St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-11-01
FISH AND GAME.

careful reading. The commissioners
are J. w. Titcomb of this place and
Charles c. Warren of Waterbury.
They have expended through the
past two years $4513 O6 at the
state hatchery at Roxbury and
$1333.O4 as commissioners of fish
and game in ways that are all item
lied in their report. Nothing will
contribute more to the future growth
of the summer travel into Vermont
than the work these commissioners
are doing and the invest of $4,000
that has been made in the past two
years will bring back very gratifying
returns. When our streams are
stocked with fish and our forests fill
ed with game Vermont will become
the haunt of the sportsman and the
summer tourist will be in all parts of
the forests and now, thanks to the
commissioners and the efforts of the
Fish and Game league, we will soon
have plenty of good fishing and hunt
ing.
In the work of distributing fish fry
around the state the commissioners
have distributed in the past two sea-
sons I'll 900 trout in brook trout
plants and 719,00O among lake
trout plants. In Caledonia county
10000 brook trout have been
placed in the Haskell and Bickford
brooks in Peacham, 5000 in the
| Havnesville brook in Hard wick,
5000 in Ryegate brooks, and 5000
each in the brooks of Peacham, Lvn-
donville and Groton. Fifteen thou
sand lake trout were placed in the
Ryegate ponds, and 5000 rainbow
trout in Jobs pond in West Burke.
Willoughby lake has received 49,
900 lake trout and Harvey's pond
at West Barnet has received $4,000.
What has been done for this county
has been also accomplished in all the
other counties in the state and a
beginning has been made in which all
the residents of this state should take
a commendable pride. Besides the
work of the state board, the United
States Fish Commission also dis
tributed in Vermont fish and fish
eggs during the twelve months end
ing June IA, 1894, in the following
quantities: Brook trout, 1900 fish
and 10000 eggs; Won Behr trout,
1000 fish, 1000 eggs; rainbow
trout, 1471 fish, III ,24O eggs; land
locked salmon, 1O,O ,O76 fish.
The commissioners have been trying
to enforce the game laws of the state
and there have been 81 violators of
these laws brought into court with
in the past two years and been
dealt with as severely as their case
would warrant. 1t cost one man
over S126 to catch fish with set lines
and several settled for about $50
each for net fishing. Thirty
were convicted of catching fish under
six inches and two convictions were
made for Sunday fishing. The of
ficers are doing excellent work in
this direction and offenders find that it
goes hard with them to violate the
game laws.
The following paragraphs from the
report will tell what has been ac-
complished in raising game:
"As the winter for 1928 was an
unusually hard one for fish, so it was for
game, and undoubtedly many grouse
perished, owing to its severity. The fol-
lowing spring, however, was favor
able for Matching and rearing of young
birds. The winter of 1884 was more
favorable for game, and the spring of
1894 favorable for young birds. The
commissioners believe that there has
been no decrease of wild game in our for
ests. On the other hand, there may be a
slight improvement in the number of
partridges, except In sections where the
market hunter plies his trade.
The open season on partridges and
woodcock was shortened in the new laws
with beneficial results. We have been
recently advised by DR.. Webb's game
keeper that from 1000 to 5000 pheasants
were this year raised at Shelburne
Farms. and 1900 quail liberated. The
pheasants are spreading rapidly, and re-
ports of them have been received from
Vergennes, Bristol and Bennington. If
protected a few years, Vermont can add
| another to its list of game birds.
1t is expected that the work of the
league will be continued the coming sea-
son. Such efforts should be encouraged
and the sportsmen of Vermont will un-
doubtedly see that the laws for the pro-
lection of newly introduced game are
carefully observed The distinctively
game laws are more carefully observed