I. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 349 



and boys, fuel, depreciation of value, etc., is given at about 

 three dollars per day. One single firm has supplied about 120 

 of these boats within the last three years. They are, however, 

 not considered serviceable in trawling, as the varying success 

 does not admit of a sufficiently large profit for the payment 

 of the excess of expenditure in the way of engines and fuel. 

 19 A, August 5, 1871, 109. 



REPORT OF THE CONNECTICUT FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



The report of the Fish Commissioners of the State of Con- 

 necticut recently presented to the General Assembly is a 

 document of much importance in the history of pisciculture, 

 and embodies the results of the investigations and experiences 

 for the past year. The history of what has been done in re- 

 gard to the raising of black bass, shad, and salmon contains 

 many important announcements, especially in reference to 

 the increase of shad since the first experiments of artificial 

 planting in the Connecticut River. In 1867 about 40,000,000 

 shad were hatched under the direction of Mr. Seth Green, and 

 placed in the river a short distance below Holyoke dam, and 

 their return as mature fish was awaited with great anxiety. 

 About 60,000,000 were introduced into the same river in 

 1868 ; but nothing was done in 1869, in order to see whether 

 the first experiments were successful. In 1870, correspond- 

 ing to three years' growth of the young shad of 1867, these 

 fish appeared in numbers greater than had been known for 

 twenty years, vessels sailing through Long Island Sound ob- 

 serving immense shoals of them swimming through the wa- 

 ter, all making toward Connecticut River. In one day over 

 28,000 shad of good size were taken about Saybrook, and cor- 

 responding numbers elsewhere. Although it is not absolute- 

 ly certain that these shad were the same with those intro- 

 duced in 1867, yet there is every reason to entertain such a 

 belief this being corroborated by the fact that up to the 

 date of the report (May 18) the fisheries of 1871 were even 

 better than in 1870, many thousands being taken at a single 

 haul, and the markets being glutted to such an extent that 

 the finest shad could be bought at from ten to twenty-five 

 cents per pair. 



Experiments are also detailed in regard to the introduction 

 of the so-called land-locked salmon of the St. Croix River, as 



