The Trout of Sunapee Lake

(1)

March

11, 1886.J

FOREST AND STREAM. 129

to be explained.

With

every separate rifle, and ateach rangeand changeof bullet,the temperatureof theatmos- pherewastakenonthedryandwet-bulb thermometers,^also the pressureonthe barometer,andthe directionandvelocity ofthe wind; and the fulldetails havingbeen published iii

thepagesof

Forest asd Stream

there areampledatato

work

upon by anyone disposedto investigate the subject.

Another kindof irregularity,which

may

be detected on glancing over the abovetable,isonewhichwasobservedat thePutneytrialsand was remarked uponintheFieldatthe time.

Some

of thebullets,instead ofspinning evenly during their flight,gyrated with asort of corkscrew-like motion, whichcarried them sometimes aboveand sometimes below the true line of trajectory, besides moving

now

toward the leftandthentoward the right side of the target. Vagaries of thiskind,onthe partofoneortwobullets,would sadly interferewith theregularity ofaseriesof shots, spoilingthe

"string"bytheir divergence from the bullseye,and occa- sionallydisappearing from the target altogether. Occur- rencesof a similarcharacterwerecomparatively frequentat Creeduioor with some of therifles,and, although theyare not always noticeable inthe above table of trajectories, owingtothisbeing an averageof five shots,someofwhich

may

tend tocounteract the effectof the others,still incer- taincase'stheyarequiteobvioustotheeye. Ina trajectory thatisregular, the heightof thebullet at three-quarters of thefulllengthof therangeisalwaysalittle greaterthanit

wasatthefirstquarter; andatthehalf distanceit ishigher thanat eitherof theotherpoints. But,on referring tothe Whitney-Kennedyrifle,undertheheadof .500-bores, itwill be seenthat,inthe100-yardrange,someofthe bulletsdipped between thefirst and second screen,and then rose tothe third.

The

extentof these variations is, of course,more noticeable in thefull recordsgiving every shot than it isin theaverageresult.

Space cannot be afforded here forenteringinto details oftheshootingof all the weapons,and Imustconfine

my

remarksto themostsalientfeatures in theexperiments.

Ofthe .500 bores,theBullard repeatingriflecameoutfirst, as was

wananted

byits carrying a larger proportionof powderthananyrifleinthetrial,excepttheEnglish express andthetwoAmericanruuzzleloaders.

With

the solid bullet thepowderratiowas1to31,andwith the hollowbullet 1 to 2.6; and, ashas been pointed out beforeinthe Field, the hollowbullethasthehighertrajectory,forthegreaterspeed ofthe light projectile atthe beginningof therange and its rapidlossof velocitytowardtheend bothtendtornakethe curve higherinthe center.

The

WinchesterandtheWhitney-

Kennedy

repeaters used the same ammunition; and,with cartridgestakenfromthesame box,it might reasonably be supposed that they would showvery nearly equal results.

The

Whitney-Kennedy, however, exhibited inamarked de- greethecorkscrew gyrationof bulletsalludedtoabove,asis

demonstratedbythefollowing recordof the fivesuccessive shots atthe100-yardrange withthe solid bullet.

The

Win- chesterwasirregular at 75 yards inthelasttwoshots,but thereisagreat contrast between thegeneralresults,as will be seenby comparingthe averageof the threemostregular shotswiththeaverageof thewhole five.

Whitney-Kennedy.

Round. Sovds. 50yds. 75yds.

1 l.Oflin. 184m. 1 55in.

2 1.80in. 1.84in. 2.78m.

8 1.26in.

—

O.SSin. —1.71m.

4 215in. 3.41m. 3.53m.

5 l.lOin.

—

0.33in.

—

O.Olin.

Average..1.48m. l.lSin.

Av.(3rds.)168iu. 2.3tim.

1.23in.

2.68m.

Winchester.

25yds. 50yds.

1.55m.

l.OOin.

1.78in.

1.66in.

1.86in.

1.74in.

1.73m.

1.97iu.

8.56in.

2.1lin.

1.98in.

2.38in.

2.20in.

222in.

75yds.

1.66in.

2.12in.

1.77m.

2.73in.

2.70m.

2.211n.

1.85ui.

It will be seen by the minusmarks(

—

⁾prefixed totwo shots of theWhitney-Kennedy,that, theydropped so

much

after25 yardsthatahorizontal linedrawn from the muzzle oftherifleto the target would actually have been higher thanthese bulletswere at mid-range; but they rose again between50and 75 yards, and must have risen stillhigher beforethey completed the 100yards. Casting out the two mostirregularshotswith bothrifles,thereisnota vast deal of differencebetweenthe averages of the three remaining rounds; but only one of the bullets from the Whitney-

Kennedy

canbe.saidtohavehada fairlyeven flight. It is not easytosaywhatcould bethecauseof this difference in performancewiththesame ammunition unlessitwere the difference in therifling. Both were 6-grooverifles,but the Whitney-Kennedy hadone turnin30 inches,and theWin- chesterone turnin60 inches,the rifling with the former beingalsotwiceasdeepasthelatter. It is evident, there- fore, thatmererapidity of spin does notsecureaccuracyof flight. Itisrathercuriousthatthehollowbullets shotmore steadilythanthe solidonesⁱⁿbothrifles; but it will beob- servedthatthehollow were only 12 grains less inweight thanthesolid,andconsequentlythe latter would be rather theshorter ofthetwo,while experience seems to

show

that thesevagaries are ofmost frequent occurrence with bullets whichareveryshort incomparison withtheir caliber.

