The biennial spawning of salmon

Sept. 34, 1885.]

FOREST AND STREAM. 169

streams

and swamps

contiguous tothelake

and

rivers, de- positing their

spawn. They

arethe earliest

apawners we

I

have.

By

^thetimethe iceis fairlyout of the larger rivers

I

and

thelake,they

have

depositedtheir

spawn

and returned tothedeepwaters.

They

never feed duringthespiiwning season,

when

they

become much

emaciated, in

which

con- ditionthey

remain

till late inthe

summer. They

are in theirbest condition

from

the middle of

September

tothe middle of February.

They have

been

known

to

weigh

twenty-fiveor thirtypounds.

They

will take atrollingbait or spoon,a live

minnow

in

deep

fishing, a frog, a

young duck and

have been

known

toswallowagoslinga

week

old.

When

inseasonthey are esteemed

by many

asavery fair tablefish.

The

largestshouldbe boiled,the smallerbroiled.

They

are alsorapidgrowers;atone year theywill

weigh

sis ounces;at

two

years,one

pound

;atthreeyearsthree tofour

pounds;

fiveto sixyearstheyattain theirgrowth.

Third — The common

Eastern piclierelorgreen pike {Esox reticulatuH)hasthe

same

habits asthegreat lake pike,

and

is fished for inthe

same way. They

are uot oftenseenin the greatlakes,

and seldom weigh more

thanfiveor sixpounds.

Tbey

are

much

darker colored than the lakepike; the bars onthe sides are

more marked and

distinct.

Fourth—The hump-back

pickerel {Esoxrt/pho) resembles

Esox

salmon&us,onlyheis

rounded

orswolleninthe dorsal fegion.

Fifth

— The banded

or trout pickerel{Esoaia/tiieneanus),

dark

green,the sidescovered with twenty curvedbars.

Sixth

— The

littlepickerel or trout pickerel(-fe'sv;,;;salmonem), olive color,greenabove

and

white below,

with

strtiaks

on

theside insteadofblack bars.

These

threelastnever

grow

to beafoot long,

and

areconsidered of very little account

by

fishermen. Theirhabits

and mode

of lifearevery

much

liketheotherspecies of thefamilyto

which

they belong.

FAIRLEE LAKE.

EditorF&rest

and

Stream:

A few

days sinceI

was

in the village of PostMills, Yt., eDjoyingthe genialhospitahty of CaptainThos. H.Chubb's

home. A copy

of the FoiiEsx

and Stream was

placedin

my hand and my

attention called to an article bearing the signature of "S."

and

entitled

"Auld Lang

Syne,"

which

carried

me

atonce, inimagination, toscenes of

my

child- hood,which,I believe,

must

have transpired in the

same town

of

which

"S."writes.

lam

sure the description an- swersperfectly tothe

town

of

R

h,

where

I

was

horn,

and

the

Uncle

Lisha

must have

been

Uncle

Isaac

R —

d, of

whom

I

have

heard

many most

laughableanecdotesbesides thoserelated

by

"S."

Uncle

Isaac

was

a

man who,

besides beinguniversal "Uncle,"

was

universally liked.

But he had

one

bad

habit;he

would

partake too freely of the"ardent,"

and when

exhilarated

he

^got the "cart before thehorse"

more

thanever,

and

thentheboys

—

some,and, infact,

most

of

them "boys"

of a larger

and

older

growth —

^delightedto congregatein the village store

and

hear theold

gentleman

talk.

It

was on

oneof theseoccasions thathe said

he "wanted

to get a

good

boardto

come and boy with me and

go to thcool thithwinter." Also

on

such an occasionhe told a storeyof a

wonderful

field of

pumpkins

in these words:

"Onih

1

had

the nithethtfieldof pigths thateverwath,

and

the neighborth's

dam punkinth

keptgetting into

them

pigths.

Igottiredofit,

and

Ijutht called the

houth

outofthe dog,

and

they

went

throughthe devilatii

though

thevery bruth fenth

wath

after them."

And

I

wonder

if it

was an

exag- gerated versionof the story that"S."relatesthat I heard, or if"S." did notquite

remember

^{it all.}

To

"tellthe story as 'twastold

me,"

he once

borrowed

asleigh calleda cutter in those days, ofa

man named

Tucker,

and

inthecourseof the evening"hesteppedintoMr. Tucker's house,saying, "Well, Mithter Cutter,I run

your

tucker

under

the thed

and

put

your

harnethinthe thtable

and hung your

horth

up

in the barn,

and

Igueth

you

will finditright."

But

alas! thetrout fishing of

which

"S." speaksis

now no

more. Like

most

of the

towns

in

Vermont,

the brooks of

R h

are tenantless,

and

the hills once clothedin ver- dureare disrobed.

Many

ofourbeautiful forest trees

have

been "cutoffascumberersoftheground,"

and

are

now no

more. Tree plantingwillsoon beasnecessarywith usas at theWest.

But

thehunting

and

fishinglawsof

Vermont

arebeginning to

have

abeneficialeffect.

Game and

fish are

more

abund- antthan they

were

fiveyearsago. It iswell that there

were a few men

far-sighted

enough

to realize that

game and

fish

must

be protectedby

law and

cultivated,

and

a

happy

illus- tration ofthisforesight

may

be seen in the case of Fairlee Lake,

which

liespartly inPortMillsvillage.

The

watersof thislake

had

formerly contained a great variety

and

seem- inglyaninexhaustiblesupplyof thefinny tribe,but fifteen or

twenty

yearsago they only lived in the

memory

ofthe people.

However,

aboutthattimethere

came

toPostMills,

from

the

Lone

Star State, agentleman

who was

passionately fondofhunting

and

fishing, especially the latter.

He was

atonce struck

with

the beauty

and

healthfuluess of this locality,

and

he decided that this

was

the place forhim, consequentlyhe broughthisfamily

and

settled here,

and

as it

was now

toallinterests

and

purposes his

home,

being

an

active energetic man, he set about

making

improvements.

