652 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



which will then with us assume its place among the industries of the 

 country, which by right belongs to it, and which in other countries it 

 has occupied for some time. The successful steps taken by Germany in 

 this direction, the activity of the great piscicultural establishment at 

 Hiiuingen and of other similar establishments, and the noble zeal dis- 

 played by the German Fishery Association cannot fail to encourage our 

 pisciculturists in their endeavors. And even if we do not reach very 

 great results in the immediate future, piscicultural establishments, if 

 properly directed, can do much to remedy the lack of fishes in our 

 waters, and become quite profitable to their owners; and this may be 

 doue by raising fish for the market. As the grand results of our Bohe- 

 mian fisheries with regard to the carp and pike are so well known, it is 

 scarcely necessary to say that I am only thinking of the decimated in- 

 habitants of our mountain streams, the trout, &c. Pisciculture so far is, 

 any way, almost confined to the salmonoids. All the piscicultural text- 

 books show the method to be pursued. In our piscicultural establish- 

 ments fine specimens of fish raised by them are from time to time exhib- 

 ited ; but all this only conveys the impression as if the possibility of the 

 thing were to be demonstrated, but not that the enterprise in question is 

 and should be independent of various outside influences, and could be 

 successful if certain conditions were properly observed, the efforts and 

 sacrifices to be made as well as the results to be obtained being well un- 

 derstood beforehand. We should be able to determine beforehand the 

 productiveness of a piece of ground about to be transformed into trout- 

 ponds just as much as we are able to do this with regard to carp-ponds, 

 of course taking into account the necessary expenses for feeding or fat- 

 tening the trout. It should be accurately known under what conditions 

 the greatest possible yield may be secured in the shortest time, and the 

 most favorable conditions for a rapid growth of the young fish should 

 therefore be determined ; in short, it should be our aim to gain such 

 general principles and experiences that a person who intends to use his 

 favorable natural surroundings for raising fine food-fish would not be 

 obliged to treat the whole matter in the light of a more or less doubtful 

 experiment, for it would remain doubtful, because the causes of success 

 or failure are not fully understood, to do which requires considerable 

 talent of observation, patience, and endurance. 



A short lime ago I had occasion to visit a new and little known pisci- 

 cultural establishment, which I resolved to describe more fully in this 

 journal because all its arrangements seemed very fine and perfect and 

 because its proprietor and manager pursues his object with unusual 

 energy. I was convinced that in so doing I would render a service to 

 all persons interested in pisciculture and to this industry itself. 



The piscicultural establishment of Mr. August Fruwirth can, by rail- 

 road and stage coach, be reached in five hours from Vienna. It is located 

 in the little village of Freiland, numbering only a few houses, half an 

 hour beyond Lilienfeld, on the banks of the Traisen. It takes two 



