Autkor ^•'^O/^ o o o i<9 Title "^ **s .El loiprint Profitable Outdoor Pursuits YOUR RAW FURS will ultimately be sold in NEW YORK the largest and most important fur market in the world. It stands to reason, therefore, that you can realize MORE MONEY by shipping to New York direct. And WE solicit your shipments on a 34-year record of straightforward, satisfactory deal- ings, with the guarantee that you may depend upon us always for TOP MARKET VALUES MOST LIBERAL ASSORTMENT PROMPT RETURNS BECKER BROS. & CO. "The Best Organized Far House in America** CHICAGO NEW YORK NEWORLEm 416-420 N. Dearborn Si. 129 W. 29ih Si. 200 Decaiur Si. profitable "outdoor pursuits Published by THE PELTRIES PUBLISHING CO., INC. 370 Seventh Avenue, New York ^^ a^ CONTENTS Page Ginseng — The Lure of The Woods 3 How TO Hunt Wild Bees lo Frog Hunting Methods 23 Gathering and Selling Decorative^ Evergreens 28 Shooting Woodchuck for Bounty 34 Knitting Fish Nets 41 Pearl Hunting 50 Fishing Through the Ice 57 Mink Farming in Maine 66 The Bait Fishing Problem 73 Copyright 1922 by THE PELTRIES PUBLISHING CO., INC. ."?>' /./ 1922 OOPYRiaHT OfFIOI RAY 25 mZ T GINSENG-THE LURE OF THE WOODS By Harley Sims O some extent all men love the woods and waters. Com- ing from all walks of life, the professional man, the business man, the laborer and the loafer, the rich and the poor, those of high and low estate, all classes gravitate towards a common center, the outdoors. And the enchanting spirit of the Open Places acts as a leaven upon the souls of men, breaking down the castes and leveling the classes that are ever building up amid the busy hives of industry, where men struggle through long, weary days to accumulate wealth or acquire position, that they might be above or masters of other men's lives. Not so among the Fraternal Order of the Open. Here all men, if they be men, are equal. The man of millions sojourning far back in the way places feels no superiority over his lowly guide; doctor, lawyer, governor, president, all meet in a common bond of fellowship around the glowing campfire. Some there are who journey into far places, finding their eldorado of enjoyment at the end of a thousand-mile trail, hunting, fishing, exploring, or one of the thousand and one things that lure men into far places. Others must find their pleasures nearer home; there is one, or a class, who takes a camera and through its manipulations get from it a world of enjoyment; another, who is a devotee of the rod and reel, whips the lakes and streams early and late, having naught else but pity for the one who finds no pleasure in wading waist deep in cold waters, falling on slippery stones, fighting murderous mosquitoes or sweltering under a summer's noon- day sun, all for the moment when he feels the thrill of a strike. Others scurry hither and yon in autos and motorboats, a few try the thrill of an airplane;' some play golf, tennis, and even seven-up; some just camp, others shoot, and a few take to the woods; and finally I have come to that class in which, for the time being, I will be found. 4 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS There is no activity connected with the outdoors out of which I cannot get some enjoyment; but give me a nice clear day in the month of August, after the temperature has been lowered by a good shower, then set me forth on an expedition after roots into the cool shadows of the deep woods, then I am supremely happy. All hunters of roots look principally for ginseng, that mys- terious and elusive plant that has been the mainstay of the mountaineers of the Appalachians for generations. Second only to it comes golden seal, or yellow root, as we knew it back in boyhood days, 30 years ago, when we searched it out far and wide over the hills of Southern Ohio for the munifi- cent sum of 15 cents a pound. Wild ginger at the present day brings a better price, and several other of the more com- mon roots are worth nearly as much. In the early days of my career as a ''rooter," we always carried a flour sack as a receptacle for all roots, sorting them out on our arrival home; but even then the capacity of the sack would not be sufficient for all we found, oftimes being compelled to walk off and leave patches of golden seal as large as an ordinary garden. At the value to-day, increased 16 times, it would mean quick and easy money; but those large patches are gone, and to-day one does well to ferret out individual stalks in obscure and out-of-the-way places, v.here they have escaped the keen eye of the professional 'senger. If one succeeds in finding a pocketful a day now on an aver- age, it means a fair day's wages. As mentioned before, I began digging 'seng more than 30 years ago, and have spent at least some days in the woods each summer since then. After three years of factory labor I came out with a well developed case of tuberculosis; it was up to me to stay in the open, which I did, spending the best part of three years during the summer in the woods, ranging them near and far, and at the end of that period, by the means of the X-ray, I was pronounced a man of good lungs (arrested tuberculosis). I might also add I was a man of good legs. Practice soon put me in order so that I could make a 20-mile trip on a hot PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 5 summer day and come in as fresh as a daisy, especially if I was lucky enough to find a good supply of roots. If I knew of a good woods, or could hear of a good extent of woodland, I always managed to get to it by some means, either by walking, buggy, wagon, auto, train, trolley or boat; and sometimes, in exploring new territory, I would make a complete failure; other times I would make a fine haul run- ning up to $12 a day, which was considered good money for those davs. b I^^^^^EiP> "^ 1^ I i \ 1 H^HFi^^H^''^ i An Old Resident in tlie Deep Woods. This is a Ginseng Plant and Root. 6 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS On one occasion I recall a partner and I were looking over some new country. We left the highway to enter a small patch of timber that stood along a deep ravine; we kept fol- lowing down it digging an occasional stalk here and there, until we came to the lower end, where just over the fence was a thicKet on level ground; the prospect did not look very inviting, but we decided to go through it nevertheless. We had not more than started until we were digging 'seng hand over fist. Inside of a half hour we had dug between four and live pounds, and then a man came down along the edge of the thicket with a post digger over his shoulder and it looked like our move. We did move in a hurry, running up along the steep sides of the ravine, stopping to keep out of his view. We soon made the head of the hollow, following a draw up across a stubble field until we came out on the road again somewhat winded, but congratulating each other on qur ex- cellent haul. Pard says, "What time it is?" I felt for my watch, which I was in the habit of carrying in my overall bib-pocket with no chain; it was gold, a good one, and it was gone! I sneaked back along the trail we fol- lowed coming out, carefully scanning every inch of the ground as I passed along; at the thicket I crawled under the fence and up to within five rods of the man setting posts, and pro- ceeded to claw up the ground we had dug over where 'seng stood the thickest. My efforts were all in vain, exceptmg that I cleaned out about another half pound of roots that we over- looked in our haste before; then I crawfished out without be- ing detected, and went back to where my partner was, without the watch. Queer things happen oftimes to one while in the woods. Brother and I were looking over a small woods one day. He had stopped for a moment by an old stump; something struck him on the leg. Thinking it was just a stick flew up, he did not even look down until it hit him again, then glancing down he saw he was standing on a blacksnake which had bit on the calf of the leg. I always had a habit of getting high up on stumps, old fences, logs or any elevation I could find in the woods to look PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 7 over the ground; in this manner one can, by looking directly down on 'seng or seal, see it for several rods if he has a well trained eye. One day 1 mounted a fallen tree that had caught and held at a sharp angle. I had got about eight feet off the ground when I stepped square on a big blacksnake that reared up almost in my face. We both started for the earth at the same time; I never could prove who reached the ground first. This is the Type of Thicket Where Valuable Medicinal Plants May Be Found 8 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS I kicked my way through a big may-apple patch, digging some old he-stalks of 'seng that were rather hidden away. Pard, following behind, also inspected it, getting a few roots I had overlooked. I heard him mutter, "This is a good place for snakes." Shortly I heard an exclamation and the thud of his snake club. He said, "Hey! come back here and see this snake." Well, I went back and what I saw was a copperhead ^bout three feet long. Then at another time a rattlesnake put us out of the woods; we don't poke around in timber with a live rattler at large, not if we know it. I one day backed unawares into a low hung hornet's nest that was swinging on a small bush. The inmates resented such procedure, for I was suddenly moved out of my tracks about six feet, which point was the termination of a standing jump. An attack on the most accessible portions of my anatomy had started me in precipitate flight. I soon' halted, however, and found on hasty examination that two degenerate members of the colony had plugged me with their painful points. I felt peeved at such an uncalled for onslaught, so I hunted up a big stone and rolled it, boy fashion, through their domicile. Then I left. I had just located a nice three-prong stalk of 'seng near the roots of a small snag. As I dropped down on my knees I heard the buzz of a bee; I glanced up in time to see a bumble bee crawHng in a hole in the snag. With the instinct to start something, I hauled ofif and gave the old shell a terrific kick. Out poured the bees in a black stream, all so fighting mad I didn't have time to salvage my 'seng; I left in a hurry. The. next summer I was in the same woods, so I went back to the spot to see if that same stalk was still there. It was, a four-pronger this time. I dug it, then I hauled ofif and kicked that snag again. It is no lazy man's job making wages looking for roots. It means steady going all the time, and often one suffers for water. Many a time I have swung off a regular route to make a detour of several miles to a certain water hole I knew of. Eats were not so bad; one could carry enough for the dav. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 9 We always made it a point to inspect every out-of-the-way place we came across; small thickets were often prolific sources of good hauls. I remember two small ones not over an acre in extent; out of one w& took about six pounds of 'seng, and out of the other about $25 worth of both 'seng and seal. Others had passed up these thickets, for in them we found roots of 'seng with 35 scars on their necks. On one trip I had been out all day, having no success what- ever, A low evening sun found me plodding toward home pretty much discouraged; I was walking down along an old rail fence that was overgrown with bushes, it divided two pasture fields. As I stumped gloomily along, the flick of a chipmunk's tail caught my eye, and as I glanced down into the fence corner I stopped with mouth agape — my stars! what I saw made my mouth water. It was a solid carpet of wide green leaves out of which here and there stuck up a bulb of red berries. It was as fine a patch of golden seal as I ever found, and there were no woods within a half mile. I dove into that patch in frantic haste and ere darkness got me I had several fence corners cleaned out, some of the bushes grubbed and part of the fence moved, and was swinging along toward home in high spirits, for I carried more than a week's wages, at daily labor rates, in the bag slung over my shoulder. Rooting is a job of chance, but if one is persistent and stays right by it he can make wages if he occasionally strikes virgin territory. Through one summer I averaged 27 cents an hour up to September i. That month I averaged 52 cents an hour; good enough in pre-war days; then I took my roll of seeds, drummed up my partner and we headed into the Southland — Central Florida — for a spell, to the tune of — . We'll turn our boat and drift Down under Southern skies; Where the birds are singing ever And the green grass never cies. HOW TO HUNT WILD BEES By Old Timer BEE hunting is great sport and there is also a practical side to the work — often a tree is found which will yield 75 to 100 pounds of honey, which, if carefully taken from the tree and strained, can be sold at a good profit to the bee hunter. There are many ways of hunting bees, which have been developed by various hunters in different parts of the country. All will give good results if followed properly and attention given carefully to details. Bees can be hunted during the spring, summer and fall months, until the weather gets too cold for them to fly. . Among the various methods which can be used to advantage we might mention lining from "bait." This method is good in the spring and fall, although it can be used at all times. But in the spring the flowers are not yet in bloom and in the fall many flowers have been killed by the frost, so that there is less honey to be had than in mid-summer. This method is as follows: Get a box with sliding cover, such as an ordinary chalk box, and put a few pieces of comb honey in it, also a drop of bee scent, made by mixing a few drops of oil of rhodium with some oil of anise. A little of this scent is put in the ibox to attract the bees, as it is very pleasing to them. This "bee box" holds your supply of honey comb and is very useful when starting a new line. A bottle of strained honey is also useful to have on hand. The method of using this bee box and hunting with bait is described in the following experience of the writer's: While hunting bees in a Western State, we came to a large, cleared field, filled with clumps of golden rod, which were alive with bees. A short distance away there v.^as a forest of tall oak and chestnut trees. We stopped near a large tree stump, tied our horse to the fence, for we were using a wagon to carry our camp equipment and my partner got out the bee box, put a piece of comb on a stump and poured a little > f^ ^^^ "it «^ '^-^. i' r r^.:, ^ « i;;r r>^.* :r- © . ;ii..l-.- ■: ",i ' ^'t 12 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS strained honey on the comb. A 'bee was soon caught on a golden rod stalk, a glass tumbler being used for the pur- pose, with the cover of the bee box as the bottom, and when the bee was near the top of the tumbler, as it was held inverted, the tumbler was quickly placed over the piece of honey comb and covered with a hat. In a few mom.ents the bee found the honey and began filling, which was indicated by the sudden stoppage of the buzzing under the tumbler. The tumbler was now removed and when the bee had filled, it started for the tree. There was plenty of open space between the stump on which the honey comb was placed and the woods to which the bee flew, distant about 150 yards. As the bee left the stump and circled around we could watch it easily, and when it flew for the tree we got the ''line" without trouble. A second bee was now caught and the operation repeated. Pard said, "I guess that bee tree is only a little ways in the woods; let's see if we can find it." We went straight to the place where the bees had headed and after climbing through a barb wire fence, entered the woods. Straight ahead of us were several "likely" looking trees and my partner said, "You look at those trees over there to the right, while I look at these to the left of us/' The writer did so and upon looking up at one of the trees saw a steady line of bees leaving and entering a knot hole in the trunk of the tree, about 50 feet from the ground. Pard was summoned to look at the tree and he was greatly aston- ished to find that it really was the bee tree, it had been found so quickly; for this kind of good luck does not come very often. The tree was duly marked with the initials of the finders; but as we did not cut the tree, cannot say how much honey it contained. We journeyed on to our camp, and put up for the night in a log cabin in a section where bees were very plentiful on account of the quantities of golden rod to be found in the vicinity. The next morning we were awake at daylight; things did not look any too promising, as the sky was clouded over. Breakfast was cooked and shortly after a shower came up, which made the prospects for bee hunting look gloomy. But PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 13 by 9 o'clock the rain stopped, the sun came out and the world looked brighter to us. As soon as it cleared we gathered up the bee box, two tumblers, a pint jar of honey and a five- foot stake, on which had been nailed a small board so as to form a little table. With these in hand we went down the west side of the blufif to a meadow dotted here and there with clumps of trees, but open enough to permit good "lining." ^:C:.' ^-:>^.,c-tt ^Sj^- ,..?';^^^K^t: : m R|H : "'■& "^^^^hIHI d A Bee Tree, Entrance at Spot Marked X. Swarm Located From Water. ^.W *'■■■■■■ •■- Sm ,$ t ■■ ^kx% -ir :...; k :-.'^ , :' Vv 7 .■m^ ^■M-^ft^ ■■:'"-^'^:.: ':%fk ■■■ *t*r %^3^^ ■■:#'■>- -^^^ ^ 0^^,'- f*: :l»if:®^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ■: ■ . ' ■ PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 15 The table was set up by thrusting the end of the stake in the ground and a piece of honey comb about the size of a silver dollar was placed on the table, some honey poured in the comb and we were ready for our first bee. The field was dotted with patches of golden rod, on which the bees were working industriously, and it was a simple matter to take a tumbler and the cover of the bee box and scoop a bee off the golden rod into the tumbler. The tumbler was placed over the honey comb and the same method followed as pre- viously described. The operation of catching and starting bees from the table was repeated several times; then the first bee began to return for more honey and soon we had a good line working, for the bees we had caught brought others back with them to enjoy the unexpected find. Now by sitting on the ground near the table and watching the bees as they left for the tree, their line of flight was easily discovered and we started through the woods on a search for the tree. Every likely-looking tree on the line for perhaps 100 rods was examined carefully; but no bee tree was found. After a careful search had failed to reveal the bee tree, it was decided to "cross line." This is where the bee box, with its sliding cover comes in, for without it it would be impossible to carry the bees from one place to another. Accordingly the bee box was placed on the table, some honey poured on the comb inside, the cover slid partly in place and ready to be closed at the right moment. In a few minutes about 30 bees had collected in the bee box and then the cover was quickly closed. The table, tumblers and the bee box were now carried about 40 rods to the right of the line. A clear, high space was selected, overlooking the forest below, the table set up and after the bee box had been placed upon it, the cover was removed and one after another the bees took wing for their tree. On account of removing the bees from their accustomed line of flight it was useless to watch them on their first trip from the newly located box, so after tying a bunch of leaves under the table, on which some bee scent had been dropped, so as to aid the bees in finding the box on their return, we filled our pipes and sat down to wait until the bees had established a new line. i6 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS Before many minutes had passed a bee was discovered on the box and in a short time a strong line was again working. As soon as the line was gotten with certainty, we left the bee box and walked down the blufif, keeping to the line as near as possible and watching out for the place where the first line should intersect the second one. The line was soon found and inside of five minutes from the time we left the bee A Switch Elm Bee Tree, Bees Went in at X Mark. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 17 'box we found the tree. It was a medium-sized basswood. The swarm appeared to be a strong one and it was decided to return to camp, get the necessary outfit and cut the tree at once. Accordingly we returned to camp for the ax, honey can and bee veils. We arrived in camp at noontime, so we spent an hour in camp and ate our noonday meal. After dinner we started for the bee tree, ready for a lively fight with the bees. When we reached the tree we got busy with the ax and soon had the tree down, for it was hollow from the butt to the point, where the bees had their honey. As the tree crashed to the ground, we retreated to a safe point some distance from the tree to wait for the bees to quiet down a little. Pard now donned a bee veil made of mosquito netting, put on a pair of canvas gloves and taking the honey pail and the ax, started for the tree to cut out the honey. As soon as the bees saw him they came at him in a cloud and in a moment he was covered with the angry insects, which but for the pro- tection of the veil and his clothing might easily have stung him to death. As the bees proved very troublesome we made a smudge of rags and stuffed it into the cavity where the bees were. This smoke quieted them a little and then we cut the tree open. When the honey had been exposed it was scooped out of the cavity with a big iron spoon and placed in the honey pail. The yield from this tree was small and even had the bees not been disturbed it is unlikely that they would have survived the winter, for it takes a good bit of honey to feed a large swarm of bees all through the winter months. We now gathered up our tools and the lantern and started for a tree that we had found lying in the bottom of a ravine. This tree appeared to contain a strong swarm of bees and they were treated to a dose of smoke and then the saw was brought into play and three cuts made in the side of the tree trunk, one on each side of the opening and one near the open- ing itself. The outside shell of the tree was easily removed with the ax, exposing the honey to view. This swarm had i8 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS not succeeded in storing up much more honey than the first one, so we added little to our plunder. The experiences related above might make it appear to some readers of this book that bee hunting is very easy; but the following experience will show that this is not the case. One day, when bee hunting with the bee box and bait, A Broken Topped Ash Within a Stone's Throw of the Water, W^here a Good S-warm Was Found. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 19 we discovered that bees from two swarms were working in our vicinity. Some of the bees were black ones; others were yellow striped; probably from a swarm which had escaped from some beekeeper and taken to the woods. We started the yellow bees, as we called them, from the table, while the black ones were started working from the top of a nearby stump. We discovered that the yellow ones took a southwest course, heading for a dense woods, while the black ones took a course a little to the east of the first line, and we determined to try for this swarm first. We star„ted out on the line and walked perhaps half a mile from the stump, looking at every tree that seemed likely to shelter the bees; but after several hours' work we still had not found the tree. It was now getting late in the afternoon, and as there was hardly time to make a good start hunting for the swarm, we returned to camp, leaving the bee box where it was, intending to return in the morning and take up the hunt again. We got a good rest that night and the next morning felt refreshed and ready to go out and find the yellow swarm. After a hearty breakfast we started for the bee box at the foot of the hill, expecting to get a line and find the bees with- out any extraordinary search. When we reached the bee box about two dozen bees were working from it and it was easy to get the line. We started out on the line and followed it for a consideraible distance through the woods, breaking brush as we went so as to find the line later on if necessary. We spent about an nour looking for the tree in this way and then decided to move the box and get a cross line. Accordingly when the box was full of bees filling on the honey, the cover was closed and taking the box of bees and the table, we made a detour to the westward (the first line went in a southerly direction) and when we reached an open- ing in the woods, the table was set up and the bees released. It took some time to get the bees working again, and when we had them started we found it impossible to get an accurate line, as the trees surrounding the opening in which we were located forced the bees to fly high before starting for their tree and thus we lost sight of them before they had really 20 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS started. So we waited our chance and when the box was full of bees again, closed it and went still further west, finding an open field in which to set up the table. While waiting for the line to get to work again, we sat down on the ground and had a quiet smoke. When the bees got sufficiently accustomed to the new route to their tree to fly to it without starting in various directions, we marked the line down. It left the bee box in a southeasterly direction, straight for a couple of small butternut trees which stood near a fence about ten rods distant. We followed this line as before, breaking brush as we went. In this way we followed the line until we came to the first one, which we found by the broken brush. Now if we had followed the two lines correctly, the bee tree should be in this immediate vicinity. We looked at every tree in the neighborhood; but no bee tree was found. Of course, we had kept a sharp lookout for the tree as we fol- lowed the line up from the bee box and about this time we began to think we wanted that bee tree, and got down to work with the determination to find it if it took all day. Every tree within a radius of 20 rods was examined and still we did not find the tree. Then the bee box and table were brought up from the field, with a goodly number of bees, and near the intersection of the two lines we set up the table and started a third line. It was not long before the bees were working well, but by this time a lively breeze had sprung up, and this, together with the surrounding trees, made the flight of the bees uncer- tain and erratic. So the box was again moved, this time being set up on a ledge of rocks which cropped out of the hillside. While waiting for the bees to get to work again, we scoured the surrounding woods for the tree, but without success. When we returned to the box about 200 bees were working from it, one leaving every few seconds for the tree. Their flight showed that the previous lines we had found were correct, but in spite of a most thorough search, the tree re- mained undiscovered, which shows that even the most careful efforts will sometimes prove unavailing to the bee hunter. In the foregoing we have given an insight into bee hunting with bait and scent, using the bee box; but there is another PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 21 method which is very much practiced, although the writer has not had so much experience with it. This is lining the bees from their watering places. During the months of July, August and September, the bees are rais- ing their young and some of the bees in each hive carry water to them. In a dry summer when the brooks and water courses are low is a fine time for this kind of hunting, as the bees are then concentrated in a few places and are easily found. Look for a place where cattle have been watering, or where a mossy log rests partly in the water. The bees will alight on the moss or in the mud and suck up the moisture that they want; they do not seem to drink direct from the water. The bee tree is usually found near the place where they are watering. When you come to a likely place, walk quietly ahead, looking care- fully for bees, and if none is seen, wait for a few minutes and watch for them. When you catch sight of a 'bee, watch him carefully and you will see him fly for his hive as soon as he has filled with water. Get the "line" the same as when work- ing from bait and follow it up. You will likely find the tree before long. The following points should be remembered when hunting bees: Bees never locate in dead trees or stubs; they only use hol- low trees which are still alive; and the entrance to their hives is usually a knot hole, broken limb, etc. They will also locate in caves and in hollow trees which have fallen to the ground, providing the trees are well protected by live bushes. When lollowing a line, keep your eyes open for large trees which have limbs broken off, knot holes showing, etc. Those are the trees to look at carefully. When you find a tree, and are not ready to cut it or get the honey by climbing for it, cut your initials in the trunk; if any other bee hunter finds the tree he will understand at once, upon seeing your initials, that the tree is yours and will leave it alone; you will do likewise when you find a tree marked with another's initials. When cutting a bee tree, a smudge of dense smoke will stupify the bees and make them less liable to sting. Don't get discouraged if you do not find a tree at once; 22 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS this work requires patience if you want to make a success of it. Sometimes a beekeeper will have an extensive apiary near where you are working and if you do not know this you may have the work of finding his bees for nothing; therefore try to find out in advance if there are any tame bees near where you intend to work and avoid useless work and waste of time. FROG HUNTING METHODS By Arthur h. Reynolds The first frogs that found their way to my home larder were immense old fellows that I had happened upon and had taken from some brook or spring ditch near home. They would leap into the water with a splash and seek the only hiding place available, which would be beneath some grassy embankment or entrance to a muskrat den, where they were quickly removed by a sudden grab of the hand and then brought to plain view almost bursting from their being well filled with air and the tight grip of my hand encircling their cushion- like bodies. However, it is a great mistake to kill or molest these big frogs that are found to be temporarily dwelling inland away from larger streams, such as creeks and rivers, as these are mostly all females and upon opening up are nearly always found to contain large quantities of eggs that are almost ready for spawning. There are hundreds of eggs in one spawn, al- most running into thousands in number ; they are about the size of a pin-head and of a mixed black and white color closely resembling coarse ground pepper and salt. The frog generally spawns during the month of May. The eggs are in a scum-like netting which will remain floating upon the water's surface. This netting is always attached to grass or water weeds along shore, where the eggs remain until the warm sun- shine has hatched out the little tadpoles, which immediately go to the mud bottom and there remain for an indefinite period, depending largely upon water conditions, for a sudden raise of water or flood will always raise sad havoc with either frog spawn or young tadpoles. The old frog generally selects a quiet corner in some eddy for spawning purposes, where there is little current or the water is of a semi-stagnant nature and as soon as spawning is completed she may either remain nearby or if she sees fit go to some other place more suitable to her ways of living, or where food is more easily secured. At any rate she concerns herself no more about the spawn or tiny tadpoles and thus 24 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS being compelled to hustle for themselves from the very start of existence it can truly be said by the time a frog reaches the stage of full maturity that he is a self-made frog. The frog is a nocturnal feeder, catching his food from both land and water. When feeding from the bottom of a stream, his diet consists of all manner of water insects, of which the crawfish pay a heavy toll and quite often he will swallow one or more good sized yellow gravel, no doubt mistaking them for the yellow backed crawfish. He is blessed with a ravenous appetite and is therefore a greedy eater, gorging down everything he catches almost in a twinkling, after the manner of a big fish. A Big BuU Frog. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 25 He is also a cannibal, eating every small frog that happens to get within reach of his quick-working and suction-like tongue, as well as all manner of flies and insects, little duck- lings, mice, small snakes and even birds. During the day he will sit beneath an overhanging willow bough close to the water's edge, or in fact beneath anything that will partly con- ceal him and at the same time furnish a cool, shady resting place. At such times he will snap at any insect that may happen to come buzzing along and almost light upon his nose, but he will not follow or exert himself to any extent, as he prefers quiet rest and generally after a good night's feeding has a slack appetite. In this manner some frog hunters catch the frog during the day by quietly gliding along shore in a boat and offering- the frog an artificial fly that is made of lose hemp and a bit of red flannel having a good sized fishhook concealed within the folds of the fly. This is dangling in a tempting way at the end of a short fishing line, that is tied to a rather stiff pole. When a frog is found the fly is cautiously guided among weeds and around brush until finally it rests in a tempting way directly in front of the half suspicious frog. Sometimes he will not take it until after it has touched his broad green mouth one or more times. However, even if he is well filled from his night's foraging, he cannot stand for too much of this tempting thing and momentarily forgetting the men that are so near at hand, he makes a quick grab at the alluring fly and when in the act of swallowing it he quickly finds himself being lifted into space and although his cries of distress are heart touching, the collector turns a deaf ear to them and he soon finds himself in the boat, where the cruel hook is being removed from his bleeding mouth or throat. Frog hunting is mostly done at night with the use of a bright light for the reason that more frogs can readily be found then than during the day. They do not seem to fear the approach of man after darkness as in daylight and the bright rays of the light have a seemingly peculiar paralyzing effect upon their shyness once it shines into their large, bulg- ing eyes. 26 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS One of the most humane methods for taking the frog is at night with a light and net. The net mostly used for this kind of sport is made much after the manner of the landing net so commonly used by fishermen in landing large, gamey fish that have been hooked and finally brought alongside the boat, or near shore. Only the handle of the frog net must be more lengthy, as the men are generally in a boat and quite often cannot get so close to the squatting frogs as desired, owing to shallow water, rocks, snags, etc. All that is necessary when using this method is to keep the light turned well upon the frog until the net can be dropped over it. This being successfully accomplished, the frog will quickly make an attempt to leap into the water, thus taking the slack part of the net along and always being entangled among the loose folds by the time the net is turned upright and quickly drawn toward the boat. Recently a rigid law has been put into effect in Pennsylvania, forbidding the catching of frogs during the night time, so that all methods of frog collecting after sundown must be laid aside if one would abide by this new code of frog protection. This law has taken some of us old frog hunters somewhat by surprise and was rather accepted with mutterings and un- welcome feelings. And yet who can say with truth that this is not one of the most necessary laws that have been intro- duced to the out-door clan for sometime? For the many methods used annually for frog catching and different ways of cruel butchery have been severely telling upon the number of these loud voiced denizens of our marsh lands and streams, as well as greatly threatening their thorough extermination. Although the use of the light and net are perhaps the most humane method employed in frog collecting, there is hardly any other way by which so great a number of frogs can be taken in a single night, except when the spear or rifle are used after night, accompanied by the light. However, the spear is a cruel method and can only be used where frogs are immediately dressed and packed in ice for shipping, or are near the place where they are soon to be prepared for table use. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 27 The spear is also used during the day and although not near so many frogs will remain sitting until the spearman can bring his boat within striking distance as at night, still many an old fellow remains sitting just a little too long and the next instant he finds himself a helpless victim impaled upon this cruel bristling instrument of destruction. , When the water is clear and not too deep and the sun is shining out of a clear sky so that one is well able to see the frightened frog's movements and search the bottom of the stream after the frog has taken to the water as a means of escaping from its human enemy, the spear can be used to good advantage, very often proving to be a rapid collector of even the shyest old frogs, providing they .are found in such places as have just been mentioned and all conditions are in favor of the spearman. Quite often frogs are caught with nothing but one's hands and especially when the bhnding light is used after night. To do this successfully one should have on old clothing so as to be able to get around anywhere in the water and avoid that disagreeable feeling of getting one's good clothing wet. Also when a frog is found one's movements should not be too quick, for fast wading through water will always cause plenty of noise and very often cause the frog to move elsewhere, generally seeking safety by partly crawling into soft mud and water-soaked leaves upon the bottom of the stream. Once this has been accomplished by the frog one may as well pass on and look for another victim, for while a fish is easily seen lying upon bottom by the use of a light, a frog is something far different and can very seldom be found even if one should wait for the roiled water to pass off. GATHERING AND SELLING DECORATIVE EVERGREENS By Albert B. Farnham THERE is a fascination in the perfect days of early autumn that drives the outdoor folk afield. I am afraid this is responsible for many unprime furs. We make the early fall trapping our excuse for enjoying this season in the open, not honest enough to confess what we well know, that furs are unseasonable and their taking in September and October, a moral if not a legal offense. It is at this time that the gathering of decorative evergreens may be begun and the industrious woodsman (woodswoman, too) may reap financial benefit through the Indiaa summer days. Incidentally, fur prospects can be looked up, lines laid out and much accomplished to aid the trapper in the coming season when furs will be worth the top notch price. Very little equipment is needed for this work. When a good stock has been accumulated at home or camp, a team can be hired for a day or two to haul to the shipping point, or even a hand cart will often serve, as most of these ever- greens are of little weight. Some fortunates can make use of the old trapping boat for this purpose. Few landowners make any objection to the picking of these things, as they are of no value on the average farm, though in some especially favored localities such privileges have been leased. From some time in September until Christmas the demand is best, though there are considerable sales the year around. In the north the heavy snows of winter cover much of this material, which must then be procured from the Southern States unless the florist has a reserve stock in storage. Chief among the decorative evergreens are several varieties of the Cryptogamia, or flowerless plants, which appear to have been very abundant in the early ages of the world when they attained a gigantic sJze, though at present, comparatively small and obscure. Their fossil remains are found in large quanti- PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 29 ties in the deposits of the carbonaceous period and their pro- pagation is not by seeds, as in the case of regular flowering plants, but by what are known as spores. Of leading importance are the two varieties of the fern family, popularly called the Dagger and Fancy ferns, the leaves of which, called fronds, are sold literally by the mil- lions ; 25,000,000 having been shipped from one New England railroad point in ^ single season. When gathering, those are cut which are a foot to eighteen inches in length including two or three inches of stem, laid flat in baskets, and so conveyed to headquarters. Here they are tied with soft twine in bunches of twenty-five or fifty and put in a shady, airy place, like a barn floor, where they are turned each day for a few days until free from dampness. Then they are packed in boxes of light wood or heavy card- board, one or two thousand to the box. The city florists keep them all winter in cold storage, but any cool dry place will do very well for some time if the boxes are provided with plenty of holes in the ends for ventilation. When cutting, reject fronds with brown spots or spores underneath. I. Dagger Fern Fronds. II. Fancy Fern Fronds. 