Among

the .450-bores, theMarlinmagazinerifleperformed very erratically, and the report "says:

"Do

what might, with aconsumptionofover 25rounds,itwas onlypossible to getone shot through all the screens and on thetarget.

The

weapon

was

several times cleaned, and particular attention paidfor any tracesof leading in the barrel,but none weredetected

;yet the

arm

threwthe bullets

now

high,

now

low,in every and various directions." There was, strictly speaking,no average with this rifle, for when, a fortnightlater,itwastried ata shorterrange, only one shot could begot upon the target; so that toone shotin each range the record is confined.

The

Bullard repeater,with thesame weightofpowder and bullet as the Marlin,gave very steadyshooting.

The

Marlin rifling hadone turn in 20in., andtheBullard one turnin 30in.

On

the other.450 riflesitis not necessaryto dwell, exceptthe^Bland double Express,which wastheonlyrifleof thisborethatshot both solid and hollow bullets.

Owing

to a scanty supply of ammunition,this-riflewasnottriedso fully asitwould have been;but four recordsfromeachbarrelwereobtainedatthe 200 yards range,andthe separateaverage results stood as follows-

50yds.

Rightbarrelaverage 4,94in.

I Leff.barrelaverage 5.14

Generalaverage 5.04

This general averageistheone entered intheabove table for the200 yards.range; andfor the shorter range,with both solidandhollowbullets,onlythe right barrelwasused.

As

atPutney, therewas some littleirregularity ofgyration exhibited bythisrifle,twoof the bulletsbeing higherat the Jastscreenthantheywereat the middle_jbutitwasonly to

^small .exterjl prje curious fact,ho/we^er, remains tobe 100yds. 150yds.

7.47in. 5.83in.

7.59 5.75

stated. Fiveshotswerefiredfromthisrifle at100yards,the barrelbeingwipedoutaftereachround; andfiveothershots werefiredwithoutcleaning.

The

trajectorieswerelowerin theuncleanedrifle,theaveragebeingasfollows;

25yds. 50vds. 75yds.

Cleanedbarrel(average) 1.25in. 1.46in. 1.30in.

Uncleanedbarrel (average) 1,17 1.33 1.28

Thisresult

may

possiblyhave beenduetothelubrication leftintheuncleanedbarrellessening the friction ofthebul- let,whichconsequently started on its flightwitha higher velocity.

The

twomuzzleloaders of.420 bore gave remarkablere- sults,but, aspreviouslystated,theproportionofpowderwa9 higher than inanyof the other rifles, and the trajectories werecorrespondinglylow;but again evidence wasgiven of the corkscrewgyration, as willbe seenbythe followingfig- ureswithMajorMerrill'srifle:

Round.

1

25Sards. 50Yards. 75Yards.

.1.180in. 1.873in. 1.270in.

1.889 1.498 1205

1.033 1.399 1.-119

1.170 1.051 1.051

.1.031 1.310 1.421

1.130 1.306 1.273

..1.121 1370 1.238

Average Do.(4shots)...

.

Itwillbe observed, on examination, that only one of the fivebulletsflewwithstrict accuracy,although most ofthe divergenciesarccomparativelytrifling. Inthesecondround the bullet at the thirdpointislower thanatthefirst,instead of being;higher; inthenextthe bulletishighestat75yards;

inthefourthroundthe bulletis higher at 25 yards than ^at thetwonextscreens; andinthefifthrounditis

much

lower at50thanat75yards. Omitting this last round makes a marked change in the center and renders the proportion morecorrect. Thesestatements,however,areonly givenin illustrationoftheprevious recorded facts,and the observa- tions are not intended to depreciateMajorMerrill'srifle,

whichisan admirableweaponofitskind;andIimaginethe defectmust havebeen iu the bullets. Shortly before this trajectorytrial,MajorMerrill,

who

isa staunch defenderof themeritsofmuzzleloaders, gave in

Forest and Stream

lengthydetails oftheshooting powers of this rifle,accom- paniedbydiagramsofthe targets

made

withspherical balls andchargesofequalweightof powder and bullet (1to1).

The

accuracy of the shooting was remarkable; and Major Merrill challenged the world to produce anybreechloader that wouldequalthis performance

when

using powder and bullet in the ratioof1to1.

The

chal- lengewasnot accepted, as

may

bereadilysupposed. It is easyenoughformuzzleloaderstouseanyproportionofpow- derwhatever; but breechloadersare notsoaccommodating, andtheyarenot usuallychamberedforsucha ratio as1to1.

