therefore, more difficult to shoot. Its flight is most uncertain, most
variable, and most irregular--rising at one time as evenly as a lark,
and flying close to the ground with scarcely the slightest deviation
from a straight line; at another, springing from the ground as if
fired from a gun, and then flying in a zig-zag course to the right or
left, and, indeed, in every direction; and sometimes, again, rising
to a great height, and then going straight away with the rapidity of
lightning. And yet, with all these apparent difficulties, when the
knack is once acquired, it becomes comparatively easy--indeed, is
reduced almost to a certainty. The great art in this kind of shooting
is coolness, and to avoid too much hurry. And, in this, as in every
other kind of shooting, the first sight is the best; the moment you
are “well on” your bird, the trigger should be pulled. In cross shots,
fire well before your bird. Contrary to the usual practice, you should
always walk down wind; the reason for this is that snipe always rise
against it. Sometimes snipe are very wild, and at others will lie until
they are almost trodden upon. If there be much wind, your best chance
is to “down with them” as soon as they rise from the ground, or you
have little hope of getting a bag.
* * * * *
PRESEVERATIVES FOR SKINS.--The best material for the preseveration of
skins of animals consists in powdered arsenious acid, or the common
arsenic of the shops. This may be used in two ways: either applied in
dry powder on the moist skin, or, still better, mixed with alcohol or
water to the consistency of molasses, and put on with a brush. Some
camphor may be added to the alcoholic solution, and a little strychnine
will undoubtedly increase its efficacy. There are no satisfactory
substitutes for arsenic, but, in its entire absence, corrosive
sublimate, camphor, alum, etc., may be employed.
Many persons prefer the arsenical soap to the pure arsenic. This is
composed of the following ingredients, arsenic, 1 ounce; white soap, 1
ounce; carbonate of potash, 1 dram; water, 6 drams; camphor, 2 drams.
Cut the soap into thin slices, and melt over a slow fire with the
water, stirring it continually; when dissolved, remove from the fire,
and add the potash and arsenic by degrees; dissolve the camphor in a
little alcohol, and when the mixture is nearly cold, stir it in.
The proper materials for stuffing out skins will depend much upon the
size of the animal. For small birds and quadrupeds, cotton will be
found most convenient; for the larger, tow; for those still larger,
dry grass, straw, sawdust, bran, or other vegetable substances, may
be used. Whatever substance be used, care must be taken to have it
perfectly dry. Under no circumstances should animal matter, as hair,
wool, or feathers, be employed.
The bills and loral region, as well as the legs and feet of birds,
and the ears, lips and toes of mammals, may, as most exposed to the
ravages of insects, be washed with an alcoholic solution of strychnine
applied with a brush to the dried skin; this will be an almost certain
safeguard against injury.
* * * * *
FISHING WITH NATURAL FLY.--This consists in fishing with the natural
flies, grasshoppers, etc., which are found on the banks of the
rivers or lakes where you are fishing. It is practiced with a long
rod, running tackle, and fine line. When learning this system of
angling, begin by fishing close under the banks, gradually increasing
your distance until you can throw your live bait across the stream,
screening yourself behind a tree, a bush, or a cluster of weeds,
otherwise you will not have the satisfaction of lifting a single fish
out of the water. In rivers where immense quantities of weeds grow in
the summer, so as almost to check the current, you must fish where the
stream runs most rapidly, taking care that in throwing your line into
those parts you do not entangle it among the weeds. Draw out only as
much line as will let the fly touch the surface, and if the wind is at
your back it will be of no material service to you in carrying the fly
lightly over the water. In such places the water is generally still,
and your bait must, if possible, be dropped with no more noise than the
living fly would make if it fell into the water.
Keep the top of your rod a little elevated, and frequently raise and
depress it and move it to and fro very gently, in order that the fly
by its shifting about may deceive the fish and tempt them to make a
bite. The instant your bait is taken, strike smartly, and if the fish
is not so large as to overstrain and snap your tackle, haul it out
immediately, as you may scare away many while trying to secure one.
There are very many baits which may be used with success in natural fly
fishing, of which, however, we shall content ourselves with enumerating
some of the most usual and useful.
Wasps, hornets and bumble bees are esteemed good baits for dace, eels,
roach, bream and chub; they should be dried in an oven over the fire,
and if not overdone, they will keep a long while.
* * * * *
HOW TO SELECT FURS.--In purchasing furs, a sure test of what dealers
call a “prime” fur is the length and density of the down next the skin;
this can be readily determined by blowing a brisk current of air from
the mouth against the set of fur. If the fibers open readily, exposing
the skin to the view, reject the article; but if the down is so dense
that the breath cannot penetrate it, or at most shows but a small
portion of the skin, the article may be accepted.
