New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-25
FISH. FOREST AND GAME.
THE REPORT OF THE NEw-YORh siAiH
COMMISSIONERS FOR 1895.


At first glance one hardly believe ina, ms
comely auarto volume bound IN hsn' 80,
80, - ,ov.r can be a State document WITH
this second annual report of the reofsa'"'su s
mission Of Fisheries. Game ana fores'' ' -.
Tom II happily abandoned OF MAKING 49,,
which treats OF matters OF wide popua' -" No
ugly and forbidding by clothing 1t in the so,"Oa'
h,s,r ordirar,lv cn,ployed in Government docu-
ments In this respect the Judgment OF 'he Oo" IN
Ynissioners Is to be commended. ana ther eN", r,
is worthy Of being copied by other orc'as Ill
frs. report OF the Commission was Hke" 80,
executed and handsomely bounded. ana 'he op'''io'
may be venturcd that this very fact had e'ea, ,
influence IN causing the large demand when co"'O
only Re met by printing several extra edi''ons'
II IS n wel-k known fact that hundreds oil puonc
documents containing Information OF "nuo"pu
scientific value and illustrations OF rare ue"u'''
mould in cellars or buried with dus' Oh t'io Wy
sh ,lves Of Government offices from never '"e
called for by the public. largely from the 1ac' 'n"'
no one dreams that such interesting mate'iai can
be contained in law sheep or black clo'n' ~
further the public not only pays Tor 'hese rePo''
md then rarely uses them. but also buys at goou
figure books Of less authority and OF INFERIOR 60
ecution which have been compiled by shrewo o".
unscholarly men from these very reports o"'
clothed in attractive bindings.
In one respect at least. this report conforms 10
what is usual TO expect In the case OF Govern
ment document That is It's Hardness Cover
ing az II does the year ended September 80. 1879
4, was not issued from the State printers nn'ii
nearly TWO years after that time-long AFTER some
of the recommendations OF the Commissioners had
been put In execution.
on opening the report one is Immediately struck
by the excellence of its Illustrations or these the
ruIlpace colo-ed plates are the most noticeable
They number fourteen. and are from paintings ny
S f. Denton and j. L. Rideway, and cover some
OF the most significant features OF the activity OF
the Commission The first one is OF oysters anu
shows the succuent bivalves in their natural sizes
at one, two. six and eight years of age. In NOS :
and g. respectively, the male and female sunapee
trout or American sabiing are pictured in all their
lustre. Nos. and show the male and female
brook trout. with their curious notifies. In NO
the enemies of the oyster. consisting or the drli
or borer the perwinkle. and three examples OF the
starfsh are shown. The glossy notified green OF
the pike perch or wall-eyed pike. Is pictured in
No. T. while the large slender Adirondack frost
fish. or round whitefsh. is pictured in No {. The
spotted and-locked salmon. or ouananchs, male
and female shown in Nos. and III, ana the
lake trout is represented In No. II. OF colored
plates devoted 10 birds. three are given. They
are the ruffled grouse, partridge the quail and
the woodcocx Such plates are. OF course ex-
pensivc but by inserting a few In each report, in
the COURSE OF few years some OF the most COM
forms Of the zoology of the state can DC
presented in exquisite form.
The other illustrations include moro than twenty
han-tones and eleven artotypes. from photographs
used insets, and scores of headand-tail pieces.
ard other illustrations in the text The photo
graphs by II. l.. Carpenter and illustrate a
variety Of subjects, including oyster and star fish,
Ing. lodge ana tent life in the Adirondack. log
jams. pulp mills and the damage caused by the
State dam. The six artotypes pcturng the
scenes about John Browns grave are especially
good The head-and-tail pieces and other Illus
trations in the from drawings by II. S.
Watson, and TO be commended for trutnfulnesS
and accuracy of detail.
1t should be especially noted that while the
report contains wealth of illustration 1t is no
picture book. No picture IS included except
10 illustrate the text. Besides the interesting and
valuable reports and articles by the Commissioners
members Of their staff, contributions from scien-
lists. eminent in their special fields have been Sc
cured The titles least. Of some Of these should
be mentioned Dr. John Duncan Quackenbos, OF
Columbia University, contributed an article on the
American saibng. or sunapee trout. which were
introduced into the waters Of the State during the
year covered by the report II. A. Surface. OF
Cornell University has an article on Three Most
hob-white; or quail and the woodcock DR. TaTle,
ton H. Beans NoSs Cpon N NEW Fi s. s
cluded; while George w. Rafter. Of the state En-
Fow n f ResO @ai to a''s on
6ose the bS ,hS % aB ss's eson
Cheney on BLACK Bass and Their Distribution in
he Waters of the STATE BTook T1ou! and Con-
Pike Perch. and one "' by Commissioner Edward
Thompson. on "Oysters and Their Cultivation"
The report proper. by the Commissioners. and
special reports by William +. Fox Superintendent
Of Forests. largely taken up with the subject
81 These ' purchases
thorized by constitutional provisions The Adiron-
dack Park, which is now rapidly becoming real
ity. is described by the Commissioners the
great health and pleasure resort of the people.
BY It's purchase and preservation they aim TO
foster the future water supply Of our canals and
navgable rivers and to preserve the forests. which
yet remain in something like their primitive con-
dition"
As has already been said. there un-
precedently large demand for the first report Of
the Commissioners by people both in and out Of
the State Ii appealed 10 several classes. hunters
and fishermen summer residents of the Adiron-
dacks. those interested In forest preservation and
public schools and libraries. Large editions
placed In the hands Of the State Superintendent OF
Public instruction and the State Librarian for dis
tribution the public schools and libraries Of the
State. In that way ii received A wide distribution
throughout the State. and viii be permanently
valuable for educational purposes IF such Is not
already the case provision Will probably be made
for the same vide circulation of the beautiful and