44 Thirtieth Annual Meeting 



to iiK' tliat tlu'iv should be some practical way to surround the 

 sale of these fish with such provisions as will prevent the sale of 

 wild trout. The}^ do these things, I think, better in the state of 

 Massachusetts than we do in the west. In that state, within a 

 radius of fifty miles from Plymouth, are to be found perhaps 

 twenty-five ])rivate trout hatcheries, from some of which five to 

 ten tons of brook trout are marketed annually. They are allowed 

 to sell their fish during the open season in which trout may be 

 caught, and in addition they have a special law that allows them 

 to sell in February and March, and as they have five months of 

 open season, that gives tliem seven months in the year in which 

 to market their fish. The denial of this privilege or right in 

 ^lichigan (and I think it is the same in some other states) drives 

 out what might become a considerable enterprise. I see no good 

 reason why the production and sale of trout as a private or indi- 

 vidual enterprise should not be encouraged rather than sup- 

 pressed, no good reason why anyone should not be allowed to sell 

 his own property, and I would like an expression of opinion from 

 others on this subject. 



Mr. Clark : It was my intention to say not a word in regard 

 to this paper, but !Mr. Bower has brought up this point and I 

 wish to add my mite. That question has been before me ever 

 since the law was passed in the state of Michigan. Time and 

 time again, have people said to \\w that they Avould go into the 

 business of raising trout for market, but they could not sell them. 

 I do not believe — and I want to put myself right on record here 

 as saying so — that any such law in the state of Michigan will 

 stand. If I were a private trout breeder today, I would breed my 

 trout, raise and sell them. I do not see how you can stop a man 

 fi'om selling his fish that he has raised in his own private waters 

 any more than you can stop him from selling beef. But the law 

 should l)e fixed so as to encourage this industry, and one result 

 would be that we as public bi-eeders of fish both national and 

 state would have a better opportunity to buy eggs from different 

 j)arts of the country, just as we do today from the breeders in 

 the east. In Wisconsin, Michigan and all of these trout states, 

 if that industry were encouraged by the law, in the first place we 

 would have, as Mr. Bower says, a great many of these private 

 trout breeders who would raise trout for market, and l)v having 