He

interested himself in the

law

forprotecting

game and

fish,

and

stocked thebeautifullake thatisso like

an

emerald

;gem,withavariety offish,

and

established a

manufactory

.ofallkindsof fishing implements,

and

has kept the place alive generally.

His

isa historywhich,

were

itonlywritten, iswell

worth

thereading. R. A, T.

Vermont.

Georgia Bass Fishing.—Macon,

Ga., Sept.

15.— My

Iriend

and

partner(H. B, D.)

owns an

interestina large mill

pond

three

and

a half miles

from Macon.

Inthis areagreat

many

small bass.

Some

yearsagothesupply

was

almostex- hausted

by

the largestones destroying thesmallest

and

then being taken

by

the fishermen.

H."B.

D.

had

the

pond

restocked,

and now

the fishing is improving.

He and

I caught over

twenty

fishone

day

in June,

most

of

them

bass,

and we

also

had some bream

fishing. Together

with

afriend one

morning

in

June

I caught

twenty

of these,the finest perch fish in the world.

Three

miles

beyond

this

pond

is

one owned by

Dr.

McC,

of

Macon, which

iswellsupplied withbass,

and

several parties

have

caufrht

some

bigweights there recently. I give

you

weightsof ten,_{2,2, 2,3,4,}4, 5i,8i,9

and

9

pounds

respectively-.

These

are private

ponds and

wellprotected.

We

^anticipate

some

finesport in

Novem-

ber, as

H.

B.

D.

willletoff

most

ofthe waterinhis

pond

to

have some

repairsdone.

The

fishwill then beina small

compass

ofwater,

and

willbitefreely. Willreport to

you

if

we

have

much

success.

— I.H.J.

^-

A SECOND COURTSHIP.

A YOUNGmarried.lawyerHis wifefriundisa,ofgoodmine,Catholic ofH. H.,auhasoldlatelyVir- ginia family,andonFrida_ysand Wednesdays11.hasto eat fishor dine with the heretics. These circumstanceshave been fortunate for your esteemed correspondent, who, by pretendedortrue interest inthecauseof chtu-chlyfasts,was invited to"trythe troutsome Thursday." SolastThursday Iasked H.if he thought his folks would take kindly to Snimo f<mtmalu,or salvelinus, whicheverbe correct. His reply was favorable, soI meditated another bold stroke, namely,topersuademy ownwifetowalkto thestreamand participate in theprospective.sport. Leavingdirections toa coloredcitizen tofollow withlunch,my wifeandIset out.

The Big

Springisabout

two

miles or

more from

our

humble

dwelling.

We "walked

in themiddleo'theroad," toavoid climbingtoo

many

fences.

We wanted

the trip tobe incon- spicuous,but every acquaintance

we have seemed

that even- ingtobe on that particular road.

My

wife,

however,

be-

haved

well

under

fire,

and

trudged along

admiring

thebeau- tiful landscapeon eachsideof the

way, and

enjoying the freshairandexhilarating exercise as

much

asher fisherman escort,

who was

feeding

on

prospectivepleasuresyet tobe

drawn from

theclearrunning brook, odorous withfragrant

mint and

sweet-smelling

plants—

pleasures of tangibleshape

and

beauteous

form—

tiame-colored fish sprinkled

with

sparkles of thefinest jewelry. Infine,he

was

thinkingof thetrout

and

sheof thelandscape.

The

troutstream runsthrougha beautifulgrassy

meadow.

Itswaters,clear, swift

and

sparkling, glide over

enameled pavements

ofmultifarious mosaic,

many-formed and many-

colored,allcolorsrepresentedinitspebbles

and

clays

—

reds, whites, yellows, bluish-grays,

and

lead-shadedtints

changing

theirhues withthe

movement

of water,

sky

or cloud, out- shiningtheproductsofman's poor looms.

One

ofour sonswiththe colored contingent

had

arrived andtherods

were

jointed,thenarrownessofthestreampre- cludingthefly,

we

beganto try the swift stream with the festivegrasshopper,

who was

outinforce

and

tumbling

from

everythingbut "sweettatervines"into thestream

and

being gulped

up by

the agile

and

scaly citizens of thewater.

Rob

caught thefirst

and

largestfish,

more

thana footlong

and

as

broad

as

my

palrn,in fact the rascal, notwithstanding the

commandment, "Honor

thyfather,"etc.,beat

me

in size of catch,

though

notinnumbers.

Or

to put the matteras

Henry

Powell,"thecoloredaide, did:

"Mr. W.,

if

your

fish

were two

or threeinches longer

you would

beat

Rob

allto pieces, 1tell

you

thisforafac'."

We

fishedthestreamto theriver,abouthalfamile,caught a

dozen

tLsh,eight trout,nearly all

plump and

sizable,

and

afterlunch

and

a pleasant

walk home,

ate trout for supper with thefragrance of

mint

still clinging to them, besides turning overtoourfriends

enough

for their

Friday

meal.

My

wife

had

sucha color,

was

so pleased

and

excited

by

thepleasure of the trip that Ionly

was

kept

from

courting herover again

by

thepresenceof the children,

and by

the consideration that "discipline

must

he maintained." Ifladies only

knew how much

prettier a complexion

may

be gotten

on

atroutstreamthan

from

a

drug

store they

would

take

more

exercise

and

lesspowder. T.

W.

Leksburg, Va,,Aug.81.

Rhode Island

Bass.

—

1took

with

therodthe

week

end- ingSept.16, striped bass, the largest

weighing

22 pounds;

smallestdi pounds.

Two

rodsthat I baitedduringthe

week

ending Sept.12 took respectively:

Rod No. 1.—

Sept. _7, five, of13,9,4f, 5

and4i pounds

respectively; Sept._8,two, of17

and

8-|

pounds;

Sept.9,six, of 10,7,

5h

^{5, 21}

and

2 pounds.

Rod No.

2.

—

^{Sept. 10, one,of} 22^ pounds;Sept.

