71 



in the Potomac in 1866 amounted to 316,000 pounds ; in 

 1876 to 100,000 ; in 1878 to 50,000. Many instances of the 

 enormous abundance of the anadromous lishes in diiferent 

 parts of the country in former times couhl easily be ad- 

 duced. Similar illustrations of the former abundance of 

 tish inhabitants of the salt water can be brought forward to 

 any extent. In the early days of the Republic the entire 

 Atlantic shore of the United States abounded in hsh of all 

 kinds. AVhere cod, mackerel, and other species are now 

 found in moderate quantities, they occurred in incredible 

 masses. 



The halibut, one of the best of our fishes, was so com- 

 mon along the New England coast as not to be considered 

 worth of capture, and Avas considered a positive nuisance 

 when taken. It is only within a few years that our people 

 have come to learn their excellence and value ; but they 

 have disappeared almost entirely from the in-shores of 

 New Enj;-land, and have even gradually become extermi- 

 nitad in nearly all waters of less than 500 feet in depth. 



It would be impossible, after all this lapse of years, to 

 present more striking conceptions of the problems of lish 

 culture than those abounding in the writings of Prof. 

 Baird at those early periods. 



Concerning the probable progress of fish culture, he says 

 (Report, 1887, p. 18): 



" A patient whose constitution has been undermined by 

 disease of long continuance is unreasonable in expecting 

 good results and a radical cure after a short apjilication of 

 approved remedies, yet he and his friends may be disap- 

 pointed if the recuperation from the excesses or lesions of 

 many years is not manifest in as many days. In reality 

 the reverse is rather the rule, the time of recovery more 

 frequently being much longer than the continuance of the 

 morbific influences." 



The expectations in regard to the results of fish culture 



