52 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



THE SUSQUEHANNA SHAD. 



This fish, one of the most delicate and tooth- 

 some in itsseasontliatvisitstheiuland streams 

 of our country, Belongs to the Herring family, 

 (Clupeid^e.) There are several species be- 

 longing to the restricted genus Alosa, at least 

 two of which ascend the Susquehanna and its 

 tributaries (when not obstructed in 

 their passage) the earliest " run " of 

 which is the "Hickory Shad," (Alosa 

 tyranis,) but the true shad of tlie Sus- 

 quehanna, and the one most highly 

 prized, is the Alosa 2)rcestahilis. Of 

 all the shad caught elsewhere in the 

 country, there are perhaps none supe- 

 rior in size and excellence of flavor 

 to those caught in the Susquehanna 

 and its tributaries, and the higher up 

 the streams they are caught, the fat- 

 ter, more solid and delicious' they are. 

 Those taken at Safe Harbor and Co- 

 lumbia are far superior to those taken 

 nearer the Bay, and before the era of 

 internal navigation, and when the 

 rivers of Pennsylvania were unob- 

 structed by dams and fish traps, those 

 taken at the Marietta, Elliott's Is- 

 land and Clark's Ferry fisheries, were 

 even superior to the former named. 

 Shad ascend the streams for the pur- 

 j)ose of spawning, after which their 

 flesh becomes soft, milky and insipid, 

 and many of them die before they 

 reach the Bay again. The young fry 

 descend the streams in autunm, and 

 many are taken in fish-traps or "bas- 

 kets," to the great prejudice of the 

 fishing interests. From autumn until 

 ■spring the shad inhabit the deeper ^ 

 bay or sea waters, but return every S 

 season to gladden the heart of man, X 

 and relieve him from the stale mono- "^ 

 tony of "flitch and rancid sausages. " 

 Neal,in one of his"charcoal sketches, ' ' 

 through one of his characters says: 

 " Of all the fish that swims, commend 

 me to the shad as the most gentle- 

 manly and best educated, for every 

 year they return to our very doors. 

 This is no doubt owing to the fact 

 that they are partial to ' schools,' und 

 by a little improvement in the curi- 

 cuhim of those schools, they might be -o 

 taught to ring the door-bell and in n 

 quire for the cook." 



All the legislative protection that 

 shad require, are clear and unob- 

 structed fishways from the bays up to 

 their spawning places. They are not 

 a local fish, but flsli 'of passage, and 

 will find their way into streams of 

 their o-ivn accord, and without the 

 labor of " stocking " them. 



Although the sh.ad is one of the most 

 excellent of fislies in its edible quali- 

 ties, and also symmetrical in form, 

 yet It cannot be iiroi)erly considered 

 a "game-fish." It is by no means 

 remarkable for taking the fiy, or any 

 other kind of bait— indeed, the in- 

 stances where it has been caught with 

 a " hook and line, " are not at all com- 

 mon, although upon the authority of 

 "FiiANK FoRRESTEK " it is stated 

 that they will take the fly if it be a 

 large and gaudily colored one. There- 

 fore in fisliing for sliad the chief reli- 

 ance is upon tiie net. This is of vari- 

 ous forms, adapted to the conveni- 

 ences of the fishing pools, but along 

 the shores of the Susquehanna, and 

 on its islands and artificial batteries, a 

 long sweeping seine is mainly used. 

 In the bays and elsewhere, a Gill-net 

 supplies the place of the seine, but 

 the Susquehanna fishermen have al- 

 ways looked ujion this mode with much dis- 

 favor. In some places a "scoop-net," or dip- 

 net, is the only implement that can be used. 



It is within the memory of many of the older 

 citizens of Lancaster, when shad were taken in 

 the Conestoga, and even within the city limits. 



