21 



Give tlie young ones bread and milk, as yon would yonng kittens, 

 or the mother'can care for tliem. 



Mink require hardly any care or attention beyond attention to the 

 food, as they seem to have no enemies from which they cannot 

 protect themselves, are entirely free from disease and not liable to 

 accident. 



For the above we are indebted to Mr. Eessio-ne, whom we found 

 very ready to give information and to show his "pretty pets." 



SHAD CFLTUKE. 

 By Wm. Clift. 

 The shad {Alosa prmstabilis) stands very high among, if not at the 

 head of, the luxuries which our rivers afford. A seven-pound speci- 

 men, in the month of June, taken fresh from the Connecticut, and 

 cooked by a housewife who has had her birth and education in that 

 famous valley, leaves little to be desired in the way of epicurean 

 delight. The fish from this stream stand so high in the market that 

 the placard, " Connecticut Eiver Shad," probably sells a great many 

 more fish in all our large cities than come from that stream. As 

 compared with the southern shad, they are unquestionably fatter and 

 of finer flavor ; but, as compared with the fish that come from other 

 streams along the Connecticut and Rhode Island shores, there is 

 not much ground for the distinction. I have eaten quite as fine 

 shad from the Quinebaug and the Pawcatuck, before the race became 

 extinct in those rivers, as the best ever taken at Say brook and Lyme. 

 It is not improbable that they follow the law of the grains and fruits, 

 which show the highest excellence in the northern belt, where they 

 can be successfully cultivated. The coast orange about New Oi-leans 

 is a higher-flavored fruit than the orange of Havana ; the apple of the 

 northern states than those of the southern. The corn and wheat of 

 the north are heavier grains than those of the south. We look for 

 the best shad in the northern limits of the region where they flourish, 

 and in these streams human skill should do its best to multiply the 

 race and increase the supply of food for man, 



Natural History. 

 The shad belongs to the herring family {Clupeidce), which afford so 

 large a share of the animal food of European countries. As its name 

 implies, it is the largest of the Alosa, and permanent as an article for 

 food. The species nearest allied to the shad are the alewife {Alosa 

 tyranus) and the bony fish {Alosa menhaden). The alewife is found 



