155 



mense shoals at the lower end of the lake. Still it must 

 be borne in mind that both of these fish could descend to 

 the sea, although the journey would be a long one. 

 Moreover, it has not been shown that the salmon feed 

 in Lake Ontario, but some of the shad that were caught 

 in the lake were full of food. 



Another interesting experiment resulted with similar 

 success. At the request of the commissioners of Cali- 

 fornia, some twenty thousand shad fry were sent to that 

 state. They were carried through the vicissitudes of 

 their journey safely but at the cost of much labor and 

 anxiety, and were sately deposited in the Sacramento 

 river. Up to that time, shad were wholly imknown in 

 the Pacific coast, so the experiment was nothing less than 

 to introduce them into a new ocean. Of course the un- 

 dertak^jng was most doubtful in its results. There were 

 questions of water, food, temperature and so forth, which 

 no man could answer and which had to be referred solely 

 to the fish themselves. Fortunately they rendered a 

 verdict in favor of the attempt. They adapted them- 

 selves promptly to their new home ; they explored the 

 neighborhood, discovered satisfactory food, made them- 

 selves contented and proceeded to possess the land, or 

 rather water. In 1874, shad weighing three and a half 

 pounds, were caught in the Sacramento, which they were 

 ascending evidently for the purpose of spawning, and in 

 1878, they were an article of commerce and sale in the 

 public markets. It is therefore, possible that within a 

 few years the rivers of the Pacific slope will teem with 

 this excellent fish as abundantly as was once the case 

 with the rivers of the Atlantic states. 



Attempts have been made to transport shad eggs and 

 fry in salt water, but without success. The young are 

 delicate at best, and have to be watched with the greatest 