Withalesser proportionof powder, however,quite as re-

markableshootingwas

made

bybreechloadersatthePutney

trials. Jeffries' .500-bore,with ten successiveshots at 100 yards(fivefromthe rightandfivefromtheleftbarrel),

made

a stringaverageof 1.004in.; while Holland'ssinglerifle of .295-bore,withtwentysuccessive shots,

made

at50yardsan averagestringof .395in.,andwiththesame

number

of shots at75 yards

made

an average of .696in. But,toreturnto theAmericanmuzzleloaders, Mr.Romer's rifle

made

splen- didshootingatthe200 yardsrange, therenotbeing anirreg- ular shot in thewhole series. These two rifleswere each triedonlyat one range; it had been intended totryMajor Merrill's at both distances, but, by an accident, arifle be- longingto his friend,Mr.Ronier,wasbroughtfor thesecond test.

Withrespect tothe smallerbores,Imustleave therecords tospeakforthemselvesforthemostpart. It

may

be said, however, that they generally shot withgreater steadiness thanthe larger bores—owing,inallprobability, to the bullets being longer in proportiontothe caliber; and someof theverybest resultsweregiven by riflesof .400andunder.

The

Bullard .300-bore was not shotat100yards,owingto its action getting out of order.

The

so called"Hunter's Pet" (.320-bore),

was

thelightestrifleinthetrial,havinga skeletonstockandabarrelonly18in. long. Itgaveagreat deal of trouble in testing, asthe shots flew sowildlythat about ascorehadtobefiredbeforefivecould be got through the screensontothetarget at200 yards;at100 yards there weresimilar divergencies, thoughfewerinnumber. Those bulletsthatweregoton thetargetshowedsatisfactory regu- larity;the trajectory,however, wasthehighest of thewhole

series,but, astheproportionofpowder was only about one to ten,theresultisnotverysurprising.

In conclusion, I can only congratulate yourAmerican contemporary on havingbrought its self-imposedand most troublesomet asktosohighlysatisfactoryanissue. T.

Wood Pow^der.— When

the advertisementoftheAmeri- can

Wood Powder Company

was brought to us

by

Mr.

ElliottSmith, thepresidentof thecompany,

we

acceptedit

uponthatgentleman's representations respecting the

mode

ofmanufacture andthe safety of theproduct; and,further, withthe express stipulation on our partthattheadvertise-

ment

shouldremaininthe

Forest and Stream

only pro- videdthat Prof.HenryMorton, President of StevensInsti- tute, to

whom we

would submit samples of the powder, shouldreport upon itcorroborating the representations of themanufacturers.

We

^atoncesentsomeof thepowderto President Morton for analysis. His report

was

expected immediately,wasdelayed, askedforfromtime totime,and has never been received. Considering the time thathas elapsed,

we

can hardly be expectedtoholdthematter longer inabeyance,anditcan be takenasnoinjustice to themanufacturers torefuse afurther publication"of their advertise- mentuntil

we

secure from Prof.Morton a reportwhich would warrantitsinsertion.

Mississippi.— Aberdeen, Feb.

27.—The

quail season has pretty well closed,although the law in thiscounty allows themtobeshot until

March

15.

The

birds have stood the coldwelland

we

haveafairnumbertocarry overtothenext season. Ifthe spring proves dry

we

willhaveafinestock for thenext shootingseason.

Some

snipehave

come

in and a few small bags have been made; butourbestshooting occursinMarch. During the severe weatherinJanuary a great

many

duckswereintheriver,principallymallards,and several largebagswere made. Thiswasan unusualoccur- renceforthis locality,as ducks have been very scarce for severalyears past,

—

Will. ^' ^-

The"Political ScienceQuarterly,"a reveiw devotedto history, economics and jurisprudence.wiU oe published by Ginn

&

^Co.,^of

thisoity,Lhe subscription price being $3 perrear. The magazine Willbeeditedbythe{"acuityof PoliticalScienceofColumbia. College

Addressallcommunicationsto theForestand Stream Publish- ingCo.

ADIRONDACK FISHES.

EditorForestandStream:

My

noteinyourissueof Feb.11 has already brought a valuable contributionto

my work

on the fishes of theAdir- ondacks. Icould notfind aspecimenof thelittlemiller's thumb, Uranideagracilis,and inserted a description on the authorityof Dr.C.Hart Merriam.

A

fewdaysagoa pint fruit jarfilledwiththem cameto

me

fromMalone, Franklin county,N. Y.,and suspected that theycame from Mr. A.

R. Fuller, of

Meacham

Lake, to

whom

Iwroteandreceived the following very valuable contribution regarding their habits:

Meacham

Lake, N.Y.,

March

1.

Friend Mather:

Iwrite to-day becauseIcan write and

may

notbeable to write a

word

foraweek.

When

Isent

"my

thumbs"Icould notwrite,butIthought you would

know

wherethey

came

from. Ihopethepackage reached yousafelyandthatyou wereable to identify the fish. I diclnot find aslargeones asIhaveseen,but didget largeronesthan

we

generallysee inthe brooks. Ihave no doubttheycan befoundinnearly everypond andstreamin theAdirondacks:but theyare so veryinsignificant that nine outof ten personswouldnever notice them.

The

little light

brown

or spottedones look somethinglikeasculpin;

we

find

them

ingreat numbersin thislakeandinallthestreamsabouthere.

The

largerdark oneswithred

mane

andtail Ihave never seen inanyother water butthelittlebrookfromwhichItook thelot. Ihave seenthemthere at allseasonsof theyear. IwishIcould

sit

down

withyouforanhour or two and gooveryourre- port. Ifind severalthingswhichIthinkI"canhelpyouto describe better.

