I \ PISH AM' G \mi: 



i),r n in ilii intil .-it-'iit January, b>j which time they will be three 



. thej will then ~<< t" tl . to return the next yenr weighing 



from and a half, read] to commence the increase of their kind. 



I . gperimenl b The water of the river la adapted i" 



the proper kind <>f food for t li < - i r- young, and the watera of our 



led wiih the sand I mall *!■■ the shrimp, on which the lish 



bing the salt water, Tl ily tiling to be feared ia thai there may 



me kind which maj bo completely exterminate them thai 



.<• back and spawn. If after one or two y< en one shad 



iken in the river, the result will I" - satisfactory, as it will demonstrate 1 1 1 « • 

 thai nil the conditi /orable to their ful propagation in the wa 



ild then ;it trifling • fill ><nr waters with this valuable fish. 



Winn first hatched, and in a condition proper to be transported, one freight car 

 would bring over two million "f them. it. after two years, none should be taken, 

 it would col then l"' well to abandon tli" experiment. 



h, year after year, shipped impregnated sal a eggs to Australia; 



the eggs hatched, and the young fish in due time went to the ocean; but for yeara 

 none wen found to return. Some fish supposed to be the l><>nit;i destroyed them 

 alL At last, after repeated experiments, some escaped, and in eighteen hundred and 

 sixtj fish, returned from the ocean, were taken in the river. Shad were 



formerly plentiful in all the rivers emptying into the Atlantic Ocean from Georgia 

 to the St. Lawrence. They, therefore, frequent warmer waters than the Balmon. 

 Over-fishing, traps, pounds, weirs, small meshed seines, and dams without fishwaya 

 at last nearly exterminated them. Through the efforts <>f tho Fish Commissioners 

 of the several eastern states they are again becoming plentiful. For n Dumber of 

 years all efforts nt the artificial hatching of tho eggs of shad had been failures. It 

 was ascertained thai the fish came into the rivers at about the same time as the 

 salmon, but that unlike that fish, they did nol spawn until the warm summer months. 

 Their eggs are no! placed upon gravel, but float in the water. Schools of them will 

 play about the river for days, when, upon some sudden impulse, the milt from the 

 male and the spawn from the female will be exuded into the water, at times, it is 

 said, making the water cloudy. In from two to four days the eggs hatch, when 

 the young fish immediately swim for the center of the river, keeping their heads 

 against the current. At last Mr. Seth Green, alter much patient investigation and 

 numerous experiments, invented a box, the bottom of which was covered with fine 

 wire netting. On this wire netting the impregnated eggs were placed; a series of 

 these boxes, fastened together by a rope, were allowed to float in the current of the 

 river. To the sides of each box w^ere fastened, at an angle, pieces of board, which, 

 floating in the water, caused the wire bottom of the box to be partially turned 

 against the current. The effect was that the current, entering through the wire 

 netting, kept the eggs in constant motion. All the conditions of nature were satisfied, 

 and the experiment became a success. Mr. Green obtained a patent for his invention, 

 which, as it is largely used, is quite valuable. Within the past four years, under 

 the direction of Fish Commissioners and hy aid of small appropriations, more than 

 five hundred million shad have been artificially hatched in these boxes in the rivers 

 of the eastern states north from Virginia. The result of the first and second year's 

 hatching in the Hudson and Connecticut is becoming manifest ; more fish have been 

 taken this year in those rivers than in any year during the past twenty. So many 

 fish were caught that the fishermen were unable to take care of them, and fresh 

 shad were sold in the New York City markets as low as ten cents a shad. 



These results, from the experiments of enthusiasts, in increasing almost without 

 expense the food supply of the people, are worthy the attention of statesmen. So 

 much attention is now being given to the subject that Congress has passed a law 

 appointing a commission to investigate our river and coast fisheries, learn the habits 

 of the fish, aud report as to what legislation is required to aid in increasing the 

 food supply from this source. 