12, four,of 12|, 10. 7J

and

5pounds;

and

Sept.12 another rod tooksix,of6,5^.4f, 4,3

and

2^ pounds. Seven blue- fish

were

alsotaken duringtheweek, weights, lOf,10, 8i, 8, 6, 5i, 3pounds. I think

from

the indications that thereis

goingto be the best fishing this

month

there hasbeen for

some

years.

For

the past

month

the

menhaden

steamers

have

beeninotherparts

and

the

menhaden

have struckinto the rivers

and

along thispart of the coast,

which

in this locality

means good

bass

and

bluefishing.

The

gill-netters

and

trap-fishermeu

have had

very poor fishing

most

ofthe season

and

itlooks asif there

would

be lessof

them

the nextseason. If thereshould beless

and

should the steamers also

make

themselvesscarce,it

would

beof great benefit to the

hook

fishermen

who depend on

the linefor their daily bread. I

was much

pleased withyoureditorial

on

the

men- haden

question, alsowith Mr.

Clapham's

notice,

and

could

itbe

made

asplain totheUnited States

Government

asitis to

most

fishermen that the steam fishing,

pound and

gill- netting destroys our fishing

and

fish supply, they

would

either be restrictedor

wiped

out.

— W. M. Hughes (New-

port.R. I.,Sept.13)^

Fighting

Bass.

— New York,

Sept. 22.

—

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

A

friend ofmine, recently

from

Florida, hasjust told

me

anabsolutely true fish story, asfollows:

A

friend of hiswithhis wife

were

out

rowing on Lake

Nettie, near

Lake

Eustis,

Orange

county,Fla.,

when,

noticinga

commo-

tion in the water at

some

distance,they

approached and found

tv/oblack bassindeadly combat.

The

waterboiled.

The

fish attacked

and

retreated after theapprovedstyleof the arena.

FinaDy

oneof

them

seized the other

by

the

upper and

lower jaw,

and shook him

asa

dog

shakes his prey. So exhausted

were

they thatthe

gentlemen

reached

down and drew them

both into the boat.

One

of

them weighed

9

pounds and

theother 9^ pounds. Verily Florida watersare the ones in

which

to gofishing, withotit either rod,line,

hook

or sinkers.

—

Geo. Shepard Page.

Rainbow Trout

in

the Adirondacks. — Number

Four,

Lewis

County,

N.

^Y.,Sept.^20,

—

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

During

thespringof 1882,whileI

was

in this region,

Mr.

Fenton was

hatching 300 eggsofthe

rainbow

trout.

About

thefirstof this

month

Rev.Dr.

Shipman,

of

New York

city, caught oneof thesefishinthe rapids of

Beaver

River,

which weighed

ten ounces.

A day

or

two

afterward oneofthe

same

size

was

caught

by

a

gentleman from

Albany. I

found

thatthey fedon green

worms

gathered

from

therock bottom.

—Spencer M. Nash.

Brittle Hooks. —

Redditch, Eng., Sept.

10.—

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

We

notice thatoneof

your

correspond- entscomplains of the ciuality of the sproat

hooks

ofoneof the manufacturersin this town.

We

take the liberty of sending

you

100ofour manufacture,

and

shall be obligedif

you

will try

them and

report

on

them.

Yours truly—

S.

Allcock. &

Co.

[We have

testedthe

hooks

sent

and

find

them

of

most

excellent quality,

and have

sent

some

to oux coiTespondent

Mr.

E. A. Leopold.]

Long Island Sea Fishery.—

Springs,

Long Island.— The

fishingof

September

here has been betterthan before,but the fresh

winds and rough

sea

have

been unfavorableforthe

bunker

steamers

and

the pound-fishermen.

The

cooler

weather and

water have brought inthefish

from

theocean tides ingreaterabundance,biitthewaterhas beentoo

rough

toallow the

pound

boats to"lift" their nets.

One

party here(Fireplace Point)

who have

five

pounds

at Fort

Pond (Montauk) have

been ableto visit

them

but oncethis

week,

viz.,

on Monday. On

that

day

(7th)

we had

fresh easterly

winds

here,

when

the racing yachts

were

prevented

by

calms off

Sandy Hook from

completingtheir struggle.

The

fish chieflytakenin the

pounds

of

Block

Island, Gardiner's

Bay and

Peconic

Bay

waters are weakfish, bluefish, porgies, shiners

and

^flatfi.sh, these five

pounds

taking

from two boxes

offishtotwenty.

The

averagepricestheyreceive for

them

in

New York vary from $2

^to $12 each, accordingtothe

demand

for

them

incitymarkets.

The

dealerstaxthefish-

ermen

about12percent,forsales,

which

isafair

sum and

isnot objectedtohere.

Once

each

day

a cartload ofworth- lessfishistaken,suchas sharks, dogfish, skates, bunkers, etc.,

and

theseareusedto

manure

the land.

—

^I.

MoLellan.

Snake and Bethabara Woods. — Snake

^{orletterwoodis}

a tree of the

genus

Firatimra,

growing

inGuiana,

South

America,

and

used

by

the natives for

making bows and

arrows,for

which

reasonitshould be an excellent

wood

for fishing rods,buthas not entered into general use

owing

to itsbeingvery

heavy and

expen.sive,costingtwenty-five cents per

pound

in thelog inGuiana. Greenheart isa variety of the

genus Laurus, found

in the

West

Indies

and South

America.

That

in

Jamaica and Guiana

is theNeetandra rodimi, called also

"cogwood"

in the former

and

"sipieri"

inthe latterlocality.

Lancewood

isatree

found

alsoin the

West

Indies, called inbotany Quatteria virgoAa,

and

is

par

excellencethebest

wood

for fishing rods. It will be diffi- cult to findbethabara

wood

in the botanical list,itisonly

found

inthecataloguesof

some

fishingrod

makers who have enshrouded

itinmystery, otherwiseii isnothing but a

fancy name

forgreenheart.

— M.

Flt-Fishing EOR Perch.

—Salisbury, Md., Sept. 14.

—

My

colleague

and

myself

were

^redfishing

on

the

Urcomico

River,

two

miles

below

thisplace,

and

at

my

suggestion,

Mr.

