffalo hides illegal, save at certain seasons, 
and parties dealing in buffalo hides should refuse to buy 
An act might be passed rendering the 
them if offered in the close season. The publie press in 
the Territories should advocate such measures tending to 
the preservation of the four-footed game, and the action of 
those senseless people who wantonly maim and cripple 
buffalo should be held up to public scorn. It seems tous 
that as a many of the buffaloes are killed simply for their 
hides, a resolution something of this character might pre- 
vent the battues now going on: : 
Whereas, the indiscriminate and useless slaughter of the — 
buffaloes on our western prairies is tending to the total ex- 
termination of this animal, therefore, 
Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, 
that a special stamp tax be affixed or imposed upon all raw 
buffalo hides, of one dollar on each and every hide offered 
or exposed for sale during the months of —— ——, in each 
and every year. 
And be it further resolved, that the said tax shall be imposed 
and collected in the same manner and by the same ofticials 
as the tax now imposed upon whiskies, and the same pen- 
alties shall attach in violation of the act as now are attached 
to the violation of the internal revenue laws. 
[The blank to be filled up with the name of the months 
of the close season. ] 
One of the effects of this act would be that a man offer- 
ing raw buffalo hides out of season would have to pay a 
dollar for the right of selling such hides killed out of sea- 
son, and could not compete with the seller of a skin who 
had killed his buffalo at the proper time. To make an en- 
tire restriction as to the killing of the buffalo is as impossible 
to legislate about as it would be impracticable to carry out. 
We are most desirous that this subject, the preservation 
of the buffalo, should be thoroughly, agitated, aad particu- 
larly invite our western friends to suggest to us any 
methods by which reckless waste of animal life on the 
plains may be brought toa close. Immediate aetion is nec- 
essary, for if it be not looked to to-day, in a few years the 
buffalo of the plains will have disappeared. 
So oe —____. 
FOOD FISH AND GAME FISH. 
paren as 
T seems a wise ordination of Providence that such fish 
as are most in request and desirable as food fish, should 
be included in the category of game fish and be valued by 
the angler for the sport they afford. Wherefore it at once 
and naturally becomes his interest to encourage their pro- 
tection, and their increase by culture and propagation. 
There is uo more earnest advocate of stringent prohibitive 
and protective laws than the genuine angler. He stands in 
the foremost rank of conservators of the species, and is re- 
cognized as a valuable coadjutor to scientific investigation: 
and iegislative endeavor. But most anglers, in regarding 
the efforts of Fishery Commissioners to stock the depleted 
waters of the country, seem to lose sight of the main object 
in view, and to imagine that money appropriations are 
made and scientific knowledge invoked and applied espe-— 
cially to provide for their more successful enjoyment. 
When suitable waters are sought for the planting of ova and 
deposit of small fry, captious objection is made that dams 
bar the passage of the salmon, or shad, or other migratory 
fish whatever, up from the sea; that the water is not suit- 
able, nor the bottom clean; that mills and refuse of mills 
poison the streams at their debouchement; that traffic will 
frighten the fish. A hundred piscatory critics, instructed 
by books or personal experience, stand by with wise sug- 
gestions to warn and head off the practical fishculturists 
appointed by the government lest they should err in the 
execution of their important missions. 
with best intentions, but very little familiarity with their 
subject, complain, ridicule, or advise, according as they 
view it in its different phases; and the discussion that is 
evoked shows how great and general interest is taken in the 
whole matter. 
Very patiently do the Commission listen to and receive 
such suggestions as may arise out of these discussions. 
Very humbly do they accept the advice tendered in Jetters 
confidential. Discussion is a good thing. Wise men al- 
ways listen; for, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings — 
wisdom may come. So, with all the combined light of 
revelation, counsel, and investigation to guide them, the 
Commission proceed quietly to perform their duty, and 
while yet the controversy waxes hot, lo! the ova are hatch- 
ed in the chosen streams, and the small fry are disporting 
in the full panoply and regalia of thcir unbillical sacs! 
Very little will dams or traffic trouble these fingerlings for 
two years to come. The dams, and sawdust, and coal oil, 
and traffic, are all below; the headwaters are limpid and 
sparkling, and here the youngsters will grow, and disport 
until nature prompts them to turn their heads to the sea. — 
Then they will go pell-mell over the dams. But will they 
get back? Never, until fishways are provided. And if no 
fishways? No matter. Then they will leave the stream 
and go elsewhere, or perish, or be netted and dipped? 
Very well—we can spare them. We will supply their 
places by constant propagation at the fountain head, and 
thus keep up a constant supply of toothsome three year 
olds for the delectation of the market men. The ova cost 
but a few shillings per thousand—the grown salmon a half — 
a dollar per pound. The investment will pay compounded — 
interest, even though no salmon native to the stream ever. 
return from the sea. This is not the time to dally about | 
obstructed streams. When the time of the maturity of the 
fish arrives, will be the time to consider the feasability or : 
necessity of providing passes. Two weeks ago we printed 
t 
Newspaper editors, . 
(Px oa 