There are various views as to the quantity 



and quality of aliment in fish diet, and the effect 

 it exercises upon the mental and physical 

 systems of those who consume it. It has 

 been claimed by some writers that it sharpens 

 and facilitates theexerciseof the mental facul- 

 ties, whereas fat pork and susages have the con- 

 trary effect. AVe arc pointed to the " univer- 



or flesh kind except fish. We cannot resist the 

 impression, however, that in our consumption 

 of animal food, we ouglit to make a wider dis- 

 crimination in favor of fish, and the efforts 

 made at this time to propagate these animals 

 by stocking our exhausted streams, seems to 

 also point in that direction. 



THE VALUE OF FISH-FOOD. 



Many elaborate comparisons have 

 been made as to the comparative 

 value of butcher-meat and fish : occa- 

 sional controversies have arisen on 

 the suljject, in which the utmost di- 

 versity of opinion has been expressed. 

 Someeconomic writers maintain that 

 fish has no food value worth speaking 

 of; others say that fish-food must oc- 

 cupy a middle position between vege- 

 tables and beef and mutton. Again, 

 a learned authority says that fish, well 

 cooked, with oil or fat of some kind, 

 or served with butter when brought 

 to table, "it is chemically the same," 

 for nutrition, as butcher-meat. 



Another writer says that fish as food 

 is only fit for children and inva]ids,and 

 is totally unfitted to support the health 

 and vigor of men or women engaged 

 in laborious occuiMtious. As usual in 

 such disputes, we may hold that the 

 truth lies between the two extremes. 

 Many people following laborious oc- 

 cupations, especially in Scotland, live 

 largely upon fish. In that country, 

 the fishermen themselves eat a con- 

 siderable portion, and, as a class, fish- 

 ermen are strong and healthy; and 

 their wives who undertake a por- 

 tion of the men's work are still strong- 

 er and healthier. In Portugal, fish 

 fried in oil forms a very large projjor- 

 tion of the food of the pi^pulation; 

 their tlsh-diet is supiilemented with a 

 little bread and fruit, and although 

 the peasantry of the land never par- 

 take of fresh meat, yet they are a 

 hardy, vigorous and brave people. 

 Let it be remembered that fish is a 

 necessity of life in France and Spain, 

 and as regards the latter country, a 

 constant organization is at work in 

 the British islands to sujjply it with 

 many kinds of cured fish. A huge 

 proportion of the pilchards taken on 

 the coast of Cornwall, as well as many 

 himdred hogsheads of cured and 

 smoked herrings, are sent to the Span- 

 ish markets. 



•rnmi i"iti.TO"iiii|tfii|. ir 



sal Yankee nation," as an illustration, in com- 

 parison with the dull, heavy and obscured in- 

 tellects of porkeaters. Be this as it may, we 

 have no positive evidence that the highest type 

 of humanity that ever trod this earth of ours, 

 embodying the highest manifestation of spiri- 

 tual intelligence, ever ate anything of the meat 



SUPER-PHOSPHATE FROM 

 RAW BONES. 



We l)elieve that super-phosphate 

 made of raw or unburnt bones is much 

 superior to that usually made from 

 calcined bones. In the latter case, 

 everything lilje organic matter is 

 driven off or decomposed by the heat 

 and escapes. 



The French chemist makes the 

 value of manure depend ui)on the 

 amoinit of nitrogen which it contains, 

 but super-phosphates from calcined 

 bones contain no organic matter, or 

 a very trilling quantity. 



The supcr-pliosphate also contains 

 5l).8per cent, of phosphate of lime, 

 and thei-efore contains 26 per cent, of 

 phosi)horic acid. The soil is con- 

 stantly being robbed of its phos- 

 ])liates. The ash of wheat, corn, and, 

 indeed, all the cereals, contains a large 

 percentage of phosphates. This is 

 taken from the soil, and we return, in 

 most instances, manure made from 

 the straw and hay, which is, there- 

 fore, eomjiaratively i)oor in phosphates, for it 

 is a trulh that farmers should lietter appreci- 

 ate: Tliat a manure cannot be richer than the 

 SKbstancefroni which it is made. A cow fed on 

 straw cannot yield more manure, nor, indeed, 

 so much, than that contained in the straw. 

 Hence our lands become impoverished in their 



