INTRODUCTION. 



The success in lobster culture attained by the Commission of Inland 

 Fisheries, at their experiment station, at Wickforcl, is one of those 

 few remarkable successes in artificial marine culture which have been 

 reached through a long course of slow and, at times, disheartening 

 experiments. The ordinary method employed in the artificial 

 propagation of fishes, the mere hatching the eggs, has been of little 

 avail in the case of the lobster. Its failure may be stated, briefly, 

 as due to two causes: The first, and most important of these, is the 

 slow growth of the lobster, which greatly lengthens the time required 

 to reach maturity and propagate itself naturally; the second is the 

 prolonged period of larval helplessness. 



If we leave out of consideration the helpless larval period we find 



that the lobster, in its natural state, is not materially handicapped in 



its struggle for maintenance, except in the particular fact of its slow 



growth. With reference to the natural advantages it might be stated 



that its life on the sea bottom, together with the instinct of hiding in 



burrows in the mud or under rocks, affords much better protection 



than fishes seem to possess. Besides, there is perhaps no external 



part, unless it is the eye, which can be lost or injured without the 



lobster being able to replace it. The loss of a fin or the upturning of 



a few scales, will often be sufficient cause for the death of a fish. 



The lobster also has the advantage of having its eggs more surely 



fertilized and afterwards cared for by the parent until hatched. The 



eggs of most fishes are thrown into the water, and depend on chance 



fertilization and favorable circumstances for their fostering. But 



against the human foe the lobster is powerless, and there has been a 



rapid decrease in its abundance since there was a demand for it in the 



market. 



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