384 Inland Water Culture 



water culture means to a large extent the raising of 

 fishes. 



Fish culture* in America is in a very backward state 

 as compared with animal husbandry in other lines. 

 This is manifest in many ways; among them, the 

 following : 



1. There is lack of improved cultural varieties. 

 Our fishes are wild fishes. Save for a few races of gold 

 fishes — all fancier's fishes — and some not very desirable 

 varieties of carp, hardly any improvements have as 

 yet been made by selection and careful breeding. 



2. There is lack of knowledge of the best kinds of 

 forage for fishes and of how it may be provided for their 

 use. This is half of the problem of raising any animal. 



3. There is lack of any practical system of manage- 

 ment, that provides for the breeding and feeding and 

 rearing of stock, generation after generation, under 

 control. 



In what, then, does the fish culture of the present 

 consist? Mainly in this one thing, the care of the 

 young. This includes the gathering and hatching of 

 fish eggs and the rearing of the young fishes thro their 

 earlier stages on artificial food in hatcheries. By this 

 means the enormous losses that occur under natural 

 conditions in early life are avoided, and vast numbers 

 of fry and fingerlings are grown to a size suitable for 

 planting in natural waters. Thus far the methods are 

 well worked out. Thus far our fish culture is bril- 

 liantly successful. But this is really only the first step. 

 How these little fishes when turned loose in pond and 

 stream shall find for themselves the means of a liveli- 

 hood is the unsolved part of the problem. Planted 

 here they seem to thrive; there, they fail. Every 



*The substance of the following pages covering this subject was published 

 by the senior author in the Indianapolis News in 1909, and again in the Farmers 

 Magazine in 19 12. 



