47 



made in Great Britain and Norway and the United States, and that 

 the French organized and kept in operation a large government fish- 

 breeding establislunent, till their late disastrous war with the Ger- 

 mans ; but it was not — and I say it with pride — it was not till the 

 persevering and far-seeing efforts of Stephen H. Ainsworth, and the 

 wonderful genius of Seth Green, had been directed to the subject, 

 that trout culture passed from the stage of experiment to that of a 

 popular and practical branch of industry. 



The history of practical trout culture, by itself, hardly dates back 

 ten years. Without meaning to detract from the merits of Mr. Ains- 

 worth's exei'tions, which were all the more meritorious because they 

 were, in the practical s,ense in which lie made them, original, I think we 

 can safely say that the art of practical trout culture dates from the 

 time that Seth Green bought the Caledonia stream, and demonstrated 

 to the world what a great success conld be made of practical trout 

 breeding. The culture of trout is also an American specialty. In 

 respect to the salmo fontinalis, or common brook trout, it is necessa- 

 rily so, because this variety of trout is found in no other country. In 

 Europe, however, there is the "salmo fario," or common trout, the 

 salmo ferox, or bull trout, the salmo trutta, or lake trout, besides the 

 char and grayling, which are closely allied to these ; and there is 

 nothing to prevent Europeans from cultivating these fish as Americans 

 cultivate the salmo fontinalis, or American brook trout. But, in point 

 of fact, this is not done. There is one trout-raising establishment in 

 England, one in Wales, two or three in Ireland and Scotland, and 

 these comprise all, in Great Britain, at least. Nowhere, except in 

 America, have the people entered, as they have here, with a universal 

 accord and general interest, into the work of breeding and raising 

 trout. 



It seems to suit the American genius. There are, besides the 

 excitement and novelty of it, a magnitude in the scale of operations, 

 and a largeness of results, as well as an absorbing interest in the 

 detail of it, that seems to commend it particularly to the American 

 mind. 



At all events, it is a fact that the two great representatives of the 

 art, Stephen H. Ainsworth and Seth Green, are Americans, and it is 

 also a fact that American fish culturists have, with a wonderful 

 unanimity of action, taken the lead given them by these distinguished 

 persons, and have plunged into trout raising with an enthusiasm and 

 universality that have given it the character of a very marked Ameri- 

 can specialty. 



