414 Transactions of the American Institute. 



Fish Culture. 



Dr. Slack, of Troutdale, New Jersey, one of the fish commissioners 

 of New Jersey, was invited by the chairman to give the Clnb some 

 items of his experience in raising fish. Among much other valuable 

 information, Dr. Slack said : In 1866, Seth Green made the artificial 

 production of shad a possibility by the invention of his egg-hatching 

 apparatus. This apparatus Mr. Green placed in the Connecticut 

 river, under the most disadvantageous circumstances. He would 

 place it in position in the evening, and during the night the fisher- 

 men would break it to pieces. After many trials Mr. Green suc- 

 ceeded, and in 1870 there was a larger catch of shad in the Connecti- 

 cut river than ever before since 1802. It was a common remark 

 among the Sound boatmen that the schools of shad were unusually 

 large, and all had their heads turned to the Connecticut. What had 

 been done for that river, Mr. Green would also do for the Hudson, 

 but it might be two years before we should see the great result of his 

 labors. I and others hope to accomplish the same good end in the 



Delaware and the Passaic. The great troubles in the way of fish 

 eulturists were baskets, dams and stake nets. Of all, the basket-dam, 



made of wooden slats, Avas the most injurious. I have seen thou- 

 sands of little shad dead in these traps. The young shad is a very 

 delicate creature, and is killed by the slightest stroke from any sub- 

 stance foreign to his element. A few years ago the Delaware river 

 was full of these clams. I am happy to say that, through the efforts 

 of myself and others, there is not to-day a single one. If we are 

 properly aided by the law-makers we shall make shad cheaper than 

 they ever were in days of old. The efforts of the fish commissioners 

 were solely directed to the production of shad and salmon for the 

 rivers. This was in their public capacity. 1 own fish-ponds in which 

 I raise trout and other fancy fish for market, but I look on them as 

 bearing the same relation to shad and salmon as good solid meats do 

 to high-priced foods. I think with a little care any farmer can raise 

 his own fish. I have now at my place trout from the egg to the 

 weight of fourteen pounds. 



The thanks of the Club were voted to Dr. Slack for his interesting 

 address. 



Broom Corn on the Prairies 

 Mr. T. G. Ferguson, Aspinwall, Nebraska — Is there a variety of 

 dwarf broom corn that does well ? Will broom corn grow well on 

 prairie sod, plowed two to three inches deep, then subsoil the other 



