ARTTFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SHAD 471 



Bryans Point, on the Potomac River, feeding and jumping out of 

 the water about sunset. They keep within the open streak of water 

 between the shores and the aquatic vegetation that covers the flats, 

 in water 2 to 5 feet deep. After mild winters young shad have been 

 found in the Potomac lliver in April, 30 miles above brackish water 

 and 160 miles from the ocean, m company with young alewives. 

 Some immature shad, apparently 2 years old, are caught each year 

 in seines operated in the fresh water of the Potomac River, and 

 undersized shad are frequently caught in the New England rivers, 

 where tidal waters extend only a short distance. 



EARLY ATTEMPTS AT SHAD CULTURE 



The systematic development and extension of shad culture were 

 undertaken with the definite purpose of testing the value of artificial 

 propagation in maintaining an important fishery which was being 

 rapidly depleted. As early as 184S shad eggs were artificially taken 

 and fertilized, and in 1867 more extensive experiments were made on 

 the Connecticut River, and later on the Potomac, with encouraging 

 results. The attention of many States was thus attracted to the 

 work, and in 1872 it was taken up by the General Government. 

 Prior to the experiments on the Connecticut, certain species of the 

 salmon family had been principally dealt with in fish-culture, and 

 different methods from those in use were necessary for shad hatching, 

 owing to the less sj^ecific gravity of shad ova and the much shorter 

 period of time requhed for the development of the fish from the egg. 



The "Seth Green box," a modification of the floating box used for 

 hatching trout and salmon eggs, was first tried with great success, 

 but floating boxes were subject to various accidents when used in 

 tidal waters, and in rapid succession devices of various kinds were 

 brought forward to supplant them. The most important were hatch- 

 ing cones and the plunger buckets, which, though imperfect, rendered 

 more extended operations possible. 



At that time the apparatus was arranged on flat-bottomed barges 

 or scows, which were towed from point to point along the coast from 

 Albemarle Sound to the Susquehanna River. 



The Chase jar, used extensively in the propagation of whitefish, 

 was also tried, but the McDonald imiversal hatching jar was finally 

 adopted as standard equipment for shad hatching in 1SS2 and is still 

 in use. The "universal" jar has given excellent results and is still 

 a prime favorite with numbers of fish-culturists, who claim that it 

 has advantages (particularly in removing dead eggs or any foreign 

 matter that may inadvertently become mixed with the eggs) not 

 possessed by any other type. In view of the excellent results ob- 

 tained from the use of the Chase and other types of open-top jars, their 

 greater simplicity in operation, absence of complicated parts and fit- 

 tings, and their lower cost, it is doubtful that the ''universal" jar 

 possesses advantages over the other types that would warrant its 

 installation in ecpiipping a new hatchery. 



During the years of experimental work, from 1872 to 1880, 07,471,700 

 shad fry were planted, begimiing with 859,000 in 1872, while in 1880, 

 28,626,000 were distributed. Prior to 1880 deposits of a few hundred 

 thousand each were made in as many different streams as possible, 

 but the increased production of young fish made it possible to ship 



