﻿LXXIV 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  29.— 
  SOME 
  OPINIONS 
  OF 
  THE 
  IMPORTANCE 
  OF 
  ARTIFICIAL 
  PROPA- 
  

   GATION. 
  

  

  Sir 
  Lyon 
  Playfair 
  made 
  a 
  very 
  careful 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  Wood's 
  

   floll 
  Station 
  and 
  other 
  appliances 
  of 
  the 
  Commission, 
  and 
  on 
  his 
  return 
  

   to 
  England 
  endeavored 
  to 
  stimulate 
  endeavor 
  in 
  Great 
  Britain 
  by 
  the 
  

   following 
  allusions 
  to 
  the 
  United 
  States: 
  

  

  "In 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  special 
  subject 
  of 
  carp, 
  much 
  progress 
  has 
  been 
  

   made 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  by 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  German 
  va- 
  

   rieties. 
  It 
  is 
  curious 
  that 
  they 
  should 
  have 
  done 
  so 
  before 
  the 
  mother 
  

   country, 
  for 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  old 
  fish 
  ponds 
  are 
  spread 
  over 
  England, 
  ana 
  

   are 
  almost 
  always 
  near 
  the 
  old 
  monasteries. 
  Tens 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  old 
  

   carp 
  ponds 
  once 
  existed 
  in 
  England, 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  carp 
  were 
  no 
  longer 
  

   cultivated 
  they 
  reverted 
  to 
  their 
  wild 
  state 
  and 
  became 
  valueless. 
  In 
  

   China 
  and 
  Germany 
  the 
  culture 
  of 
  carp 
  is 
  still 
  an 
  important 
  industry. 
  

   The 
  United 
  States, 
  in 
  introducing 
  the 
  culture, 
  wisely 
  selected 
  the 
  Ger- 
  

   man 
  species. 
  In 
  1S82 
  the 
  carp 
  bred 
  in 
  the 
  Commissson 
  ponds 
  at 
  Wash- 
  

   ington 
  were 
  distributed 
  in 
  lots 
  of 
  twenty 
  to 
  ten 
  thousand 
  applicants 
  in 
  

   every 
  State 
  and 
  Territory. 
  The 
  average 
  distance 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  

   sent 
  was 
  900 
  miles, 
  and 
  the 
  total 
  mileage 
  of 
  shipments 
  was 
  9,000,000 
  

   miles 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  actual 
  distance 
  traversed 
  by 
  the 
  transportation 
  railway 
  

   cars 
  was 
  31,000 
  miles. 
  Already 
  German 
  carp 
  have 
  been 
  introduced 
  

   into 
  thirty 
  thousand 
  separate 
  waters. 
  

  

  u 
  But 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  wish 
  to 
  limit 
  my 
  letter 
  to 
  carp 
  by 
  any 
  means. 
  Aqua- 
  

   culture 
  has 
  become 
  an 
  important 
  affair 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  among 
  our 
  trans- 
  

   atlantic 
  brethren. 
  The 
  separate 
  States 
  prosecute 
  it, 
  and 
  in 
  1882 
  spent 
  

   £24,000 
  in 
  its 
  promotion. 
  The 
  National 
  Government 
  spent 
  nearly 
  

   £30,000 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  object. 
  The 
  scale 
  on 
  which 
  this 
  is 
  done 
  may 
  be 
  

   indicated 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  Government 
  at 
  Washington 
  provided 
  

   the 
  Fish 
  Commission 
  with 
  two 
  steamers, 
  commanded 
  by 
  officers 
  of 
  the 
  

   Navy, 
  and 
  specially 
  designed 
  for 
  scientific 
  research 
  and 
  for 
  fish 
  propa- 
  

   gation. 
  The 
  Albatross, 
  of 
  385.83 
  tons, 
  is 
  a 
  model 
  of 
  what 
  a 
  ship 
  should 
  

   be 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  purpose; 
  the 
  Eish 
  Hawk, 
  of 
  205.71 
  tons, 
  is 
  not 
  good 
  in 
  

   heavy 
  seas, 
  but 
  is 
  well 
  fitted 
  for 
  the 
  latter 
  purpose. 
  There 
  are 
  seven- 
  

   teen 
  hatching 
  stations, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  head 
  is 
  at 
  Wood's 
  II 
  oil, 
  in 
  Massa- 
  

   chusetts. 
  Having 
  paid 
  a 
  short 
  visit 
  to 
  Professor 
  Baird 
  there 
  this 
  year, 
  

   I 
  am 
  tempted 
  to 
  enlarge 
  upon 
  it; 
  but 
  I 
  will 
  only 
  say 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  

   excellent 
  house 
  for 
  the 
  staff, 
  containing 
  thirty 
  beds, 
  laboratories 
  for 
  

   research, 
  and 
  hatching 
  ponds 
  for 
  2,000,000 
  young 
  cod. 
  Much 
  of 
  the 
  

   work 
  is 
  done 
  by 
  volunteer 
  agency. 
  The 
  various 
  u 
  niversities 
  send 
  their 
  

   naturalists, 
  and 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution 
  devotes 
  money 
  for 
  special 
  

   researches 
  and 
  publications. 
  

  

  "There 
  is 
  an 
  essential 
  difference 
  between 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  proceeding 
  of 
  

   the 
  Government 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  our 
  own 
  country 
  in 
  

   relation 
  to 
  fisheries. 
  We 
  have 
  had 
  commissions 
  without 
  end, 
  on 
  some 
  

   of 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  served. 
  Vast 
  bodies 
  of 
  contradictory 
  evidence 
  have 
  

   been 
  obtained 
  from 
  fishermen, 
  who, 
  I 
  agree 
  with 
  Huxley, 
  know 
  less 
  

  

  