FISH CULTURE. 269 



at 70°, aud the eggs were all good iu the creek boxes, until the river- 

 water was reached, and there the eggs were suffering very badly. This 

 gave the reason at once, and I found that a temjierature of about 75° 

 was the best for hatching purposes. 



Yv^ell, the thing was done; the method was perfect, and has not been 

 improved since ; I felt proud of it. That season I not only invented and 

 perfected the method, but put into the river over fifteen million young 

 shad. My expenses while there were over $300, besides the neglect of 

 business at home. But then I had succeeded, and the commissioners 

 who had solicited my assistance were highly gratified, and were pleased 

 to say that I had made a great discovery, and one Avhich would be of 

 iucalcnlable benefit to the people at large, &c. I did not expect any 

 vejy great pecuniary reward, except that my expenses should be re-im- 

 bursed. Imagine, then, my feelings of grateful astonishment when I 

 learned soon after that the four great States of Massachusetts, Connec- 

 ticut, Isevi Hampshire, and Vermont had each voted me $50 (or $200 in 

 all) to repay my expenses — pay me for time and work, and as a token 

 of their grateful appreciation of my services. 



The next year I went to Holyoke again, and that season put into 

 the Connecticut Eiver about thirty million fish. I thought that this 

 would probably make some impression on the river, but was afraid that, 

 because of the low number of sbatl, and the great number of their ene- 

 mies which the young would have to encounter on their way to the sea, 

 that most of them would be eaten before they attained their growth. 



There had always been a dispute about the time which ittook for a 

 shad to grow to its full size. The opinion was then general that it took 

 just one year ; that the fish was hatched out in the spring, attained its 

 full size by the next spring, came up into fresh water, laid its eggs, and 

 died. T did not believe this, and, reasoning from the growth of fish with 

 which I was acquainted, I maintained that the period Avas at least three 

 years. One year passed away. If the general opinion was correct, then 

 my work of 18G7 did not show any result, as the catch was no greater 

 than usual. If my opinion was correct, then the spring of 1870 was the 

 time for the fish to show themselves; 1809 came, there were no signs of 

 increase, and the catch even less than usual. The spring of 1870 came, 

 and brought with it the long-expected fish. I quote from the report of 

 the commissioners of Massachusetts, dated January, 1871, page 4: 



On Sunday, May 21, (1870,) Ycssels in Long Island Sonnil observetT tho unusual 

 spectacle of vast schools of sliad. The next day they struck in at about the mouth of 

 the liver and tilled the nets. At Lincoln, ten miles from the mouth, aud on the coast, 

 three thousand five hundred and sixty iish were taken iu one pound, (live hundred is 

 usually a largo catch,) and the total yield of the pounds for that day was over twentj^- 

 livo thousand. At Haddam Island, a short distance up the river, seven hundred were 

 taken with one sweep of the seine, which is more than one-third the yield of a similar 

 seine for the whole of the previous season. A seine, four miles below Hartford, took 

 nine hundred shad the same day. As this is some lifty miles up the river, it is plain 

 that the schools struck in all at once, and that those which headed for the stream kej^t 

 on with great rapidity. 



Now, it does not appear that on the Iludsou to the west, or on the Mcrrimac to the 

 cast, the run of shad was unusual. On the contrary, both those rivers report a small 

 average. Whence, then, this local jthenomenon ? The Connecticut people call theiu 

 "Green's shad," attributing the increase to the artificial hatching by Setli Green, at 

 Hadley Falls, iu 1867, and this opinion gets color from the fact that, in 18G8, the small 

 yearling fish were unusually x^leuty. 



Fifteen millions of young shad were put into the river iu 1867, and 

 about thirty millions in the spring of 18G8 ; therefore, if the three years 

 theory of growth lield good, more shad would bo taken in 1871 than 

 even the large catch of 1870. The spring of 1871 was awaited with 

 great interest, The catch of 1870 might be an exceptional one, from 



