24 



etc., which are in turn Hmited by other causes. There- 

 fore there is a natural Hmit to the capacity of every 

 stream to produce fish, but that Hmit in our shad rivers 

 and in our lakes has not even been approached by our 

 labors in fish culture. 



DISCUSSION ON THE PAPER OF 

 MR. MATHER. 



Dr. Bean : "I only want to call your attention to 

 another epoch in the history of the introduction of the 

 shad into rivers in which they were not native, in 

 connection with the State of California. In 1872, 

 Seth Green, I believe, carried the first young shad 

 to California. In 1876 the first so called large ship- 

 ment, consisting of 130,000 fry, was deposited by 

 Mr. Frank Clark and myself in the Sacramento. 

 After that time a few additional plants were made ; 

 the U. S. Commission carrying at most about two 

 millions of eggs, which were hatched on the way, 

 bringing the total of plants of shad in California to 

 not more than five millions of fry., 



" Speaking of the time when shad were a penny 

 apiece, which I suppose was the English penny, equal 

 to two cents in our money, that day was a parallel 

 of the present time in California, for shad are now 

 selling at wholesale at from one cent to two cents per 

 pound in San Francisco. It struck me as a very in- 

 teresting coincidence, and it is an illustration of what 

 can be done by planting. The introduction of the 

 shad on the Pacific coast stands out to-da}' as per- 

 haps one of the most forcible illustrations of what 

 artificial methods can do in our waters." 



"The striped bass in California are now as plenti- 

 ful as the shad, as a result of carrving them from 



