California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



isicictiltuit* 



Progress in Fish Culture. 



r7i~riOJI Harper's MonUdij for March 



ill ^^^ '^'^^ followiug: 



life As usual, the subject of piscul- 



^<3( ture and the fisheries contiuues to 



'j\fe occupy a large share of the pubhc 



attention, in view of the popularity of 



the measures taken looking toward the 



increase in the supply of fresh-water 



fishes and the proper utilization of the 



laoducts of the Avaters generally. 



Of the various State Conimissions, 

 those of Virginia, California and Maine 

 have lately published their reports of 

 satisfactory work. 



The varied enterprises in which the 

 United States has been engaged during 

 the autumn have been successfullj' pro- 

 secuted, the United States hatching es- 

 tablishment on the Sacramento river, 

 under the charge of Mr. Livingston 

 Stone, having obtained nine millions of 

 eggs, in bulk amounting to eighty bush- 

 els. Some two millions of the young 

 were hatched out and placed in the Sac- 

 ramento for the pujpose of keeping up 

 its supply, and the remainder of the eggs 

 were sent East, for the most j^art to the 

 State Commissioners of Fisheries. The 

 introduction of the young fish into suit- 

 able waters was prosecuted mainly dur- 

 ing the mouths of December and .January 

 and nearly all the waters of the United 

 States east of the Missouri river have re- 

 ceived their share. A very large number 

 were planted in the head waters of the 

 Ohio, the Mississippi, and other streams 

 in the central portion of the United 

 States, as well as in the waters tributary 

 to the great lakes, and those of the East 

 from Maine to Georgia. It is not too 

 much to hope that in a few years most 

 satisfactory results fiom the experiment 

 will be experienced. Mr. Atkins has 

 also continued his work in collecting and 

 developing the eggs of the Eastern 

 salmon at Bucksi^ort, Maine, and has se- 

 cured between three and four millions. 

 These, as being taken later iu the year, 

 and of slower development, will be dis- 

 tributed in March or April. In addition 

 to his labors with the sea salmon, Mr. 

 Atkins has also secured a large number 

 of eggs of the landlocked salmon from 

 the Grand Lake Stream, in Eastern 

 Maine, some nine hundred thousand eggs 

 in all having been placed in the hatching 

 boxes. In the course of its labors dur- 

 ing thtj summerof iy75, having reference 

 to the shad, about twelve millions of 

 young were hatched out and distributed 

 iu various waters by the United States 

 Fish Commission. 



A very important enterprise of the 

 same general character is that which is 

 now in progress under the direction of 

 the Fish Commissioners of Michigan, 

 Ohio and Canada. The Michigan Com- 

 missioners are now hatching about seven 

 millions of white-fish eggs, those of 

 Canada having almost as many. The 

 Ohio Commissioners were unable to 

 complete their establishments in time for 

 extensive operations this season, but 

 they have at their four hatching stations 

 a considerable number of the eggs of the 

 white-fish, partly furnished to them by 

 the Commissioners of Michigan. 



An important movement has been 

 made on the Hudson river by Seth Green 

 under the direction of the Fish Com- 

 missioners of New York, in the multi- 

 plication of sturgeon. The economical 

 value of this fish is only beginning to be 

 appreciated iu this country, although in 

 Europe it has long ranked among those 

 of most importance. But already a 



large business in the manufacture of is- 

 inglass and caviar, as well as in supply- 

 ing this fish for consumption, both fresh 

 and smoked, has been prosecuted for 

 some time. The Hudson river formerly 

 abounded iu sturgeon, which have be- 

 come scarce, .and the object of Mr. 

 Green's work has been to increase the 

 number. An incidental benefit resulting 

 from the multiplication of these fish, it 

 is expected, will be the destruction by 

 them of the stake nets which at present 

 do so much to prevent the natural in- 

 crease cf shad iu that river, the nets be- 

 ing too weak to resist so powerful a fish 

 as the sturgeon. 



The prominence of the turbot and sole 

 among the more expensive flshas of Eu- 

 rope has suggested the idea of introduc- 

 ing them iuto American waters; and at 

 the request of Mr. .J. S. Kidder, of Bos- 

 ton, the United States Fish Commis- 

 sioner is now engaged in making prepa- 

 rations for transferriug a sufficient 

 number of young fish from the British 

 coast to that of Massachusetts to make a 

 satisfactory experiment, the expenses to 

 be borne by Mr. Kidder. 



Fish CuLTtjEE in the Northwest. — A 

 writer in the Chicago Timfs says: 



In no State is fish culture receiving 

 more attention than Michigan. Aside 

 from private enterprise, the State and 

 United States have aided in the work. A 

 State hatchery, under the supervision of 

 Hon. George H. Jerome, of Niles, is 

 located at Pakagon, in which over 700,- 

 000 salmon have been hatched and dis- 

 tributed to the waters of the State during 

 the last four months. 



