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it is almoRt cxc'luded now), and that it will worl« its way up to the >Jorthern r-iarkots. 

 Some ot'tliL' Soutliern pcopio lliink very liiglily of it, as the best kind of tisli, think it has 

 not its su[)cri()r in the ocean; but, supposing that to be local exa^j;erati(in and patriotic 

 enthusiasm, yet certainly it is a useful and valual)le Ush, and the demand for it is rapidly 

 increasing'. Professor Haird says, on paj,'e 4G0, that l.OOU.OUU barrels of nudlet could 

 be furnislu'd annually from the south shore oil' Ciiesapuakc ilay to the south end of 

 Florida, if they were called for. 



" Q. How fur lifis tlio imillct come into the iiinrkct now ? — A. Thu mulliit does not coino into the 

 Northi'i'ii in:iri<i'l. at all, Imt in Xorth Canilinii, Soutli Citrolina, and tii'ortjia, it lill.s tiii; niiu'kets at the 

 l)r(!S(iit time, cxchiilinj,' oilii'i' iiinils of iiiijioi'tt'il li.sii. In former yuai's liieru \vii.i a ^'reat ilemand fur 

 herring' and mackerel, lull llie mullet is snpplyin;,' tlio markets, because they are sold fresher and 

 supiilieil at a nuieh lower [irioe, uud they uro considered by tho Suutheru people a much superior 

 article of food. 



" (i>. Is it preferred to mackerel as a salted fish ? — A. The persons familiar with mackerel and with 

 nudlet from whom I have made in(i\iirics — 1 havt; nciver taste(l salt mullet — ;,'ive the preference to nniUet. 

 It is a fatti'r, sweeter, and hetter fish, and of rather larj,'er size. They j;rade uii to 'M to a liarrel of liUO 

 pounils and i,'o down to three (quarters of a pound, and as a salt lish the preference is given by all from 

 whom I have ini|uired to the nudlet. 



" Q, Uo yni think tlu! failure of tho mackerel market in tho Southern and Sotith-western States is 

 larijely attriliutaiilc to the inlruductiou of mullet ? — A. 1 cannot say that, but 1 iumgine it must have a 

 very decuifd uijliiena: 



" Q. Can the muUi'the caught as easily as mackerel ? — A. More easily. It is entirely a shore fish, 

 and is taken with seines hauled up on tho l)anks by men who have no capital, but who are able to 

 command a row boat with which to lay out their seines, and they sometimes catch lUO barrels a day 

 per mnn, and sometimes as manj' as 500 barrels have been taken at a sinu'le haul. The capital is only the 

 the lioat, tho seine, 100 or 200 yards long, tho salt necessary for preserving the lish, and splitting boards 

 and barrels. 



" (}. Can pounds bo used ? — A. They have not been used, and I doubt whether they could be used. 

 Pounds are not availalile in the sandy regions of the south. 



"<). They are taken by seining ? — A. Yes, seines can be u.sed. This work is entindy pro.secuted 

 by nativ.-s of the coast, and about two-thirds of the coast popidation are employed in tho capture of 

 those tish. 



" ((). Then the business has grown very much ? — A. It has grown very rapidly. 



" tj. When was it lirst known to you an a lish for the market ? — A. I never knew anything about it 

 untd 1.S72. 



" Q. Then it has been known during only five years ? — A, I caiuiot say ; it has been known to mo 

 that length of time. 



" i,V 1 )urin,' that time the business has very much increa.sed ? — A. I am so informed ; I cannot speak 

 personally. .VU my information of it is from reports made to me in rc[ilies to circulars issued in 1872 and 

 lS7:i. i have not issued a mullet circular since that time, when l issued a special circular asking 

 information regarding the mullet. 



" (,). Then it is your opinion that the mullet has become, to some extent, and will become an 

 imjiortant source of fooil sujiply ? — A. It is destined, I suppose, to be a very formidable rival and 

 com]ietitor of the macki^rel. 1 know in IS7'2 <( simjlc count// iii North CaruUiiu ^ut up 70,{)V0 bamU 

 of mullet, a single county out of five States covering ihi; lijullet region." 



Your Honours will recollect, as a striking illustration of the truth of the power of 

 propaf^.itivui, the statement of Professor Baird in regard to the River Potomac, where a 

 few black bass, some half dozen, were put into tlie river, and in tlie course of a few 

 years they were abundant enough to supply the market. Fish culture has become a 

 very important matter, and, what we call in New England our " ponds," small lakes 

 and rivers, are guarded and protected, and every dam built across any river where 

 anadronious, or upward-going fisli, are to be found, has always a way for their ascent 

 and descent ; so tiiat everything is done to increase the (|uantity, kind, and value of all 

 that sort of lish, making the salted mackerel less important to the people, anil in the 

 market. 



Then the improved methods of preserving fish are astonishing. 1 think the evidence 

 on tliat point was principally from Professor Baird, who has described to us the various 

 methods by \ i (ish, as well as bait, may be preserved. He told us that for months, 

 during the hottest part of the Ivxliibitioii season at Philadelphia, during our Centennial 

 year, lish were kept by these improved cliemical methods of drying, and methods of 

 fi-eezing, so that atler months, the Commissioners ate tlie tish, aiul foiuid them very good 

 eating. There was no objection whatever to them, although, of course, they svere not 

 quite as good as when they were entirely fresh. So that all science seems to be 

 working in favour of distribulion, instead of limitation, of what is valuable for 

 human consumption ; and the longer we live, aiul the more science advances, the less 

 can any one nation say to tlie fishermen of another, — Tims far and no fartiier! We 

 turn upon such an attempt at once, and say, " Very well ; if you choose to establish 



