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 A.— INTRODUCTION. 



HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF FISH-CULTUKE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



As the United States is the acknowledged leader among nations in* 

 all questions relating to fish-culture, it seems proper, in presenting the 

 catalogue of the fish-cultural exhibit at the London Fisheries Exhibi- 

 tion, to give a brief outline of the origin and growth of the science in 

 this country and of the more important changes in methods and improve- 

 ments in apparatus that have taken place from time to time. 



The first attempt at artificial fish- culture in the United States was 

 made in 1851, when Dr. Theodatus Garlick, of Cleveland, Ohio, took 

 and impregnated eggs of the brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, which he 

 placed in a wooden trough, the bottom of which was covered with gravel.. 

 This trough was supplied with pure, cold spring-water, and the eggs 

 placed upon the gravel, where they were allowed to remain until hatched.. 

 When the news of Dr. Garliek's success became known considerable in- 

 terest in the subject sprang up in many quarters, and numerous experi- 

 ments were made with eggs of the trout and other species. In 1856 

 public sentiment had developed sufficiently to warrant the Massachusetts 

 legislature in establishing a Board of Commissioners for investigating 

 subjects relating to the fisheries and considering the practicability of 

 the artificial propagation of fish at the expense of the State. In 1865 

 another board was appointed to report upon the obstructions to the 

 ascent of fish in the Connecticut River. Private individuals also inter- 

 ested themselves in similar investigations, and numerous experiments 

 were made in the hatching and rearing of young fish, but these were 

 for the most part limited and of little commercial importance. 



The era of practical fish-culture was inaugurated in 1864 by Mr. Seth 

 Green, who built a hatchery and engaged extensively in the artificial 

 propagation of several species. A year later the New Hampshire fish 

 commission was formed, and an attempt was made, at the expense of 

 the State, to restock the salmon rivers, this being the first appropria- 

 tion of public money for fish-cultural purposes. The same year a fish 

 commission was established in the neighboring State of Vermont, and 

 a permanent commission was formed in Massachusetts, together with 

 similar commissions in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Other States 

 soon followed the example of those already mentioned, Maine estab- 

 lishing its commission in 1867, followed by New York and Ehode Island 

 in 1868, and by New Jersey and the distant State of California in "870. 



The reports of several of the commissions already established pointed 

 to a rapid diminution in the fish supply of New England, owing to im- 

 moderate fishing, the obstruction of river channels by dams and the 

 pollution of the waters by the manufacturing establishments aloug their 



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