THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 187 

But too much must not be expected from artificial propagation, as it 
has to contend not only with the depletion by excessive fishing, but also 
with changes of physical condition, such as temperatures, ete. 
The Delaware river at present, everything being considered, is prob 
ably the best shad stream in the country, this condition being brought 
about by liberal re-stocking, the passage and enforcement of wise laws 
to protect the food-fishes in the spawning seasons, and the removal of 
the so-called fish baskets, which destroy the young by myriads. 
The efforts of the commissioners will at once be directed to the work 
of restoring the Susquehanna, once the most prolific shad river in the 
state, to its old-time glory. This can be accomplished by pursuing the 
same policy as that inaugurated on the Delaware, and by placing prac. 
tical fishways at the several dams that obstruct the fish on their way up 
the stream. 
