164 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



#4 §altup. 



This Journal Is the Official Organ of the Fish Cultnr- 

 Ists' Association. 



IS FISH CULTURE PROFITABLE? 



Editor Forest ash Stream.— 



In your issue of October Hth, under this head, your eoneBpOnfleul 

 "H." makes this inquiry. I have a rule which forbids replying or ans- 

 wering anyone who nses a mm rh plvme or an initial, "bat will tend It S 

 Uttle In this cafe, and ask to what he refers. If he wants to know if it 

 has been profitable to restock the Connecticut ami Hudson with shad, I 

 can only ffive him figures, which he says he does not want. 



Fish culture is a broad Held, and after nil the sttCCOSSCB which are on 

 record, there are still skeptics. Of <<6nrse there arc failure*. So In all 

 business. Perhaps "II." refers to private enterprise: if sc, which he 

 does not state, then there Is the same record or success and failure. One 

 party had not water enough: another could not get food, fee. But there 

 are others who have succeeded by having everything favorable in con- 

 nection with the requisite amount, of brains. One great, drawbrack on 

 private fish cnltnrists has been, in my opinion, the desire to confine 

 themselves to what are called game fishes. They seem like boys who 

 mingle work and play. The game fishes are more or less cannibals, and 

 It is this that raises the grayling m my estimation far above the brook 

 tront, for the trout are piscivorous as well as lusectiverons, while the 

 grayling cannot eat fish.bnt thrives on the refuse of the slaughter house.as 

 . well as the tront does. There are hot few places suitable fur raising trout. 

 on a large scale, and it is only on a large scale that it will pay. Au ordi- 

 nary spring will suffice to furnish a few, but to turn out a ton or more a 

 year, requires not only a large llow of water, bnt also a great quantity of 

 food. There are those, who have made it pay, bnt 1 do hot feel at liberty 

 to publish what little I know of their business, especially in answer to 

 part'es who hide behind an iuitia). 



Fish culture for profit audllsh culture for sport are distinct things, and 

 the following clipping from another paper gives my ideas on "game 

 fl , n ... Fred Mather. 



tV' Fish Fabmlno.— The replies of two correspondents m a 

 recent issue of the Tribune, while full of information of 

 value to a beginner with fish, contain a few statements to 

 which I beg leave to take exception, and so will say: 1. I 

 have kept trout, at a temperature above 60°, in fact, as high 

 as 75" where there was a good flow and consequently a 

 rapid change. 2. Don't dam a ravine for a pond, the wind 

 ■will blow leaves in, which with the leaves and drift brought 

 down by rains will clog the screens and the floods will 

 carry everything awav. 3. If you dam the ravine, do it 

 high up, and lead the" water in a ditch along the hillside 

 into ponds and let all floods and surface water go over the 

 dam and down in the old channel. 4. "Spring water can- 

 not be too cold for trout," says one correspondent. I Re- 

 lieved this a few years ago, but find that Moot kept at the 

 head of my spring where I ho temporal ure is SST do not 

 grow much, while those kept below where it is 60 and 66° 

 grow rapidly, and trout fry if left free will work down 

 where the water is even "warmer. 5. Black bass, pick- 

 erel and perch are recommended where the water is too 

 warm for trout, but these fish are all cannibals; the first 

 named is good for the table and the sportsmim; the second 

 is a gormandizing beast, unfit to associate with decent 

 fishes, and only eatable when nothing better can be had; 

 the third is a good little pan fish, but terribly destructive 

 lo other fish. 6. If I were asked for a list of fishes to be 

 kept in waters not suitable for trout or grayling, it would 

 comprise white fish, ciscoes, smells, the large carp of 

 Europe, and the square tailed variety of catfish that is 

 known in the Eastern States as a bull-head, hornpout, &c. 

 The indiscriminate introduction of predacious fishes to 

 please the sportsman has been carried too far, and many 

 waters are filled with them that will be wanted for a more 

 peaceable and prolific fish in a few years.— Qiter}/: If you 

 wish to stock a hundred acres of land with animals, what 

 kinds will you choose, lions, tigers, wolves, weasels, Ac, 

 or cattle, sheep, deer, and rabbits? And from which class 

 would you expect the greater number of pounds of meat? 