D. put ona leadercontainingthreeflies.

On

thethird cast

he

tookawhiteperch,

and on

thefifthor sixth cast

took

a largeyellow perch,twelveorfourteen incheslong.

Hand-

inghis rod tome, he

went

intothe yacht'scabintoput a leader

on

anotherline,

when upon

theth-storsecond cast, I tooka largeyellow perch. This

was on

a

narrow mud

flat,

shelving

up toward

a

marsh

in fresh,or perhaps alittle brackish water.

The

tide

had

been flowing perhaps an hour,

and was

inashorttime toohigh

upon

theflattofish.

We

will tryitagain. Fly-fishing forperchis

something new

to bothofus.

—

^E.

W. Humphreys.

Fishing With a Paddlewheel. —

Hornellsville,

N.

Y.

—

Isee it reportedthat theother

day

the steamei*

Moulton

struck

and

stunneda thirty-five

pound

pickerel

with

her wheel,in thelakeoffChautauqua.

A

^fisherman

named Rew

killed it with hisoar

and

sold it tothe

Chautauqua meat market

forfourdollars. It

was more

of

aa

object of interest thanthepinmachine, for the time being. I

do

notthink, this fish

was

a pickerel, buta

muscalonge

{Esoxnobilior). I

have caught them

in

Chautauqua

Lake, but could see

no

dilTerence in

them and

the

Niagara and

St,

Lawrence musca-

longe except in color.

True

this is

some

yearsago

and

I did not at that time

know

that the true

muscalonge had naked

gillcovers.

—

^J.

Otis Fellows.

Bass

PisHCSfG

on the

Schuyl/Sill.

—

Philadelphia,Sept.

19.

—

Bassfishingis

now

excellent inthe

Upper

Schuylkill, above Phcenixville,

and

the fishtake the flyfreely.

Two

friends

waded

the river at ornearthisturna

few

dayssince

and

took

twenty

or twent5^-five finebass

with

theartificial lure.

September and

October

with

usaretheseasonjsar &&- ceUencefor thisfish,

and

ouranglers are findingitout grad- ually

and many

put

up

their bassrods for July

and August and

never think of jointing

them

until

autumn

opens.

—

Homo.

Pickling Clams, Mussels and

Eels.

— Can any

of

your

readers give

me

directions for pickling clams,mussels

and

eels, foruseon a longcruise?

— A. W.

R.

Addressallcommunicationstothe Forest

and

Stream Publish- ingCo.

THE BIENNIAL SPAWNING OF SALMON.

The Bucksport Experiments.

Piead before theAmericanMsheries|Society.]

BY CHARLES

G.ATKINS.

AFTER

^the organization of the establishmeatforthecol- lectionofeggsof sea-going

salmon

atBucksport,

on

the PenobscotRiver,in 1872,it

was

oneoftheearliestsuggestions ofProfessor Baird that

we

should attempt,as occasion

might

offer,toobtain e\T-dence bearing

on

thefrequency

and

dura- tion ofthe salmon's migrations

and

itsrate ofgrowth.

To

carry outthese suggestionsib

seemed

requisitethatob- servationsshould be

made on

individualfishesatsuccessive periods in theirUves;yet,

whatever means

shouldbetakento secure

and

identify

them

must,it

was

evident,not prevent free

movement

inthe

open

river to

and from

thesea,or inter- fere in

any way with

thedevelopment of theirfunctionsor theirregulargrowth.

They must

be distinctly

and

durably

marked,

yet insuch a

way

as todo

them

noinjury.

Tne

cut- ting ofthefins

would answer

the purpose onlyinpart, since it

would

notaffordasufficientvarietyin

form

toenable usto distinguisha great

number

of individuals.

Branding upon

the side ofthefish

was

thoughtof

and

eventried,butthe serious mutilation that befel thefirst fishoperatedon,

and

theex- tremeprobabilitythat those

marks

that

were

solightlyim- pressedas todo

no

injurytothefish

would

soon

become

illeg- ible,or sonearlyso as tobe overlooked

by

fishermen,caused tbat

method

to"beabandoned.

A

metallic tag,

stamped with

a recorded

number,

appearedto offer the greatest promiseof success.

The

tu'sttag tried

was

ofthin

alumimun

plate, cut about ahalfinch long

&ud

aquarter wide,

and

attachedto

a

rubber

band which

encircledthetallofthefish. Itisprobable that

most

ofthe

bands

slippedoff,

and

thatthose

which

wei'e tight

enough

to stay

on

cutthroughthe skin

and

produced

wounds

^thatdestroyed thefish.

At any

rate,

no

salmon thus

marked were

everrecovered.

The

next

method employed was

the attachment of

an

aluminum

tag

by means

ofa platinum wire tothe rear

mar

170 FOREST AND STREAM.

[Sept. 34, 1885.

ginof the first dorsal fin. This place of attachment

was

chosen, because, beingnearthemiddleofthe fish,ithas^less lateralmotion

when

the fish is

swimming

than

any

point nearertheheadortail,

and

because thetag,lyingthusinthe

wake

oftliefiu

and

close tothe back,

would

bebetterpi-o- tected

from

contactwithforeign objectsthanelsewhere.

The

attachment

was

effected

by

placing the fish

upon

a

narrow

table, confiningit

by

straps,

and

piercingthe tbin

membrane

ofthefin

between

thelast

and

nextto thelast ray

by means

ofa needle, into the eye of

which was

thi'eaOedthe svire already connected with"the tag,the ends of the wire

were

then twistedtogether,soastofoi-maloop,

and

neatly

trimmed

withscissors.

The

tags

were stamped

withdies. This

mode

of

marking

has been adheredtoin all.subsequentexperiments ofthekind with

no

change except that the

aluminum

tag has

been

replaced

by

oneofplatinum.

The marking was always

doneinthefall,afterthe fish

had

beenrelieved of theirspawn.

They were

thenliberatedeither in tide

water

orin fi'eshwater

whence

egress tothe sea

was

easy.

