Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1937, Page 62

F-2 -— OLD NURSERIES GAINED FAME Linnaean Hill in Rock Creek Park, Named for Great Botanist, Associated With Historic Events in Virginia and With Wash- ington Home for Foun By John Clagett Proctor. FEW people in Washington, in- tants, could tell Linnaean Hill is located, and yet it is an estate dating back for consider- ably more than a century, and was so named by Joshua Peirce for the great | Swedish botanist, Karl von Linnaeus, commonly called Linne. Linnaean Hill is now a part of Rock Creek Park, and has been ever since | this reservation was transferred to the Government, together with other land lying along Rock Creek, in 1890. This estate then consisted of 31.817 acres, and was held in the name of Joshua Peirce Klingle, a nephew by marriage of Joshua Peirce, who built the old mansion house about 1823, when the land was given him by his father, Isaac Peirce, who built Peirce’s Mill, recently restored. ‘When Isaac Peirce deeded this land to his son Joshua, on October 10, 1823, “for natural love and affection,” the estate then consisted of 82 acres 2 rods and 28 perches, and it soon be- came one of the best nurseries in America. Indeed, John A. Saul, who is an authority on local nurseries, and who has written entertainingly on the subject for the records of the Columbia Historical Society, says it was the first general nursery in the District of Columbia. Joshua Peirce also con- ducted a nursery within the city limits on a tract said to have included about 54 acres. This, of course, must have been before the streets in the out- lying parts of Washington were opened up, and the center of his city plant was somewhere in the neighborhood of where once stood the Washington cluding the members of the As- | sociation of the Oldest Inhabi- | you where | Joshua Peirce, who con- ducted the first general nurs- ery in the District of Columbia. estate, in bygone days, may be had by reading what the late Louis P. Shoemaker, a grandnephew of Joshua Peirce, said upon one occasion re- garding Mr. Peirce and his nurseries, when he stated: “This place was known as ‘Linnaean Hill,” and is worthy of special mention, | not only because of its past history, the scenes of business activity and | the great beauty with which it was once adorned by its original owner, but because of the future utility to | which it could be applied. Hospital for Foundlings, 1751 Fifteenth street northwest. The principal part of his town nurseries extended from Fourteenth to Sixteenth street and from R to T street. But just a word about the old Lin- naean Hill home before telling more of the Peirce family. THIS is a picturesque old residence, fully in keeping with the station of a country gentleman of means. As stated, it was erected in 1823, the walls being of blue stone similar to that found throughout the park area, and like the stone with which the streets of Washington were once macadamized, before asphalt and ce- ment pavement came into general use. The walls are 24 inches thick, and there is a double-deck veranda or porch on the south side of the build- ing, embellished with a cast-iron railing of scroll work in grape design, | into which is entwined a wistaria vine of considerable age and beauty. On the north side an addition was made ebout 1843, and the difference in the etone then used is easily detected when compared with the original part of the building. The main entrance is on this side of the house, and here is a very large iron scraper to one side of the step, just as a reminder to clean your shoes before entering the doorway. Within the memory of many, when Washington was a mud hole, nearly every residence in the city was equipped with one of these scrapers, which was secured to the side of the first step of the porch or stoop at the front door of the dwelling. Toward the top of the north front of the house, the date “1823” has been carved, which may be accepted as the date of its erection. Even today, the stonework in this building is in & remarkably good condition, and a &tone arch over the main entrance does not show the slightest indica- tion of giving way. NTIL a few years ago, the walls of this old building were covered with a heavy growth of English ivy. This has all been removed, and today the walls are bare and possibly lack some of their earlier charm, but, generally speaking, except for a slight modern touch here and there, made necessary through deterioration, the structure is about as it was when first built. The interior of the building has also undergone replacements, but not enough to detract from its age or to give it in the least a modern appear- ance. Unfortunately, several of the mantels have been removed Bndf others substituted in their places, | but the old atmosphere is still there, and although the drawing room and the banquet