 Fkbd. Mather. 



< i > 



FISH CULT URE IN VIRGINIA. 



THE LOUDOUN COUNTY FATIt. 



WILL FISH CULTURE PAY? 



Leesiiotuj, Loudoun comity, Va„ October lMth. 1874. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Our county fair is in progress, and everything 

 favorable exposition of our home enterprise < >u 

 ful anglers, Mr. Wm. B. Clagett, exhibits some black b» 

 tomac, along with Loudoun trout, in a large aqnari 

 an interesting feature or our fair. The tank is circ 

 of about four or five feet, and will contain six or se 

 four trout and u few oiher fish. Two of the trout 

 Inches long. Some works like Stone's and Green's 

 probably be at hand, and an effort will be made to 

 farmers In this profitable branch of farm 

 last Saturday, purely in the interest of 



the family where I stayed, could not got off. 

 a philosophic experiment or two yet. 



[isplcious for i 



It, will lie quit( 

 r, wifh a diamctei 

 bass and three oi 

 j ni-urly fourtoei 

 Fish Culture wll 

 tse the interest o; 

 uk. t essayed to try the basi 

 i, bat owing to sickness ir 



in, hone 



HECOND DAY. 



Leesburg, Va., October 14th, 1874. 

 Editor Forest and Stream . — 



The Loudoun County Fair did better to-day than yesterday. The 

 aquarium in the ladies' department building attracted considerable atten- 

 tion, so much, in fact, that the finest trout wus killed by handling. The 

 black bass and one or two other vario ties got along very well. Your 

 humble servant was enabled to attend the fair by the unaccountnble be- 

 haviour of his pupils. He was in school at the appointed time, but there 

 was no boy ready to answer to his name. Well, of course I felt like cry- 

 ing to think I could'nt teach that day, nut finally wiped my weeping 

 eye's and went for the trout for philosophic experiment. I filed the barbs 

 oflmv hooks, and partly by that means, and partly by use of a scoop net, 

 secured some of the spotted inh-.bitants of our spring 



The trotting to-day was nothing extraordinary. There were some fine 

 cattle, borsss, hogs and sheep exhibited. An admirer of Henry Ward 

 Beecherhad a magnificent specimen of the bovine tribe, named after that 

 Illustrious divine. There were some beantirul game chickens, and a 

 splendid show of pigeons of all colors and varieties. Amon>; the practi- 

 cal men who take an interest in fish culture, and with whom I conversed 

 on that subject, was Dr. Graham Elzey, Professor of Agricultural Chem- 

 istry in the Virginia Agricultural College. He ia making flab ponds at 

 the college (in Montgomery county), and Inquired ror the Forkht a.-.d 

 Stream, the address of which was given him, along with Stone's book 

 on Fish Culture. We hope to excite the farmers here yet to the realiza- 

 tion or iheirown interests in this matter. By-the bye, I killed the biggest 

 uout, after I found he was going to die, and his flesh was white. Is that 

 usual! All 1 ever ate, previous to this, had pink or salmon colored flesh. 

 He had been In a spring about five reot deep, shaded at all limes from the 

 •un, for about two years. 



The vein of sadness running through this letter is owing; to my not be- 

 ing able to teach to-day I T . W. 



RicmABfc, N.T., October 16th, 1874. 

 Editor Forest ahd Stream :— 



In reply to the commnnicatlon by "H." on page 14R, I would say that 

 my experience of fish culture leads me to say that "raising for market" 

 under correct business principles can be made "a profitable business'' in 

 ordinary year*. The panic of last Fall, and consequent necessity for 

 economy the present year, has caused nearly all kinds of business to be 

 depressed, and hardly anyone has made much money. Of coime luxu- 

 ries are effected more than necessities. Last August I made engage- 

 ments with two of the largest dealers in New York to supply them with 

 one hundred pounds a week duriug the season, but owing to the depres- 

 sion they were unable to carry out their agreements. Yet 1 have had a 

 luge number of orders for five to twenty pounds, and also had a fair at- 

 tendance of visitors and anglers. 