InMay, 1871, I met Louis Agassizathis

home

in

Cam-

bridgeand

we

talked fish for three hours.

He

asked

me

aboutthisfishwhichIcalled miller'sthumb; he hadnever seenitinAmerica, andhesaidno one

knew much

aboutits habits,

how

orwheretheyspawnedor

how

longit took the eggstohatch. Itold

him

Ihad seenthe eggsquite often, and

when

Igot

home

Itook several lots intothe hatching troughs and hatchedthem,and keptthelittlechaps about ten days.

They

digunderastoneandfastentheeggstothe underside inapilebottom side up, orlikeaconicalpile of shotturnedover,point

down

; the conesvaryfroma quarter toone inchindiameterat the base,and areabout thesame distancefrombaseto point. Iputsixorsevenof the cones intotheboxes,andkeptwatchof them. It wasfiftydays from the timeIput them in until I sawthefirst fish, and the little chaps kept their sackofgrubthree to fivedays;

they were about three-eighths of an inchlong.

The

eggs areaboutthe size ofNo.8 shot, thetemperatureof thewater was45to47. I

was

somewhatsurprised thatittooksolong fortheeggsofwarm-weatherspawnersto hatch.

You

can separatetheeggsfromthe stoneandtheywillstillkeep the formof thecone; the pileiswellstucktogether. Ionceput a large

thumb

intoa pail to take to the house,andalso caughtanewtliketheoneIputinthejar. Inafewminutes on lookinginthepail,Isawthethumb'hadthenewt bythe middle,and after along strugglethe newt went

down my

thumb,and

when

theheadcametothethumb'sgill,thenewt

slid out,andI sat

down

and laughed. I thoughtit about theneatestescapeI everheardof,andIexpectedtoseethe

thumb

tryitover,but he didnot. A, R.Fuller.

The

jarhas notyetbeen opened, butseemstocontainfifty or sixtyspecimensfromoneanda half to sixinchesin length.

Ithink it possible that there is butonespeciesinthejar, althoughthere are severalfoundinthenortheastern States.

Throughthe glass of the jarthey appeartoresemble XT, go- bioidesmorethan IT.gracilis. Concerningthebreedinghabits ofthis fishI

knew

nothing,andthinkthatMr.Fuller's ex- perimentisthefirstthathasbeen

made

inhatching them.

Fred Mather.

THE TROUT OF SUNAPEE LAKE

C ^CONCERNING

^the ^notice^of ^the^"suntrout," or charr,

) found in Sunapee Lake byMr.ElliotB.Hodge,Fish Commissionerof

New

Hampshire, which appeared in our editorial columns of Jan. 14 and

was

further

commented

upon by Mr. Samuel

Webber

in

Forest and Stream

of Feb.11,

we

are

now

enabled to lay beforeour readers the decisionregardingits species which has beenarrived atby Professor Baird andDr.Bean.

The

following correspond- ence,which

we

arepermittedtopublish,explainstnematter infull:

EditorForestandStream:

Isendyou withthisDr. Bean'slastreportontheSunapee Laketrout. Insome respects I

am

surprised at theconclu- sionshecomesto. Itseems strange to

me

thathefinds no

clifferencebetweenthese fishandthebluebacktrout ofMaine, as IbelieveIcanshow trout as

many

poundsinweightas he can show

me

a Maine blueback in inches in length.

Again, theMaine trout seek thestreamsforthe purposeof spawning;theSunapeetroutdonot,theyarelake spawners.

Idonotdoubtthattheybelongtothe Oquassatype,butthat theyare identicalwith the blueback trout of Maine I do.

I have not time to write you moreatpresent.

You

will pleasereturn

me

allthepapersatanearly date.

Yoursverytruly,

E. B.

Hodge.

E.B. Hodge,Esq.,Plymouth, N, JLi

Dear

Sir

—

I beg to inclose herewithafinalreportfrom Dr. Bean in regard to the troutfrom SunapeeLake,and would ^suggestyour having it published in

Forest and

Stream. Yourstruly,

Spencer

F.Baird.

Washington,Feb.17,1886.

Prof.Spencer F. Baird,Director U.S.National

Museum:

Sir—

1begleave to offer herewith a report upon some trout of Sunapee Lake,

New

Hampshire, which were re- ceivedfromMr.

E

B.Hodge, thefirst and largeston Nov.

3,1885. It isamale twenty-two inches long and weighed sixpounds. It is catalogue No.37,357, Threeadditional examplesarrivedon the 9th of January, 1886. These are catalogueNos. 37,408,9and10.

The

firsttwobeing females andthelastamale. The smaller of the females is about twelve incheslong,

Ifindthat these trout are identical with the blue-back trout ofOquassa,theRangeleys,and other _{lakes of}Maine.

The

samespecies Alsopecureintheto^nshioof Pepajonijes.

(2)

130 FOREST AND STREAM. ^(March

^11, ^1886-

ProvinceofQuebec,in alakejustbelowLacSac

A

^Comie,

whichissituatedabout seventy miles east,andabout forty miles northofMontreal.

A

specimen was caught in this lakebyMr.C.H. Simpsonearly inthe present

month

and wasbrought hereby Mr.E. O. Blackford on the 10thinst.

