FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. I I 3 



lecture by Dr. Jousset de Bellesme, Director of Fish Culture of Paris, he found that 

 the lecturer placed little value upon Daphnia as fish food. I was furnished with a 

 copy of the translation and found that it said: 



" I have demonstrated in experiments made at the Trocadero Aquarium that feed- 

 ing by means of Daphnia is simply a dangerous illusion. These little animals possess 

 very small value as food, and fish which are subjected to this regime do not grow. 

 But it is important to the fish culturist that his products grow as quickly as possible, 

 and to accomplish this we must not forsake food materials of rich quality like meat, 

 blood, etc." 



There were three things any one of which might be done under the circumstances; 

 abandon the idea of referring to the Daphnia as desirable food material for fish ; ignore 

 the conclusions of Dr. Jousset de Bellesme, or, show that he was in error and his con- 

 clusions were not final. 



Upon reading the entire lecture I found that in his experiments his efforts were 

 directed entirely to rearing fish for market to a certain size in the shortest possible time 

 consistent with prime condition of the fish, and really his condemnation of Daphnia as 

 fish food was not as sweeping as his words would make it appear. 



It will be fair to say that Dr. Jousset de Bellesme means that under his system of 

 pond culture, which he explains at length, Daphnia do not possess qualities as fish 

 food to produce the maximum growth of certain species of fishes, within a given time, 

 to obtain the best results from a monetary point of view, when the fish so fed are treated 

 as a marketable commodity. Of this view of the matter we have nothing to say, for 

 it is entirely outside of the purposes of this paper to treat of feeding fish for market, 

 but for fear that the unqualified assertion which I have quoted from the translation 

 may become current it may be wise to see how other fish breeders regard the little 

 crustaceans as food for fishes that are not being fattened for market. 



Mr. J. J. Armistead, proprietor of the Solway Fishery, Dumfries, Scotland, is one 

 of the most advanced fish culturists in Europe, and his opinion of all that relates to fish 

 breeding and fish food is most valuable as he speaks from long experience. He says, 

 speaking of the necessity of multiplying the creatures on which the fish feed, if the fish 

 themselves are to be multiplied by artificial means : " One of the best animals to cul- 

 tivate is the water-flea (Daphnia). There are some ten varieties varying in size from 

 three-sixteenths to one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. The commonest species is 

 Daphnia Pulex, which varies in color and size considerably according to the nature of 

 its surroundings, and also to the time of year. It thrives best in moderately still water, 

 and under favorable conditions its rate of increase is considerable, the females usuallv 

 producing three broods per month." 



