CHAPTER XI. 



PISCICULTURE. 



" And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the mov- 

 ing creature that hath life " (Gen. i. 80). 



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OMMENCING back at the earliest period of re- 

 corded time, we find the All-wise Creator of the 

 Universe commanding the waters to bring forth 

 " abundantly of the moving creature that hath 

 life," and they did. The early history of every 

 country on the face of the globe reveals the fact of a once 

 superabundance of the inhabitants of the waters. In Eng- 

 land, many years ago, that " royal fish " the salmon was 

 so plenty that they were fed to the hogs ; and in Scot- 

 land they were so abundant that the farmer's servants stip- 

 ulated to have them but twice a week for food ! On the 

 northwest coast of America they were found in such great 

 numbers that they could be killed with an axe, and in the 

 early history of Connecticut these numbers were so great 

 that the fishermen would not dispose of their shad unless the 

 purchaser would take a certain portion of salmon. 



A few years ago nearly every stream within a reasonable 

 distance from the great marts of civilization was more or 

 less depopulated. Hundreds of miles had the angler to 

 travel even for a moiety of his favorite game, while at the 



