February 10, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



33 



dance. Experts of largest and longest experience were whol- 

 ly unable to account for this scarcity. Various theories were 

 broached. Among them : The vast ice-floes on the Gulf 

 coast ; the great number of sharks noticed o*i the routes usu- 

 ally taken "by the salmon from the sea to their rivers, and 

 the. vast schools of porpoises infesting the same waters. 

 Either of these causes might affect in some small degree the 

 ingress of the timid fish j but the difficulty of accepting 

 either of these theories was heightened by the fact that while 

 salmon were scarce, codQsh, who travel ' nearly on the same 

 lines, were more than usually abundant. In August it was 

 assumed that, if either of these causes had interfered with the 

 first run of salmon the deficiency would he. made up subse- 

 quently. But results did not confirm this expectation. The 

 dearth continued. The nets were mostly taken tip at the 

 mouth of the rivers early in July, and the season closed with 

 a smaller catch, with both hook and seine, than had ever 

 been kuowu within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. 

 But this curious season has resulted in other developments 

 more inexplicable even than the scarcity of fish— namely, the 

 almost total absence of male salmon from among those caught 

 for breeding purposes. This scarcity of sa'mon this year is 

 nol the result of any known natural cause. If a scarcity 

 shall ever come from excessive depletion it will come gradu- 

 ally. But last, year the tish were as abundant, as for many 

 years previously. This fact adds to the mystery. The most 

 serious result of this year's deficiency will be the loss of a 

 year's natural increase, for salmon only breed in the rivers, 

 and, comparatively speaking, there have been no fishes in 

 the rivers to breed. This fact will not of course affect next 

 year's run nor the run of the year succeeding, for this year's 

 fry will only show themselves as salmon three years hence. 

 But then and afterward the deficiency will begin to show it- 

 self. — Albany Journal. 



Maine Notes.— A Sullivan correspondent of the Ellsworth 

 American says: "When the ice is first forming in the fall, 

 and again when breaking up in the spring, large quantities 

 of frost, fish and smelts are occasionally kept under the ice by 

 large flocks of sea gulls, until the tide leaves them bare on 

 the flats and under the ice. Then it is not very difficult to 

 pick up the fish by band or in any other way. Sometimes 

 boat loads are thus taken." 



The BelfaSt .TiHtrnal tlius speaks of smelts: "The smelt 

 fishery of Belfast the present season is a failure. But very 

 few tents are upon the ice, and those are occupied by a class 

 that tish more for the sake of fishing than for profit." 



Range dr Catfish.— /%. Oloiul, Minn., Jan. 12.— As Dr. 

 Sterling does not seem to prosper in his search for the most 

 northerly range of the catfish, 1 am prompted to give him 

 my experience with the "bird." Have caught them in the 

 Mississippi, below St. Anthony's Falls, of from hirty to forty 

 pounds weight, in latitude 44 and 45. Have caught them in 

 the Bed River of the North, in latitude 50 and 51 , but smaller 

 than in the Mississippi, also in the Missouri, in latitude 48. 

 They are plenty in the waters tributary to Hudson Bay, the 

 Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, and most anywhere east, 

 of the range. That 5001b. black-Nil got away with the 

 rake. We were always satisfied in Montana and Idaho with 

 them weighing from 175 pounds to S35 pounds. C. S. B. 



A Bond of Fellowship— Mcdford, Ont., Dec, 1880.— I 

 look forward with pleasure to the. day on which I receive the 

 Forest and Si ream, as each number brings something new 

 and interesting. I follow my fellow-sportsmen (there is 

 always a bond of good-fellowship among true sportsmen) 

 o'er hill and dale with as much interest as though I were 

 really with them. 



gi§1 t gnUnn. 



THE CENTRAL FISHCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



rooHTrarjED.] 



