24 



Mr. Spangler called attention to a 12 pound salmon which 

 was caught in the Delaware river the day before, which 

 he had bought purposely to have served at the dinner the 

 following day, and which had just been brought into the 

 room for exhibition to the members present. 



Mr. Mather said that at the last moment he had decided 

 to attend the meeting and had written a letter to that effect 

 to Mr. Ford. It contained a bit of history which might be of 

 interest, and was as follows: 



Cold Spring Harbor, Suffolk Co., N. Y., May 14, 1889. 

 Henry C. Ford, Esq., Cor. Secy Am. Fisheries Society. 



Dear Sir: — I regret that I cannot be with you at the only 

 meeting at which I have not been present since the first ojie 

 held in New York City, December 20, 1870, in response to a 

 call, as the first report says, of " W. Clift, A. S. Collins, J. H. 

 Slack, F. Mather and L. Stone." 



We were then all breeding trout and selling eggs and fry, 

 and as the prices of those days may be of interest to com- 

 pare with those of to-day, I copy the following from my cir- 

 cular of 1871-72. now in my scrap-book : 



BROOK TROUT ! 



Trout Ponds and Hatching J-Iouse 



Of FRED MATHER. 

 Honeoze Falls, Monroe Co., N. Y. 



The prices of spaivn and fisJi for the season of i^'/\-'j2 are 

 as follows : 

 Trout spawn, per single thousand *^io 00 



" " " five " 40 00 



" " "ten " 70 00 



Young trout (meaning fry ready to take food) single 



thousand 30 GO 



Young trout, each additional thousand 25 00 



