G3 



are fed. Of course, there are not so many in the same 

 space ; but in a space four feet wide, twice the length 

 of this room, there are probabl}^ two thousand that are 

 left there, that I did not get into the artificial strip 

 and hatch. 



I believe with a hatchery eight feet wide and four 

 hundred feet long, with plenty of spring water, all that 

 is necessary' is to pull up the screen, and simply let 

 enough fish go in in two hours. I put in six inches 

 deep of clean, white beach gravel, and let them go in 

 and deposit their eggs. I let about two thousand fish 

 go in there. Of course, we do not get as many fish as 

 some other fisheries do. We calculate only to raise 

 about ten thousand fish a year, which is as much as 

 we care to have; and we have, perhaps, thirty thou- 

 sand fry that are fed artificially. The natural fed fish 

 are certainl}' ahead, but it is true that they have a 

 little more space. I do not care how much you feed 

 artificially, I do not think it affects the flavor of the 

 fish in its earl 3^ stages of growth. You should feed 

 them for the first year, and get them so that they will 

 be a good size. The first consideration for any person 

 who wants to raise fish for market is to get size on 

 them, and then there is enough natural food to be had 

 for fish. If a man raises fish for the market on the 

 border of the seacoast he can get any quantity of min- 

 nows and shrimp. I have found a good way to grow 

 fry — it may not be convenient for you all to do this — 

 but I can find any quantit}' of large minnows, almost 

 as large as 3^our finger, and you can catch a bushel of 

 these, put them in a barrel, and run in a little jet of 

 steam ; and in about an hour 3'ou can steam them so 

 that the meat will peal off from the bones, and you can 

 give the natural food to your fish. You can take and 

 do the same thing with 3'our large fish, and 3^ou can 

 grow them and grow them profitablv. A man can 

 grow fish for the New York market and make nlone3^ 