MR. BOOTH : The paper which has just been read is 

 just such a one as might be expected from a young 

 man with no experience on the subject. An experience of 

 thirty years in fishing with nets of many kinds has shown 

 me that it is the pound nets which are so destructive, and 

 not the gill-nets. 



Mr. Ballou : I don't think that my youth should enter 

 into the question. I am supported in my views on the gill- 

 nets by Prof. Milner. I did not say that these nets were 

 wantonly destructive. 



Mr. Clark : I agree that the fishes of Lake Michigan 

 should have sonic kind of protection, but am not willing to 

 indorse the condemnation of the gill-net. 



Mr. Boom : Of the methods which destroy fish life, the 

 gill-net is most humane ; it takes only fishes of the size to 

 which it is adapted and lets the small fry pass through. The 

 pound net takes everything. 



Mr. Clark: Concerning the capture of fishes in their 

 spawning time, I would like to ask Mr. Ballou how we are 

 going to take whitefish if not then ? It is the only time we 

 can get them in numbers. Also, if there are no pound nets 

 in Lake Erie, how can the lake herring be caught? I have 

 seen millions of young whitefish thrown out of nets, but in 

 Lake Erie no small whitefish are taken The United States 

 Fish Commission is now hatching quantities of whitefish at 

 its hatchery at Northville, Mich., of which I am Supcrinten- 

 dent, and there are now in process of hatching thirteen mil- 

 lions of eggs, the young from which will go in the great 

 lakes. 



Mr. Fairbank : If there are no gill-nets we would get no 

 whitefish. The only time they are taken is in the spawning 

 season, when the small ones run throughHhe gill-nets, but 

 the pounds take all sizes. 



Mr. CuRK : I took over three million whitefish eggs in 

 one of the pound boats in one day, while a man in a gill-net 

 boat in Lake Erie only took half a million eggs. The pounds 

 get more ripe fish and we can get more eggs I here than with 

 the gibers. 



Mb. Miller ; There is no doubt about the fact of the 



pounds being more destructive than the gill nets, and both 

 Mr. Booth and Mr. Clark agree to this and they have had ex- 

 perience in this matter and knew what, they were falkin.tr 

 about. I think Mr. Ballou has made a mistake. 



The following paper was then read : 



BREEDING CALIFORNIA SALMON IN FRESH 

 WATER. 



BY N. K. FAIRIIANK. 



The question as to whether the tnlmon will live and thrive 

 without access to the ocean or some large body of salt water 



ie that has been much discussed by- fishculturists and by 

 the general public : but most of the discussion heretofore has 

 been done without any other fact as, a basis than the well- 

 known one that salmon exist in the oceans and that they 

 come once or twice in the year to rivers to spawn and return 

 again to the sea. Beyond "that all was speculation. 



Having a decided opinion upon the subject, and believing 

 that saltwater, merely because it was salt, was no element in 

 the problem, I decided to make a thorough experiment mid 

 demonstrate, if possible, the practicability of my theory, 

 which, in the main, is that the salmon and many other of the 

 fishes found only in salt water can be transplanted to bodies 

 of fresh water, and that they will grow and thrive and breed 

 there, provided the water is deep enough to lie cool at the 

 bottom and the lake or river is extensive enough togive them 

 a good, free range and has a sufficient supply of food. 



Geneva Lake, in Walworth County, Wisconsin, seemed to 

 oiler all these requisites. It is about nine miles long and 

 from half a mile to two and a half miles wide. The '.valor is 

 rental kably pure and clear, being fed wholly by springs, and 

 entirely free from HUypads and bullrushes! The shores are 

 clean gravel or boulders, with good depth of water all 

 around, and through the mi 'die the. average depth is one 

 hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. There are also mam- 

 places where there is twenty-five feet of water two hundred 

 feet from the shore. It abounds in the native fishes found 

 generally in this region, except the big-mouthed black bass, 

 Mii'ropUrws pall'dux, and Mall-eyed pike, Sttoatedion. Black 

 bass, pickerel, yellow perch, rock bass, sunfish, suckers, bull- 

 heads and minnows are found in great numbers, in addition 

 to which it is favored in being the Lome of the eisco, which 

 was for a long time popularly believed to exist in no other 

 waters. This, however, is a mistake, as they are found in 

 one or two of the lakes in the vicinity of Oconomowoc, and 

 also in Lake Michigan. 