30 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS These ferns are found in cool, damp places in the woods, sides of ravines, etc., and are common throughout the East- ern States where they sell at $1.50 to $2.00 per thousand. Two other varieties of flowerless evergreens, commonly known as the Running, or Ground pine and the Bouquet or Princess pine, belonging to the botanical order of club mosses, are extensively used. These two evergreens are especially in demand just before the holiday season when quantities are sold, made up in wreaths and festooning, as well as loose. They should be picked in October or later and stored in a damp cellar. If they must be kept in a dry place, keep them cool and sprinkle once a week, or occasionally soak them a few hours to freshen them up. Ship in sacks or crates, not packed too tightly. Tie Bouquet pine in bunches before packing. They sell about $60 and $100 per ton respectively, at wholesale, and '8 cents and 10 cents per pound in smaller quantities. These creeping evergreens abound in some woodlands, where frequently many acres are thickly covered with them. HI. Runuinj^ Piue. IV, Bouquet Piue, PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 31 The Kalmia, or Mountain laurel, is a fine bush, bearing in spring beautiful clusters of pink and white flowers, but its chief value is in its shiny evergreen leaves, which give their name to the victor's wreath and figure in many other floral designs the year around. Laurel is gathered in two sizes, the tips, five to six inches in length, and eighteen to twenty-inch branches. Tips should bring 50 cents to $1.00 a bag and the longer branches in bundles of ten or twelve pieces, 50 cents each, or in the neighborhood of 2 cents per pound for both sizes. Small laurel tips are made up in wreaths and festooning, along and in combination with the Ground pines. Common from Maine to Georgia, on rocky hillsides in the woods, the leaves contain a narcotic poison when taken internally. Farm stock, especially sheep, will sometimes eat them to their detri- ment. Farmers generally would be glad to dispense with the laurel in their pastures. The holly, or Ilex, is another evergreen attaining the size of a small tree in favorable locations, the foliage of which is used and handled about as outlined for laurel. v. Mountain Laurel. TI. Holly Sprays. 32 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS To secure ready sale it should be well set with the charac- teristic bright red berries, and careful handling is necessary to retain them while gathering and packing in crates. The sharp spines of the holly leaves make their gathering rather painful if undertaken bare handed. Festooning is made from laurel tips, or either of the Ground pines, using a coarse cord (called parcel post cord) as a foun- dation, and wrapping spirally with fine wire which comes on spools numbered 25 to 30. The greens are laid overlapping, all in one direction as they are wound in. Make the festooning about three inches in diameter, and put in a bit of contrasting material every yard; if made of pine, a bunch of laurel; of laurel, a bit of holly with a few berries. Such should sell for 8 cents to 10 cents per yard. Wreaths are made in much the same way with a hoop of No. 12 galvanized wire, ten or twelve inches in diameter, as the foundation. If the fine wire is not at hand the small green twine used by druggists will do to wind with. Such wreaths wholesale for about the same as festooning, that is ID cents or 12 cents each. Larger, heavier wreaths of laurel bring about $3.00 per dozen. The prettiest Christmas wreaths of all are holly, but mak- ing them is cruel work for the hands ; small sizes should sell for as much as the larger ones of laurel. In gathering any of this decorative material it should be borne in mind that it has no intrinsic value, but is purchased only for its looks ; hence it should be fresh and attractive. Discard all discolored or defective foliage and keep it free from weeds, trash and dirt. Wholesale florists in about all the large cities handle these evergreens, but New York probably leads in wholesale and commission houses, most of whom advertise in the Florists' Exchange and other trade papers published there. Find out by correspondence what is in demand and when and how it should be shipped and prepared. In many cases it is well to submit samples of what it is proposed to supply. The foregoing is in regard to the wholesale selling, which is the gatherer's usual mode of disposing of evergreens, a plentiful source of supply nowadays being always at a dis- PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 33 tance from any centers of population. Fire and the axe, enemies of everything connected with our woodlands, are rob- bing the country of these, as well as other beauties and re- sources. If any one is lucky enough to find a good quantity of evergreens near a considerable town or towns, much may be sold to local retail florists as well as to householders direct, at markets and residences. Though handling much smaller quantities so, it entails more trouble, for which the greater retail price compensates. I would close with a caution, not needed by any true woods lover, I am sure ; don't make a clean sweep of anything, unless in a tract about to be cleared. Leave a few plants and nature will soon replenish the supply. Above all things never leave a fire burning in the woods. I know where the laurel gatherers have now to walk several miles farther because all the smaller forest growth has been destroyed by fires carelessly set. Of course a few other things not so important to the evergreen pickers, like timber and cordwood, went too. ^ SHOOTING WOODCHUCK FOR BOUNTY By W. Dustin White WD OD CHUCKS, taken as a family, are firm believers in Franklin's old adage, "Early to bed and early to rise," and apply it especially to their annual winter's sleep. Just what is the logic of their reasoning, from their own point of view, just how the practice tends to make the little varmint either "healthy, wealthy or wise," is hard for us human beings to understand. When they den up for the long winter's nap, which is usually about the middle of Sep- tember, the fields are covered with a bountiful supply of luscious, second growth grass. This would appear to be the finest kind of a diet for a fastidious woodchuck, but' they leave it all and when their hibernation is over and they appear again the next March there is but a scant supply, winter killed and dry, to stand between them and starvation. However, when viewed from a sportsman's standpoint, this practice works in well with the general scheme of things. Beginning, as it does, soon after the close of the winter rab- bit and fox hunting and continuing until the open season for game birds is again upon us, woodchuck hunting forms an important connecting link in the field gunners' calendar of events and keeps him in shooting trim. The woodchuck season is a long one and it makes no differ- ence what variety of summer landscape you are looking for, whether it's the moist, damp fields of early spring that appeal to you, or the long, delightful evenings of mid-summer, or the balmy, aftermath laden haze of early autumn — whichever calls you most enticingly — woodchuck hunting will furnish a plausi- ble excuse for answering their invitation and afiford an ostensi- ble objective on your trips thereto. His flesh, while it should be wholesome and all right, since the woodchuck is cleanly in all his habits, has a strong taste of the ground and is rather tough and coarse. It will never serve as a dish for an epicure. His hide, too, is covered with PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 35 long hair, but without a partical of fur, and while the boys sometimes tan it for moccasins, etc., it has no commercial value. But even so, hunting them is good sport, and if we shoot them to any great extent we are doing the farmer a good turn which is certainly well worth while. Several States pay small bounties for their scalps. I have always been a firm believer in cooperation — sportsman and farmer. The sportsman depends upon the farmer for all of his hunting grounds and, year in and year out, is the direct cause of no little damage. If he can, in turn, shoot ofif some of the pests which prey upon the farmer's fields and flocks, I should look upon it as a plain duty. Personal preference is the prime factor in the considera- tion of a gun for use in this kind of hunting. Shooting prac- tice has always been a strong reason for indulging in the sport, and if we restrict ourselves to such firearms as will make the shooting rather difficult we will get the best practice. The Woodchuck is an Animal That Seldom Ventures Far From His Own Front Door, z^ PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS Personally I use the same guns when out for woodchucks that I use for other kinds of hunting and thus keep myself familiar with their hang and balance. My favorite, however, for 'chuck shooting, is the light .22 squirrel rifle. It is light to carry and extremely accurate up to the limit of its range. Its report is not as loud as that of a heavier rifle and is not likely to alarm the woodchucks in the neighbor- ing field. This is an advantage of some consequence. When I use my .32 special big game rifle I have a gun whose killing range is practically unlimited and I not only get prac- tice in long range holding, ibut also in negotiating high winds and long down grades. It is essential that one exercise ex- treme caution in handling such weapons for woodchuck hunt- ing for in the open country, which is the woodchuck's habitat, The Ground Hog Has No Commercial Value, Him is Good Sport. But Hunting PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS Z7 there are not as many trees to stop stray bullets as in the wooded regions, and we don't want to undo all the good we have done the farmer in exterminating his pests by shooting off some of his prize live stock, to say nothing of the risk to which we are exposing human life. A good rule to stick by, when you are using a long range, high velocity rifle for 'chuck shooting, is never to shoot until you have first picked out a backstop for your bullet. Some kind of a backstop is usually available and a little manouvering will place the game between you and it. Occasionally, when I feel that my marksmanship is better than my stalking ability, I will use the shotgun for a few hunts. This necessitates getting very close to every one, and to accomplish it, in a section where they have been frequently hunted, one must exercise the stealth of an Indian. I did have a dog, old Skip, which I used for woodchuck hunting. He was one of the most intelligent dogs I ever knew and learned the game well. A woodchuck dog must have more real, old-iasuioned common sense than any other hunting //^ «*»>*.,-^-,,,^ .