Of

the salmon

marked with

rubber

bands

in 1872,ashas been said,uoue

were

recovered. In

November,

187S, there

were marked

391salmon. In the ensuing year

rewards were

offered to thefi.shermenforthe returnof

any marked

speci- mens. In response,there weresent in tothestation

twenty

salmon, thefirst in

January

(takenina smelt net)

and

allthe other.sinApril

and May.

All ofthe

twenty

retainedthewire,

by which

they

were

withcertaintyrecognizedashaving

been marked

in tiie preceding

autumn.

Sixteen of

them

still

retainedthetags.

One

of

them was

foundto

have

losteight oimeesinweight,eightothei'shjidlost

from

oneto

two

pounds each;all

had

fallen

away

infleshsince

November. The

males

had

fadeduicolor; the liooks on then lower jaws

were

still present,but^liad decreased

much

insize.

The

females

had

regainedthen-bright silverycolortoagreat extent; in their ovaries

were

tlie

germs

ofthe nextlitterof eggs,butthey

were

very small.

No

food could be found inthestomachs of eithersex. It

was

quiteevident

from

their conditionthat thesefishescouldnothave been to theirfeedinggroundsdur- ing thewinter.

Twelve

outofthe

tweuty were

takenin the Penobscot

above

Bucksport,

and

nine of these

were

takenat Veazie.twenty-fivemilesabove Bucksport,in closeproximity totheni'stserious obstacle

they would

encounterinascending the^river.

Salmon

intheircondition stiouldbe

bound toward

tne^sea,

and had

they, as

may have

beenthe casewith some, reached theupper watersit isquite in.possible thatthey coidd

have became

Ijreederstlie

same

year. Thatalltheseloiterers di'opped

down

tothe seabeforethefli-stof

June we may

con- clude

from

thefactthatafterthatdate

no more were

captm*ed.

Dm-ing

the whole year not asingle

marked

fishwttsrecovered orreijorted that

had

in

any

degree

mended from

the condition in

winch

it

was

releasedthepreceding

autmnD.

In lS7o the offer of a

reward was renewed and

thistime resulted intUerecovery,in

May and

June,ofeightspecimens,

and among

our breeding fishthere

was

fotmdinthe

autumn

another

whose mark had

escaoed observationatthe time of capture. Oftheseninefish,four

were

femtdes,three males,

and two

notdetermiucd.

They were

allofgood size,weigh- ing

from

16to 24}^pounds,

and measuring

S-i)^to 40>^ inches in length,

and

were all fat

and

apparentlyhealthy.

One

of the females

was

placed aliveinourinclosure

and

yielded in the faU aboutll.oUO eggs. Unfortunatelythe tags,supposed to

have

been

good aluminum

plate, proved deficient in durableproperties,

became

(as

we

learned

by

directobserva- tion)

weak and

^brittle aftei ashorttime inwater. Allof

them had

fallenofffi"omthese specimens,and

we

could not therefore tracethe record oftheindividualsalmon, bub the Avire

remamed

and proved

beyond

questionthat thesesalmon

were

mai'ked

and

releasedin

November,

1873,as none others

had up

to this time

been marked

inthe

same

manner,

and none

at

aU marked m

^1874.

They had

thus been absent eighteenor ninet^wu mouths, and'

had

(we cannot doubt) passed the intervening months,includingthe

summer

of1874,

mainly on

theirfeeding groundsinthesea.

The

experimeuD

was

repeatedin1875

and

in18S0,with platinum tags,

which

proved durable.

In 187.5there

were marked and

released in tidewater,at Bucksport,^3.57salmon. In the sijringof 1876aconsiderable

number

of these

were

takenin the river;but without excep- tionthey were,as in1874, all poor. Inlb;77three specimens

were

i-ecovered,alJ in

good

condition

and

of largersize

than when

released.

The

first,No.1,019,

was

caught on

Cape

Gel- lisouinApril. This

was

a female ^{tish; before}

spawning

it

weighed

;Jl

pounds

6ounces,

and

attimeofrelease16pounds.

When

retaken, seventeen

months

^later, it

weighed

S3>^

pounds.

The

secondindividual.No.1,010,

was

alsoa female:

weighed

before

spawm'ng

IS

pounds

3 ounces, after

spawning

13pounds8ounces,

and on

recaptureinLincolnviUe,nineteen

months

^later.30

pounds

8oimces.

The

third individual

was

also afemale;

weighed

20 pounds 7ouncesbeforespawning, 15

poumJs

onrelease,

and

26potmds

on recaptme

inLincoln- viUe nineteen

months

later.

The

residts of thissecondexperi-

ment

supported theconclusions

drawn from

thoseof thefirst ineverypiarticular.

The salmon marked

in 1880,

numbering

2.52,werereleased inthefi-eshwatersof EasternRiver,a small

branch

oftUe Penobscot,

The

distance

from

the point of liberation totide-

water was two

miles,

and

the only

impediment

a

dam

over

which

they couldeasilygo

down

inthespring, or at

any

high

water when

the river

was

not verylow,but

which

during the winter

must have

constitutedaseriousimpediment. Thereis

reasonforthinking that the largerpartotthese

salmon

re-

mained

Hbovo the

dam

until thespring floods.

A

small re-

ward was

offeredforthei-eturnoffishor tagstakenthenext spring,and twelvetags

were

received. Nineofthefishbear- ing

them were weighed and

found ineveryinstance to

have

fallen

away

inweightsince marking.

No

fullyor partiallj'

mended

fish

were

obtainedorheard of thatyear.

But

in June, 18S2,five

prime salmon

were recovered bearing thetags alfixed inOctober

and November,

^1880.

The

followingstate-

ment shows

thedateforeachindividual:

1185 1136 IsSi) 18^8 1847

No.

1135 1136 1348 1374

Date, 1880.

Oct. 28 Oct.28 Nov. 6 Nov. 5 Nov.13

KECORD

OF

MARKING.

Weight before Lengthspawaing.

Sex, tQches. Jbs. oz.

F. 30 9

F. 30 !) 5

F. 36 37 Vi

F. 33 10 5

M.

30^

RECORD

OB"

BECATTUBE.

