THE POTOMAC AND SUSQUEHANNA RIVERS. 



645 



the Potomac and its tributaries above tide-water present all the conditious suitable for the spawn- 

 ing and breeding grounds of the shad, yet the Great Falls have always stood as an insuperable 

 barrier to the further upward migrations of not only the shad and herring, but also of the more 

 enterprising species, the rock-fish or striped bass. The fisheries of this river annually decreased in 

 value and production up to the time of the war ; the intermission which theu ensued in the fishing 

 operations on account of those of a martial character allowed the fisheries to recuperate, so that 

 in the years immediately succeeding the war it was found that they had in a measure recovered 

 from their former depletion. In 1878 the minimum of production was attained, during which 

 season less than 200,000 shad were taken in the entire river. In 1879 the results of previous 

 artificial propagation first manifested themselves, and there was a considerable increase in the run 

 of shad, from which time the shad fisheries steadily increased, until in the season of 1880 nearly 

 000,000 were taken. 



The early fisheries on the Potomac were prosecuted entirely by means of haul seines. About 

 the year 1835 gill-nets were introduced from the North. These have steadily grown in favor and 

 for the last few jears have been the principal instrument employed for the capture of shad. 



In 1880, only eleven large haul-seines were in use where fifty had been fished in early days. 

 Withiu the last five years pound-nets have been introduced. They are increasing in numbers rap- 

 idly, and are by degrees displacing the gill-nets, which, as above stated, displaced the haul-seines. 



The following statistics show the extent and value of the Potomac fisheries for 18SO : 



The Potomac Hirer. 



6. THE SCSQUEHANNA RIVER. 



The sources of this river are in the highlands of Pennsylvania and Western New York. Flow- 

 ing in a general southerly direction, it breaks through the entire Appalachian system, and dis- 

 charges into the head of Chesapeake Bay. Its principal tributaries are the Juniata, the North 

 Branch, and the West Branch. The extreme sources of the North Branch are in the Catskill 

 Mountains, while the western branch interdigitates with the headwaters of the Ohio. In the 

 early settlement of the country the abundant run of shad into all these streams at the proper 

 season was a matter of prime importance to the people, a very considerable proportion of their 

 income being derived from this source. Profitable shad-fisheries existed at a number of points 

 on the Juniata and on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, and vast numbers ascended the 

 West Branch also up into the Chenango River in the State of New York, and were taken at ;i 

 distance of several hundred miles above their present limit. The accounts in regard to abund- 

 ance of shad, given by the early settlers on all the rivers of the Atlantic slope, seem almost 

 fabulous to us in these days. If tradition has invented exaggerated stories concerning all the 

 other rivers, those accounts touching the Susquehanna at least are undoubtedly established by 

 authentic data. At the request of Prof. S. F. Baird, IT. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, a 



