772 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



and what, with a given cost of food, is the absolute cost of a pound ot 

 trout, the first, second, and third year of feeding ? 



He said he had made some experiments in this direction himself, and 

 he desired to bring the matter to the attention of the meeting, with a 

 view to secure some experiments by others living in different x>arts of 

 the country, for the purpose of determining this fact, and thereby set- 

 tling the question whether fish culture is profitable or simply a congenial 

 amusement. He therefore moved that the United States Commissioner 

 of Fish and Fisheries be requested to address a letter to such persons 

 as are now engaged in the culture of the trout, which shall contain rec- 

 ommendations from himself, and which shall secure the careful perform- 

 ance of the necessary experiments, and prescribe the method by which 

 the questions shall be determined. 



This motion was agreed to. 



The subject of fish-ways was then considered and discussed, and the 

 various forms of those constructed by Colonel Worrall and others were 

 briefly explained. 



Dr. Hudson spoke of the obstruction at the Holyoke dam, which 

 prevents the ascent of shad. 



Mr. Pike said no expense was spared in Connecticut to make one of 

 the finest fish-ways, but shad had never gone through it. 



Colonel Worrall said all the plans of the 'Nesv England fish-ways he 

 had seen were not more than 4 or 5 feet wide, whereas the narrowest 

 part of his own was 20 feet wide. The wider they are tlie better. 



Mr. Page referred to the meeting of the American Fisli-CulturistS' 

 Association, held in Albany last February, and to his appointment upon a 

 committee to enter into correspondence in regard to fish-culture in China 

 and Japan. He had communicated with the State Department in regard 

 to this subject, and had met with a favorable response ; and, singularly 

 enough, he had just received a letter from Japan, which he would read. 



The letter is as follows : 



Ko. 113.] " United States Consulate, 



" Kanagaiva, September 5, 1872. 



" Sir : Eeferring to your dispatch No. 60, I have the honor to report, 

 that from the best information within my reach I glean the following 

 facts : 



" In Japan there is no scientific or business method of propagating fish. 

 The great abundance of salt-water fish and the fact of but little being used 

 which is not previously salted do not seem yet to involve the necessity 

 of propagation. 



" A few Daimios, chiefly in the south, and also in Kinishin, have trans- 

 ferred live fish when young (not two inches long) from river to river, from 

 river to pond, and from pond back to river again. They are transferred in 

 small, flat vessels of water, and put into temporary artificial ponds made 

 of puddled clay, only a few inches deep, and cov^ered with netting to 

 keep the fish safe from attack of birds. 



