712 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
the practice to sell the right to fish annually at auction. There were three sites for weirs, which 
were all sold when fish were plenty, but in times of scarcity some of them occasionally stood idle. 
The blanks are understood to indieate, in most cases, a failure to effect any sale. As a record of 
special interest it is presented entire. 
Year. Rental, Year. Rental. Year. Rental. 
$3017 ||! T8590 os scien ccs conmes ac seeds ve nie n| sore erwsineee 
124.00) |) T8O0 see eccsscmscernewewesmeeceane $1 00 
13 70 |) WSC Leics c ce oc seer ccnecaneccnecs 2 65 
OF 22.) 1862 on nnsaeniccnansirseweweon eewes 4 50 
42 70 || 1863....... 2.220222 eee eee 4 50 
54°85: || 1864 osescccemidcesssmenerstneevevloxvecaiesees 
2225! || WSOS vecseccciicsienivtcmens samen sine 18 00 
7 69 || 1866...-.- 22. eee eee eee eee 21 25 
DAT |p USG6T sccaenys roe tas eeae seeeeseraes 9 50 
OGL. |), T86B viweiesinciniscistsuc as cacnin ca winwa'e 26 50 
630! | LBB cave seca ee psnccetaepeenses 10 50 
33.15 || 1870... -. 22.2. cece ee een nenenene 2 50 
82°72) || WBTlesescaanceseveme'saceieecesecslececeseewes 
204. || 1872 occas ccisinicic aie nccee snc cececfenenemcnncee 
15 25) 1878s aici cin as ii wee see owdieeisciccil eamewSsmesce 
50 50 |) 1874....-.-..---- een ee eee eee ee 27 75 
14: 62) ||| AST iccncciscemcncmcinnczamals vececclesaseswowesin 
15 00 || 1876..-....-.-.--..2-----e eee eee 1 55 
22) 62))|| UBT Tesccenesteeeeeeeerees sess ces 2 00 
31 38 || 1878.......---..-. 22-22 eee ee eee 13 00 
soaenmeeaes IST9s sac eecicdces voter eosceesceecl 6 00 
F00) || S880. ce sin. -ne-sas heey wees wes tisls 5 00 
In 1814 it is probable that the implements employed in fishing were of a very primitive char- 
acter, and that the same incentives to effort, a brisk demand and the remunerative prices of ten or 
fifteen years later, did not yet exist. The price obtained in 1820 indicates that the result of the 
fishery of 1819 was encouraging, but the scanty catch of 1820 and 1821 (which rests on satisfac- 
tory direct evidence from other sources) finds its natural result in the sudden dropping off in the 
bids in 1821 and 1822. The rapid recovery of the fishery is shown by the rise of the rental after 
1823. Prosperity continued to attend the fishery till 1832. The result of the fishery that year 
was evidently disappointing, and the next year the rental fell off 62 per cent., and in 1834 there 
was a further drop of 66 per cent. from 1833. In this we see the result of the decline of the 
alewife and shad fishery. The revival of 1835, 1836, and 1837 was, it is fair to presume, the result 
of the excellent condition of the salmon fishery, which, according to another authority,* was at 
this time showing an increase, which culminated in 1836. The general decline of the salmon 
fishery is shown by the falling off of the rental from 1837 to 1845. 
Since 1860 there have been various fluctuations in the numbers of salmon and alewives, but 
the shad have remained steadily at low-water mark. The years 1867 and 1868 were good years for 
salmon ; so also were 1872 and 1873. In 1867 the State commissioner of fisheries estimated the 
catch, from imperfect data, at 8,000 salmon and 1,000,000 alewives. In 1873, after careful inquiry, 
the number of salmon caught was estimated at 15,000.t The latter year was beyond question 
the best since 1860, and probably the best since 1850. 
SAINT GEORGE RIVER.—The Saint George is a small river, draining only 210 square miles of 
territory. Its water surface, however, embraces seventy-two lakes and lakelets, of which the 
*Mr. Amos Treat, of Frankfort. tRept. U. S. Fish Com. 1872~73, p. 313. 
