4 FISH-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
South it is found in the creels of the angler and on the slabs in 
the markets. They are now so abundant in Maine and the New 
England States, where they were unknown a few years ago, 
that they can be bought in the markets at a price within the 
reach of the poor man. 
“Coming recently from the interior, I had an opportunity of 
examining the markets in St. Joseph, Mo., and found among the 
marketmen frequent acknowledgements of the work of fish- 
culturists, and of the teachings of this Association, and a 
thorough knowledge of the fact that, if the bass are protected in 
the spawning season, they become, like the commoner fishes, 
plentiful everywhere, and tend to lower the price of other fishes. 
“We who live on the shad rivers, mark the manner in which 
the supply is kept up, in spite of the increasing demands of a 
growing population. Col. McDonald now has one hundred 
thousand shad eggs in process of hatching at Mr. Blackford’s in 
Fulton Market, which he brought on from Washington to show 
the process. After they are hatched, they will be taken charge 
of by Mr. Mather, of the New York Fish Commission, and de- 
posited in the Hudson, near Troy, where Prof. Baird sent a car 
load of one million a fortnight ago. 
“Pardon me for relating a bit of my personal experience 
abroad: Happening in London at the inception of the plans of 
the Fisheries’ Exhibition, now in progress there, I met many of 
the officials conected with it. At that time it was not known that 
our Government would make a display, and by request, as there 
was only three days before the passage of the yearly appropria- 
tion bill, I cabled to Senator Frye, of Maine, on the subject, and 
also sent a duplicate message to Prof. Baird. At this time there 
were many bills trembling in the balance, yet in two days an 
appropriation was introduced into both Houses, and was signed 
by the President. Our exhibit at London isa most creditable 
one, and it is generally acknowledged that no nation shows so 
favorably. Another fact: Making the acquaintance of Sir James 
Maitland, of Stirling, near Edinburgh, I found that within seven 
years he had achieved great results in fish-culture. He had 
hatched 997 trout out of 1,000 eggs, all alone, without assistance 
from any of his men. His extensive ponds have cost sixty 