room have been papered, & very old design has been used. In the former, the paper shows a large gray basket figure on a dark blue background. This design is said to have been copied from paper used in decorating the walls of the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's celebrated home near Nash- ville, Tenn, which was used more recently in the reproduction of Old Hickory's historic mansion, erected in front of the White House, and from which President Franklin D. Roose- velt reviewed the inaugural parade on January 20 a few months ago. ‘The banquet or dining room has been similarly treated, except that the main figure in the paper is a large blue peacock. This design comes from Upper New York, and is known as the Gov. Gore paper. All old homes of this character are fascinat- ing to the writer, but the thing that attracted his attention most when he went through this early District resi- dence, was the old-time fireplace, ‘which measured about 6 feet long by 4 feet and 6 inches high. This early home of the Peirces and the Klingles is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. C. Marshall Finnan, Mr. Finnan being the superintendent of the National Capital Parks, and when they moved in about six months ago, one thing they did not know anything about was this large country fire- place. However, Mr. Finnan sus- pected there must be one of this kind in the house, and after a careful in- spection and sounding out the walls, uncovered this one, which had been sealed and plastered over and per- fectly hidden from view. But it was immediately restored as it is now. OSHUA PEIRCE, who erected this building, was not only a foremost and progressive nurseryman, but he was also a very good financier, and when.he died, his will disposed of a good deal of property, including Lin- naean Hill, which in his day was quite likely a much more beautiful place than it is now, for it must be re- membered that after the death of Mr. Peirce and his nephew, Joshua Peirce Klingle, everything was allowed to run down, and it generally takes “Mr. Pierce was one of those citizens | | whose character and industry adorn | | the early history of our District. He | had the advantage of a good educa- | tion and soon became, by reason of | | his taste and talent, a horticulturist | i of national reputation and a nursery- ! man who conducted an extensive busi- | ness. The parks and reservations of | | the city were, to a great extent, | | stocked from Linnaean Hill. | “It will be remembered that about | | 1856 the camellia was introduced | into this country. This species of | | Chinese or Japanese shrubs was first | imported into Europe by a German | Jesuit about 1739. It is one of the | most beautiful of cultilvated flowers. How generally it was favored through- out that country is not known to me, | but certainly in Washington it was | much admired, and was appreciated to such an extent that the most per- fect specimens were sold as high as $1. | Its popularity has, however, passed | away, and the rose, our American Beauty, like American skill and Amer- lcan ingenuity, has full sway. “Mr. Pierce cultivated the camellia |in great variety and quantity. The | | large conservatories, built of stone, | vet standing near the residence on | the south side of the hill toward the | | city, have been crowded with bushes | densely covered with the bloom of | this conspicuously beautiful flower. “Linnaean Hill was not only the scene of a large and profitable busi- ness, but the grounds were artistically treated, and the plants, rare flowers | and trees were so beautifully arranged | that the place was converted into a horticultural and rural park, where the people of the National Capital sought pleasure, recreation and in- struction. “Large sugar maples, white pines | |and rare trees yet adorn Linnaean | Hill within the limits of the park.” dlings. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MAY 16, 1937—PART FOUR. OSHUA PEIRCE believed in adver- tising—good advertising; a com- mendable thing for any one to in- dulge in. And so, in the National Intelligencer of March 7, 1825, we find a card inserted by him announc- ing the varieties of “Fruits and Orna- mental Trees,” which he had for sale at Linnaean Hill, and these include, to quote his announcement: * * * “a choice collection of Fruit Trees, con- sisting of Apple, Peach, Pear, Nec- tarine, Apricot, Plum and Cherry Trees; with a varlety of Garden Fruit, such as Currant, Gooseberry and Raspberry Bushes, etc. A large col- lection of Evergreen and other Orna- mental Forest Trees, among which are European and American Balm of Gilead, Fir, White or Weymouth Pine; Norway, Black, Red and Hemlock Spruce Fir; Juniper and Arbor Vitae, Larch, Linden, Sugar Maple, Locust, Button Wood, Lombardy, Athenian, and Tulip Poplar Trees; with a va- riety of others, suitable for streets