FISn CULTURE. 265 



^vas attracted to these experiments aud to their successful termiuatiou 

 because of their importance 5 also because "whatever honor may lie iu 

 the discovery is due to an American citizen ; and, besides, shad-hatching 

 was a clean invention ; that is, it was not a rediscovery, as no one had 

 ever hatched shad-eggs successfully before, nor is the honor of the dis- 

 covery disputed. 



The shad is one of the most imj)ortant of our commercial fish, and 

 may be made perhaps the most important. This possibility arises from 

 the geographical distribution of the fish, from its habits, and from the 

 extent of the waters to be stocked with it. In times past the shad ran 

 up into all the rivers emptying into the Atlantic from Florida to Maine. 

 From various experiments, not to be detailed here, it is manifest that 

 they can be introduced into the rivers which empty into the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and also into the rivers emptying into the Pacific. Therefore, 

 as the shad has a very wide geographical distribution, the process for 

 its propagation can be very widely used. Then its habits render it one 

 of the best of all fish for artificial propagation. It always returns to 

 the river in which it was hatched, so that efforts to increase the yield of 

 any x)articular river will not be lost or go to swell the catch on the 

 whole coast, but will benefit directly only that particular river, and 

 thus afford a sure return for the labor expended. 



There is also a very good economical view of the case. The young 

 shad, when first hatched, live for a longer or shorter time in our rivers 

 and derive their feed from the river-waters. But there is so much feed, 

 and the diminutive shad eat so little, that there is feed enough for incal- 

 culable quantities. Before they grow much they drop down into the 

 boundless ocean, where feed is equally plenty, and then when they run 

 up again full grown into the rivers to spawn they do not eat, until their 

 return to the ocean, so that our rivers are taxed but little. ^ 



Again, the eggs hatch in a very short time, and the young fish at 

 birth is measurably able to take care of itself. Besides this, the extent 

 of water adapted to its culture within the geographical range is exceed- 

 ingly vast. Our country is noted for the number, size, and extent of 

 its rivers. It is nearly surrounded with water, and almost the whole of 

 the rivers and that part of the oceans lying near the shore may be made 

 to contribute to the growth of the shad. And, still again, as in the 

 spring of the year it forces its way up our long rivers to their sources, 

 it affords for two mouths an excellent chance for its capture, while for 

 the remaining ten months of the year it makes for itself a practical 

 '''close time" in the deep water of the sea. 



Various fragments of the history of artificial shad-hatching and of 

 the operations of the various States, and their results, have, from time 

 to time, appeared; but as these fragments are scattered through news- 

 paper paragraphs, reports of the commissioners of the various States, 

 memorials to legislatures, speeches, «S:c., and as I have been con- 

 nected with shad-culture from its commencement, I have thought it 

 would be of interest to give a brief and connected account of the oper- 

 ations of the last five and one-half years ; and that such an account 

 would possess a permanent value. I may also, perhaps, be pardoned if 

 I dwell a little on my personal share in the history, since my adventures 

 will show the obstacles which were to be overcome, and what a thorough 

 revolution has been made in public opinion in regard to the whole sub- 

 ject of the artificial increase of fish. 



A great many attempts had been made previous to the year 18G7 to 

 hatch out shad ; most of the trials being made on the Connecticut Kiver. 



