XVI.-THE EXPERIMENTS IN PROPAGATING MAIFISCHE (ALOSA 

 VULGARIS), IN 1876 AND 1877. 



By R. Eckakdt.* 



On tbe 2Gtli of May, 187G, I received by Privy-Counselor Fastenau 

 the honorable commission from Chamberlain von BehrSchmoldow, pres- 

 ideot of the German Fishery- Association, to undertake a journey to the 

 Ehiue, in order to effect if possible in this year the increase and spread 

 of the " maiflsche "t by artificial raising. 



I must here mention that Mr. Christian Schieber, of Hameln, super- 

 intendent of fisheries, had made very thorough investigations of this 

 "svhole matter in Wesel, from May 7 to June 9, 1875, and in Neuwied, 

 Coblentz, Neuendorf, and Berncastel, on the Moselle, from the 13th to the 

 28th of May, 1<S7G, and had ascertained that spawning " maifische" are 

 but rarely caught in those localities. The fishermen say that the " mai- 

 fische" in that neighborhood do not spawn till June, and sometimes not 

 till July, but that this did not occur every year. 



On the 8th of June I was able, after having arranged some private 

 matters connected with my farm, to set out for Hameln, via Berlin, in 

 order to obtain from Mr. Schieber an oral account of his observations. 

 He very readily communicated to me all he knew, and showed me his 

 very favorably located and practically arranged salmon-breeding estab- 

 lishment, as well as his interesting contrivances for catching salmon and 

 eels, which were in fall operation during the time of my visit. 



The breeding establishment is fed by very pure spring- water, of 7.5 -j- 

 Edaumur (48f|° P.), which comes from the ground in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood, is caught in two covered wells only 10-15 meters distant, and 

 is led through underground pipes. The water does not leave any oxides 



* Report of Mr. R. Eckardt-LiibbincheD, landed proprietor, on the experiments in 

 propagating the " maifische" (Alosa vulgaris), made in 1876, at the request of the Ger- 

 man Fishery-Association, and on the continuation and successful termination of these 

 experiments in 1877, by artiiicially breeding and raising these fish, transporting them, 

 and by stocking the rivers Elbe and Neisse with them. " Bericht des Rittergntsbesit- 

 zers R. Eckardt-Liibbinchen iiber die im Auftrage des Deutschen Fischerei-Vereins im 

 Jahre 1876 angestellten Versuche zur Vermehruug der Maifische, sowie iiber die Fort- 

 setzung und gliickliche Ausfiihrung dieser Versuche im Jahre 1877 durch Kiinstliche 

 Befruchtung, Erbriitung und Transport -wie Aussetzung in Elbe und Neisse." From 

 Circular No. 5 of the German Fishery-Association. Berlin, July 17, 1877. Translated 

 by H. Jacobson. 



t It has been deemed expedient to retain throughout this article the German name 

 of the Alosa vulgaris, viz, the "maifische." 



