FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



43 



dull ears of our people, and their representatives who make the 

 laws and provide the means, and who are charged by the law of 

 the land with the responsibility of preserving the public weal, 

 let it be said without hesitation. All barren waters may be 

 made productive again ! The ruin of the great industrial fish- 

 eries of these great public domains may be arrested ! The fish- 

 eries that produced thirteen thousand tons of food fn 1885, may 

 be brought up to the production of thirty, and then fifty thousand 

 tons of wholesome nutritious food within the reach of all men ! 

 The money value in yearly product may be increased from one 

 to five millions of dollars, and contribute no mean share to the 

 prosperity of a great State, and the well-being of its citizens. 

 Detroit, Mich. 



Mr. Booth. — I would like to state fpr the benefit of some of 

 the gentlemen here, to show the enormous results to be derived 

 from fish-culture, that at the cannery I am interested in on the 

 Columbia River, in the state of Oregon, they pack 600,000 cases 

 of salmon per annum. It is worth four to five dollars a case on 

 the ground. Now you can readily see that is $3,000,000. It 

 takes three fish to the case. That is less than 2,000,000 of fish. 

 Now the salmon there produce, I understand, from 15,000 to 20, 

 000 fry, so you can readily see it doesn't take many salmon to 

 re-supply by artificial propagation the salmon that are taken 

 from that river to produce $3,000,000 per annum. In other 

 words, we catch 3,000,000 of fish which produce $3,000,000, and 

 they can be replaced by artificial propagation for at least $10,000 

 in money. Now if there is anything in this world you can 

 speak of that will produce so much for so little investment, I 

 should like to know it. 



Mr. BissELL. — Mr. Booth has spoken about the comparative 

 cost of policing and artificial propagation. It is a very com- 

 prehensive subject, and I have stated in outline in my paper just 

 what my conclusions are, drawn from a great many facts and a 

 great deal of thought and consideration of the subject. It is 

 true that artificial propagation, if carried on on a proper scale, 

 can be done very cheapl3^ I made some figures for presenta- 

 tion to the committee by our register two years ago, and if I re- 