„^._ 1^ tt ' ^Hk^ ^^■^^^ '"■'"*!, *'m While I Was Getting Aim, Skip I^iked To W ork Forward So As To Have a Clear View of the Game and Be Ready To Start W^hen the Rifle Cracked. 38 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS dog. His own instincts alone won't serve. He must learn the man's part in the game and govern his actions accord- ingly. When Skip went out for woodchucks with me he would keep close by my side or at heel until the game was sighted. If it was necessary to creep up behind a wall or work out over a knoll, he would use the utmost care not to make the least noise and when I stopped he would do like- wise. While I was getting aim he liked to work forward, so to have a clear view of the 'chuck and be ready to bound for- ward as soon as the gun cracked and in a very short time he would be sinking his teeth in the rump of the game. This was much more of a help than might at first appear. The woodchucR is an animal that seldom ventures far from his own dooryard and, at the first alarm takes a position either on the very doorstep, or just within the burrow, with just his head sticking out. Consequently he can, even if hard hit, often work himself down into the hole before a man* can get there. But a dog can cover 40 rods of grass land in a sur- prisingly short time and many a woodchuck has old Skip thus saved to my credit, and also saved possibly from a linger- Occasionally I Use the Shotgruu. This Necessitates Getting Very Close To Every One and One Must Exercise the Stealth of An Indian. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 39 ing death in the burrow. More than one exciting race have I witnessed when a 'chuck would be wounded a few feet from his burrow and start to crawl thereto at about the same time old Skip would start to head him off. The working of a dog has always been a large part of the pleasure of hunting for me and I have missed Skip sorely on woodchuck hunts, but since his death I have never tried to train another for the work. If I were picking out a dog to train for woodchuck hunt- ing I think I should choose a shepherd or bull rather than one of the regular hunting breeds and the training is not hard if you begin by never allowing them to roam the field until after you shoot. As before stated, the woodchuck usually awakens from his winter's nap sometime during the month of March, and we often get our first sight of him on a snowdrift. While the snow remains in any quantity we can't get around with any comfort, but as soon as it has left the fields and open hill- sides it is time to. take the first woodchuck hunt — even while the snow remains in the woods and occasional drifts in the fence corners. Each spring's returning sun kindles an irrepressible long- ing in the breast of every man with red blood in his veins and how good the soft earth feels under one's feet after being confined to the snowshoes on every outdoor trip for a long time. The very air holds a rich odor of damp earth and much promise of summer's growth. Even now the grass, in sheltered nooks, is taking on the first greenish hues and we may discover an occasional hepatica. The farmers are busy in the sugar bush and we make it our way to pass their camp and pause to pass the time of day and, incidentally, to get a sample of this nectar of the maples. If we are to figure the success of the hunt in numericals this is one of the best times to be out, for the feed is scarce and the little 'chucks have to spend long hours to get enough for subsistence. Early in the spring they are abroad mostly during the mid- dle of the day, but as the season advances and the weather becomes warmer, they do most of their foraging during the early morning hours, or late in the afternoon. During the 40 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS long mid-summer days the hunter who is willing to get up with the sun may get in a couple of hours' sport before the regular day's work begins — delightful hours, too, when old Sol tops the eastern hills and his first rays strike diamonds on the dew laden grass and everything breathes the freshness of morning. Then for the man whose day in the shop or fac- tory ends at 4 o'clock, there is the possibility of two or three hours on the woodchuck fields at the witching hour of twi- light, when the trees by the pasture wall cast long shadows across the fields and a delightful coolness pervades the air. At this season we see the countryside in the full bloom of life and growth, indeed there may appear to be too much growth, in the fields, for the rank hay conceals many a 'chuck from the prying eyes of the hunter. But the farmer soon harvests this and stores it in his barns so that the woodchuck hunter has a still better chance at his game. All summer long it continues and not until the first frosts temper the air, when roadside bush and orchard tree hangs heavy with luscious fruit and the forests are taking on the first hues of autumn, do they den up and efifectually put an end to the season's hunting. The young of the woodchuck are born during the latter part of May and, while there are no statutory laws protect- ing them, it seems to me that the laws of humanity should protect all animals while nursing their young and I do not shoot woodchucks until these young are able to shift for them- selves, which is usually by the loth of June. KNITTING FISH NETS By Arthur L. Reynolds AS most of the outdoor clan can find use for some kind of net upon many occasions, I consider it profitable as well as very convenient at many times if one has some knowl- edge of, and can do, a bit of knitting for his own use. The following instructions may seem somewhat difficult to understand and master, but like learning most all other tedious things that require patience, they can be acquired successfully if one only hangs on and keeps plugging away, for after all perseverance winneth the crown. I will here give in brief detail a description of the articles required for nearly all kinds of twine knitting, especially when it comes to good old handmade work. I say good old hand- made work, not to condemn factory goods, but my personal experience with factory made nets has proved very unsatis- factory, and never until I got on to the genuine article, which was hand knit nets made by old rivermen, from whom I have learned all I know in regard to net knitting and fishing, have I reaped success to any great extent. For our needles we take good, dry, straight grained, tough, old hickory and split out just what we need. These splints are worked down with a sharp pocketknife, broken pane glass, and No. o emery paper to the exact size and shape of needle we desire. As the mesh-wood has much harder wear from the constant friction of the twine, we work them from most all kinds of hard wood available, such as dry hickory, locust and pear wood, but the hardest and most wear-resisting wood we can find is well seasoned pink dog wood. These tools are somewhat difficult for any one to whittle out of such hard old air seasoned wood, but once they are shaped up and pol- ished nicely, then needles and all well soaked in most any kind of hot grease (I generally use some of Bre'r Pawsum's fat) they are a joy forever and will last an extensive knitter almost a lifetime. The needles should be one-eighth of an inch in thickness and 42 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS from i6 to i8 inches in length, and never less than 12 inches. A long needle holds more twine than a shorter one, so one can knit longer without refilling the needle, also one need not unite the twine so often and there will be less knots to show up when the net is completed, for too many of these uniting knots sp^n the appearance of a new net. In the accompany- ing illustration can be seen the regular size of my fish net and seine needle, although I have a narrower needle for knitting eel nets, minnow seines, etc. B, C and D shows one-half the exact size of my mesh- woods for knitting set nets for fish; A is sometimes used for the rear chamber and funnel when I prefer to hold eels. HOW TO KNIT To start a net take a piece of twine about one yard in length, tie both ends together and hang over a door knob or nail, wherever you intend sitting to knit. Have your needle loaded with twine, pass the needle up through the round piece of twine that you have just hung up, being sure to keep your knot that united both ends of twine up close to door knob out of your way. Have a knot in the end of your twine that is upon the needle. Make a half mesh about one and a quarter inch in length, throw your loop same as loop shown in No. 3. Bring the needle up through the lefthand side of loop and draw closed as shown at X. Remember, this is no knitting knot, but merely a common half knot. Next place your mesh- wood with the edge against knot and proceed as shown at XX, making the same half knot upon every half mesh until you have the desired amount of half meshes that you wish to have meshes in your net. These half meshes are for the heavy anchor cord to be strung through once the net is ready for fishing. Always have your half meshes slide up the left side of your door knob string, as shown at XXX, in order to keep from getting things entangled. When you have your desired amount of half meshes, pull them all down to the end of double string upon one mass, then connect the first and last half meshes with a regular knitting knot and proceed with the knitting, always knitting to your right, running one A'"m TflGHT AND WRONG, Wffi OF PROPPING AWPAt>DlN^-^:^dt'^' Wet, But Hungry. 