﻿ively, 
  indicate, 
  that 
  with 
  tlio 
  Shad 
  at 
  least, 
  that 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  

   return 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  in 
  numbers 
  as 
  adults 
  before 
  the 
  4th, 
  5th, 
  

   or 
  perhaps 
  the 
  6th 
  year. 
  The 
  imperfect 
  means 
  of 
  observa- 
  

   tion 
  causes 
  these 
  deductions 
  to 
  be 
  mere 
  conjecture, 
  but 
  suffi- 
  

   ciently 
  important 
  to 
  sustain 
  hope 
  and 
  confidence 
  in 
  the 
  ulti- 
  

   mate 
  successful 
  results 
  from 
  efforts 
  to 
  re-stock 
  our 
  waters 
  

   with 
  this 
  valuable 
  fish, 
  even 
  though 
  no 
  decided 
  increase 
  is 
  

   observable 
  for 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  initiation 
  of 
  the 
  

   work. 
  In 
  judging 
  of 
  the 
  efiiciency 
  of 
  the 
  means 
  employed 
  

   to 
  re-stock 
  our 
  waters 
  with 
  Shad, 
  we 
  must 
  not 
  lose 
  sight 
  of 
  

   the 
  fact 
  that 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  an 
  enormous, 
  alarming 
  and 
  

   steady 
  decrease 
  in 
  the 
  yield 
  of 
  our 
  Shad 
  and 
  Herring 
  fish- 
  

   eries 
  since 
  forty 
  years 
  back, 
  Avhen 
  the 
  catch 
  on 
  the 
  Potomac 
  

   in 
  one 
  day 
  was 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  entire 
  catch 
  of 
  last 
  season. 
  

   Surely, 
  if 
  this 
  decrease 
  can 
  be 
  arrested 
  only, 
  even 
  if 
  there 
  is 
  

   no 
  marked 
  increase 
  for 
  several 
  years 
  to 
  come, 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   artificial 
  propagation, 
  as 
  yet 
  scarcely 
  more 
  than 
  begun, 
  

   should 
  be 
  prosecuted 
  with 
  the 
  utmost 
  energy. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  that 
  we 
  should 
  have 
  any 
  positive 
  

   evidence 
  of 
  the 
  success 
  of 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  Salmon, 
  or 
  the 
  

   increase 
  of 
  Shad, 
  resulting 
  from 
  young 
  fish 
  artificially 
  prop- 
  

   agated 
  and 
  placed 
  in 
  our 
  waters, 
  as 
  a 
  sufficient 
  time 
  has 
  not 
  

   elapsed 
  since 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  in 
  Maryland 
  ; 
  

   but 
  we 
  are 
  not 
  without 
  indications 
  of 
  what 
  will 
  be 
  the 
  result 
  

   of 
  continue! 
  efforts 
  to 
  increase 
  our 
  fish 
  yield. 
  As 
  it 
  has 
  

   been 
  pretty 
  well 
  ascertained 
  that 
  the 
  male 
  Shad 
  are 
  adult, 
  

   and 
  run 
  up 
  the 
  rivers 
  a 
  year 
  sooner 
  than 
  the 
  females 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  brood_, 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  mature 
  until 
  the 
  3d 
  or 
  4th 
  year, 
  

   I 
  looked 
  with 
  some 
  certainty 
  for 
  an 
  increase 
  of 
  numbers 
  in 
  

   the 
  Bay 
  of 
  smaller 
  male 
  Shad, 
  consequent 
  to 
  tlie 
  return 
  of 
  

   some 
  of 
  the 
  males 
  of 
  the 
  one 
  million 
  seven 
  hundred 
  and 
  

   ninety-five 
  thousand 
  turned 
  loose 
  in 
  the 
  Chester 
  river, 
  and 
  

   the 
  two 
  million 
  three 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty-five 
  thousand 
  turned 
  

   loose 
  in 
  the 
  Patuxant 
  during 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1875. 
  It 
  having 
  

   been 
  obsorvei 
  with 
  the 
  Salmon, 
  that 
  the 
  youngest 
  fishes 
  

   arrive 
  earliest 
  in 
  the 
  season, 
  but 
  do 
  not 
  penetrate 
  far 
  the 
  first 
  

  

  