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  tion 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  fisheries 
  were 
  so 
  closely 
  concerned, 
  should, 
  

   for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  taking 
  part 
  in 
  a 
  British 
  International 
  

   Exhibition, 
  select 
  the 
  occasion 
  of 
  an 
  exhibition 
  of 
  the 
  

   fisheries. 
  

  

  II. 
  

  

  The 
  progress 
  of 
  our 
  fisheries 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  two 
  hundred 
  

   years 
  was 
  comparatively 
  slow, 
  and 
  their 
  history 
  mono- 
  

   tonous. 
  Little 
  interest 
  was 
  manifested 
  in 
  them, 
  and 
  little 
  

   was 
  known 
  about 
  them 
  by 
  persons 
  not 
  directly 
  concerned, 
  

   and 
  their 
  development 
  was 
  not 
  proportionate 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  

   agriculture, 
  mining, 
  or 
  the 
  industrial 
  arts. 
  

  

  The 
  cod-fishery, 
  the 
  whale-fishery, 
  the 
  mackerel, 
  the 
  

   shad 
  and 
  alewife, 
  and 
  the 
  oyster 
  fisheries 
  were 
  carried 
  on 
  

   in 
  i860 
  much 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner 
  as 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   the 
  century, 
  and 
  their 
  products 
  were 
  prepared 
  and 
  sent 
  to 
  

   market 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  methods 
  not 
  essentially 
  unlike 
  

   those 
  in 
  use 
  among 
  the 
  earliest 
  fishermen 
  of 
  the 
  colonies. 
  

  

  The 
  war 
  of 
  the 
  rebellion 
  (1861-65) 
  was 
  a 
  serious 
  inter- 
  

   ruption 
  to 
  all 
  maritime 
  industries, 
  but 
  since 
  its 
  close, 
  and 
  

   particularly 
  within 
  the 
  past 
  decade, 
  the 
  fisheries 
  have 
  in- 
  

   creased 
  in 
  extent 
  and 
  value 
  to 
  a 
  degree 
  without 
  parallel 
  in 
  

   their 
  previous 
  history. 
  

  

  The 
  census 
  of 
  1870 
  indicated 
  their 
  value 
  to 
  be 
  about 
  

   §11,000,000. 
  This 
  was 
  an 
  under-estimate, 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  

   was 
  accepted 
  without 
  challenge 
  or 
  criticism. 
  

  

  The 
  census 
  taken 
  ten 
  years 
  later 
  recorded 
  a 
  value 
  of 
  

   344,546,000, 
  and 
  their 
  product 
  in 
  1883 
  is 
  at 
  least 
  twenty- 
  

   four 
  per 
  cent, 
  greater, 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  products 
  

   being 
  fixed 
  at 
  the 
  lowest 
  prices 
  paid 
  " 
  at 
  first 
  hand," 
  or 
  to 
  

   the 
  fishermen. 
  A 
  fair 
  estimate 
  at 
  wholesale 
  market 
  rates, 
  

   rather 
  than 
  upon 
  the 
  census 
  basis 
  of 
  fishermen's 
  prices, 
  

   would 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  probably 
  be 
  above, 
  rather 
  than 
  

   below, 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  §100,000,000. 
  

  

  