7.-THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF TROUT-CULTURE 



BY W. L. GILBERT. 



Probably no business ever entered into by the people had such flattering prospects 

 of success and was, in its nature, so fascinating as the artificial cultivation of trout^ 

 and at the same time was so discouraging in the results attained. It was very easy 

 to procure and impregnate the eggs and hatch the trout, but to raise them to market size 

 was quite another thing, and those who were early in the business well remember 

 the fine lots of healthy young trout fry hatched during the winter and placed in the 

 rearing ponds in early spring, only to see them die and fade away as the dew before 

 a July sun. It was, I think, the most discouraging business ever undertaken by 

 man. Many gave it up disgusted, and many articles have appeared in public print 

 proclaiming that trout could never be raised for the market economically. We are 

 now prepared to show that trout can be raised in almost unlimited quantities. 

 Massachusetts alone has facilities for raising millions of pounds annually, and this 

 is also true of nearly every State north of Mason and Dixon's line. When we can take 

 a spring-fed brook of, say, 100,000 gallons per hour capacity, and which in a state of 

 nature did not produce 50 pounds of trout annually, and by applying scientific meth- 

 ods make it produce L'0,000 pounds annually, some idea may be formed of the grand 

 possibilities of trout-culture. Incredible as this may seem, it is none the less a fact. 



It will thus be seen that the artificial cultivation of trout is no longer a matter of 

 doubt. The business has now passed through the experimental stages, and all that 

 stands in the way of its becoming one of the great industries of the people is the 

 present arbitrary, unjust, and, I believe, unconstitutional laws of the several States 

 which deny the trout-gr ower the right to sell his product in accordance with the 

 demands of the market. If the expansion of trout-culture, so earnestly wished and 

 worked for, is ever to be realized in America this stumbling-block of overprotection 

 must first be removed. Remove this, legalize the business, grant to the trout-grower 

 the same rights and privileges that are freely accorded to all other citizens and tax- 

 payers who are engaged in an honorable and legitimate industry, namely, the right 

 to sell their product when it is most needed, and trout farms will spring up all over 

 the country, and this delicious fish will be raised in immense quantities and as cheaply 

 as poultry, thus giving employment to individuals, profitable investment for capital, 

 and a delicious food product during the winter months, when most needed. 



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