BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 317 



filled with sea-water. In the tray a number of flat stoues are arranged; 

 the water is then fertilized, and the stones coated with eg^gs. This 

 done the tray is lowered to the bottom by m ans of four cords, two at- 

 tached to the rim of the tray and one to each half of the bottom. 

 When the tray has reached the sea-floor the cords attached to the false 

 bottom are set free and the tray raised by the cords attached to its 

 edge, the result being that the egg-coated stones are left at the bottom. 

 By this method the fishermen, without any trouble or expense, could 

 add two hundred or three hundred eggs for every herring they removed 

 from the :!'3a, and thus do their best to restore the balance of nature 

 which their operations disturb. [From Nature, ilarch 27, 1884.] 



Destruction of' fish by Dutch i^eis. — Extract from letter of L. 

 H. Hardy, dated Ealeigh, IST. C, January 19, 1883 : '" We have in Car- 

 teret Conuty, North Carolina, a great many fish, and our people live by 

 catching and selling them. For the last four years our waters, both 

 in the sounds and ocean, have been obstructed by Dutch nets, which 

 have proved very destructive to our fish. Thousands offish too small 

 to be serviceable are caught by these nets and suffered to remain in 

 them until they are dead, and then turned out to drift upon the shore 

 in numbers that would seem incredible to relate. Sometimes these 

 small fish are taken and worked up for manure, and at other times they 

 only go to feed the crabs. Thus millions of good fish are being de- 

 stroyed yearly that are not worth a cent while so small. These nets do 

 more damage on the outside, in the ocean, than they do in the sounds." 



Termination of the treaty of Washington in 1885. — At a 

 meeting of Gloucester fishing owners and masters of fishing vessels held 

 in that city in 1882, a memorial to Congress was adopted, wherein, after 

 citing the 33d article of the treaty, it was continued: " Now, therefore, 

 we, the outfitters, owners, and fishermen of the United States, knowing 

 and believing that the results of said treaty have not only been detri- 

 mental to the interests of the United States, but unjust and monstrous 

 in the valuation by the Halifax commissioners of the British shore fish- 

 eries, do hereby pray your honorable body to cause notice to be given 

 at the earliest practicable moment of the desire of the United States to 

 terminate the operation of the fishery articles of said treaty, and all 

 other treaty provisions relating to the fisheries on the shores of Canada 

 and Newfoundland, for the following reasons : To the end that the Brit- 

 ish and American fishermen may each in their own waters enjoy the 

 right to take fish unmolested, and have equal commercial rights in the 

 waters of either country." 



Edible qualities of the pole flounder. — In the New York 

 Times, of August 14, 1882, Mr. Barnet Phillips said : " There are many 

 varieties of flat-fish in our waters, variously designated as the smooth 

 flounder, the rusty flounder, the sand flounder, the four-spotted flounder, 