68 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS scarcely any pelts have been purchased. It has been as far as Canada and Eastern Maine is concerned, a race to produce good breeding animals to sell to some other prospective fur rancher; he to transfer their progeny to another, and so on, all along the line. This made the element of speculation a large one and big fortunes from a single pair are a fact that cannot be controverted. In all this time, however, the would-be fur farmers have overlooked, in their eagerness to breed valuable fox families, one of the most sought-for fur-bearing animals — the mink — although its possibilities were touched upon by the government booklets issued by Canada and the United States in 1913-14. During the former years continued reports of success in breed- ing mink gained circulation. Ranch-bred mink are much more tractable than wild ones and bring double prices. It did not need any government endorsement to show that large profits could be made if breeding could be successfully carried on, and a few mink ranches have begun to appear along the Canadian and State of Maine border. It is still, of course, an infant industry, and partly an embryo^ proposition as yet, because not enough mink have been reared to standardize the prizes for breeders, which are, as might be expected, quite high, as a breeding mink is estimated to have an earning capacity of $50 a year providing her young can be sold on a pelt basis alone. Mink breeding is apparently the poor man's opportunity, for there are not enough ranch-raised breeding-minks to be pur- chased to start a capitalistic business. In other words, large sums of money cannot be invested in it at present. While very difficult to breed from the wild state, ranch-raised mink breed very readily. It was this knowledge that caused a native of Maine, Franklin C. Tibbetts, to undertake the busi- ness with the help of a small company organized and incor- porated in January, 1915. At first blush it might have seemed impossible to produce mink under the circumstances. Mr. Tib- bett's home sits within a few feet of the electric car tracks and is surrounded by other houses. He had, however, a fair- sized lot in the rear, and after constructing a ten-foot wire enclosure, with the bottom wired under ground at right angles to a distance of two feet from the walls, he procured twenty PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 69 ranch mink from different sources, from which he has now a family, old and young, of sixty ; an mcrease of 200 per cent. Good prices have been offered for any and all these animals, but they have been refused, as Mr. Tibbetts intends to thor- oughly go into the business of mink ranching, having come to the conclusion that there is more money and less risk in this branch of the fur business than in fox farming. 1- !( ■ ''k ^'kf)k^^^^.>^^^^t\ In a StiflE, Awkward Pose. 70 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS Mr. Tibbett gives his entire attention to the Httle animals, and has discovered things about their nature that the Govern- ment fails to mention in its booklets. They do not make good pets; they are vicious among themselves and born "scrappers," as well as being hoggish to a great degree. The smallest mink will drop his piece of raw meat to try and steal the portion of another, only to have his own filched by a brother, and buried in a remote corner, from which perhaps it may be dragged a moment later by a fourth. The mink is one of the puzzles of the animal kingdom, and he rarely does what is expected of him. On occasions he will put his queer little face close to yours, while coiled up, snake- like, with one or two others in a nest of hay, and look you fairly in the eye with a ludicrously thoughtful air. At other times at the approach of a human he will rush furiously about the enclosure and start a general scamper, or dart into a hole in the ground, immediately turning around and peering out as if I "1 V Looking: Things Over. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 71 to ask, "What are you going to do about it?" He can trans- form himself into half a dozen shapes. Naturally . long and lithe, he can bristle his body into a fretful, brushy mass, or he can pull his length into half, and lean up against the wire, looking like a stick of stove wood, with feet as knots and his nose resembling the slash of an unskillfully cut tree. He can stretch almost unbelievably, and can go through a crack. He can jump like a squirrel, or act as clumsy as a mud turtle. He is the chameleon of the fur-bearers ; a comedian and a puzzle. In none of its books on the subject of fur farming has the Government ever presented any adequate pictures of mink, and it is no easy piece of work to secure them. The pictures pre- sented in this issue of Fur News were obtained after incredible trouble, the wasting of dozens of plates and hours of time. On repeated occasions the camera man was either too quick % i^^m Bird or Animal? 72 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS or too slow, but he persisted, until he secured several character- istic pictures, as well as some freakish ones. Mr. Tibbetts reads everything printed on the subject of fur ranching. He says that the principal difficulty in breeding mink is that the males are apt to kill the females in the mat- ing season, but that he has thus far escaped any casualties from this cause. As his first pair were bred from domesticated or ranch-raised animals, he thinks this may have had something to do with it. "Many amateurs," says Mr. Tibbetts, "have killed their mink with kindness and attention. They should, of course, have plenty of room, fresh water in large quantities and feeding time should be reguki. Family rows need not be interfered with often, as they are spasmodic and usually termi- nate quickly, except in the breeding season, when a sharp watch must be kept over them." Fish, raw meat and small live animals, mice, rats or. rabbits, are the foods most employed, and Mr. Tibbetts has a Belgian hare pen close by, which affords food for his sixty sharp-toothed charges from time to time. The owner has dabbled in raccoon breeding and has some fine and extremely tame pets, but has devoted his entire time for the past nine months to mink as a business and feels that his ''ranch" in the heart of a city of 60,000 people promises to be a success. He "farms" or cares for mink owned by other ranchers, taking as his pay a per- centage of the increase. In this way he hopes to build up a steady income, although not owning the parent mink. This ranch is the only one in the western end of the State and is attracting much attention from any who have been or expect to be engaged in the fur raising industry. Mr. Tibbetts' mink family is increasing ; his animals are in the best of health. THE BAIT FISHING PROBLEM By J. A. Newton BAIT catching is often one of the many details preliminary to fishing for the big ones of the finny tribe and is a most important question which confronts us at various times throughout the summer season. In spring and early summer it costs but little effort to secure a sufficient supply of the shiner species of minnow which as an attractive bait for bass, pike and catfish is not equalled by any other. The shiners congregate in large schools during May and part of June and are often found adjacent to gristmills and factories which are operated by water power. Having attained the highest point of ascent, they sometimes hang there for days in the tail water. At such times it is no trick at all to secure a supply with hook and line in an hour. In pretty compact masses they circle around in the eddies just out of the main current, below dams, tail races and in the more quiet streaks of all our northern rapid streams. Some days when the water is warm they will battle the swiftest current all day as it comes from the waterwheels. It is possible to dip them up with a scoop net at times, but usually they are too alert for this and swerve aside, avoid- ing the quickest action on the part of the fisherman. A long, slender cane pole with trout line or linen thread attached and the smallest long-stemmed hook baited with the head of an angle worm, although a slow way of bait catching, is a sure one. I advise the long shank hook to avoid deep hooking. It is not near so likely to be partly swallowed in the throat, or gills, or back part of the mouth roof. Just a slight wound will cause the captive to turn over belly upward and give up the ghost in a few minutes. Soon as a minnow dies in the bucket it should be removed, as its presence has an unfav- orable effect on the living. I believe in large, roomy buckets and if the number of 74 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS baits required is so large as to crowd the water of one receptacle, use a second one. In a roomy bucket minnows fret less, do less butting of the walls and so will live and remain vigorous longer. And with a moderate number of inmates the water will require changing less frequently. If depending upon hook and line I never weight the line with lead. Minnows are usually in shoal water and will rise to the bait so that there is no need of any sinker. Not only is it unnecessary, but the line needs to be free of weight so that the fish may run with it and be more readily hooked. If a sinker is employed they will pick up the bait, straighten the line until the weight is felt and drop it, doing this successively and in the meantime nibble off all the bait. It is not always possible to secure just the right size of winnow we want. If wanted for black bass fishing a three- inch minnow is big enough, although large bass will take much larger bait readily. For pike and large catfish minnows four inches and upwards are most desirable. In spring and early summer some schools of shiners are accompanied by a few overgrown specimens of a reddish cast, termed redsides locally. They sometimes measure six inches in length, have thick bodies and in spring and early summer are the king of baits to tempt the big pike or catfish. At one time in a particular season an hour or two will secure all the minnows one man requires for a day of ordi- nary fishing; at some other time one may fish most diligently all day and not secure a respectable catch of bait. There are times when the big fish bite well and other spells when you cannot in any way coax them to rise to bait. The same is true of minnows when they are hard to find and if found, are not responsive. Many a time I have seen when big fish could be caught in numbers if we could only secure live bait. When we are making a business of fishing and require a large number of baits, as when night line setting for catfish, it usually requires all our time apart from dressing and mar- keting fish to secure bait for the following night. There are certain times when a big supply of bait may be secured in a few minutes by use of a seine. This I usually made from PROFITABI.E OUTDOOR PURSUITS 75 mosquito netting, sewing about 15 feet of it to ropes. The lower rope or lead line was weighted with small lumps of lead, about a foot apart, and to the upper rope I attached corks for the purpose of holding the net from crimping down. The rope continued around each end of the net and two sticks of seasoned ash or rock elm about 1^4 inches square and four feet long were fastened to the end ropes to take hold of in drawing the