REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. *23 



autumn of 1876 from Mr. J. Bancroft Davis, at that time minister of 

 the United States to the German Empire, requesting that models of 

 certain apparatus be furnished at the expense of the Verein. This was 

 promi)tly attended to under the supervision of Mr. James W. Milner, 

 and the articles forwarded gave great satisfaction. 



A similar application was received from the Japanese Government, 

 to include models, not only of hatching apparatus, but of fishways, to 

 be applied to the waters of that coimtry; and a full series of models, a 

 reproduction of those exhibited at Philadelphia at the Centennial, was 

 accordingly made and presented to the Government of Japan in return 

 for the very valuable donation of the whole of its fishery exhibit at the 

 Centennial. 



Mr. A. Eisendecher, of Yaldivia, Chili, applied for a statement of 

 probable expenses of i)lacing California salmon and other fishes in the 

 waters of Southern Chili; the United States consul in Ecuador also 

 sought similar information for that country. 



Applications have also been received from parties in British Colum- 

 bia for information as to the best mode of utilizing the refuse and waste 

 of the salmon-canning establishments. Several firms engaged in the 

 canning of lobsters in ISTew Brunswick embraced the occasion of the pres- 

 ence of the Fish Commission at Halifax to call attention to certain diffi- 

 culties in the preservation of lobsters in cans, some establishments 

 being uuable at certain seasons of the year to prevent th^ entire decom- 

 position of the canned meat, in si)ite of all precautions. Information in 

 response to this query has been fiu^nished as far as it was at the com- 

 mand of the Commission. 



As already exi)lained in earlier reports, the United States Fish Com- 

 mission endeavors to occupy ground not covered by State commissions 

 or by private enteri)rise ; and whatever species are fully cared for by 

 other organizations are not treated by the United States Commission. 



Two favorite fish in the United States, the trout and the black bass, 

 are propagated by hundreds of establishments throughout the country, 

 both State and private, which attend fully to them. They are, however, 

 available only for local waters, private fish jionds, or streams, and there 

 would be a manifest imioropriety on the part of the United States Fish 

 Commission in catering to the interest of a few individuals. Both spe- 

 cies are of comparatively little account iii the food production of the 

 nation, and it is only those who can aftbrd to devote an abundance of 

 leisure to their capture, or those whose means enable them to purchase 

 at a high price, who are benefited by their cultivation. Of course, if the 

 question were as to the introduction of some new variety of these fish 

 that should have some special qualification, and which could only be 

 brought to the notice of the people by the United States Commission, 

 the argument would be very different. 



As already explained, the only species that have received special at- 



