356 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



The sliad further up the river appear to have decreased in numbers yet 

 to hav^e increased in size, and that brings us to the next head. 



SIZE. 



The opinion seems to be general that the great size attained by the Sus- 

 quehanna shad was attributed to the long run up the fresh- water stream 

 (carrying the idea of the survival of the fittest) ; that they were of great 

 size is beyond doubt, nearly every one who recollects them insists on 

 inittiug their weight at almost dotible that of the average Delaware 

 shad of to-day. 



Mr. Van Kirk gives as the weight of the shad caught at the fisheries 

 in Northumberland and Montour Counties as from three to nine i^ounds. 



Mr. Fowler says he has assisted in catching thousands weighing eight 

 and nine pounds at the fisheries in Columbia County. 



Mr, Harvey, speaking of the Luzerne County shad, says : " Some used 

 to weigh eight or nine pounds, and I saw one weighed on a wager which 

 turned the scales at thirteen pounds ! " 



Major Fassett, speaking of those caught in Wyoming County, says: 

 " Tke average weight was eight i)ouuds, the largest twelve pounds." 



Dr. Horton says of the shad caught in Bradford County, that he has 

 seen them weighing nine pounds ; ordinarily the weight was from four 

 to seven pounds. 



PRICE. 



The price of the shad varied, according to their size, from M. to 25 cents^ 

 depending of course upon their scarcity or abundance, and as some of 

 our correspondents remember the price in years when it was high, and 

 others in those when there was a great plenty of fish, there arise what 

 appear to be conflicting statements in their letters. 



At the town meeting held at Wilkes Barre, April 21, 1778, prices 

 were set on articles of sale, infer alia, as follows : Winter- fed beef, per 

 pound. Id. ; tobacco, per pound, 9d. ; eggs, per dozen, 8d.; shad apiece, 

 6d. At one time they brouglit but 4(Z. apiece. A bushel of salt would 

 at any time briug a hundred shad. 



At the time the dam was built they brought from 10 to 12 cents. On 

 the day of the big haul Mr. Harvey says they sold for a cent apiece 

 (Mr. Dana says 3 coppers). 



Mr. Isaac S. Osterhout remembers a Mr. Walter Green who gave 

 twenty barrels of shad for a good Durham cow. 



Mr. Eoberts says that in exchanging for maple sugar one good shad 

 was worth a pound of sugar; when sold for cash s.had were worth 12^ 

 cents apiece. 



Major Fassett says the market price of the shad was $6 per hundred. 



Dr. Horton says the shad, according to size, were worth from 10 to 25 

 cents. 



Mr. Hollenback, in calculating the value of the fisheries near Wya- 



