544 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



COLLECTING COD EGGS ON A FISHING VESSEL. 



ONE SOURCE OF COD EGGS HATCHED AT THE NEW ENGLAND STATIONS IS THE CATCH OF THE MARKET FISHERMEN. 

 SPAWNTAKERS BOARD THE FISHING BOATS, OVERHAUL THE FISH, AND SAVE THE EGGS OF SUCH AS ARE RIPE. 



recognition, for in those days a part of 

 the stock of every country store was 

 a barrel of cider and a supply of dried 

 herring; hence the story is typical of 

 conditions a half -century ago. Though 

 cider is yet a part of the stock of every 

 green grocery, but comparatively few of 

 them now sell dried herring The her- 

 ring that were disposed of by millions 

 to the small storekeepers throughout 

 the land are no longer handled as ex- 

 tensively for food purposes, and that 

 statement raises a most interesting 

 query : 



"What is becoming of the herring?" 



WHERE THE HERRING GO. 



If you visit the upper-waters of the 

 Chesapeake during the Spring run of 

 the herring you will witness scow load 

 after scow load of that fish being sold 

 to boats representing the fish fertilizer 

 factories of Virginia. There is no at- 

 tempt to conceal the traffic, no effort at 



secrecy the business is all conducted 

 in the open light of day. You will see 

 boatload after boatload, consisting 

 principally of herring, but in which "are 

 quantities of small white and yellow 

 perch and other food fish" being carted 

 off down the bay to be dumped into the 

 capacious, ever hungry maws of the 

 fish fertilizer factories of Virginia. 

 This, then, explains what becomes of 

 the herring which were at one time sold 

 by nearly every grocery store in the 

 land. 



If you will continue your investiga- 

 tion you will find that throughout the 

 Chesapeake basin boats from the fish 

 fertilizer factories of Virginia visit the 

 fishing fleets and purchase their her- 

 ring. According to testimony given at 

 a Congressional hearing, the fertilizer 

 factory boats so dominate the fisher- 

 men that the latter decline to sell to 

 others, as a result of which, in some 

 sections the fertilizer boats enjoy a com- 





