168 



out preparation, and without detriment. They will live 

 and grow if retained in fresh water ponds, to which they 

 may be transported as soon as ihey are caught in the salt 

 inlets and creeks in which the young usually make their 

 appearance. Whether they will spawn if kept wholly 

 in small preserves, we do not know. 



One of the most remarkable experiments in lish culture 

 was made by the New York Commission in the years 1876 

 and 1877, on the Hudson river. Shad and striped bass 

 were not only successfully crossed, but the young of the 

 mixed breed were hatched in large numbers. The 

 eggs of the shad were impregnated with the milt 

 of the striped bass. Every care was taken to 

 make the experiment conclusive. As male shad 

 were being stripped at the same time, and it was possible 

 that the sperms might be in the water around the boat 

 where the nets were landed and the operations conducted, 

 and consequently impregnation be effected by the milt 

 of the shad itself in that way, the utmost precautions 

 were used to obtain water a safe distance trom the 

 boat, and always up against the current. It was thus 

 made certain that the impregnation was effected solely 

 by the milt of the striped bass. The eggs were then de- 

 posited in the shad boxes as the bass eggs had been pre- 

 viously hatched, and a very fair percentage of them 

 matured in the ordinary time. There was a marked 

 difference in the appearance of the fry — a difference 

 clearly observable to the practiced eye, but not capable 

 of description on paper. 



These results seem almost incredible, and open an 

 entirely new field in fish culture. 



If two such wholly dissimilar fish as the striped bass and 

 shad can be crossed, it may be expected that all varieties 

 which spawn at about the same time, and hatch under 



