INTRODUCTION. 



IN the issue of this book the publishers of the 

 American Agriculturist enable the public to se- 

 cure a valuable work on the culture, treatment 

 and habits of fish, from the pen of an accom- 

 plished experimentalist, who is amply provided 

 with the experience and knowledge necessary to 

 the task. Mr. Seth Green's name is of more than 

 national fame ; his keen observation, his prolonged 

 familiarity with all that pertains to the finny tribe, 

 particularly in the inland waters of the United 

 States and Canada, his thorough scientific equipment 

 and his practical enthusiasm, give to his writings a 

 character and authority, possessed by no one else, 

 numerous and able as are his co-adjutors in the 

 same field. Mr. Green has been engaged in practical 

 fish culture for twenty-five years ; but fifty years ago 

 he began to think upon the subject. The field grows 

 larger and more expansive as the years roll by, 

 and after a lifetime devoted to thought and action 

 in this enterprise, he feels, as Newton did, that he 

 merely stands upon the shore of the great and unex- 

 plored ocean of truth. That there is yet a wide 

 area for discovery, he modestly observes, and 



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