 In undertaking any new business a mar, has tn expect to pay something 

 ! 1 1 1 1 1- 'i m in the method of carryiug it on. Consequently I did not 

 expect to do much more this year than pay expenses. The ponds have 

 been established eight years, and therefore it was more favorable than it 

 would otherwise have been. Notwithstanding the dull times, T have 

 taken in just about enough to cover expenses, and had I dropped in 

 prices could have done a larger business. My experience warrants me 

 lu saying that In any ordinary business year It will pay well. Of conrse 

 such extravagant figures as we find lu Mr. Stone's book are calculated 

 to mislead: but n man can do a good business and make a reasonable 

 profit yearly with no very hard work, ir he gives a proper amount ot at- 

 tention to it. W. 



HATCHING THE GRAYLING. 



Caledonia. Livingston countv. N. Y., October 14th, 1874. 

 RniTon Forest and Stream :— 



tV The grayling eggs which Seth Green broughtrrom Michigan last Spring 

 were placed in my care, and were hatched without any trouble; but arter 

 hatching, and when the yolk sac was entirely absorbed, they looked so 

 small and frail that I had hardly any hopes or raising them. All possible 

 pains were taken to give them a good start, and we soon had the satis - 

 taction of seeing that they not only lived, bnt actually grew. Very 

 small they were, and very feebly they wagged their tails, bnt they kept 

 on growing till— at the present time— they are larger than trout are at the 

 same age. Their majesties have been exhibited to some hundred thou- 

 sand people this year, having attended fairs at Rochester, Albany. Os- 

 wego Falls and Utica, besides the reception or numerous visitors at 

 home. I am naturally a little proud or having been the first to hatch and 

 raise, artificially, American grayling. But I do not yet sec wherein con- 

 sists their superiority to the brook trout, nor of what particular use they 

 are. any how. It is true that they have a "magmucent^dorsal fin,'' but 

 that can't be/ritd to any advantage. A. S. C. 



—Perhaps it may interest some of your readers to know 

 what success has "attended the introduction of black bass 

 into the Susquehanna Kiver. Since June the anglers here 

 have been busily engaged with variable success. The 

 river teems with bass, but they are very coy about biting, 

 so that only a few can be taken at any one time. The 

 sli thtest muddiness of the water prevents them at once 

 from taking any bait, real or artificial. The bait found 

 most successful is live minnows, crabs from our small rivu- 

 lets, worms, fresh-water mussels, and, who would have be- 

 lieved il ? small catfish, used alive and without removing 

 the spines. These latter are now used by all our anglers, 

 and the writer can say from experience that there is no 

 live bait more taking. The "spoon bait" has been used 

 with great success by trolling. But latterly the water has 

 been Too cloudy, ("rilcy,") and but few have been taken. 

 Their weight 'varies from, say 10 ounces to U, %i and 34 

 pounds. The former, of course, are much more abundant 

 than the latter; but, during two hours trolling a few weeks 

 since four were taken — two of 10 ounces, one of 1-J pounds 

 and one of 2± pounds. At "Collins' Station," P. R. R., 

 midway between Columbia and Harrisburgh, more than 

 4,000 bass have been taken since June last, weighing from 

 two to three pounds. Within five years the economic 

 value of these fishes will have amounted to thousands of 

 dollars annually, to say nothing of the innocent pleasure 

 anglers will feel in taking the fish. 



The fish ways placed in Columbia dam by our Commission- 

 ers in 1873, was only a partial success as regards the trans- 

 mission of shad. It" was found to have been too elevated 

 at. the lower end— more particularly during the low water. 

