448 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



are scarcely produced in numbers sufficient for the object 

 desired. 



Mr. Frederick Mather, a practical trout-breeder, of Honeoye 

 Falls, N. Y., now proposes to use the larvae of the common 

 mosquito, as answering this purpose better than almost any 

 thing else, as they remain alive until hatched, and in their 

 diflerent stages are admirably adapted to the wants of the 

 trout. He estimates that about two barrels of rain-water 

 will be required for each thousand fry, the insects to be 

 strained out from time to time as fast as they are developed 

 and thrown into the trout-pond. The young fry take this 

 food with great avidity, and seem to thrive admirably upon it. 



INCREASE IN THE GROWTH OF TROUT. 



It is asserted by high authority that a single trout, in in- 

 creasing in weight from the newly born stage to one j^ound, 

 or from one pound to two pounds, will require fifty pounds 

 of flesh for the operation ; while much is wasted, the greater 

 part is eaten. With a large number offish the waste is less. 

 It is estimated, however, that a thousand trout of one pound 

 each can be brought to a weight of two pounds each at an 

 expenditure of about 12,000 pounds of flesh. Horse-meat is 

 principally used for this purpose in Europe, on account of its 

 greater cheapness. 



ALLEGED OCCURRENCE OF SHAD IN THE MISSISSIPPI. 



In reference to the occurrence of shad in the Mississippi 

 Valley, we learn from Mr. H. A. Pattison that while engaged 

 professionally in the spring of 1867 in trying to close the 

 Roman Crevasse in the Mississippi River, about sixty miles 

 above New Orleans, he saw two fine shad taken with a dip- 

 net from the water runnino: throus^h the crevasse. These 

 were caught by a negro, who stated that he had never seen 

 such fish before, and, being afraid to eat them, was perfectly 

 willing to sell them. Mr. Pattison reports that he is willing 

 to testify that they were equal in flavor to any he had eaten, 

 either from the Potomac or the James River. The date of 

 this occurrence was the 12th of April, 1867. He furthermore 

 remarks that he was engaged in 1857 in the location of the 

 Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, and that while on White 



