6 FISH CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
proved upon by crossing the different breeds, is still a question. 
Of one thing we are certain, and that is, we would never know 
unless we tried. We know that many varieties of stock have 
been greatly improved by putting together different strains, and 
also that fruits and vegetables have been rendered more palat- 
able by grafting and other methods of infusing the sap of the 
different varieties into each other. These questions are of com- 
paratively old standing, and it has been definitely decided in 
many cases just which kinds will be improved upon by the pro- 
cess of hybridization. The field for experiment is large, and, as 
we live in a world of progression, there will doubtless be con- 
stant advances in these branches, as well as in other things. 
Hybridization with fish for the purpose of bettering them, as 
food, and also producing fish suited to the nature of our different 
waters is the problem we are trying to solve. We cannot change 
the natural characteristics of our different bodies of water, and 
hence we find it necessary to produce varieties of fish which will 
thrive and multiply in them or learn from experiment and ob- 
servation which species will do the most good when deposited 
in certain waters. With plants and animals it has been learned 
which varieties can be crossed advantageously, and which are 
productive of the best results, but with fish this has not been 
ascertained, but there is no question but what it will in time. 
There are very many difficulties attending the hybrydization 
of fish—much more so than in anything else. One of the troubles 
lies in keeping the experiment constantly under the eye, thus 
enabling you to watch the different stages of development accu- 
rately, and the habits of water animals cannot be as closely ob- 
served as those on the land. At different periods during my 
career as a fishculturist I have made several experiments with 
‘fish in hybridizing. The most successful one that I have been 
enabled to watch clear through has been brought out this winter. 
Three years ago, in the fall of 1877, at the New York State 
Hatchery, we crossed the female native brook trout with the 
male Lake Ontario salmon trout. A good per centage of the 
egestaken and impregnated hatched. The offspring were healthy 
and they continued to thrive. The fish are a fine, trim-built fish, 
resembling both parents; they will weigh at the present time 