* * * * *
TO CLEAN FURS.--Strip the fur articles of their stuffing and binding,
and lay them as much as possible in a flat position. They must then be
subjected to a very brisk brushing, with a stiff clothes brush; after
that, any moth-eaten parts must be cut out, and be neatly replaced by
new bits of fur to match. Sable, chinchilla, squirrel, fitch, etc.,
should be treated as follows: Warm a quantity of new bran in a pan,
taking care that it does not burn, to prevent which it must be actively
stirred. When well warmed, rub it thoroughly into the fur with the
hand. Repeat this two or three times; then shake the fur, and give
it another sharp brushing until free from dust. White furs, ermine,
etc., may be cleaned as follows: Lay the fur on the table, and rub it
well with bran made moist with warm water; rub until quite dry, and
afterward with dry bran. The wet bran should be put on with flannel,
and the dry with a piece of book-muslin.
The light furs, in addition to the above, should be well rubbed with
magnesia, or a piece of book-muslin after the bran process. Furs are
usually much improved by stretching, which may be managed as follows:
to a pint of soft water add three ounces of salt; dissolve; with this
solution sponge the inside of the skin (taking care not to wet the
fur) until it becomes thoroughly saturated; then lay it carefully on
a board with the fur side downward, in its natural disposition, then
stretch as much as it will bear, to the required shape, and fasten with
small tacks. The drying may be quickened by placing the skin a little
distance from the fire or stove.
* * * * *
FISHING WITH ARTIFICIAL FLY.--Artificial fly fishing consists in the
use of imitations of these flies and of other fancy flies, and is
unquestionably the most scientific mode of angling, requiring great
tact and practice to make the flies with neatness and to use them
successfully, and calling forth as it does so much more skill than the
ordinary method of bottom fishing, it merits its superior reputation.
It possesses many advantages over bottom fishing, but at the same time
it has its disadvantages; it is much more cleanly in its preparations,
inasmuch as it does not require the angler to grub for clay and work up
a quantity of ground baits, and is not so toilsome in its practice, for
the only encumbrances which the fly fisher has are simply a light rod,
a book of flies and whatever fish he may chance to catch; but there are
several kinds of fish which will not rise at a fly, and even those that
do will not be lured from their quiet retreat during very wet or cold
weather. It would be well if the young angler could go out for some
little time with an old experienced hand, to observe and imitate his
movements as closely as possible.
* * * * *
TO PREPARE SHEEP SKINS FOR MATS.--Make a strong lather with hot water
and let it stand till cold; wash the fresh skin in it, carefully
squeezing out all the dirt from the wool; wash it in cold water till
all the soap is taken out. Dissolve a pound each of salt and alum in
two gallons of hot water, and put the skin into a tub sufficient to
cover it; let it soak for twelve hours, and hang it over a pole to
drain. When well drained stretch it carefully on a board to dry, and
stretch several times while drying. Before it is quite dry, sprinkle on
the flesh side one ounce each of finely pulverized alum and saltpetre,
rubbing it in well.
Try if the wool be firm on the skin; if not, let it remain a day or
two, then rub again with alum; fold the flesh sides together and hang
in the shade for two or three days, turning them over each day till
quite dry. Scrape the flesh side with a blunt knife, and rub it with
pumice or rotten stone.
* * * * *
TO TAN SHEEP SKINS.--Sheep skins, which are used for a variety of
purposes, such as gloves, book-covers, etc., and which when dyed, are
converted into mock Morocco leather, are dressed as follows: They are
first to be soaked in water and handled, to separate all impurities,
which may be scraped off by a blunt knife on a beam. They are then to
be hung up in a close, warm room to putrefy. This putrefaction loosens
the wool, and causes the exudation of an oily and slimy matter, all
which are to be removed by the knife. The skins are now to be steeped
in milk of lime, to harden and thicken; here they remain for 1 month
or 6 weeks, according to circumstances, and when taken out, they are
to be smoothed on the fleshy side with a sharp knife. They are now to
be steeped in a bath of bran and water, where they undergo a partial
fermentation, and become thinner in their substance.
The skins, which are now called pelts, are to be immersed in a solution
of alum and common salt in water; in the proportion of 120 skins to
three pounds of alum and five pounds of salt. They are to be much
agitated in this compound saline bath, in order to become firm and
tough. From this bath they are to be removed to another, composed
of bran and water, where they remain until quite pliant by a slight
fermentation. To give their upper surface a gloss, they are to be
trodden in a wooden tub, with a solution of yolks of eggs in water,
previously well beaten up. When this solution has become transparent,
it is a proof that the skins have absorbed the glazing matter. The pelt
may now be said to be converted into leather, which is to be drained
from moisture, hung upon hooks in a warm apartment to dry, and smoothed
over with warm hand-irons.