and lawns; Grapes native and foreign, Vines and Creepers, for walls and arbors; Ornamental Flowering Shrubs, Rose Bushes; Green House Trees and Plants, Bulbous-rooted and other hardy Plants. “Also a large quantity of thé Pyra- cantha, or Evergreen Thorn, and Main's American Hedging Thorn, which will be sold at reduced prices to persons disposed to plant largely. “Catalogues of the above articles, with prices affixed, can be had of the subscriber at the Nursery of Mr. Thomas Levering, near the Post Office in Washington; of Mr. Edward M. Linthicum, Corner of Bridge and High Streets, Georgetown, or of the following persons who as agents will receive and forward orders: Mr. Ab- raham Coates, Philadelphia; Mr. Robert Sinclair, Baltimore; Dr. Wil- liam Fitcher, Fredericktown, Md.; Mr. John Bradock, Rockville; Mr. | Thomas Swann, Annapolis; Mr. John | Shaw, Leesburg, Va. “All orders from a distance, in- | closing cash or referring to some person near, who will become re- sponsible for the payment, will meet | with prompt attention.” | JOSHUA PEIRCE is said to have been born in Philadelphia about 1795 and died at his homestead on April 11, 1869. He was the youngest child of Isaac Peirce. His wife's maiden name was Susan A. Coates, and she was the daughter of a Mr. Coates, a cashier in Stephen Girard's Bank of Philadelphia. She was a widow at the time of their marriage and died January 10, 1861, aged T4 years. At the time of Mr. Peirce's death the National Intellegincer said: “Mr. Joshua Peirce, one of the oldest citizens of Washington, died yesterday afternoon at his residence at Linnaean Hill, near the city, in the 75th year of his age. Mr. Peirce was well known to our citizens gener- ally, having for many years been engaged in the propagation of rare trees and plants and was the owner of a square of ground near the State | Department, which he used as a branch of his nursery at Linnaean HilL” Mr. Peirce left no issue. His will is dated August 22, 1867, but apparently was not signed until October of that year, the witnesses be- ing James B. Dodson, Joseph W. Nairn and R. Townshend Dodson. The executors were John B. Blnke} and Moses Kelly. Old fireplace in the Linnaean Hill mansion. —Star Staff Photo. Corner of the drawing room at Linnaean Hill, showing the old Hermitage wall paper. —Star Staff Photo. N THIS will he devised his estate as follows: The notes held by him and made by his nephew, J. Peirce Klingle, secured on part of square 207 (between Fourteenth and Fifteenth and R and S streets north- west) amounting in all to $14,100, he left in different amounts to Abagail Shoemaker, widow of David Shoe- maker, and her son, Abner C. P. Shoemaker: Abner C. Simonton of Elkhart, Ind., a nephew; Mrs. Frances Shoemaker, wife of Edward Shoe- maker of Georgetown, and Elizabeth C. Ould, wife of Henry Ould. He did not forget his former slaves and left to Jerry Gibson and Nancy Rhodes an annuity of $48 a year, while the following outright gifts were pro- vided for: To Thomas Rhodes, $300; Anthony Rhodes, $300; William Beckett, $1,000; Maria Ruston, $400; Ellen Webster, $400; Charles Eugene Rhodes, son of Charlotte Rhodes, $300, and George Ruston, son of Maria Rhodes, $300. The northern moiety in square 206 he left to trustees to hold for the benefit of the children of Helen B. Phillips. then wife of Dr. James Phil- Lips, etc. One of the principal charities was in leaving lots 24 to 37, in the square bounded by Fourteenth, Fifteenth and R and S streets northwest, to William M. Shuster and William H. Clagett, in trust. to hold them for a site for | the erection of a hospital for found- lings “to be erected by some associ- ation, soclety or institution,” which he provided should not be under the control of any one religious sect or persuasion. However, the buildings were not completed and opened until 1887. For many years it was located at 1751 Fifteenth street, on the land left for this purpose by Mr. Peirce, but in more recent years this property | was sold and the hospital moved to ! 4610 Forty-second street northwest e e Linnaean Hill mansion, built in 1823. The early home of Joshua Peirce. —Star Staff Phot.o ol in 1929. The Fifteenth street site is now occupied by St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church. The residue of Mr. Peirce’s estate, which included Linnaean Hill, he de- vised to John B. Blake and Moses Kelly, in trust, the profits to be paid to his wife's nephew, Joshua Peirce Klingle, for life, balance to his chil- dren and the children of his deceased children, if any, after his death. And if he had no issue, then two-thirds of the residue as mentioned was to go to his own helrs (the heirs of Joshua Peirce) and one-third to his wife's next of kin. FTER the death of Joshua Peirce, Joshua Klingle took up his resi- dence at Linnaean Hill with his wife, Laura T. Klingle, said to have