 Alterations have now been made of such a character as 

 will no doubt allow vast numbers of shad to ascend the 

 river hereafter. Indeed, just now we sec at this point 

 (four miles above Columbia dam,) thousands of young shad 

 disporting themselves. These will go to the salt water as 

 soon as we have a flood in the river. — Geirnantrnen. Tele- 



f«* *+■ 



Fish Fabmdto en Westmoreland.— The large pond of 

 the Big Springs Fishing Club, on their farm, in the Laurel 

 Hill r&nge of mountains, is now completed. The breast- 

 work of the dam is heavy masonry over one hundred feet 

 long and fourteen feet high, and the area submerged is 

 over an acre. Besides this large pond is another extensive 

 one, a few hundred yards below it, provided with a screen 

 to prevent the descent of the fish; and above it, a series of 

 smaller ponds up lo the springs themselves, three-fourths of 

 a mile distant. The capacity of the hatching establish- 

 ment of this farm is reckoned at one million. The condi- 

 tion of the fish at present is reported most excellent. E. 

 J. Keenan Esq., of Grecnsburg, had several of his finest 

 trout die from some unknown cause. These trout were 

 hatched in his spring-house from eggs brought from New 

 York. The fish pond of Judge Mellon, of Pittsburgh, 

 afiout three miles East of Greenburg, is reported to be. in a 

 flourishing condit ion. _ 



The Berks County Pa. Game Association have, at a 

 recent meeting, cut out some good work which it is hoped 

 the members will perform resolutely. The President stated 

 that the object of the meeting was to take some measures 

 for the protection of bass, and also for the enforcement of 

 the law in reference to other fish and game. A committee 

 was appointed lo prepare a summary of the game laws, 

 which duty was attended to promptly, and the summary 

 published. A committee was also appointed to procure 

 three thousand yellow pereh to be placed in such streams 

 as the committee may think proper; but we doubt if they 

 will multiply in other streams except the Schuylkill River 

 and Maiden Creek. They may not even in the latter. 

 This is perhaps the best companion for the bass. Pickerel 

 might do, and would find shelter in the deep pools of the 



river. 



< i» 



— The Fish Commissioners have put some black bass in 



the river, at Curwinsville, Pa. They will put some in 



Clearfield Creek the coming week. They are excellent 



flsh, and hardy enough to flourish in the streams. 



html ftntorg. 



CURIOUS MATING OF PIGEONS. 



Philadelphia, October 16th, 1874. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Seeing in the columns of last week's issue of the Forest asd Stream 

 a communication on the matching of one male pigeon with two females, 

 I will add a lew lines. The mating of two cocks also Is not uncommon. 

 Within oneyear, among the pigeons I have bought for breeding purpo- 

 ses, three pairs turned out to be mated cocks of the following arieties: 

 — sliver priests, white trumpeters, and common mottled tumblers. The 

 latter 1 bought for feoders, and for such they were excellent. The red 

 mottle (dark) would generally drive the hlack gay mottle, though occa- 

 sionally the order would be reversed. I put two eggs into the nest which 

 they had selected, and they performed their duty as well as ir cock and 

 hen. One squab was hatched, and before it was feathered the red mot- 

 tled was removed, when the other continued caring for it as long as nec- 

 essary. Having raised the squat), the gay mottle then sought a hen for 

 a mate. 



Two hens will also mate occasionally. I know of a party that had 

 three hens mated to one cock. To show what, may be had from a seem- 

 ingly worthless bird sometimes, 1 will relate the following: Lost May, 

 having two imported yellow owl hens, from which T desired to obtain 

 some stock, but having tried in vain to find suitable cocks, and one of 

 the hens being very anxious to mate, I put her with an owl, the feather- 

 ing of which was certainly a curions composite. The ground color was 

 mealy, with red wing-bars, red head, and mottled throughout with 

 black. I regarded the bird as perfectly worthless, but the result proved 

 otherwise. Out or the second nest they raised one black and one dun, 

 and nut of the. next nest one olack. The blacks were of a good, solid 

 color, so also was the dun, but, rather darker than was desirable. They 

 have eggs now, both of which have squabs in them, though the shell of 

 one was broken. Bnt as the membrane, was perfect, this one was easily 

 remedied by covering the broken part of the shell with sticking plaster, 

 This is a fact which I trust may be of use to some fancier. W. A. B. 



Longevity of the Cam?. — Can any of your readers 

 give any well-ascertained proof of the length of life at- 

 tained by the carp? When residing as a youth at St. Ger- 

 main, I was told by an aged Legitimist that his father had 

 watched the same carp throughout the whole of his life, 

 and the son asserted that he had known the identical fish 

 for twenty and thirty years after his father's death, thus 

 giving to them an age of from sixty to seventy years. 