* * * * *
TO TRAP YOUNG MINK.--MINK BREEDING.--Adult minks are almost untamable,
but young ones readily submit to handling, and are easily domesticated.
The time to secure young minks is in May and June, when they begin
to run with their dams. The streams must be quietly watched for mink
trails, and these tracked to the nest.
When they leave the hole the old one may be shot, and the young ones
secured, or they may be dug out. Those who own a breeding stock of
minks ask high prices for them; but trappers represent to us that it
is an easy matter to get the wild young ones. _Habits._--A successful
breeder says that he does not attempt to tame the wild mink, but only
aims to supply for it in a small space all the necessities of its
natural instincts. He says the mating season commences about the first
of March, and lasts two weeks, never varying much from that date.
The female carries her young about six weeks. In the minkery, where
diet, water, temperature, etc., are similar with each animal, there is
so little difference in the time of mating and time of bearing young in
different animals, that five out of six litters dropped last spring,
were born within twelve hours of each other. The young are blind from
four to five weeks, but are very active, and playful as kittens. The
mother weans them at from eight to ten weeks old. At four weeks the
mother begins to feed them meat; this they learn to suck before they
have teeth to eat it.
The nests in which the young are born are lined by the mother with some
soft material, and are made in the hollow of some old stump, or between
the projecting roots of some old tree, and always where it is perfectly
dry. The nest is located near pure running water, which the mother
visits twice every twenty-four hours. She feeds her young on frogs,
fish, birds, mice, crabs, etc., etc. The mink is from birth a pattern
of neatness and cleanliness, and as soon as a nest begins to get foul
and offensive, she takes one of the young in her mouth, and depositing
it in a clean, suitable place, builds a nest about it, and then brings
the balance of the litter. She feeds and cares for them until they are
three and a half or four months old. When the young are weaned, about
the 10th of July, she builds her nest near the water, in which the
young soon learn to play. There are usually four in a litter, though
the number ranges from two to six. Towards fall the mother separates
them into pairs. One pair--or if the number be odd, the odd one--is
left in the nest; the other pair or pairs, she places them often half a
mile from each other, and then seeks new quarters for herself.
The young soon separate, and each one catches his own frogs, etc. They
do not pair, but the male is a sort of rover and free-lover. Minks are
unsociable, petulant, vicious in play, savage in war. Late in the fall
they establish regular runaways from one stream to another, and usually
under brush-fallen trees, weeds swale, and under banks--anywhere, in
fact, where they can avoid the sunshine, and escape the chances of
observation. The mink is a sure prophet, and just before hard winter
begins, he lays by a store of food for the winter in safe places near
his winter nests, of which he has several. As the snows fall he burrows
under the snow, where he remains until about February, when his supply
of food is exhausted, and he is forced to seek further for food.
* * * * *
MANAGEMENT OF.--Mink being by nature solitary, wandering creatures,
being seldom seen in company except during the breeding season, are,
therefore, impossible to be reared successfully, if large numbers are
kept constantly together, therefore their inclosure should be a large
one.
The male and female should be permitted to be together frequently from
the middle of February until the middle of March. At all other times
keep them entirely separate. The young mink make their appearance about
the first of May. When wild in the woods they will seldom vary five
days from this time, but when kept in confinement there is greater
variation. About this season they should have plenty of fine hay, which
they will carry into their boxes to make nests. A box three or four
feet long and eighteen inches wide is the shape they prefer. It should
be placed as far as possible from the water to prevent the mink from
carrying water and mud into it.
The young mink when first born are small and delicate, destitute of any
kind of fur, and much resembling young rats. If the old mink is tame
the young ones may be taken out of the nest and handled when they are
three weeks old. They will soon learn to drink milk, and may feed every
day. At five weeks old they may be taken from the mother and put into a
pen by themselves, when they will soon become very playful and pretty,
and make much better mothers than they would if allowed to run with the
old ones.
The shelter should be in the shape of a long box, 5 or 6 feet wide,
and 3 or 4 feet high, set upon legs, and with a good floor and roof.
