THE HISTORY OF FISH CULTURE. 553 



periinents are by Setli Green and by IS". W. Clark in 1870. Mr. Clark's 

 was with but a few eggs. In an address before the legislature of Michi- 

 gan, he refers to the fact of having young salmon-trout on exhibition.* 



The quantity of eggs taken by Seth Green that year and hatched was 

 very large ; and the fish proving to be a great favorite among the people 

 of the State, he has continued to breed it on a large scale, and it has 

 been widely distributed throughout the State. 



The greatest drawback in the culture of this species is the difficulty 

 and danger attending the procuring of the eggs. 



The spawning-places of the fish in the region of the hatching-houses 

 is m the open lake; and the time when the ova are ripe is in October, 

 when there are frequent storms, so that going out in an open boat to the 

 nets is a task of hardship and danger, aud has resulted, in a late 

 instance, in the loss of six men, one of them Marcellus Holton, an accom- 

 plished fishculturist and the inventor of the Holton hatching-box. There 

 are however, points on the lakes accessible by steamer, though not con- 

 tiguous to the breeding-establishments, where the salmon-trout spaw^n- 

 ing-grounds are near the shore, and even entirely land-locked from wind 

 and sea. 



The striped bass. — In connection with the work of the United States 

 Commission of Fisheries, a successful experiment has been made which 

 bids fair to be one of great importance in connection with the history of 

 fish-culture. In 1873, Mr. Marcellus Holton, one of the men who were 

 lost while obtaining the spawn of the salmon-trout on Lake Ontario, was 

 employed by the United States Commissioner in the work of shad propa- 

 gation on the Roanoke River, North Carolina. While at the fisheries 

 near Weldon, he procured and impregnated the spawn of the rock-fish, 

 {RoGCiis Uneatus,) and succeeded in hatching then. The appended letter 

 gives his method and the extent of his success : 



" Weldon, May 22, 1873. 

 "Dear Sir: I think, from indications observed, that the rock-fish 

 spawn in the day-time. We find the eggs are much lighter aud more 

 delicate than those of the shad. We have afforded them similar treat- 

 ment, using the shad-boxes, and I think it is evident that they hatch a 

 little sooner, but do not feel sure on this point, as I was obliged to move 

 the boxes, while containing the eggs, below the falls, and the water was 

 very rough while passing the rapids. I was compelled to move them 

 because of the rapid rising of tlie river, w4iich threatened to fiood us 

 out on the low shore, where we were encamped. It is quite possible that 

 this hatched them prematurely. In twenty hours after impregnation, 

 and before they were exposed to the rough water, the fish within the 

 egg showed signs of life, and in forty hours kicked lively. 



* Pisciculture, or Fish-Farming : an address before the legislature of Michigan, «fec. 

 Delivered at Lansing, February 28, 1871, by Hon. N. W. Clark, of Clarkston, Mich. 

 Detroit, 1871. Page 21. 