ItiscatalogueNo.37,670.

The

blue-backtroutisdescribed in recent ichthyological works underthe

name

ofSalmo,orSilwlinus, oquassa.

The

samespecies alsooccurs in Labrador and inGreenland,in which countries it reaches an immense size. Mr.L.M.

Turnersentfrom Labradoranumberofverylargeexamples,

much

largerthan any other specimens of Salvelinus to be foundinthemuseum.

One

ofthesespecimens (from Turner)

istwenty-sixand one-half inches long-,and,in its present condition,weighsseven pounds,after lying in alcohol two years.

The

oldestavailable

name

atpresent

known

to

me

forthis species is stagnalis, of Fabricius; and our species should stand as Salmlinus stagnalis. ,Ican find no difference of specificimportancebetweenMr.Dresel'sDisco Islandspeci- mens, Mr. Turner'sLabrador examples, Mr.Hodge'sSuna- peeLake blue-backs,Mr. Simpson's Quebec specimensand theoquassaofMaine.

Among

thecharacterswhich1taketobeof specificvalue arethefollowing

:

Proportionsof the various parts of thebody, lengthand

number

ofdevelopedfinrays,sizeand

number

of thescales, shapeof thecaudal fin,

number

andsizeof thegill-rakers, shape of the gill-covers,characterof the dentition of the hyoidbone,.sizeofthe eggs,numberof thepyloric ccecaand generalfeatures of coloration. Ifind forexamplethatnone ofthe charrs, inwhichthe hyoidsare speciallydeveloped, havemottled fins,such asarealways observed inthecom-

mon

brooktrout,iS.fontinalis.

Itis highlydesirable toobtain from Mr.

Hodge

afullac countof thefeedingand breeding habits of this blue-back trout ofSunapeeLake.

Our

knowledge on tlxissubjectis

verylimited. Itishighlydesirable alsotosecureadditional specimensofthe blue-backfromMaine,and theseshould be as large as possible. Thereisnot

now

in the

Museum

a singleindividual fromMaine that willreach twelve inches in length. Veryrespectfully yours, T.H.Bean,

Curator,Dept.of Fisheries.

Ithas formerly been supposed that therangeofthe blue- backtroutwasconfined in theUnitedStates toafewlakes iuMaine,andthatitwasa fishof very smallsize. Itwill be seenfrom the above correspondencethat its habitat is

not as restricted ashas been thought,and that itssizeis sufficientto

command

ittothe notice of anglers. Mr.

Hodge

says, 'hecanfurnishevenlargerspecimens than thosewhich hesent toProfessor Baird.

When we

sawthe smallspeci-

men

from Oanda,atMr.Blackford's inPulton Market,

we

.said, "if the fish had come from Maine

we

should thinkit

could be nothing else buta blue-backtrout." Itsgraceful shape,forkedtail,absenceofmottlingonfinsweresufficient to

show

that it was neither our native brooktroutnor a salmon; yet its colorationdid not seemtobesodecided a blueasspecimens

we

have seenfromMaine.

BLACK BASS

vs.

PICKEREL.

PICKEREL

^fishing ^through ^the ^ice ^on

^New

^England

waters has been onlyfairlygoodthisseason—notup towhatit

was

a year ago, andfar behind several seasons ago.

Not

nearlyas

many

pickerelhavereachedtheBoston marketthisyear as usual,for the reason, the dealers say, thatthey have not been taken.

From

a

number

of well-

known

lakesand pondsinMaine comesthereport that pickerel are scarce. Curiouslyenoughthesereportscome from waterswhich have been stocked with black bass,or into whichwatersthebasshavedrifted.

Tho

Cobosseecontee waters, Maranocook Lake, and the

.otherponds inWinthrop and^Readfield,Me., arenotyield- ingthe usualquantityof pickerel; allthesewatershave been stocked with black bass. The samesituationistrue of the Sebagowaters,

A

gentlemanof excellent judgment,reared intheclose vicinity oftheSebagolakesand ponds,believes thattheblackbassinthosewatersarefastthinning out the pickerel.

The

gentleman is an enthusiast with the rod, spendingallthetimehe can spareonthetroutwaters,but he issick ofthe blackbass.

He

believesthe pickerel tobe far aheadof the bass, andregrets exceedinglythatthe bassis fastbecomingthekingof theSebagowaters.

The

increase ofthe black bassinhis sectionissomething wonderful; but the pickerel are disappearing.

The

bass,fromone or two pondsstocked,havecrept intoallthewaters near,and itis

evidentfromtheir multiplication thattheyhave

come

to stay, andwiththedeterminationofexterminating otherfish.

"The

black bassfurnishesgoodsportwith the rod?"

"Oh,yes."

Butalittleofit has satisfied all the sportsmen near the watersin Mainebeststocked with them. Loversof therod

who

dwellonthebanksof the Sebago waters or the Win- throp ponds,drive thirty or fortymilesto troutstreamsand ponds.

They

taketheir annual trips to the Androscoggin Lakes. Buttheydo not "tackleup^J^'andfish for theblack basswhichareoftenwithinlessthanamile of their doors.

