22 Report of the American 



good deal has been said about the carp for stocking some of our waters ; 

 but if I am rightfull}- informed it is a coarse fish, about equal to our 

 mullet. The Oswego bass is much to be preferred for the table, is a fast 

 breeder, and will live in an}' waters that the carp can exist in. We 

 want done only what we know is practical, and do not want expensive 

 experiments ; our commissioners say to us, we want to expend the peo- 

 ple's money for what we know to be for the greatest good to the great- 

 est number, and there is plenty of work to do before we can spend time 

 in experiments. Let us stock our waters with fish ; there is no trouble 

 doing it, unless we switch oft' to some other work which does not belong 

 to the one we have commenced. If we turn aside we shall soon find 

 that the people will refuse appropriations, and the work will be stopped, 

 for there is not a dollar of the people's money spent but some one discovers 

 what it was expended for, whether for the purpose to which it was appro- 

 priated or not. Let us keep the confidence of the people. 



When I went to the Connecticut and Hudson rivers and told the peo- 

 ple I was going to hatch shad eggs, and make shad plent}' and cheap, I 

 was hooted at ; being looked upon b}- some as a lunatic, and by others 

 as a rogue. Mr. James Mull, who owns the fisher}' where we do our 

 shad hatching for this State, told me last Summer that he sent a dozen 

 gentlemen to talk with me and see if they could make out what kind of 

 a character I was. All thought I was insane or an impostor, and 1 was 

 treated as such the first year on the Hudson and Connecticut i ivers. 

 Some of my visitors told ]\Ir. IVIull on their return, that I might be 

 insane, but was no fool. It is ditterent now, and they don't hoot at me, 

 but take my hand with a warmth that gladdens my heart. I have a set 

 of men with me who are practical fishermen and practical fish culturists. 

 I think the}' are as good as any in the country, and are capable of super- 

 intending operations in any State. The}' are not writers, but are honest, 

 and have education enough to keep an account of all they do. They are 

 deserving of better places and more wages than our connnissioners can 

 afford to pay them. They have been taught economy, and practice it. 



