FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 245 



The Hudson river has not been a self-sustaining shad stream since it was depleted 

 by the shad netters previous to the era of artificial propagation, and there has been 

 a constant war against the shad men to compel them by law to take up their nets 

 during a portion of each week to permit some breeding shad to ascend the river 

 and spawn, and they have resisted every effort in this direction which was solely to 

 preserve the shad for the future as well as for the present day. If the Hudson had 

 been dependent alone upon the increase from the shad of the river there would be 

 fewer shad in the river now, but the United States Fish Commission has made gen- 

 erous contributions of shad fry from the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers annually 

 for planting in the Hudson, and thus the stock has not only been kept up, but 

 increased. From 1882 to 1901, both inclusive, the shad in the river have furnished 

 eggs which have produced in the hatchery maintained by the State of New York 

 52,057,100 fry to be returned to the river. During the same period the United 

 States Fish Commission has contributed to the Hudson from other streams 

 108,444,000 shad fry, or more' than twice as many as the river itself was able to pro- 

 vide, the total of 160,501,000 shad fry being the result of artificial shad culture in 

 the hatcheries, and all of the eggs which produced this great number of fry would 

 have been lost had they not been rescued by the State and National Fish 

 Commissions. 



Mr. Conine says in conclusion, and as a final argument, that in the State of 

 Vermont the fish hatcheries are maintained for less than $7,000 a year, and that 

 in New York State $100,000 will not pay the expenses. In this he is as wide of the 

 facts as he is in giving the habits of the shad. Vermont has one hatchery devoted 

 to the propagation of trout and salmon. I am not sure, but I think no other fish 

 are hatched in it, and the output from the hatchery does not concern this note. 

 New York has eight permanent hatcheries, and if each had what is alleged to be the 

 sum expended on the Vermont hatchery New York should expend $56,000 on the 

 eight hatcheries. In addition to the eight hatcheries, there is the shad hatchery 

 maintained during the shad season and a muscalonge hatchery maintained only dur- 

 ing the muscalonge season ; two whitefish egg-collecting stations maintained only 

 through the season for taking whitefish eggs. For the fiscal year ending September 

 30, 1900, the total disbursement by the State of New York for maintenance of hatch- 

 eries and hatching stations, collection of eggs and the distribution of fish and fish 

 fry, amounted to $52,772.66. 



It will be noticed that the disbursements include hatcheries and hatching stations 

 — that is, the eight permanent hatcheries which are in operation all the year, the 

 shad station on the Hudson, the muscalonge station on Chautauqua lake, the white- 



