230 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 
CHAPTER XXYI. 
PROPAGATION OF FISH. 
Theee is no subject more important to tlie material 
welfare of our country, or tliat a persistent and willful 
disregard of the laws of nature has rendered more neces- 
sary, than the culture of the various tribes of lish that 
were once abundant in our rivers and lakes and along 
our coasts, but which are rapidly diminishing, and 
threaten soon to become extinct. How sad it is to think 
that once the glorious salmon leaped and frisked in the 
quiet waters of our noble Hudson, and sought bowers of 
love in its cool sources ; that they were formerly so plenty 
in the Connecticut, as I have already mentioned, that a 
person buying shad was required to take a proportion of 
salmon. How great the loss, not merely to us sports- 
men, but to the long-beaded political economists, who 
calculate to a penny all that a nation would bring if put 
up at auction, and look at everything as a source of 
wealth. 
Thousands of dollars are sent yearly to I^ova Scotia 
and the Canadas to pay for salmon that even there are 
rapidly diminishing, whereas, with a little public spirit, 
they might abound at our own doors. There is no doubt 
that all these streams might be restored, and many others 
supplied with salmon, at little expense and less trouble ; 