A State hatchery for white-fish is also 

 established at Detroit, in which there are 

 now over 7,000,000 of eggs that were 

 taken from the white-fish of Detroit 

 river, during the first week of November, 

 and which are expected to hatch in 

 March. Iu about ten days after they 

 hatch the umbilical sac (from which 

 they obtain their nourishment) will be 

 absorbed, when they will be "planted 

 out" in the lakes of the State that are 

 thought to be suited to their habits. 



The great success that has attended 

 the hatching and letting loose of young 

 shad iuto the Connecticut and Hudson 

 rivers, aud the consequent reduction of 

 price at the fishing grounds, from 50 cts. 

 to a dime apiece for shad, give encour- 

 agement to promoters of this enterprise, 

 and inspire the hope that the investment 

 will prove a good one. 



At this place, 25 miles northwest of 

 Detroit, is the hatchery of Mr. Frank 

 Clark. The Deputy Fish Commissioner 

 of the United States, James W. Milner, 

 made arrangements last fall with Mr. 

 Clark to hatch out 800,000 salmon eggs 

 and 4,000,000 white-fish eggs. The 

 salmon eggs were obtained from the head 

 waters of the Sacramento river, Califor- 

 nia. They were out of a lot of 8,000,000 

 that were obtained there under the aus- 

 15ices of the United St.atcs Fish Commis- 

 sion iu September last. The eggs 

 arrived at this place on the 7th of Octo- 

 ber, aud commenced hatching on the 

 ■25th, and continued up to the middle of 

 November. "When first hatched they 

 were about an inch long, nearly transpa- 

 rent, and had a large appendage which 

 prevented them from swimming, buf 

 which furnished them their nourishment 

 during the first forty days of their exist- 

 ence. At the end of this the umbilical 

 sac was absorbed, and the fish had grow n 

 to be over an inch long, and they re- 

 quired food. It was at this stage that 

 they were "planted out" iuto streams of 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee aud 

 Kentucky. 

 These rivers were selected that ap- 



peared to bo the best suited to the habits 

 of the fish. Salmon are always hatched 

 iu fresh water, where they remain till 

 thep are one to three years old. Then, 

 when no obstacles intervene, they go to 

 salt water where they grow very rapidly, 

 and when of ten pounds weight or more 

 they return to propagate their species. 

 It is a well established fuel that, if no 

 insurmountable obstacles prevent, they 

 will invariably go to their native spawn- 

 ing beds. It may interest some in Chi- 

 cago to learn that 286,000 young salmon 

 were turned loose into the Kankakee 

 river during the last thirty days. They 

 were put iuto the head waters, near 

 South Bend. It is thought by those who 

 have given tho subject careful examina- 

 tion that the California salmon fsabiio 

 ijuinnat) will thrive and be able to with- 

 stand the high temperature of the \\aters 

 of our western and southern rivers. 



Tests were made last summer in the 

 San Joaquin rivea, a good salmon stream 

 in California, aud it was found that the 

 temperature of the water was from 80 to 

 85 degrees for weeks at a time, which is 

 higher than that of the Mississippi or the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



Mr. Jerome, iu behalf of the State is 

 making an experiment by putting young 

 salmon iuto the lakes, hoping that the 

 fish will be couteut to remain in the lake 

 aud not attempt to ]nish down to salt 

 water over Niagara falls. 



Is it not best to make these experi- 

 ments? The rivers of Great Britain, 

 many of which were nearly barren, and 

 others in which no salmon were found, 

 have by artificial propagation become 

 sources of income to the government aud 

 furnish an abundance of wholesome food 

 for the people. What has been done 

 there may be done here, and we predict 

 that the 8,000,000 eggs which have been 

 distributed to various States will jiroduce 

 salmon suited to the streams in which 

 they are placed, and that their jirogcuy 

 will furnish a rich supply of food for 

 coming generations. 