The

mostofthem havetriedthebassfishing; afew catches vas enough. Says one gentleman: "I caught a savage, agly-lookingfish,buthisungainlycarcass was destitute of allike lines ofbeautywhich gowith the fresh-caughttrout orsalmon.

A

^pickerel^is^king^toa bass in the

way

of looks.

Then when

Ihadcaught

my

row of ugly,black gudgeons, whatwasI todo with them?

They

are no good as afish to eat.

We

^left^{our catch} ôf ^bass ^to ^rot,ând Î ^{learn that}

every other sportsman,

who

hastriedthemcooked, does the same."

Who

hasever seen ablackbass inmarket? Perhapsafew mightfind their

way

there,but a veryfewwouldblock the

way

ever afterward. Notsothepickerel;heisagoodmar- ketfish. Thousandsofpoundsfind their

way

into theBos- ton markets every year. It is too bad to take so

much

poetry outofwhathas been written concerning the black bass as a

game

fish,butto eat hiswarty,

wormy

hide istoo much.

The

fact that heisofnoearthlyuse

when

caught, helps to kill the glamour of catching. In someof our inland,

muddy

watersthe bass

may

do, buttothesportsman

who

can reach theclear,sparkling trout waters,heisofno account.

The

peopleuponthe bass watersof Mainewillprobably asktheirnext Legislaturetodo no moreprotecting of black bass,andpossibly to

make

some lawagainst his further en- croachments. In several sections of that State thepeople wishedtheblack bass in theirwaters, but they

now

more heartilywish

him

out and even the pickerelbackagain.

The

white perchisa far betterfish,andhe mighthave been

propagated in

many

of the ponds

now

givenuptoblack bass. Butbothwhiteandbrindledperchare fastdisappear- ingfromwaterswhere the blackbass reigns. Thereare a plentyof Maine sportsmen

who

seriouslyblamethe prime moversinintroducing blackbass,because they did not look morethoroughlyintothe habitsandvalueof thosefishbefore puttingtheminto waters wheretherewas any hopeofeven

pickerel. Maine.

The Same Old Story.—One

of the chief attractionsof Lake Hopatcong as a

summer

resort isbeing rapidly de- stroyedbythewastefromtheForcite

Powder Works

being allowedtorunintothe lake.

A

partyfromthis town went on

Wednesday

tothebeautifulinlandseafora day's fishing throughtheice,andafter fishing for severalhoursandnot catching anything, they

moved

onupthe pond to aplace where_a_partyofmen,

who

residealongthe borders of this sheet, were fishing, and found empty creels there also.

Upon

inquiryastotheprobable cause of thefishnotbiting, oneofthenativesvolunteeredtoshowourtownsmau where thetroublelay,andgoingtowherethe icewasclearhetold

him

tolook throughandin doingsoinnumerabledeadfish

wereseenfloating

away

undertheice.

The

gentlemanfur- ther said thatifa live baitweresunk

down

towithin a foot ofthebottomof the lake, itwould die in aminute,andhe believed that the mortality wascaused bythe dischargeof thewasteacids into the lakeby the powder company. In walkingamile ourinformant counted over a thousanddead

fishofallvarieties. The matter should be looked afterby theproperauthorities, and sportsmen

who

are interested in preservingthe lake as a fishing resortshould

make

aneffort tolet the authorities

know

that clanger of its entire ruin exists. Ifthefishingisruined,the popularityofLakeHopat- congasa

summer

resort will be short-lived.

—

Hacicettstown Gazette.

A Nuisance

at HofatCOng.

—

Morristown, N. J.,

March ^6.

—

Editor Forest and Stream: Lake Hopatcong, lyingin thehillsofNorthern

New

Jersey,issufferingfrom the poisonous refuse ofapowder factorywhichisdrained intothe lake. The lake has beena favorite resort forang

lers for some years past andtheblackbasshave beenin- creasing in its waters since they were plantedtheresome ten years ago. This winter thousands ofdead fishhave been seen through the ice, lyingonthebottomofthelake andthe nativesaboutthe shoresclaimthatthey werekilled bytheacidsor other material discharges fromthepowder works. Cannotsomething bedonetostopthis?—^G-. B.

The

New'

York Trout Law. — ^As

^the ^law

^now

^stands,

all fishing through the icefor brooktroutisforbiddenat

anytime. Trout

may

be taken inthecounties ofQueens and Suffolk from April 1toSept. 1, but in the rest of the State the lawful season is from

May

^I to Sept. 1.

We

^learn ^that Senator Traphagen has introduced a bill

which

provides that trout legallytakenon LongIsland, in the counties mentioned, may"beheld,but notsoldinother counties. This will permit anglers

who

fishontheisland tobringtheirfishto theirhomesin

New York

orBrooklyn, and will remedy one of the errorswhich

we

have pointed out.

We

think'however,thatabill whichopenedthe season southof one ofthelinesmentionedinoureditoriallast week, on April 1, would bemoresatisfactoryallaround, as

many

anglers wish to fish in other waters near the citybesidesthose of

Long

Island. Itwasmanifestly unjust toallow fishingon

Long

Islandandthen forbidthe angler,

who

in nine cases out of tencame fromthecity, tobring histrout to his

own

^table.

More

MtjskratFishing.

—

^Manistee,Mich,

March

1.