net. It requires two persons to draw a seine and it is always possible to secure the services of some idle handy fellow who will lend a hand at helping make a few hauls for half a dollar or so. We must wade, of course, and seine the deep streaks in the channel on shallow swift water, the tail races of water powers and the deep spots below water wheels when shut down. The best success in minnow seineing is met when the water is roiled after rains. At such times we have brought out enough bait to fill a peck measure at one haul. And they were a much mixed assembly, too, consisting of shiners, chubs, little suckers, stone carriers, red sunfish, rock bass, juvenile black bass, etc. Then we proceeded to assort them and save all that would make promising bait and returned the rest to their native element. We frequently took some good sized fish, fit for the table while seineing minnows, and this caused me to place too much confidence in the restraining power of my mosquito bar creation. One day we saw a school of about 40 red horse in a little side channel. Most of them were lusty big fellows which would weigh three or four pounds each. They were where we could cut off their escape to the main channel and this we did, or tried to do, but with disastrous consequences to the net. They made a riddle of it, those which went against it, and some leaped and cleared the rope entirely, so we did not stop a single fish. Seineing is the quickest way in the world to secure a supply of bait when conditions are right. But in time of low water and when as clear as glass they will avoid the net and we -j^ PROFITABIvE OUTDOOR PURSUITS must make the hook and line our main dependence. And at all times I have secured the most desirable bait with hook and line. The large sizes do not settle in the little holes where most of the seineing is done, but usually remain out in the main channel, or swift water, at least. Where it is so swift and shallow and the bottom one of gravel and cobbles and where rocks protrude, that riffles are found, one may snatch out the big chubs and dace where the water is less than six inches deep. There is no other way on earth to catch them except with a hook when the water is low and clear and they lay on the riffles. They can be secured by the use of pulver- ized Indian cockle berries mixed with moistened bread or bis- cuit and thrown to them in small bits, but they will be dead minnows and of little value. Earth, or angle worms, as usually known, is the only suc- cessful minnow bait and in time of drouth in mid-summer and even until early fall it is often about as much of a task to find worms as it is the minnows. Rich soil which offered them by the thousands is dry now as a powder house and the worms have gone Chinaward hunting for cool moist earth. A few may be found under green sod close to the water side if the soil is rich, or under the turf around mucky spring ground in pasture lands. On certain occasions when all ordi- nary ground failed to yield worms, I have been driven to turn over the out edges of a pile of wet stable manure to get a supply. But the worms found here are different than those found in gardens and mucky soil. They are of small size and are banded with stripes like a zebra and emit a most rank and disagreeable odor. Minnows will bite them, but with nothing like the avidity that they take hold of the ordinary worm. There is another sort, too, the overgrown giant earth worm that comes up in spring during very wet periods and leave a hole about the size of a lead pencil. They may be found in numbers well into the summer after long rains by turning over boards, planks and timbers on low lands, where the soil is rich and there is little or no drainage. It is not an attractive fish bait, as I have proven, when using them for several different species of fish. Why this is PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 17 it is hard to tell, but a medium-sized worm is the best bait at all times and for all fish so far as I have tested it out. Perhaps they appear to the fish as they do to me, so large that they are quite snaky. On a quiet sunny September afternoon I am a short dis- tance below the mill dam and less than a mile from home whipping the riffles for bait to supply my set lines in a larger sluggish river into which the one empties that supplies me with minnows. Catfish are biting well, providing that good sizable live baits are offered them. There is considerable diversion even in minnow fishing. There is a degree of sport in snatching them off the stony bottom where the riffles are only a few inches deep. It is best done where you have a screen of bushes and tall weeds to hide your movements on sunny days and with the water clear. As I unhooked each unlucky captive I am not unmindful of my surroundings. The beautiful calm afternoon when the sun no longer beats down as it did in July. Trees and all vegetation are still in full summer dress and yet early autumn is not far away. In mid-stream there is a large island and a grove of large, thick, canopied, soft maples covers it. Over there a sweet-toned warbler or two are uttering pleasing notes. Loaded honey bees fly low across the stream with drowsy hum, and an occasional fish flaps out in the current, and once a sizable bass pursued a small fish, which in its desperate efforts to escape, ran out on the level beach high and dry. After the bass had given up its quest and gone back to deep water, the little fellow with a few flops got back and swam away, no doubt delighted to have escaped his enemy. During the season of minnow scarcity in the rivers I have sometimes been driven to visit certain creeks and brooks where with a scoop-net and a helper we worked long stretches of water poking and punching in under banks and among sub- merged logs and brush in the course of a day, bagging a mixed collection of chubs, dace, little creek suckers, and some- times trout, but the latter we had to throw back or violate the law. Frequently some of the foremost men of the town would 78 PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS plan a distant fishing trip to some lake. They must have bait and could not catch it in time of low water. It is a trade or trick they did not understand. They usually found it easier and cheaper to engage some recognized minnow catcher in the job of supplying their needs. On several occasions they approached me to let such a con- tract. I disliked to turn them down and rarely did so, for all that it often interrupted my own operations. When I did so enlist I made up my mind to have something like wages out of it, and not often does such a crew stand back for expense when they prepare for an outing. I also found it advisable to collect on delivery, for to let the bait go and allow the bill to get a little old, it was some- times hard to collect it; especially if success in fishing had been poor. One who had been a member of the party would refer me to some other of his fellows, and he in turn would send me to a third one. At times they had to all get together and have a conflab before I was finally paid. This was earn- ing my money too many times, and I learned to avoid it. One crew that I compelled to dig up the cash before surrendering the bait considered me hard-hearted. "All right," I replied, "go and catch your minnows and you'll know something about what they are worth. But they didn't follow my suggestion and could produce the money readily enough when obliged to do it. In one instance four business men, one of whom was a lawyer, planned a fishing trip in mid-summer to a distant lake. They must have bait. Said lawyer approached me, as manager of the party, and said : "We want about six dozen good chubs. Can you furnish them?" The water was low and clear, the minnows scarce and wild. "Yes, I will take the job at five cents per minnow, 60 cents a dozen, $3.60 for six dozen," I said. I considered it a good day's work to produce the goods. "Go ahead and catch them," the lawyer said, "and get us some good ones." I did not succeed in catching the required number in one day, but I produced the bait at the time they were wanted. PROFITABLE OUTDOOR PURSUITS 79 The party was all short of change, so they said, and would settle with me in a day or two after they returned. I did not wait for the account to become old, but presented my bill promptly to the lawyer who had engaged me. Then I met with some hemming and hawing and a dreary look and a complaint that the fish didn't bits much, if any, but he would see the others and try to raise the amount for me. Then I lost patience and replied : "You are the one who engaged me to catch the bait, and I spent about a day and a half of hard work to get it, and I look to you for pay. If I've got to run around from one to the other of you men and beg for my pay, or wait indefinitely, then hereafter you can look to some one else to furnish you with minnows." This caused him to produce the money in a jiffy, and I thought it would have looked better if he had paid without demur or argument. A little later I learned that the lawyer and his associates had carried along a case of beer and used it so freely as to befog their minds and render ambition inert. Had lain around in the shade most of the time and did not get after the fish. WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS MAGAZINE The best writers on outdoor sports contribute r«egu- larly to its pages. It has that "woodsy" flavor that appeals to all lovers of outdoor life. It is well illustrated by photographs and drawings. During the years it gives an immense amount of in- formation. It is entertaining as well as instructive. ffm NEWS ^^ ?-^^?- Outdoor H^ORiD HUNTINC TBAPPINC ■ RSHINC CAMPINC -WOOKIUFT 370 SEVENTH AVE. NEW YORK I ^ M I BANK ON BLUSTEIN For best prices on all shipments. For fairest assortment to all shippers. For quickest remittances on re- ceipt of Large or Small Lots of Raw Furs and Ginseng I David Blustein & Bro. [ Th« Fastett Growing Fur I House in New York 162-164 West 27th St., New York ^imiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiMiiriiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiniiEiiiiiiiiiiu I THIS OFFER I , I HAS MADE THOUSANDS I ' I OF RAW FUR SHIPPERS I i I FOR US I = Put your own assortment on = E your Raw Furs. Mail us a E E copy. E E Should we not be able to net • E E you as much or more than you E I expect, we will return your | E shipment express charges E E prepaid. E E We Charge No Commission E I We Pay All Expressage E I MILTON SGHREIBER& GO. I I RAW FURS I I 134-140 W. 29th ST. NEW YORK | HiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii: