318 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



the open spaces in the gardens there will be fountains, large tanks con- 

 taining various descriptions of live sea and fresh- water fish, full-sized fish- 

 ing-boats, models of life-boats, including steam life-boats, full-sized fish- 

 markets, and refrigerating vans for the conveyance of fish. In tbe covJ| 

 ered space, extending over more than 300,000 square feet, will be showni 

 the various exhibits, classed under seven different heads and sixty-one 

 different divisions. In the building in which the Exhibition is to be held 

 the committee have already authorized an expenditure of £20,000. We 

 have a guaranty fund of £22,000. America is spending £10,000 on her 

 exhibits; and, looking to the long list of foreign countries that are com- 

 peting, at least £100,000 will be spent in what they are sending us. 

 America, Canada, Newfoundland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands > 

 and Belgium apply for an average of 10,000 square feet each for their ex- 

 hibits ; while China, Japan, India, Chili, and New South Wales take 

 together 30,000 square feet. From the United States we may hope to 

 learn a good deal about the artificial propagation of deep-sea fish. 

 Canada and Newfoundland, as British fishing-grounds, are second to 

 none. They possess a fishing coast of over 4,000 miles; and Sir A. 

 Gait tells us that they produce £5,000,000 a year, and employ 90,000 

 men and boys. From an industry conducted on so large a scale we 

 may expect to learn something, and possibly the mother country may 

 be able to imijart some knowledge to her promising and hardy sons on 

 the other side of the Atlantic. An important fish trade has recently 

 sprung up with the west coast o'f America. The canned fish trade with 

 the Pacific coast has risen from 4,000 cases in 1866 to 928,000 cases in' 

 1882. The total amount of salmon exported from the same quarter is 

 45,000,000 pounds. 



In a part of the building set aside for the purpose will be shown in 

 active operation tbe process of curing fish, I believe Scotland, Ger- 

 many, and Holland are the chief competitors in this section. I have 

 great doubt if anything in the shape of cured fish can be procured to 

 compete with a kippered herring or a Finnan haddock. An effort will 

 be made to introduce into the Loudon market and make more popular 

 what are termed the inferior classes of fish. Now, to appreciate the full 

 importance of this subject I must ask you to bear in mind what an 

 enormous place London has become. Including the suburbs it contains 

 a population of five millions. Living within a radius of twelve miles 

 you have a population nearly equal to the whole of that of Ireland, a 

 third larger than the whole population of Scotland, and twelve times as 

 large as the population of Glasgow. The amount of fish annually con- 

 sumed in London is upwards of 130,000 tons, equal to 1,000 bullocks 

 daily during the 313 working days of the year, and representing 90 

 pounds of fish per annum for every man, woman, and child in the metrop- 

 olis. This large consumption has been attained in spite of the high 

 railway rates and extremely defective market arrangements; but large 

 as the present consumption of fish is, the demand goes on increasing^ 



