180 American FisJicries Society 



rected by the Chief Justice to consider not alone the present 

 value of the fish which could be taken from that stream, but 

 the potential value of that stream, what it could be made to 

 produce in fish for food, and in addition we were to consider 

 the recreational value of the stream as a beauty spot. 



We do not contemplate a rabid agitation or any ill-advised 

 attempt to force manufacturers to do anything prejudicial 

 to their real interests, but we believe that in the course of 

 five or ten years some very progressive steps will have been 

 taken. 



Very strong pressure was placed upon the Governor when 

 the legislative act came before him for approval. He had 

 fully made up his mind to veto the measure ; when he called 

 me in consultation, I directed his attention, among other 

 things, to the fact that Boston, by turning its sewage into 

 the harbor, was destroying an annual value of over $400,000 

 worth of shellfish each year. Now, that is but a fraction 

 when compared to the waste and destruction wrought by 

 the mill waste and other material that goes into the Black- 

 stone, Merrimac and Connecticut Rivers, and the myriad of 

 smaller streams, not to mention numerous state ponds. 



In this connection not alone must we consider the actual 

 value of the fish life rendered impossible, but in addition 

 the waste of an inconceivably vast amount of valuable ma- 

 terial which should be used for fertilizing the land. 



We have made experiments and observations which indi- 

 cate that this material, if placed upon the land, will be turned 

 into plant food in the quickest possible manner; if placed in 

 the fresh water streams, it changes to plant food somewhat 

 more slowly; if placed in brackish water, considerably more 

 slowly, and if placed in salt water, very, very, slowly. 

 There, instead of being turned into plant food, it is rapidly 

 precipitated and drops to the bottom as a slimy sludge, 

 which will be of practically no value as plant food for years 

 and years to come on account of conditions unfavorable to 

 oxidation and nitrification, 