—

In your issue of Feb. 25 I read withinterestMr. Dyer's accountofcatchingamuskrat throughthe iceona pickerel hook. Inthewinterof 1860,whilefishingon CharlesRiver, near West Newton,Mass., withafriend,

we

had almostthe same experience. Running to one of the lineswhich

wa

down, I pulledoutadead and limpmuskratsecurelyhooked

inthe side of the head near the mouth.

As

the baitwas missing,

we

atonceconcluded that, while trying tosecure theshiner orminnow,themuskrat had hookedhimself and immediatelydrowned. Itis singular that theone Mr. D.

speaksofwasalive

when

takenout, for

when

fastorcaught under the icethej'soon lose their breathandaredrowned.

Soitisprobablethattheone herefers tohadbutjustbeen hooked. Itisevidentthatmuskrats sometimesfeedonfish.

Ihave caught them in traps setfor

mink

andbaited with fish.

—

^E.^H.^B.

St.Lawtjence

River

Fishing.

— The

UticaAssociati >n fortheProtectionofFishand

Game

^and theAnglers'Asso- ciation of theSt.Lawrence Riverhaveadopted the follow- ingresolution: "Resolved, Thatthese associationsapprove theextensionof the close season for bassand muskalonge from

May

15 toJune 15,as recently

made

bythe depart- mentofmarineandfisheries atOttawa, andheartilyrecom-

mend

thatthe close seasonin the State of

New

York,and particularlyin theSt.Lawrence Riverand Lake Ontario, be extendedtothesamedate,asthe bestmeans for protect- ingthefishwhileonthe spawning beds."—

Portsa

(Utica, March6,1886).

*

•

The

Bass

and Mescalonge

Seasonin theSt. Lawrence, Clyde,Stnecaand

Oswego

rivers,isfrom

May

20 toJan. 1.

Inotherwords noblackbassnormuscalonge can be caught Inthoserivers, orhadin possession, orsold,only from

May

20toJan.1, underapenaltyofS10foreachfishso killedor hadinpossession. Thisopenseasonisgenerallyunderstood, andacceptedandrespected,and it is thatthere

may

beno mistake about the time that I sendyou this note,writes

"OldSport"totheSyracuse Journal.

The

Sussex Angler's

Club

has just been organized andhas purchased Grant Lake, on

Pochuck

Mountain, near Deckertown, N.J. The lake covers fiftyacres,and is so liberally supplied with bass thatit willnotneedstocking.

The

officers are: Cyrus C. Force,of Brooklyn, President;

Schuyler B. Jackson,ofNewark, Vice-President;

Howard

Littell, ofDeckertown,Treasurer, and Theodore8.Morrell, ofNewark,Secretary.

The

preserve cost $5,000.

Large Trout from the Yellowstone. — We

havea paper patternofafivepound trout caught in the Yellow- stone on Feb. 24 by Mr.Poole,andwhichis said to be thelargestoneyetcaughtthere.

The

pattern iswitnessed by^CharlesH, StuartandElwood^Hofer.

Herring

in

the

Air.

— ^A

correspondentofNaturegives some instances ofherring jumpingoutof thewater

when

frightened.

He

^{says that} he has observedwholeshoals of thisfish,in theiranxietytoescape

when

pursuedbywhales, piled up above the surface ofthe sea to aheightoffrom three to six feet.

On

one occasionthefishformeda mass even with the topofthemastofafishing boat,viz.,about fifteen feet, and hadpart ofthismassfallenintotheboatit

woulddoubtlesshave sunk.

jjHislfcultnre.

Addressall communicationstothe Forestand Stream Publish.- ngCo.

FISH CULTURE AT BLOOMING GROVE PARK.

Editor ForestandStream:

TheBloomingGroveParkAssociation

now

havea hatchery in theirextensivegroundsinPike county,Pa. Theselection ofthesitewasdetermined some twoyearsago through the enterprise of Dr.SpencerM.Nash andothers,

who

obtained the services of Mr.Fred Mather to examine the different springsand streams, and alsoto plan the hatchery. This winter it isinfull operation. Mr.Hardy,oneof the direct- ors,has presented theclubwith over a thousand eggsofthe browntrout,obtainedinEngland,and whicharrived ingood orderandare

now

on thetrays, Thenativespawnersdidnot yield

many

brooktrout eggs;itseemedtobe anoffyearwith them,andbutafewthousandwereobtained.

Prom

theTJ.S.

FishCommissionthe club received 15,000brook trout eggs, and50,000eggsand25,000 fryhavebeenpurchasedfromJas.

Aunin, Jr., Caledonia, N.Y. Alltheeggsarelookingwell, thewateriscoldandthedevelopment goes onslowly,which

isunderstoodtobebest fortheyoungfish.

White

Miller.

Brooklyn,March3.

LAND-LOCKED SALMON

IN

NEW YORK.

AS

^ourreaders areawaretheland-lockedsalmonofMaine hasbeensuccessfullyacclimatedinthat portion ofthe Adirondackswhichhas been cared tor

by

theBisbyClub, so faras tolivethereandtobeoccasionally captured.