The Massachusetts Fish Cojnassiox- 

 ERs have reported for 1875. From a sum- 

 mary given by the A'oic England Fanner 

 we quote the following as of general in- 

 terest : In the remarks upon trout cul- 

 ture great stress is laid on the fact that 

 large aud stagnant ponds arc not favor- 

 able for trout, as the water becomes too 

 warm for the health of the fish; owing to 

 this reason many attempts at trout rais- 

 ing have failed. About 2.';0,000 salmon 

 were hatched last year, from spawn re- 

 ceived from the Bueksport, Maine, estab- 

 lishment, and distributed in the head- 

 waters of the Merrimac. A large amount 

 of laud-locked salmon spawn will be re- 

 ceived from Maine next year; over 75,000 

 California salmon have been hatched 

 from 80,000 eggs received from that State, 

 and have been distrib>ited through the 

 State. Last year about 5,000,000 young 

 salmon were sent from California to the 

 Atlantic States, besides 2,000,000 placed 

 in rivers in that State. For the comple- 

 tion of the LawTcnce fish-way and for im- 

 provements of the one at Holyoke, the 

 Commissioners recommend an appropria- 

 tion of S8000, and 85000 for other ex- 

 penses of the Commission. The total ex- 

 pense of the Commission, last year, was 

 §6061. Among the jjonds leased, last 

 year, was L.ake Pleasant in Montague to 

 that town for 10 years; there are 55 leas- 

 ed ponds in the State. E. H. Kellogg of 

 Pittsfield, for the lessees of Pontoosuc 

 Lake in that town, reports that 400 or 

 500 land-locked salmon were placed in it, 

 in 1875, that they are doing well, and 

 that the leasing of Pontoosuc Lake wiU 

 result greatly to the advantage of the 

 public. 



The CDXxtntE of fish is one of the most 

 successful! enterprises of the times; and 

 it promises great benefits to the wants of 

 man. With proper diligence and care iu 

 this matter, warm winters, so generally 

 fatal, as this has been, in the loss of 

 meat, may be regarded with little concern. 

 As an illustration we note that the United 

 States fish-hatching establishment on tho 

 JlcCloud liver, a branch of the upper Sac- 

 ramento, has Iteeu operated with great 

 success daring the past year. Over U,000,- 

 000 salmon eggs have been obtained, of 

 which 0,210,0(10 were sent East, arriving 

 in good condition and with a small loss 

 in hatching. The renuiinder, when de- 

 veloped, will be placed iu the Sacramento 

 river. The eggs shipped East were put 

 up in packages of 80,000 each, in alter- 

 nate layers with damp moss. They were 

 then packed iu cftt*s iu pairs, surround- 

 ed by stufSng to prevent jarring. The 

 totiil weight of the consignment was over 

 20,000 pounds; tho bulk of the eggs alone 

 was 80 bushels. 



Apiculture in California. 



COIUJESPONDEXT of the Ohi,- 

 inqs in lice Culture gives his account 

 of his last year's experience at An- 

 aheim as follows: 

 I commenced here the 5th of 

 last May, with 144 swarms in the old 

 box and Harbison hives, many of them 

 new swarms. As the swarming season 

 here is in March and .\pril, you can im- 

 agine how much of the season had passed 

 before the 5th of May. After that time 

 I had to send for my hives, etc., so that 

 I did not get through transferring before 

 the 1st of June. I have increased from 

 these 144 hives to 305, and have taken 

 20,305 pounds of honey. I expected to 

 have reached ;jO,000, but calculated too 

 m\ich on honey dew this fall. However, 

 there are 4,000 or 5,000 pounds in the 

 hives now that I \rill take out. So you 

 see I have taken on an average fourteen 

 and a half pounds per hive throughout 

 the whole apiary, and I assure you that 

 many of them were in anything but good 

 condition when they were transferred. I 

 have taken iu one day, without an as- 

 sistant, 1,170 pounds of honey, and with 

 an assistant, 1,800 pounds. 



My apiary is aiTanged on a smooth 

 piece of ground, constitmiug a bench 

 about twelve feet above the land below. 

 The bee house, or honey house, is built 

 on the edge of this bench, or in the baulc; 

 so that we can go from the ground of the 

 apiary into the second story of the build- 

 where are the extractor, stove for heating 

 water, a small tank, holding seventy-five 

 gallons, etc. In the lower story are the 

 carpenter's tools, bench, etc., the large 

 tank, framed in one comer of the build- 

 ing, stout and strong, boarded up and 

 lined with zinc. This tank holds about 

 1,000 gallons, is in the southeast corner 

 of the building, and is exposed to the 

 sun by a window on the south side of 

 the upper story. It is covered with a 

 fine \\-ire gauze, and is protected with a 

 partition in the upper story from dust, 

 dirt, etc. The honey is first put into 

 the small tank, where it stands until the 

 trash that naturally gets into it when 

 extracted all rises to the top, when it is 

 well skimmed and the honey drawn ofi' 

 into the large tank below. The object 

 of the gauze cover aud exjiosure of the 

 lerge tank is to evaporate the honey 

 thoroughly before putting up for market. 

 The honey is draws from the larj,e tank 

 into cans, barrels, etc., for market. The 

 arrangement of the apiary is in jjaral- 



