THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 155 

It is a plain deduction from the above facts that the fisheries down 
the river were much more valuable than those above. Above Monocacy 
we hear of no catch over two thousand, while below that point they were 
much larger, and while from $300 to $400 seems to be the general annual 
value above, we find the fishery at Hunlock’s, twelve miles below, was 
worth from $1,000 to $1,200 per annum. The shad further up the river 
appear to have decreased in numbers yet to have increased in size. 
The opinion seems to be general that the great size attained by the 
Susquehanna shad was attributed to the long run up the fresh water 
stream (carrying the idea of the survival of the fittest); that they were 
of great size is beyond doubt; nearly every one who recollects them 
insists on putting their weight at almost double that of the average Dela- 
ware shad of to-day. Mr. Van Kirk gives as the weight of the shad 
caught at the fisheriesin Northumberland and Montour counties as from 
three to nine pounds. , 
Mr. Fowler says he has assisted in catching thousands weighing eight 
and nine pounds at the fisheries in Columbia county. 
Mr. Harvey, speaking of the Luzerne county shad, says: ‘“‘Some used 
to weigh eight or nine pounds, and I saw one weighed on a wager which 
turned the scales at thirteen pounds.” 
Major Fassett, speaking of those caught in Wyoming county, says: 
“The average weight was eight pounds, the largest twelve pounds.” 
Dr. Horton says of the shad caught in Bradford county, that he has 
seen them weighing nine pounds; ordinarily the weight was from four 
to seven pounds. 
The price of the shad varied, according to their size, from four pence to 
twenty-five cents, depending, of course, on their scarcity or abundance. 
Atatown meeting held at Wilkes-Barre April 21, 1778, prices were 
set on articles of sale inter alia as follows: Winter-fed beef, per pound, 
7d.; tobacco, per pound, 9d.; eggs, per dozen, 8d.; shad, apiece, 6d. At 
one time they brought but ad. epieee, and a bushel of salt would at any 
time bring a hundred shad. 
At the time the dam was built they brought from ten to twelve cents. 
On the day of the big haul Mr. Harvey says they sold for a cent apiece 
(Mr. Dana says three coppers). Mr. Isaac 8. Osterhout remembers a 
Mr. Walter Green who gave twenty barrels of shad for a good Durham 
cow. \ 
Mr. Roberts says that in exchanging for maple sugar one good shad 
was worth a pound of sugar; when sold for cash shad were worth twelve 
and one-half cents apiece. 
Dr. Horton says the shad, according to size, were worth from ten to 
twenty-five cents. 
In calculating the value of the fisheries near Wyalusing Mr. Hollen- 
back has put the value of the shad at ten cents apiece. In 1820 they 
were held in Wilkes-Barre at $18.75 per hundred. 