been a Baltimore lady of refinement, whose maiden name was Gay, and who was 80 proud of her descent from the In- dian Princess Pocahontas, that she always kept hanging in her parlor portraits of Pocahontas ana King Powhatan. Without looking up the facts re- garding the ancestry of Mrs. Klingle, it may be taken for granted that she was descended from the Indian prin- cess, through Dr. William Gay, who married Elizabeth, John Bolling, who married Mary Kennon. It is known that Mrs. Klingle did try to perpetuate the name “Gay” | by naming a daughter Lilllan Gay Bea- trice Klingle. In this connection a partial list of the descendants of Po- cahontas and her husband, John Rolfe, might prove of interest. As is quite well known, this unusual couple had only one son, Thomas Rolfe, who was born in 1615. An uncle, Henry Rolfe, educated the lad in England and, when presumably he had grown to manhood, he returned to Virginia, where he is said to have acquired wealth and distinction. His wife was Jane Poythress, by whom he left one child only, named Jane Rolfe, who was born in Virginia, married Col. Robert Bolling in 1675 and died the following year, leaving but one child, a son, John Bolling, born in 1676. Thus it will be seen that, for three generations (Thomas Rolfe, Jane Rolfe and John Bolling) there | was but one child born to perpetuate the Indian blood of Pocahontas, and yet, from this time on they became quite numerous, for John Bolling (born 1676), died 1720), through his marriage with Mary Kennon, had six children—Maj. John Bolling, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Martha and Anne. Maj. John Bolling, of the fourth in descent, born in 1700 and died Sep- tember 6, 1757, married Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Archibald Blair, and is recorded as having had 19 children. The five sisters of Maj. Bolling married a8 follows: Jane, to Col. Richard Randolph; Mary, to Col. the daughter of | John Fleming of Mount Pleasant; Elizabeth, to Dr. William Gay; Mar- tha, to Thomas Eldridge, and Anne, to James Murray, the total issue from these six descendants being 63 children. IN THE fifth degree of descent from Pocahontas we find John Bolling marrying Martha, the sister to Presi- dent Thomas Jefferson, and in the same degree of descent we find John Randolph, son of Richard Randolph | (who married Jane Bolling) marrying Frances Bland, and from this union was born the famous John Randolph of Roanoke, of whom it is said that he probably probably never loved any human being with natural affection except his mother. At this time it might not be amiss to mention the occasion when John Rolfe returned to England in June, 1616, with Pocahontas, or Mrs. Re- becca Rolfe, his wife, when King James was disposed to be quite angry with him for daring to marry an imperial princess, while today the British crown seems to be all upeet because a former King and present duke is going to marry, according to the English view, a little out of his station. Then America furnished the princess royal, whereas, in the present instance, this country is only furnish- ing a simple. plain, but apparently delightful lady, with ancestry that might even lead back to this very | Indian princess. living in Washington, Francis D. Shoemaker is probably the oldest, having been born November 8, 1858. He was born in the old stone house called Clover Dale, to the west of Peirce or SBhoemaker's Mill, and was the son of Peirce Shoemaker and Martha (Carbery) Shoemaker. Peirce Shoemaker inherited the mill prop- erty from his uncle, Abner Cloud Peirce, and at the time of the death of the former owned 800 acres of land in and around Rock Creek Valley. Louis P. Shoemaker, who died in 1916, & brother to Francis D. Shoemaker, was one of the most aggressive of the many supporters of the Rock Creek Park project, mainly from a truly patriotic standpoint, and 29 years ago made a number of good suggestions regarding the develop- ment of the park, some of which have since been carried into effect. Indeed. Louis P. Shoemaker was intensely interested in all public mat- ters, and particularly in those per- taining to his native District of Co- lumbia, and shortly after the Federal Government had acquired title to the park he said: “This land was purchased by the Government in 1890 at a cost of over a million dollars, half of which Con- | gress required the taxpayers of the | District to pay, notwithstanding the than-air commercial craft. The Graf Zeppelin, which now holds the record for lighter- —Underwood & Underwood Photo. Pioneers Persist Despite Lakehurst Tragedy, Remem- bering the Millions of Miles and Passengers Flown in Safety by Dirigibles and Planes. By Alice Rogers Hager. Special Feature Correspondent of The Star and eye-witness of the Hindenburg disaster. HE tragedy at Lakehurst has not, as might perhaps have been expected, put a