 That. 'remarkable statement is more than substantiated by 

 Lady Clementina Davies, who, in "Recollections of Society" 

 (p. 49), alludes to the longevity of the carp in the moat "of 

 the Chateau de St. German, one bearing in his gills a ticket 

 proving him to be over 200 years of age; and other at Ver- 

 sailles," bearing silver rings through' the gills with the 

 name of the courtier who had uiserted it, and testifying to 

 an almost Incredible longevity. What amount of truth 

 may we attribute to these statements? 



Robt. Rudolph Sm<-FrF.LD. 



Croydm, Surrey, June 13f/t. 



Last Autumn, being at Fontainbleau, I was told by the 

 servant of the palace there that the German soldiers, while 

 in occupation of the place during the last war, caught 

 many carp in the pond of the palace garden, called 

 "Jardin Anglais," and that some of these carp carried, at- 

 tached by silver wire to their gills, little silver plates bear- 

 ing inscriptions purporting that the plates were attached lo 

 the fish in the time of Francis I. and Henry IL— i. e. about 

 300 years ago. 



Some of your German readers could easily ascertain by 

 inquiry of the corps in occupation whether such fish were 

 in fact caught. If it should turn out that they were, then, 

 although the well-ascertained proof desired by Mr Suflield 

 would not of course be given, yet the fact would be evi- 

 dence worth noting. — F. G. in Aature. 



Gmne$, June 28th. 



AVhat Is It?— On Owens Lake, which is sixteen miles 

 long and six wide, and situated in the centre of California, 

 there are, at all seasons of the year, myriads of small water 

 fowl, considerably smaller than the common diver, but for 

 which it is generally taken by casual observers. This bird 

 is of the diver species, doubtless, since it is a good diver 

 and swimmer, but in other physical abilities it is different 

 from any other we have ever heard of, if what we are told 

 about it is true, and we believe it is — it can neither walk 

 nor fly! Thousands of them arc thrown on the shore iy 

 the winds, and there perish, simply, it is said, because they 

 cannot walk nor fly, or even work themselves back into 

 the water again. At such timesthe Indians reap a good 

 harvest in stripping them of feathers and down, these pro- 

 ducts being finer than the same from geese, and command 

 as ready a market. The feathers can be obtained for a 

 dollar a pound in San Francisco. Here, with Indian help, 

 ought to be a profitable business. A specimen of these 

 birds was sent to Washington for classification, hut nothing 

 has been heard from it. Its bill is long, sharp, and easily 

 broken — something on the snipe order; the pedal append- 

 ages are more like flippers than feet, standing at such an 

 angle to the body that they are useless for any purpose 

 except swimming. Of its habits but little is known, other 

 than its food consists of the billions of worms, the only 

 other indigenous creature in those acrid waters. Some 

 think it is propagated from spawn like a fish, since its 

 breeding places have never yet been discovered. 



[The bird mentioned is probably the Podictps Californicu*, 

 or a kindred species, which some lover of the wonderful 

 has made into a sensational item. Birds being developed 

 directly 'from spawn like a fish is a piece of Darwinism 

 most startling to scientists.]— Ed. 



Quail Food. — A farmer's hoy in Ohio, observing a small 

 flock of quails in his father's cornfield, resolved to watch 

 their motions. They pursued a very regular course in 

 their foraging, commencing on one side of the field, taking 

 about five rows, and following them uniformly to the op- 

 posite end, returning in the same manner over the next five 

 rows. They continued in this course until they had ex- 

 plored the greater portion of the field. Tlie lad, suspicious 

 that they were pulling up the corn, fired into the flock, 

 killing one of them, and then proceeded lo examine the 

 ground. In the whole space over which they had traveled 

 he found but one stalk of corn disturbed. This was nearly 

 scratched out of the ground, but the kernel still adhered 

 to it. In the craw of the quail he found one cut worm, 

 twenty-one striped vine bugs, and one hundred chinch 

 bugs, but not a single kernel of corn. 