We now

haveanaccountof theirspawning there from thepresident ofthe club.Gen.R.U.Sherman,

who

isalsooneof theState Commissioners of Fisheries,who,in a letterdatedMarch3,

among

someotherthings, writes:

"A

Woodhull andBisbyguide,JohnStell,washereyester- day andsaysthatbe tookat Woodhull

dam

last fallamale land-lockedsalmonwhichtipped thescalesattenpounds. The.

land-lockedsalmongatheredonthe sloping wall ofthe

dam

last falltospawn. Thiswallislaidac an angleof forty-five degrees,without mortar. Thereareopen spacesbetweenthe stonesandIsupposethefishsoughttodeposit then"spawnin these spaceswheretheywould besecurefrom depredations.

Mr.Scelltookalso severalfemalefish which hestrippedand impregnatedtheirspawnanddepositediton a gravelly bot-

tom

inthe stream belowthedam,returningtheparentfishto thewaterinthe lake. Thefishwere in plain sightfromthe surfaceand weretakenbylowering ahook to their mouths, baitedwith aworm. Thefish took the hoot, apparentlyto keep the bedclearratherthanas food. Thelargesalmonwas probablyfromtheoriginalplant

made

in 1879. Therehave beentwoplants

made

since that time,one in 1882 of10,000

fromthehatcheryatCold Spring Harbor,and10,000 in1883 hatchedatthe Bisby Club hatchery from spawnfumished fromCold Spring Harbor. This large fish is probably the largestland-iockedsalmon ever takeninthisState."

SHORT LOBSTERS.

SOME

^persons

^may

^think^that^ashort lobsterisasgoodasa longone,buteverybodywillagreethat, inthatpointof size,thelonglobsterisahead.

Now

this^isjustwherethelaw steps in. Ithas been fora long time understood that the lobster fisheryonthe

New

England andprovincial coastswas dyingout, orthatthenoblecrustaceansarebecoming extinct fromconstantandunremittingfishing. Inorderto givethe lobstertime to grow, and prevent the takingof a three- quarter pounder

when

eachyear'sgrowth would adddouble to his weight, the Legislatures ofMaineand Massachusetts have enactedstatutes,with penalities attached, makingita punishableoffense to catchor sell, orhave inpossession, a lobsterunder10>.<inches in length. Thislawhasnever been verycheerfullyobeyed

m

either of these States. Only ashort time agoDeputy FishCommissioner F.R.Shattuckof Bos- ton,

who

has "worked diligently, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Fishand^Game Protective Association, forthe protection of the lobster,becamesatisfied that short lobs- terswerebeing shipped fromPortland, Me., tothismarket, andbeingsold"on the sly."

He

also became satisfiedthat one or twoparties,atleast,theowners ofsmacks, werein the practice of sailing

down among

the islands on Portland harbor,buying theshort lobsters offthefishermen, putting theminto barrels on the

way

back, andshippingthemto Bostonand

New York

under coverof night. Commissioner E.M.StilwellofMaine

was

enlisted,andhe tookhold ofthe matter with his usualearnestness.

He

put B.W;Counce, commissionerofseaandshorefisheries,ofTbomaston, on the track. One

Warden

Johnsonalsocame toBoston, ostensibly withthe intention of puttingDeputy Shattuck and hisde- tectivesonthewatchtor certain vessels expectedwithshort lobsters. One schooner arrived tho other day, and was searched by Mr. Shattuck and his detectives,but noshort lobster's'were found. Another suspected vessel put into Portland, evidentlywarnedthat Boston

was

getting tobe a poorplace for shortlobsters. Butthefightatboth the Boston andtne Portland ends has been keptupwith verysatisfactory results. Commissioner Counce, with oneof his deputies, oh Thursdayseizedalotof short lobstersfrom one WilliamTre- fethern, forsometimesuspected,and later inthe day

made

another haulfromthe schooner Monterey. Butthe best

move

o£allwas

made

vesterday,

when

the commissionersseized in all3,000 shortlobsters, and later in theday about S200was paid overbythe dealers infines. Joseph A.BrewerofChe- beagueIsland,schooner Horizon, has been caughtwithshort lobsters,andfined§59andcosts. In Maine, thefinefortaking orhavingin possessionanylobsterunder10J^ inches inlength from headtotailextended,exclusive ofclawsandfeelers, is SI. In Massachusettsthefineis?5. TheMassachusetts law

.

reads: "Whoeversells oroffersfor sale,or has in hispos- session,alobster lessthan 10J£ inches in length, measuring fromoneextremeofthe bodyextendedtotheother, exclusive of clawsorfeelers,shall forfeitS5 forevery suchlobster:

andin all prosecutions under this sectionthepossession of anylobsternotofthe required ^length ^shall be primafacie evidencetoconvict

"—

Actsof1S84,chap.212, sec.1.

Tothe lobster trade it

may

be statedthat Commissioner Shattuckisdeterminedto seethislawenforced,and he has abledetectivesonthealert. Also,it

may

beaddedthat the.

earnestfishcommissioners andwardensofMainearerender- ingable assistancebypreventing the shippingof shortlobsters to this market, as the results mentioned above will show.—Boston Herald,

Portlanp,Me.,March^3. WilliamS.Trefethen

was

before thecourtthismorningcharged with havingin his possession 1858 lobsters ^lessthan

K%

^inches in length.

He

wasfound guiltyand wasfined$1,308andcosts.