quietus on the controversy about ulti- mate efficiency in types of aircraft for over-ocean travel. The dead Hinden- burg has joined the long and illus- trious list of martyrs to aerial prog- ress, but from the lips of her tor- tured vietims has come the cry to go forward, even in the moment of their personal sacrifice. Nothing could have brought the issue of airship versus airplane more poignantly and dramatically home to the public mind than this signal failure of the one at the moment when the other is poised to begin its own pioneering take-off over the Atlantic—a failure which is accepted merely as & spur to further endeavor. The grim determination to carry on in the face of disaster, to keep faith with those who believed and paid the price of belief, is & very human and understandable trait. It has brought us along a bitterly weary road from our beginnings and will probably drive us on to goals we cannot even visualize at present. Realism and not sentiment, however, concerning fits application, is a vital and practical method of honoring it and giving it impetus. 1t is one of those moments when an assay of our position becomes neces- sary. Is the dirigible to continue, and to grow in size and power? Is the fast flying, heavier-than-air craft, as land plane and flying boat, to emerge dominant because of this disaster? Is public confidence justi- fled in either form for trans-oceanic transport, or are we before our time? To the last question, first, apply more time to restore than it does to destroy. An idea of the magnificence of this Pan American’s matchless over-water safety record; add almost a million Pessengers safely flown by all lighter- than-air craft before the Hindenburg | went down. ¢ Any thinking man or woman has a lively interest in this greatest of all | challenges to natural phenomena, the conquest of the air. Accidents take | a toll that extends far beyond the immediate source of trouble. People forget the millions of passenger miles | flown without loss, day after day, and remember only the time of fatality. All aviation suffers. 'HE picture of Comdr. Charles Rosendahl's set face as he came down from the cupping tower at Lakehurst to take charge of the rescue work, and of Capt. Anton Heinen, former chief test pilot for the Zep- pelin company in Germany and now civilian adviser to the Navy on lighter- than-air craft, wringing his hands as he was pulled back from the danger zo0ne by a sailor, is one that will live in memory along with the other kaleidoscopic scenes of that terrible Thursday evening a week ago. Be- side it, it is necessary to place the remembrance of another group of faces around the wreckage of a great airliner, also a crash victim. These men are moved by the horror of the moment, moved by the tragic human loss, sickened by the retarding of their years of patient effort and devotion. But there is not one of them that will not fly again tomorrow, that is turned back for a single moment from their objective. In the last analysis, however, when all possible efforts have been made for safety, progress in the air will de- pend on one factor—payload. Money makes the mare go, in the homely phrase; it also makes engine wheels revolve and buys gasoline for the fam- ily car. Aviation must make a profit or, in the end, cease to be. Govern- ment subsidy could keep it alive for & short time, but no government on earth .could continue to cary the ex- pense of such & burden without some return. A highly placed officer in the v Flames write “finis” to the proud career of the great German dirigible Hindenburg. Air Corps recently told me: “We are continually driven by the nightmare of obsolescence. Building moves so fast that one set of planes is scarcely delivered before they are out of date. ‘We could spend every cent the Gov- ernment has to spare and still need nfore.” It is, therefore, in the commercial field that the real development must go forward, earning its way as it goes. Fifteen million dollars is being spent in the United States this year by our commercial airlines using planes. Part of that is for the new and more luxuri=- ous ships being delivered to all the companies currently; a substantial part goes to the completion of next year's ships, such as the DC-4 of Douglas and the substratosphere Boe- ing; a still more substantial part to the experimental and research pro- gram being carried out in many direc- tions. ' —Wide World Photo. AYLOAD will decide the winning of the Atlantic, but that does not mean that planes will be eliminated by airships or the other way round. It is too soon to do more than guess the outcome. The prophet is too often confounded out of his own mouth in the struggle between science and na- ture. The best authorities; that is, the least biased ones, feel that planes will continue to carry passengers who are in a hurry, that over-ocean hoppers