Divide it into separate compartments, 6 feet long (or longer would be
better,) the front of each apartment to be furnished with a swinging
door of strong wire screen, with the hinges at the top, and a button or
some kind of fastener at the bottom. A trough 6 inches square, made by
nailing three boards together, should run the whole length of the pen
on the back side; one end of the trough should be made several inches
lower than the other, so that the water can be drawn off. With this
arrangement, the water can be turned in at one end of the trough, and
drawn off and changed as often as desired. The lower end of the trough
should be a little deeper than the other, to prevent the water from
running over. Each apartment is furnished with a box 3 feet long and
eighteen inches wide. On one side of the box and near one end is made a
round hole, 2-1/2 inches in diameter, and provided with a sliding cover
so that by means of a stick it can be opened or closed from the outside.
This is so the mink can be shut up when the pen is being cleaned
out. On the top of the box and at the other end should be a door
large enough to put in hay for the nest and take out the young. It is
necessary that they have abundance of pure, soft water, fresh air,
desirable shade and plenty of exercise. These conditions secure to the
mink a good quality of dark fur and good health. Brush, weeds, etc.,
are allowed to grow in the yard, but not near enough the wall to admit
of their climbing up and out.
In addition to the above directions for breeding mink, we give the
following experience of a gentleman in Vermont: “I purchased one
female and her litter of five, two males and four females in all, and
constructed a building of rough boards, 10 by 4 feet, for a minkery.
It had a floor tight enough to prevent the escape of the animals, was
properly ventilated, and divided into six apartments, one of which is
an ante-room in which to step from the outside and close the door.
Water is supplied by a lead pipe running in at one side through all the
rooms, and out at the other into a trough where small fish are kept,
and occasionally given to the minks.
“They were kept together until December the 18th, when the males were
put in an apartment by themselves. On the 10th of March each male was
put in with a female, each pair separate, and after a couple of days,
one of the males was put in with another female, and finally with the
third. They were separated about the 1st of April, each female being
kept alone and supplied with a suitable box, with warm material for a
nest. When it was supposed they were about to bring forth their young,
they were disturbed as little as possible; anything to excite them at
this time, should be avoided, for when irritated, they will sometimes
eat their young. The first female put with the perfect male, brought
forth seven, one of which disappeared after they began to crawl around
out of their nest. The other two females had each a pair, all of which
(but the one mentioned) are now alive, fine, fat, sleek fellows, and
fully grown. They are very easily kept, being fed once a day upon warm
milk with wheat bread crumbs--a quart sufficing for the whole lot, and
once upon fresh meat, care being taken not to over-feed.
“Any kind of meat and offal that is not too fat will answer. They are
very fond of beef liver, chickens’ heads and entrails, woodchucks
(being careful not to give them the gall or the liver, which is
poisonous), rats, mice, etc. They are more easily cared for than one
hog and much more cheaply kept. Nothing was paid out for meat for them
until after 1st July, when a contract was made with a butcher to leave
a bullock’s head once a week. I am confident that the increase of the
minkery would have been fully one-third more if both the males had
been perfect. I intend to keep them in pairs hereafter. They are not
easily handled, but struggle when caught against their will and exude
the thick fetid substance from glands near the vent. They will bite
severely, but can be handled safely with thick buckskin gloves.”
[Illustration: THE END.]
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90 Young Wild West’s Indian Scout; or, Arietta and the Pawnee Maiden.
91 Young Wild West and the “Salted” Mine; or, The Double Game for a
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92 Young Wild West’s Overland Route; or, The Masked Band of Death Pass.
93 Young Wild West’s Iron Grip; or, Settling the Cowboy Feud.
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99 Young Wild West’s Fandango; or, Arietta Among the Mexicans.
100 Young Wild West and the Double Deuce; or, The Domino Gang of Denver.
101 Young Wild West on the Prairie; or, The Trail That Had No End.
102 Young Wild West and “Missouri Mike”; or, The Worst Man in Wyoming.
103 Young Wild West at the Golden Gate; or, a Business Trip to ’Frisco.
104 Young Wild West and the Redskin Raiders; or, Arietta’s Leap for
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* * * * *
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No.
294 Fred Fearnot’s Wall Street Game; or, Fighting the Bucket Shops.
295 Fred Fearnot’s Society Circus; or, The Fun That Built a
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296 Fred Fearnot’s Wonderful Courage; or, The Mistake of the Train
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297 Fred Fearnot’s Friend from India, and the Wonderful Things He Did.
298 Fred Fearnot and the Poor Widow; or, Making a Mean Man Do Right.
299 Fred Fearnot’s Cowboys; or, Tackling the Ranch Raiders.
300 Fred Fearnot and the Money Lenders; or, Breaking Up a Swindling
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301 Fred Fearnot’s Gun Club; or, Shooting for a Diamond Cup.