EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES, xlvii 



an account of the method of properly manipulating the adhesive eggs, 

 ^hich will be found in the appendix. 



Fortunately the shad, striped bass, and the Salmonidce generally, with 

 perhaps only the exception of the smelt, have smooth or non-adhe- 

 sive eggs, which permits them to be fertilized and readily manipulated 

 without the inconvenience caused by their sticking together. 



It is not my purpose to present here a treatise upon pisciculture in 

 general, as I have nothing to add to the works already published on the 

 subject, and which have been prepared by practical men of great expe- 

 rience. Among the most recent works are those published by Dr. 

 J. H. Slack and Mr. Livingston Stone,* and in them will be found all 

 the best-known methods of treatment, and especially for the trout. I 

 hope, however, to present hereafter some special details in regard to other 

 species that have been developed in connection with the operations of 

 the United States Fish Commission. 



The hatching of striped bass. 



Nothing was known until recently as to the treatment of striped 

 bass J but Mr. M. G. Holtou, already referred to in connection with the 

 improved apparatus for hatching the eggs of the Salmonidw, while in 

 the employ of Mr. Seth Green on account of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission, at Weldon, N. C, took occasion to experiment with the spawn 

 of several of these fish. To his sui^prise he found that it was non- 

 adhesive, precisely like that of the shad, and capable of being treated 

 in the same manner. The eggs were hatched out in four or five days, 

 and with a small percentage of loss. They, however, were considera- 

 bly smaller than those of the shad, requiring the bottom wire of the 

 boxes to be much finer ; twenty-two wires to the inch, at least, being 

 needed. 



It is unnecessary for me here to go into detail concerning the special 

 method of treating the eggs of such fishes as the salmon-trout, the 

 brook-trout, and other species, as these are discussed in detail by Mr. 

 Milner in this volume, and are also considered at length in the various 

 special American treatises. 



Having thus presented a very brief indication of the history of multi- 

 plying certain of the food-fishes as practiced in modern times, and having 

 explained the general principles of the method adopted for the purpose, 

 I proceed to discuss more particularly the economical importance and 

 history of the species of fish to which the attention of the commission 

 has so far been more particularly directed, and of some of those which 

 it is proposed to take up hereafter. 



^ Practical Trout-Culture, by J. H. Slack, M. D. Orange Judd & Co., New York, 1872. 

 Domesticated Trout : how to breed and grow them, by Livingston Stone, A. M. Bos- 

 ton, J. R. Osgood & Co., 1872. 