looking for speed will get it in heavier- than-air craft, but that the great bulk of cargo shipment, the largest numbers of travelers will go on the more leis- urely lighter-than-air, with its ability to cruise distances far beyond the reach, as yet, of present planes. The Hendenburg was capable of & payload of 21 tons, to which it had been announced she would this year add an additional 1,500-pounds capac- 1ty because of newly purified lifting gas o S The Brazilian Clipper, four-engined flying boat of the Pan- American Airways. —Pan-American Airways Photo. Weriter Believes Questions of Pay Load and Immunity From Danger Dwarf Dispute Over Comparative Merits of Airships and Airplanes. developed by the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. Ten more passengers could have been carried with this new gas, but the Zeppelin Transport Co. anticipated adding more mail and ex- press instead, and keeping to its newly established quota of 70. She had suc- cessfully completed 135,000 miles of travel on 21 trips and had carried 1,150 passengers. On her 18 projected trips this year she was expected to begin to return a comfortable margin of profit, over the average cost of $28,000 per trip. The LZ-130, her sister ship, which the German government has announced it will finish for service as quickly as possible, will be somewhat larger, and following ships, already planned, are expected to carry up to 150 passengers. Heavier-than-air ships are handi- capped by their fuel weight on long, non-stop voyages. Pan-American’s Martin Clippers carry as little as a single ton of pay load on the San Prancisco-Honolulu leg of the Pacific route, and burn s weight of gasoline equivalent to the weight of one pas- senger for each hour of flying time. Their total extent of passenger and cmew capacity under their fuel-carry- ing needs is 15. The new Boeing fly- ing boat, now being built for Pan- American, is expected to carry s top of 72 passengefs and crew Wwith s cargo of 5,000 pounds, to fly at an approximate 200 miles per hour and have a 5,000-mile cruising range. The swiftest flight the Hindenburg made was at 180 miles per hour, but that was before & 90-mile tall wind. LENN MARTIN'S announcement of a plane he could build now, if the demand existed, is old news, but it makes a useful comparison. He says that this trans-Atlantic flying boat would be capable of transport- ing 150 passengers &t two and a half miles & minute cruising speed, with & pey load of four tons. ” largest planes projected at present, although Martin atates that there is no reason, from an engineering standpoint, why flying boats to haul up to 300 people cannot be built with present knowledge. The lag now is in engine construction, but promising developments are ahead in this fleld. It is impossible, in so short an article, to go into the aerodynamic factors that favor one type of craft as against another. Capt. Hinen told me, however, that day at Lakehurst, that he belleved the airship of the future would even supplant sur- face ships ii ocean travel. He pre- dicted that the time was not far distant when they would be built and flown by the hundreds and that in- ital expense would correspondly de- crease and with added size pay load would increase until they would serve as the cheapest of all forms of transportation. The Secretary of the Navy's statement, a few days later, that study would continue on the Durand report means that the subject is still very much salive. England, Italy and France may have written off all except fairly small, non-rigid or semi-rigid motorized craft for the time being. Russia may move slowly. Germany and the United States, it would seem, in spite of disasters, still see hope for the future. Perhaps the solution will lie in a joining of two national intelligences in the realm of scientific knowledge beyond the war-engendered suspicions of the past. The battle of the air is not so much involved in whether we fly with wings or soar in an inflated envelope—it is that we reach at the earliest possible moment the point where there is no longer danger of disaster and where normal profits can be earned and a return to the traveler of tomorrow's world be made in the form of inex- pensive, comfortable, scheduled air transportation to the farthest corners ‘These are the of the earth. @ TRANS-OCEAN AIR TRAVEL PLANS SURVIVE HINDENBURG HORROR| & sl e T o DD T S TR MR P TR R fact that the wording of the act de- clared it to be a national park for the benefit of the people of the United States. “Our Federal legislators could not constitutionally, and would not un- dertake to impose such legislation upon the people of New York, or any other State, and the practice should never have been instituted here. It ought to be forever abandoned.” Francis D. Shoemaker, whose people owned a large part of the park at the time it was sold