MAY FLIES AND MIDGES OF NEW YORK 



impossible, before these reports were made public. The investi- 

 gations of Dr S. A. Fortes of Illinois convinced him that nearly 

 one-fifth of the entire amount of food consumed by all adult fishes 

 examined by him consisted of aquatic neuropteroid larvae, the 

 greater part of them being the young of May flies. It may never 

 be possible to rear aquatic insects for the purpose of feeding fish, 

 but it certainly is feasible in some instances to provide conditions 

 adapted to multiplication of aquatic insects, and therefore valu- 

 able as feeding grounds for fish. The history of the shellfish in- 

 dustry gives a little idea of the possibilities along this line. A 

 number of years ago it was at a very low eibb, owing to unscien- 

 tific methods in vogue and the lack of individual control. This 

 has been changed and we now have a thriving industry producing 

 over two million dollars ($2,309,758) worth of products, accord- 

 ing to the report of the United States Fish Commission for 1900. 

 It is exceedingly difficult to obtain figures relating to the value of 

 our fresh-water fishes, but a compilation from the report of the 

 United States Fish Commission for the year 1900 gives the total 

 value of fresh-water fish in the Hudson river valley and Long 

 Island at over one million dollars (f 1,192,544), and the report 

 for 1901 places the value of fresh-water fish obtained in the State 

 from the Great Lakes at nearly one-fourth a million ($241,916). 

 These figures, it will be observed, give no idea of the value of 

 fresh-water fish taken in various lakes and streams throughout 

 the State, aside from the areas mentioned above. Comparing the 

 water areas available for shellfish culture and those suitable for 

 the development of fresh-water fish, it will Tbe seen that there is a 

 considerable discrepancy in favor of the latter and yet the value 

 of the product is much smaller. It is stated that a large propor- 

 tion of the market fish of China are grown in ponds, and that 

 carp culture is an important industry not only in China but in 

 Germany, and that formerly carp were extensively reared in Eng- 

 land. Germany and Sweden, and lately France, have also done 

 considerable along this line. 



It is hardly likely that this country will adopt Chinese methods, 

 because the great difference in the price of labor makes it imprac- 

 ticable; still the proper knowledge of the conditions suitable 



