A GLANCE AT FISH CULTURE. 



Hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years ago, the 

 Chinese placed twigs in the water to catch the adhesive 

 spawn of some species of fish. This is the extent of the 

 work done by them, only this and nothing more. The 

 eggs were placed in other waters and left to hatch. As 

 it has been claimed that they were far ahead of us in 

 fishculture, I made inquiry of learned Chinamen at the 

 Fisheries Exposition in Berlin in 1880, and know that 

 their fishculturalworkis of the crudest sort, and has not 

 improved. In the United States the work has made the 

 greatest strides and has been prosecuted on a scale not 

 equalled elsewhere. Then come Canada, Germany, 

 Norway, Sweden and other countries, but England has 

 done nothing in a public way; fishculture there is en- 

 tirely in private hands and is confined to private waters, 

 largely on the estates of wealthy gentlemen. 



The question is often asked, "Will it pay to raise 

 trout?" So much depends upon local conditions that 

 only a general answer can be made. If the water sup- 

 ply is large and not too warm; if food can be had in 

 plenty at a very low price and there is a good market 

 near, then it will pay to raise trout for market, if you can 

 do it on a sufficiently large scale ; or, if there are anglers 

 near who will pay for what they catch, they form the 

 best market. There are places where trout can be 

 grown for food in limited numbers without expense, 

 and the price received is nearly all profit. If the waters 

 are too warm for trout they can be made to produce 

 Other fish, such as black bass or perch ; Or if not these, 



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