﻿MANUAL 
  OF 
  FISH-CULTURE. 
  139 
  

  

  The 
  "Seth 
  Greeu 
  box," 
  a 
  modificatiou 
  of 
  the 
  floating'-box 
  used 
  for 
  

   hatching 
  trout 
  aud 
  salmon 
  eggs, 
  was 
  lirst 
  tried 
  with 
  great 
  success, 
  but 
  

   floating-boxes 
  were 
  subject 
  to 
  various 
  accidents 
  when 
  used 
  in 
  tidal 
  

   waters, 
  and 
  in 
  rapid 
  succession 
  devices 
  of 
  various 
  kinds 
  were 
  brought 
  

   forward 
  to 
  supplant 
  them. 
  The 
  most 
  imj)0¥tant 
  were 
  hatching-cones 
  

   aud 
  the 
  j)lunger-buckets, 
  which, 
  though 
  imiDerfect, 
  rendered 
  larger 
  

   operations 
  possible. 
  At 
  this 
  period 
  the 
  api)aratus 
  was 
  arranged 
  on 
  

   flat-bottomed 
  barges 
  and 
  towed 
  from 
  point 
  to 
  point 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  from 
  

   Albemarle 
  Sound 
  to 
  the 
  Susquehanna 
  Elver, 
  a 
  slow 
  and 
  exjiensive 
  

   method. 
  The 
  Chase 
  whiteflsh 
  jar 
  worked 
  with 
  considerable 
  efficiency, 
  

   but 
  required 
  modifications, 
  and 
  finally 
  the 
  "universal" 
  hatching 
  jar 
  now 
  

   in 
  use 
  was 
  adopted 
  in 
  1882. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  years 
  of 
  experimental 
  work 
  from 
  1872 
  to 
  1880, 
  97,171,700 
  

   shad 
  fry 
  were 
  planted, 
  beginning 
  with 
  859,000 
  in 
  1872, 
  while 
  in 
  1880, 
  

   28,626,000 
  were 
  distributed. 
  Prior 
  to 
  1880 
  deposits 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  hundred 
  

   thousand 
  each 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  as 
  many 
  different 
  streams 
  as 
  i)ossible, 
  but 
  

   the 
  increased 
  production 
  of 
  young 
  fish 
  made 
  it 
  possible 
  to 
  ship 
  and 
  

   plant 
  the 
  fry 
  by 
  the 
  carload, 
  and 
  by 
  1884 
  shad-culture 
  was 
  established 
  

   on 
  a 
  large 
  scale, 
  barge 
  oj^erations 
  were 
  abandoned, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  

   conducted 
  on 
  shore. 
  The 
  basins 
  of 
  the 
  Chesapeake 
  Bay 
  and 
  Delaware 
  

   River 
  had 
  meanwhile 
  been 
  selected 
  by 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Commission 
  

   as 
  the 
  natural 
  seat 
  of 
  operations, 
  though 
  the 
  State 
  commissions 
  from 
  

   IVFassachusetts 
  to 
  South 
  Carolina 
  were 
  actively 
  engaged 
  on 
  their 
  own 
  

   account. 
  At 
  present 
  the 
  States, 
  except 
  Connecticut, 
  New 
  York, 
  Penn- 
  

   sylvania, 
  and 
  Maryland, 
  have 
  practically 
  abandoned 
  shad-hatching, 
  

   leaving 
  the 
  work 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  government. 
  

  

  EGG-CtROUNDS. 
  

  

  Every 
  river 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  from 
  Massachusetts 
  southward 
  has 
  

   been 
  examined 
  by 
  the 
  agents 
  of 
  some 
  State 
  commission 
  or 
  the 
  United 
  

   States, 
  or 
  by 
  both, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  natural 
  spawning-grounds 
  

   of 
  the 
  shad. 
  On 
  nearly 
  every 
  stream 
  hatcheries 
  have 
  been 
  operated 
  

   at 
  one 
  time 
  or 
  another, 
  but 
  usually 
  eggs 
  were 
  not 
  obtained 
  in 
  sufficient 
  

   numbers 
  to 
  justify 
  continued 
  operations, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  Chesapeake 
  and 
  

   Delaware 
  basins. 
  However, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  unlikely 
  that 
  after 
  further 
  investi 
  

   gation 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  practicable 
  to 
  maintain 
  hatcheries 
  on 
  rivers 
  

   which 
  have 
  long 
  since 
  been 
  abandoned. 
  It 
  is 
  certain 
  that 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  

   Albemarle 
  Sound 
  can 
  be 
  successfully 
  conducted, 
  and 
  though 
  operations 
  

   on 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Piver 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale, 
  better 
  results 
  may 
  

   be 
  there 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  future. 
  

  

  In 
  certain 
  river 
  stretches, 
  apparently 
  favorable, 
  no 
  ripe 
  fish 
  are 
  found 
  ; 
  

   for 
  example, 
  in 
  the 
  Roanoke 
  River 
  for 
  15 
  miles 
  above 
  its 
  mouth, 
  where 
  

   10,000 
  to 
  15,000 
  shad 
  are 
  taken 
  annually, 
  mature 
  eggs 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  found, 
  

   though 
  the 
  fish 
  spawn 
  just 
  below 
  there, 
  as 
  they 
  do 
  many 
  miles 
  above 
  at 
  

   Weldon. 
  In 
  the 
  Sutton 
  Beach 
  seine, 
  the 
  one 
  in 
  North 
  Carolina 
  waters 
  

   which 
  has 
  afforded 
  the 
  most 
  spawn, 
  only 
  about 
  one 
  spawning 
  shad 
  to 
  

   each 
  100 
  is 
  caught, 
  aud 
  the 
  annual 
  catch 
  of 
  this 
  seine 
  is 
  30,000 
  to 
  75,0(K) 
  

   per 
  annum. 
  In 
  view 
  of 
  such 
  facts, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  remarkable 
  that 
  difficulty 
  

  

  