FISHES OF THE FARM STREAM 47 
Fic. 27. The common bullhead. A race of short-horned bullheads 
is much to be desired. ; 
garden, and have neglected most of the others. The back- 
ward state of fish culture among us may be expressed by 
saying that we have developed no means of growing natural 
forage for fishes or of managing them in ordinary waters in 
pure cultures under control, and we have hardly any valuable 
cultural varieties. 
Many of our wild fishes, however, are excellent: the 
basses, and the perches, and the catfishes, forexample. And 
for themost part they are very hardy and are widely distrib- 
uted in our inland waters. If the fish fauna of any con- 
siderable stream be carefully explored, doubtless a number 
of good, bad, and indifferent kinds of fishes will be found. 
Bullheads and sunfishes are nearly everywhere in permanent 
fresh water; and what excellent materials for selection they 
offer! True, the bullheads are nearly all head and horns, but 
what flesh they have is excellent quality. What we need is 
to develop a race of shorthorns among them. If such im- 
provement of them were made by selection and care as has 
been made with cattle and hogs, what fine table fishes we 
should have; and everybody might have them in his own 
water garden. 
Fishes are the dominant animal forms in all fresh waters: 
in powers of locomotion they surpass all other aquatic 
creatures. Their fighting powers are good. Consequently 
we find them in full possession of the open waters, while most 