to the Government, still loves to visit the old haunts of his childhood days. and occasionally stops in at Linnaean Hill to look things over and compare the past with the present. Fishing (Continued From First Page.) judgment that is exercised in stock raising, the size of fish may be con- siderably increased and much better results obtained.” James points out. “A given area of ground will furnish forage for just so many cattle, and when more are added it means less food per capita The same rule applies to fish, and no more should be placed in a body of water than the natural food will maintain. Young bass, crappie and sunfish require natural food, and it is for this reason | i | that any surplus fish should be re- Of the descendants of Isaac Peirce, | moved to other waters in which a supply of suitable food is available ™ The Bureau of Fisheries receives % approximately 15000 applications for fish annually, about 70 per cent of which are for the so-called “warm- water” species, such as bass, crappie and bluegills, the remaining 30 per cent being for various species of trout. There is not much difficulty meeting the requests for trout, James informs us, for this species can be incubated in troughs of running water and fed on artifical food until large enough to be distributed. But it is much more difficult to filll the requests for the large and small mouth bass, the | black bass, the crappie and the blue= gill, as these fish are nest breeders and must be raised under more or less natural conditions. Sudden changes in temperature during the breeding season and other factors that the hatchery cannot con- trol make the output of any station uncertain. Also, the spiny-rayed fishes, especially the basses, are preda- tory in their habits. When confined in small water areas they will devour their own young. N SPITE of these handicaps, howe ever, the bureau produces 100,000 or more advanced fry, or 10,000 three and four inch fingerling bass to the acre of water when proper facilities are available. The total area the bureau has available for breeding purposes is 600 acres, and from the output of this restricted area there a are hundreds of thousands of acres to be stocked annually, obviously an ime possibility. Wherefore, the bureau is hopeful of sécuring more breeding acreage to supply the increasing de- mand for this particular species of game fish. The bureau distributes the fry in four especially equipped railroad cars from its hatcheries in various States to the public waters of virtually every State in the Union. These cars travel annually about 50,000 miles. They age equipped with both steam and electric air compressors for forcing air into the fish containers to renew the oxygen supply. The fish are car- ried in insulated compartments and each car is equipped to carry from 250 to 325 regulation pails of fish. Most of the bureau's hatcheries now use automobile trucks to make de- liveries of fish, but while State de- liveries can make use of trucks, maost of the bureau's distribution schedules call for such long hauls that trucks would be impracticable. In the applications filed with the bureau, which contain formsl re- quests for fish for stocking purposes, a complete description of the waters to be stocked is asked for and the bureau specialists determine from this a suitable species and the num- ber suitable to the area. Instructions for caring for the young fish and for planting them are sent with each delivery. While streams in this area sare stocked with trout in March, in the Rocky Mountain regions trout are ® , distributed from May to October. Black bass and other spiny fish are distributed from May to November. While the bureau hopes some day to be able to distribute its game fish at the legal catchable size, as is done in & number of States, this objective has not yet been realized, as it requires from three to five pounds of fish food, 'plus constant and assiduous care for A & year or more, to produce one pound of trout. However, there are plenty of the right size waiting for you in streams in and near Washington this season. And, if you catch “the trout that got away” in the Chesapeake last year, somewhere down around Mount Ver- non, you can blame it on the flood! 4 Antelope Plentiful. THE antelope, facing extinction @ not s0 many years ago, once more is & common sight in Western sec~ tions of the United States. Protection by State laws, control of predators—mainly coyotes—and estabs lishment of Federal refuges, says the Bureau of Biological Survey, has saved the pronghorn. In the Nevada, Ore= gon and California antelope district it is estimated there 7 re at least 10,000 pronghorns, as compared with the dwindling thousand that existed there in 1921. Of this number approxie mately 4,000 range in the Hart Mouney tain section of Oregon. Wyoming has probably the most antelope—about 18,000,