Weight of eggs, lbs. oz.

1 15

a 1

3 8

2 5

Bute.

188-2.

June20 June

—

June23 Juue87 Juoe^3:3

Place.

i;rcksport^Center, f'earsport.

SandyPoint.

NorthBucksport.

Frankfort.

Length

incties.

39

Weight, on release, lbs. oz.

7 8

7 4

14 8

8

8 8

Weight

lbs. oz

10 8

lY 31 31

The

i-esultsof thisthirdexperimentcoincide,itwillbeseen,

with

thoseofthe othertwo,

and

they leave little

room

for

doubt

thatitisthe

normal

habitofthe Penobscot

salmon

to

spawn

evei-ysecondyear.

Had any

considerablenuraber of

them

^recoveredcondition in seasontoi-eturn to the river for

spawning

thevearafter theirfirstcaptm-e,they

would

hardly

have

escaped"detection altogether, indeed,they

would have

been

much more

hkelytoretainthen*tag.s,

smce

they

would have

borne

them

onlysixorseven months,instead of eighteen or nineteen. ThisvieVi'isfm-ther.suppoited

by what we know

ofthe reducedcondition in

which

the

end

of the

spawning

seasonfindsthe salmon,the short time,onlysixmonths,that intervenes

between

the

spawning

season

and

thetimeforthe next''run"'

up

theriver,the

low

temperature thenprevailing intheriver

and

bay,

and

the fact,

which

is prettywelles-

tablished,that a large part,perhaps nearly allthe salmon, instead ofproceedingatonce to sea after spawing,linger in thefresh w\aterall the winter

and

descend only with the springfloods.

Bucksport, Me.

THE TEXAS COMMISSION, -The

lastLegislature of

Texas

has abolished the Pish

Commission

of theState.

The

late Commissioner, Mr.

John

B.

Lubbock,

of Austin,hasleasedthe Statecarp ponds,

and

is

now

supplyhig customers with

young

carpat

from

eight totencents each, accordingto quantity.

Mr.

Lubbock was

anactiveCommissioner,

and

the Legislature has done an unwise thingin abolishing theoffice.

AddressallcommunicationstotheForest

and

stream Publish- ingCo.

FIXTURES.

BKNCH SHOWS.

Sept.23,38,34and35.—

Dog

Showof theMilwaukeeExposition As- sociation. ,TohnD. Olcott,Superintendent,Milwaukee,Wis.

Sept.39.80andOct.1, 3.

-Thud

Annual

Dog Show

oftheSouthern Ohio FairA-ssociatiou. S.Anderson. Secrelarv, Dayton,O.

— —

-—Twelfth DoKSho\v of theWestern Pennsylvania Ponltr.v.Society,Pittsbiu-gb,P,i. C.B.Elben,Secretary.

Oct.C, 7.8and9.— SecoudAnnual

Dog Show

of thePhiladelphia KennelClub, inconjunction with the PennsylvaniaStateAgricultural Society. E.Comfort, Secretary,Philadelphia, Pa.

Oct.6, 7,8and9.— FourthAnnual Dog

Show

oftheDanburyAgri- cultural Society. S.E.Hawle.y,Secretary,Danbury,Conn.

Oct.7,Sand9.—

Dog Show

of theYorkCountyAgriciUturalSoci- ety. Entriesclose Sept.28. A.C.Knieger, Superintendent, Wrights- ville,Pa.

Oct. 8and9.—Second Annual

Dog

Sliowofthe Stafford Agricul- tural Society. R.S.Hicks, Secretary,Stafford Springs,Conn.

FIELD

TRIALS.

Nov 9—Second AnnualField Trials oftheFisher'sIslandClub,for

members

only.

Max

Wenzel,Secretary,Hobolien, N.J.

Nov.9.

—

Pir.stAnnual Trialsof theWestern Field TrialsAssocia- tion,atAbUene, Kan. Entriesclose Oct. 15. A. A. Whipple, Secre- tary,KansasCity.Mo.

Nov.16,1885.— Seventh Annual Field Trials ofthe Eastern Field Trials Club,High Point,N. C. Entries forDerbyclose

May

1.

W.

A.Coster,Secretary,Flatbush,L.I.

Novembf^r.—FourthAnnualTrialsoftheRobinsIslandClub,Robins Island,L.I.,formembersonly.

Wm.

H. Force,Secretary.

Dec.7.— SeventhAnnualField Trials ofrheNational FieldTrials Club,GrandJunction,Tenn. EntriesforDerbycloseAprU1. B.M.

Stephenson,LaGrange,Tenn., Secretary.

A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE.

rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER,

for theregistration of pedigrees,etc.(withprizelistsofallshows and trials),is pub ishedeverymonth. Entriescloseon the1st. Should beinearly.

Entry blanks senton receipt ofstamped andaddressed envelope.

Registration^fee(50cents)must accompany eachentry.

No

entries insertedmiless paidinadvance. Yearlysubscriptiongl. 50. Address

"Ameiican KennelRegister," P. O.

Box

3832,

New

York.

Number

of entriesalreadyprmted

3704.

THE EASTERN FIELD TRIALS.

Editor

ForeM and

Sti'eam:

Owing

to the

want

oftimely advertisement theclosing of thepublic stakes ofthe Eistern Field Trials Club,viz.,the All-Agedsetter

and

pointer stakes,is postponed

from

Oct. ¹ toNov.1, the

Members'

stake to the

evenmg

ofNov.11

and

the

ChamiMon

^{stakes to}the eveningafterthefinishofthe

two

aU-agedstakes.

The

dates of running

remam

as advertised lastspring,viz.,the

Members'

stakeonThureday, Nov.12,

and

the All-AgedSetterstakeon

Monday,

Nov.16,followed

on

its finish

by

theAll-Aged Pointerstake,the

Champion

stake,if it fills,and ending

with

theEasternField TrialsDerby.

Washingtox

a.Coster,Secretary.

New

York,Sept.2i.

THE AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB.

Editor Forest

and

St7'eam:

I think

we have

all been

somewhat cranky

this

summer.

