THE FARMERS' REGISTER, 



219 



deposite (heir eggs, which are of course lost, in- 

 Btead Gf being allowed to reach the fresh waters 

 whither their instinct directs (hem, thai the great 

 scarcity of shad, of late years', is wholly attributa- 

 ble. In the Connecticut and Delaware rivers, in 

 the ratio ol the increase of gill nets, the shad 

 have decreased. On the Potomac river, on the 

 other hand, where the gill nets are not allowed, 

 but where the shore seines, in some instances, are 

 nearly a thousand (aihoms long, and where they 

 commence fishing as early as they please, and fish 

 as long as it is profitable, (Sundays not excepted,) 

 the shad are as abundant as ever. Indeed ihey 

 were never caught in greater numbers there than 

 last spring. Such too was the case in the Dela- 

 ware, until the gill nets were so greatly multiplied. 

 Before this description of net was introduced here, 

 the shore seines, then more numerous than now, 

 supplied our city and the country adjacent to the 

 river with abundance of shad, at an average 

 price of from six to eight dollars the hundred — of 

 iatg it has attained to twenty dollars the hundred. 

 That the gill seines do cause the shad to leave 

 our river, may be proved by the fact, (related to 

 me by a respectable and intelligent old fisherman 

 from Egg Harbor,) that a few years ago the shad 

 entered our bay in great numbers; the gill nets 

 met them early and far down, and look them in 

 great quantities — when suddenly they became 

 scarce, but in a very short time after made their 

 appearance in the inlets along the Jersey coast. 

 His conviction was, at that time, that, meeting 

 v?iih Buch obstructions, they abandoned the Dela- 

 ware for other waters. Tliis conclusion is borne 

 out by a fact related to me only a lew days since, 

 by a gentleman once largely interested in the shad 

 fishery, that in the early part of last spring, the 

 shad ascended this river in considerable numbers, 

 to where the gill seines obstructed the channel, 

 and were taken in great numbers by them ; that 

 they soon, however, commenced a retrograde 

 movement, the gill seines keeping pace with them. 

 The inference js clear that they too left our river, 

 inasmuch as but comparatively few reached the 

 shore fisheries immediately above. Indeed, some 

 of the latter, hitherto valuable, did not defray ex- 

 penses. 



So far is it from being probable that the price of 

 shad will be " greatly reduced," the experience of 

 every succeeding season, of late years, shows 

 that it has risen with the decrease of the shad. 

 Indeed, the predictions made by experienced fish- 

 ermen, when the gill nets were first introduced, 

 that shad, in consequence of them, would soon 

 become as scarce in the Delaware as salmon were 

 in the Connecticut river, seem likely to be verified. 



S. 



CAUSE OF PHYSICAL DEGENERACY. 



From the Maine Farmer. 



The question was asked in the Farmer a long 

 time since, " What are the causes of the deterio- 

 tion of the human race for the last fifty years in 

 America?" I have never seen it answered to my 

 entire satisfaction. Undoubtedly a number of 

 thitigs have or might have had a bearing on the 

 subject, but if animal lifle consists in the effect of 

 stimuli operating on what may be stimulated, then 

 It seems that an exact proportion of stimuli to ex- 

 citement, excitability, or whal may be stimulated, 



would be perfect health, (if such a thing ever was.) 

 I know that too much stimulating food and drink, 

 if the above principles are sound, would produce 

 just what we see has taken place. Our diet has 

 been too much animal food, and particularly that 

 which is oily. Destroy digestion in any animal 

 and you belittle him. The use of tea and coffee 

 in the room of milk, and the several kinds of mix- 

 tures that used to be made from milk, is another 

 cause. Provoking the appetite by the modern art 

 of cooking with too great a variety, to eat too 

 much, is another cause. As I have before said, 

 destroy digestion, and you belittle any race. Hard 

 grain given to young colts has done it, and pro- 

 duced lasting disease through life. Very high keep 

 in pigs, and a confined life, will and has done it in 

 that race. Rum will destroy the growth of a 

 puppy — and the deleterious effects of ardent spi- 

 rits upon the human system are, alas ! too plainly 

 apparent. I will also mention a lack of exercise 

 in the open air, among the causes of degeneracy. 

 This is best obtained by actual labor. 



In order to renew our race, let us return to the 

 diet, exercise and habits of our forefathers of (he 

 revolution. 



I do not pretend that I have done the subject 

 justice. I merely submit the above as a lew, what 

 1 call, common sense thoughts. 



Not a Physician, but an 

 Old-fashioned Farmer. 



URINB. 



(From Squarey's Treatise on Agricultural Chemistry.) 



" When it is considered," says Liebig, " that 

 with every pint of urine, a pound of wheat might 

 be produced ; the indifference with which this 

 liquid excrement has been regarded is quite in- 

 comprehensible." 



We can here only join in expressing our surprise 

 at such neglect ; but we would at the same lime 

 fain hope that such neglect has arisen entirely 

 from ignorance of its value, and in the zealous 

 endeavors that are now making by agriculturists 

 at large, and the zeal, energy, and ability that is 

 now displayed, we may fairly anticipate a juster 

 appreciation of this manure for the future. 



That we do not overrate the value of this 

 manure, may be proved from the following results 

 of the analysis of 100 parts of wheat manured in 

 different ways, and which places human urine in 

 the very first place as to value. 



We have before stated that the weight and 

 value of wheat as an article of food, depends on 

 the quantity of gluten it contains, and this fact 

 admitted, no other argument is required t> con- 

 vince us of the superiority of urine as a manure :* 

 100 parts of wheat manured with 



Gluten. Starch. 



Human urine (dried) yielded - 35.1 39.1 



Bullock's blood (dried) - - 34.2 41.3 



Human fsces (dried) - - 33.1 41.4 



Sheep's dung - - - 22.9 42.8 



Pigeon's dung - - - -12.2 63.2 



Cow's dung . - - - 12.0 63.3 



Vegetable Humus - - - 9.6 65.9 



The same soil not manured - 9.2 66.7 



* Analysis of Hermbstoodt, quoted by Professor 

 Dauberry. 



