222 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



fishery of Great Britain, and it also had been injured by misman- 

 agement and neglect and overwork. Salmon had long been far # 

 beyond the reach of all but the wealthier classes, and even they 

 were beginning to experience trouble to obtain as much as they 

 needed at reasonable rates. Streams which had yielded abun- 

 dantly within the memory of man were comparatively unproduc- 

 tive, and in some instances were absolutely bare of fish. The 



Irish and Scotch fisheries were not so badly off as those of Eng- 



i 



land, but even they were reduced far below what they had been. 

 Steps were taken to replenish these, partly by private action, 

 partly by public. Parliament appointed boards of fish conserva- 

 tors and an inspector of salmon fisheries and paid liberal salaries, 

 and passed wise laws for the protection of the young and the 

 spawning fish. • The consequences were the same as they had 

 been in France, and soon fish became more plenty ; the salmon 

 fishery on one river having more than doubled in actual rental in a 

 few years, while the yield was proportionally increased. Germany, 

 Austria, Russia, all followed the example ; all made this a national 

 enterprise and found it to their interest to pay liberally to restock 

 their waters with a means of supplying food to the people which 

 had been so nearly annihilated. In all, establishments for the 

 artificial propagation of the most valuable varieties are established 

 at various points, and yearly furnish most gratifying evidences of 

 the industrial value of this, which promises to be the most widely 

 beneficial of all the discoveries of modern times ; for if it is true 

 that that man is a public benefactor who has made two blades of 

 grass grow where one grew before, much more so is he who has 

 restored to the people a food supply which had almost ceased to 

 exist, and the extinction of which was looked udoii as the neces- 

 sary consequence of the increase of population, it being expected 

 to expire precisely when it was most needed. 



Such is a cursory statement of what has been done abroad. It 

 alone would justify the United States in following the example of 

 the older nations, and taking this matter under national protection. 

 It is essentially a national matter ; the States alone cannot take 

 charge of it and manage it efficiently ; they cannot even pass laws 

 which will thoroughly protect the fish at seasons when they should 

 not be disturbed. Rivers run through different States, or are the 

 boundaries between them, and the laws made for part or one 

 shore might not be identical with those made for other places. 



