':]42 THE CANADIAN NAl^URALlSl^. Vol. vil.J 



force. It would be desirable perhaps to try and acclimatize meu- 

 haden in British waters. All that would be necessary would be 

 to send a vessel or two, each provided with a w^ell room, to the 

 United States, and liberate the menhaden thence procured, at 

 the mouth of any of the New^ Brunswick or Nova Scotia Rivers, 

 such as St. Andrew's Bay, L'Etang, Lepreaux, or Musquash, in 

 New Brunswdck; or St, Mary's Bay and its tributaries, or 

 Tuskeet River, in Nova Scotia. 



The Lobster. Homarus Americanu.^j Edwards. The lobster 

 fisheries of the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, are of very great 

 economic importance, more especially now that the supply of this 

 popular article of food is not equal to the demand for it in the 

 United States and in Europe. At present large quantities of 

 lobsters are shipped to these countries from New Brunswick and 

 Nova Scotia. In spite of their increased commercial value, it is 

 nevertheless a fact that in some of the northern parts of the Gulf 

 aood marketable lobsters are still used to manure the fields ! Few 

 can doubt the propriety of at least attempting to discourage a 

 proceeding at once so reprehensible and w^asteful. The latest 

 regulation, forbidding the taking of lobsters less than a pound 

 and a half in weight, is much complained of by persons engaged 

 in this fishery. They urge that it would be better to allow lob- 

 sters weighing a full pound to be taken, but not any under that 

 weight. jMr. W. S. Brown, who has a lobster canning establish- 

 ment at Shippegan, has kindly given me an account of some of 

 his experiences during the past summer. He says that a few 

 small red eggs begin to form under the tails of the lobsters early 

 in July, and at the end of September the tails were filled up, and 

 80 or 90 per cent, of the lobsters taken had eggs attached to 

 them. Late in September these eggs had become nearly the size 

 of B.B. shot, and were very dark in colour. At this time the 

 few that were taken near the shore were mostly males. Mr. 

 Brown thinks that the lobsters leave the shore in October, and 

 go to deposit their eggs in deep water, and that this latter opera- 

 tion is performed sometimes as late as November or December. 

 In July and August. Mr. Brown writes me, '-'I found that 80 to 

 90 per cent, of the lobsters had an abundance of eggs, and that 

 00 to 70 per cent, of them would weigh less than a pound and a 

 half Five lobsters weighing l-J- lbs each will shell out about one 

 pound of fish, and my average this season has been about four 

 and a half lobsters to the pound or can." "The heavy gale of 



