53 



DISCUSSION ON THE PAPER OF 

 MR. FRED MATHER. 



Mr. Mather: I wrote this paper on this subject, 

 and I have been trying to find out if I had changed 

 ni}' belief. I did not believe in the thing, and consid- 

 ered it a humbug; still, as it has been published far 

 and wide, I wanted to see what the results of my 

 experiments would prove ; and I am still convinced 

 that the whole thing is as much of a humbug as it 

 struck me when I read the first accounts of it. 



Mr. Titcomb : Have you tried the effect on the 

 fish in the old pond, where the temperature was sev- 

 enty-seven degrees ? 



Mr. Mather: Yes, they lived there in warm 

 weather. iVs I understand this man's plan, it was to 

 have the reservoir in which to breed the food, and 

 then let a little stream go through and carry the fish 

 into the colder water, where the trout were. Most of 

 them, you know, are very small, and they live in 

 water of a great man}' different temperatures ; and 

 while they were bred in this water, these pools in 

 August were too warm for trout, but not in the early 

 part of the season, up to July. 



Mr. H. Whitaker : I do not care to start a discus- 

 sion on this paper, but there seems to be no disposition 

 on the part of an}' one else to do so. I think it is a 

 paper that should challenge the attention of every fish 

 culturist in America, and I think the thanks of the 

 Society are due to the author for bringing a subject of 

 this kind up for discussion here. I believe it must 

 appeal to every man interested in fish culture that 

 there is a great sentiment today in this country in 

 favor of the artificial breeding and rearing of trout for 

 the market. I believe it is the proper function of 

 boards of fish commissioners, and particularly the 

 United States Commission, to investigate this subject. 



