150 Thirfi/si.rfli Annual Mrrtiiif/ 



( Lauiiiitci'. ) Tliat experiment was repeated another year, with 

 110 In'lter ivsiills. Now, whether the fault was in the method, 

 carek^ssness in permitting predacious fish to get in, I don't know. 

 The •screens were up, so that as far as we were aware, tliese 

 vonng fish must have gone in as fry, got a start, and preyed on 

 the defenseless shad. I believe, Mr. President, the planting 

 of a I'ew million shad fry in the Potomac rivci- woidd produce 

 equally as good results. 



]\[r. Titcomb: I want to say we did not have a chance to 

 liave a fair and complete experiment. That work was doiK^ for a 

 niiml)er of years, and it was supposed and reported oacli year 

 that a number of these five and six-inch fry were turned in, but 

 they were never counted, because handling shad at that age is 

 very destructive, and tliese attempts were Avith a view to getting 

 actual results. In each instance the ponds had got stocked from 

 the eggs of Potomac river frv, or other fishes. We learned that 

 the growth of the shad was about six inches. We have the one 

 specimen which we obtained as the result of those plants, wliicli 

 we can exhibit to prove that. 



President: Perhaps this sliad ate u]j all the others. 

 ( T^aughter. ) 



Mr. Titcomb : I want to ask ^Ir. Geer one question, whether 

 lie knows how many fish, a])proximately, he has been able to 

 tui-n (Hit of these ponds from the jilaiits he has made, whether 

 any atteni])! has bet'ii made to get at results? 



Mr. (ieer: ]\Ir. President. I am surprised at ^Ir. Titcoinb's 

 asking such a question. He just said a few minutes ago it was 

 impossible to count the shad. (Laughter.) Xow. then, I will 

 give you some figures of tlie catch of the adult shad. In 1889, if 

 I remember the date correctlv. we had sonu'tbiug like tbree hauls 

 of shad fry from the I^iiited States govei-inueiit and ])]anted 

 them in our retaining ponds on the Connecticut river. We did 

 not stop to count the fingerlings as they passed out. although wo 

 knew they AV(>re shad, as we saw them when they passed out of 

 the gate into the v'wvv. They were not sunfish, they were not 

 other fish, they were shad. In four years from that time, the 

 catch on the Connecticut j-iver had reached about one hundred 