How

could it be helped?

The

A.K. C.

was

such asore,so constantlybreaking outin

new

places,that

we

all got tobe cranks in our magnifying of our pet grievances,

and

our adulationofour pet remedy.

Now

^{thatthereisto}be another attempttoput the A. K.C.

on

a firm

and

respectable basis, let usalltry to clear our

minds

of crotchets

and

iUusions,

and brmg

a sober,unpreju- dicedreasontoouraid.

We

wfil doubtless

make some

mis- takesthatcannot behelped,butletus build so that

we

will berespectable

and

notthelaughingstock

we have

beeninthe past.

To my good

friend OsbornIextend

my

hand. I will fight byhis side ina

mutiny

till theship sinks.

Now

after the

above

prosy sermonizing, for

an

application, to wit, the 'standard committee"business. Itisreallyincomprehensible to

me how

so

many

clear-headed

men

have gone

wrong

in this. Except Mr. Osborn.¹ do not

know

of one that has expiessedhimselfin

pubhc

tothe real point on this matter.

Cilrantingthat the mainspringthat

moved

the

machine was

thedesire toenactasetterstandardtofitthe Gladstone

dog

(thereisnousebeating round thebush),there is nothing in- lierently\vrong in that. Ifcertain parties

want

a standard enactedtofitacertain

dog

or strain of dogs,thatislegitimate enough,

and

allthatisrequiredistoletallshades of opiinon be heard,

and

decide the question fau-ly. Ifthe majority

want

the Gladstonetype, sobeit;ifnot,then

down

withit.

Granted

that it

was

the intention tosmuggleitthroughin PennsylvaniaLegi-slature fashion, thatis

now

balked,

and

in fighting that, don't charge

aroimd

likea btdl inflytime,tail in airjeyesablaze,charging everycornstalkinthe field (this especiaUyappliesto 'Torcupine").

The

^{mischiefis that} these excellentbut excited bovines

seem

tobepossessedwiththe ideathat these standard com- mitteeswould upsetallexisting standards,

and

set

up

creations of then-

own. Now, no

suchchimei-a can be evolved

from

the

mode

ofappointmentor construction of

any

ofthe

com-

mittees exceptthatonsetters.

How many

breeds arethere for

which

thereis no standard?

Take

mastiffs.

Who

ever judges

tnem by

the.sacred"Stonehenge," thatso

many have made

afetish of^? "Stonehenge"gives thu-ty-five points for head, Mr.

Wynn's

^scale,preparedforthe late,mastiff club, gives forty-two.

and

the practical lesson derived

from

the judgtngsoftheO. E. MastiffClubisaboutseventy-five! Isit

not aboutthe

same

ⁱⁿ

many

other breeds?

For

instance,take theifluBtration ofGovernorin

"Dogs

ofthe British Islands."

Can any

one imagine

him

agoodmastiffifthewretchedbeasts the

Enghsh

crazehasrecently sentover here are good type?

Imagineold

champion

Turk, with the

mien

ofa chief justice ofthe United States, ledout

and

beaten, ashesm-ely

would

be,

by

sucha beast as

Lady

Clare, as short-faced

and

turnup nosed as

any

pug, with quarters aslankasastarvedwolf.

Here we have

gotclear

away from

^'Stonehenge,"

and have

set

up

a

shadowy

fancyofoux

own,

each judgegiving us his

own

particularviewsas tohighart.

In such acase (andI

assume

that there are a dozen more),

would

itnot be well for ^it tobepositively laid

down

that '•Stonehenge"isthe standard?

Then

this"standard" businesshas brought outblasts

irom

"Porcupiae"

and

even

from

the level-headed editor ofthe A. K.R.about"a good judge that

knows

hiswork," not^need-

ng any

standard.

Now

this is sheer nonsense.

How

^is

any

judgeto

know what

isthecorrect trpe, or

what

aretherela- tive values of various merits or demerits

m

thespecimens beingjudged? In fact,no judge canactwithout consciously orimconsciouslyfollowingastandard,and onthis

no

advice can be sounder or clearer than thatof "Zoilus" that lately appearedin

Forest and Stream,

especially

when

it is

known

that"Zoilus"ishimself oneofthe oldest

and

most

weighty

of English judges. So

much

for an airing of

mv

pet crank.

Another

thing.

The

"constitution" (there really issuch a thing, construction,skylarkappointmentofcommittees,etc, notwithstanding) provides that the olHcers of the A.K.C!.

have novote.

Now,

isnottliis

wrong?

If

we have

sufficient confidencein any one to elect

him

anofficershould

we

not ti-ust

him

with avote?

The

change

was

brought about

by

the president castingone voteas such,oneasadelegate

and

"x"

as

proxy

;but cannot all thisbe obviated

by

providing that theofficersshall not be delegates,

and

that

none

shallhold

more

than one proxy? I

am

notblind tothe

enormous

diffi- culty

we

-wifihaveinsecuring respect for

any

set of rulesthat

may

beenacted.

The

farces of "construction,""Pickwickian"

appointment of committees. Jack Bunsbyopinions,

and

the unavoidablenecessity of deliberately setting rules aside has

honeycombed

theidea ofa dutytoobserverules,butwith the evidence of a sincere determination to look solely to the general good,

and

an executive

and

committee ondiscipline, determined to enforcertdes,withthe singlepurposeofpro- tection to canine interests in general, these difficultieswill

graduallyvanish.

W. Wade.

HuLTOK,Pa,Sept.13, 1885.

THE PHILADELPHIA DOG SHOW.

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

At

ameetingofbench

show committee

ofPhiladelphia

Ken-

nelClubSept.15,188.5, it

was

decidedtoseparatethe

dog and

bitch mastiff

puppy

class

and make

aclassforeach;also inthe fox-terrierdog andbitchclassinOctober show.

The numbers

therefore of mastiff

dog puppy

class

wiU

be o79

and

that of thebitches.5793^.ofthefox-terrier

dog puppy

class668

and

thebitches6fi8>|, E.

Comfort,

Secretary.

