248 FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 



waters of that bay, and on reporting that fact to Prof. Baird, was detailed 

 to make experiments for their reproduction. On getting to work, he was 

 surprised to find that the fish were hatched within eighteen hours from the 

 time the milk and spawn were brought together, whereas it requires five 

 days to hatch shad and eight to twelve days to hatch codfish. The number 

 of eggs operated upon at a single time is between 200,000 and 300,000, 

 while only 20,000 to 30,000 shad eggs are treated at once. The season for 

 operations with the spawn of this fish is toward the last of June and first of 

 July, after the shad hatching is ov^er and before that of codfish commences. 



The First Wholesale Fish Store in Boston was established on Long 

 Wharf by Mr. Ebenezer Nickerson in 1807. The first wholesale fresh fish 

 store in Boston was opened on Long Wharf in 1835 by Messrs. Holbrook, 

 Smith & Co. The mackerel purse seine dates from 1855. The canning of 

 fish dates from 1845, in Maine. Vessels first began to carry ice to sea in 

 1845, and dealers began to use it in shipping fish the same year ; 20,000,000 

 lbs. are now annually consumed by vessels and fish dealers. Nets were 

 home-made until 1842, when the first net factory was established in Boston ; 

 they were hand-made until 1865, when machinery was introduced in their 

 manufacture. The earliest importations of mackerel were seven barrels in 

 1S21. — Erom Records of Boston Fish Bureau. 



The Best Halibut Fare received at this port for several years was land- 

 ed March 22, 1882, by sch. Grace L. Fears, Capt. Nathaniel Greenleaf. 

 Her fare was taken by the New England and Atlantic Halibut Companies, 

 and she weighed off 98,825 lbs. halibut and 3,000 lbs. codfish, 101,825 ^^s. 

 in all, stocking $6086.50. Her crew shared $206.30. The cook's share was 

 $253.05. She was gone five weeks and one day, during which time she was 

 frozen up for eight days at Canso. This is the largest stock ever made on 

 a halibut trip, although larger fares have been received several years ago. 



The Codfish — lis Value as Food — How the Grand Bank Was Formed. — 

 What a marvelous influence upon civilization and human progress the hum- 

 ble but nutritious codfish has had. He has been a mine of wealth to a vast 

 population. It seems as though good Mother Nature, foreseeing the needs 

 of humanity, had made special preparations for a good supply of this very 

 necessary article of food for body and brain. She floated her icebergs, 

 which were filled with the sandy bottom of northern seas, down to the Gulf 

 Stream, where they melted and, depositing their debris, formed the Grand 

 Bank of Newfoundland. It was the work, the slow and toilsome work, of 

 ages. Every Spring thousands of these bergs, one-third above water and 

 two-thirds below, the upper part clear, sparkling and translucent, reflecting 