EditorForest

and

Stream:

Thereis every prospectthat this

show

will beas largein entries as

any

yet given

by

the Philadelphia

Kennel

Club.

The

attendanceat the StateFair will be double that oflast year,

and room enough

hasbeen given theKennel Clubto do

away

withallpossibilityof a jam,asoccuiTcd last season.

Fully50,000 peoplewill visit thefair daily. Lastyear there

was

an average of 39,000each day, soitcanbe readily ob- servedthe

coming show wiU

bejusttheplace tosell

and

ad- vertise dogs.

A number

of entries have ah eady been

made

forthecollie trials,

and

quitea

number

ofvaluablespecials

have

been presentedto the club for distribution. Thesewill be apportionedtothe several classes atnext meetingofthe committee,

and

sent to

you

forpubhcation.

Homo.

THE BLACK AND TAN COLLIE.

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

Idesire tocall

you

attention toamatter

and

hopetobeable toenlistyom-aidin accomplishing

what

I think ^vouldbe a benefitto breeders ofshepherddogs, aswell as to thefuture ofthebreedinthiscountry.

To come

atonceto the point,1

am

anxiousto seetheblack

and

tancolliea separate class atthe bench shows. Ithink this

dog

hasdistinct characteristics

which

entitle

him

tobe separated

from

thegeneral colhecla.ss. Thereisnoothercol- he with such^distinct markings, revei ting

from

sire to pro-

geny

(whencarefullybred).

By

black

and

tan coUieI

mean

a black

dog

with tan (or

bhush

black) undercoat, tau.spots over theeyes,tan under the chin

and

on nec

and

a very beautiful tan triangular point

down

onthe breast, tanon the legs, principallythe forelegs,

and

sometimes aring

around

theneck. Thisisabeautifully

marked

animal,

and

asIsaid before, properlj^bredwill

throw

themarkingsateverypoint totheoffsfiring. Thereisnoother one-colorcollie

which

will do^thisas certainly astheblack

and

tan.

Besidesthe obvious advantage ofperpetuating thisbeauti- ful colUe

by

encom-aginghis separate breeding, the division of colliesinto

two

classes

would

do

much

to

smooth away

the growlsofexhibitors at

bench

shows,

when

the rulings ofthe judges

seem

(',)tofavoronecolor

more

thananother.

I

am

not foohah

enough

toimagine that the

mere

insertion of this letter inyom- columns, signed as it isby a

young and

comparatively

unknown

breeder,

would have much

effect.

And

it isfor thisreasonIbeg the

Forest and Stream

toact- ivelytake

up

thematter

and

sohcitthe opinions ofthelarger and'better

known

breeders on thesubject. I believeifsuch anexpression of opinion could be had,the majorityat least of those favoring tUe black

and

tanin their kennels

woidd

favor the

movement,

andthosebreedingother colors certainly have nothingto lose

and

perhapssometlungto gain

by

lessening thecompetition. ThatI

may

notbe accusedofstudying only

my own

interest,I

woiUd

statethat

lam

bleedingblack

and

tans,

aud

also

tawny and

white,

and my

^kennels haveas

many

of one kind as the other. Itrust

you

will give this matteryourconsideration

and

attention.

B.A. R. OTTOLENGtri.

SUCCESS IN TRAINING.

Editor Forest

and

Stream:

My

father

and

uncles

were

sportsmenoftheold school, in the

good

days

when Manton

guns and pointer dogs

were

used inthe fields,

aud

I

have

been accustomed to dogs

from

ray cnildhood. Yearsof observation

had

taught

me

thattraining

was

betterthan breaking,

and

I

had

so fotmd itin

my own

experience.

When,

therefore,

Hammond's

book, "Training vs. Breaking,"

made

its appearance,I

was

attracted

by

its title

and

bought acopy,and havet;ikenitas

my

guide, for I there found systematized and reduced^toanart the principles

which

I

knew

tobecorrect.

Bv

theaid of this httle manual, I trahieda

dog

in the season of 1883 as thoroughlyasIever

saw

so

young

adogbroken.

He would

do anythingthat

any dog

broken

by

a professional

would

do and doitcheerfully,

and

he

was

ofadisposition

which made

itlikelythathe

would

have beenspoiled

had

he been broken^{instead of}beingtrained.

As

aretriever (thethingof all others thatitsadvocates say forceisnecessary to

make)

he

was

oneofthebest thatIever saw. This

dog

1 sold toa gentlemanin Georgia,

and

Ihave

no

doubthistraining sticks tohim.

, ,-,

I

now have

a couple ofpuppiesfive

months

old;oneof

them

by

San Roy

^(Count

Noble—

^{Spark) outofDrane'sCora}

(Mark

--Jennie-Mark,

by Rob Roy

outofJuno;Jeuuie,byLeicester outof Dart),

and

the other

by San Roy

outof

Queen

Bess (Gladstone—

Donna

J.)^;

and

if Ican find time, I shalltrain thesepuppies according^to

Hammond's

rules in preferenceto placing

them

inthe handsofabreaker. Already theypoint,

back and

drop,

and

readfiy retrieve a

baU

or glove.

One

of

them showed

^{agood deal of} inclination to gunshyness (al-

though there ^isno gunshynessin his ancesti-y),butIeffectu- allycured

him by foUowiny Hammond's

directions.

No

matter

what may

be one'sviewsastothe proper

mode

ofbreakingor

haudhng

dogs,nobird

dog owner

canafford to do withoutthis littlebookof

Hammond's.

Itshould be

m

the handsofevery sportsman;

and

the Society for thePrevention of Ciatelty to

Animals woidd

be doing God's^{seiwiceif it}

would

i-aisea fundfor the gratuitous distribution of ^this book. It teachesthe bestcodeofmorals yet devisedforthe regulation oftherelation ofsportsman

and

dog. It

shows

that

kmd-

ness

wiU more

effectivelydothe

work

of

preparmg

the

dog

forfieldusethan brutahty. ^Itraises

from a

mostdisagreeable

task—a

taskinvolving beatingsinnumerablefor thepoor

dog