Having all the requisites which I considered essential to 

 the experiment— viz., pure, deep water, a moderately sized 

 lake, with room for range and exercise and plenty of food— I 

 began in the spring of 187ri by depositing 25,000 California 

 salmon which we hatched at the D. S. hatchery at Northville, 

 Michigan, by Mr. Frank N. Clark, and were sent to me by 

 Prof. Baird, U. S. Fish Commissioner. The Wisconsin Com- 

 mission also Put in about 15,000 shortly after. 



In April, 1877, I also procured from Prof. Baird about 

 25 000 and from the Wisconsin Commission 33.000, and in 

 the fall of '77 I received from the TJ. S. Commission 100,000 

 eggs from the MeCloinl River, Which I hatched and put into 

 the lake in the spring of 1878. I also deposited 200,000 in 

 the spring of 1870, 100.000 last April, and 100,000 yearlings 

 last. October; making in all, in round numbers 590. 000, 

 hatching count, deducting for losses from various causes, 

 and 1 estimate that I have placed in Geneva Lake half amill- 

 ion young California salmon in excellent condition. 



They began to make their appearance and attain c insider- 

 able size very soon, and during the summer of 1878 there was 

 an occasional one caught by parties who were fishing for 

 bass. 1 had four sent me one day which weighed three- 

 quarters of a pound each, and one of them went a trifle over 

 a pound. In the summer of 1879 Mr. L. Z. Leber, while 

 trolling for bass, captured a very fine salmon which weighed 

 four and a half pounds. Seveial others were taken during 

 the summer, weighing two to three pouuds each, ad of which 

 was reasonably encouraging; but not until the. developments 

 of the past summer have 1 felt that the experiment would 

 prove a valuable one, and when, on the afternoon of July 29 

 last, I was presented with a beautiful specimen, which was 

 twenty-nine and one half inches long and eighteen inches 

 girth, and weighed twelve and three-quarter pounds, and 

 when I had it boiled and served for dinner and found it to 

 be a delicions fish ; then I felt certain that the salmon would 

 grow to a respectable size and condition in fresh water, and 

 that at least, so far as that, fish and my dinner of that, day 

 went, it was no longer an unsuccessful experiment — there 

 was a reality, the ''substance of things hoped for," winch 

 did much to strengthen and build up my faith. 



In September they began to show themselves at the head 

 of the lake near the mouth of a small creek having its source 

 in a group of springs a mile back which empties into the lake. 

 Mr. William Welsher, who has charge of the hatchery ami 

 ponds, there discovered eight fine specimens one day splash- 

 ing about in this creek. They were up the creek nearly a 

 mile, and as far as they could get, and were, of course, look- 

 ing for a spawning bed. The following day he captured a 

 finefemale in.lhe creek, which was full of eggs and quite ripe. 

 Those which he saw in the creek he estimated would weigh 

 eight to ten pounds each. The one he caught weighed eight 

 and a half pounds, and one which he found up the creek a 

 week later in shallow water, and which he picked up and 

 put into deep water, he estimated would weigh ten pounds. 

 He informs me that a month ago he saw a pair much larger 

 than any before mentioned at the. mouth of the creek, but 

 they could not get over the little bar formed at. the mouth. 

 He estimated this pair would weigh twenty pounds each, and 

 that the female might go up to twenty-five pounds. He also 

 saw very decided indications of spawning nests in the gravel 

 about the mouth of the creek ; all of which facts satisfy me 

 that the salmon will not only attain a large size but will' also 

 breed in fresh water. Unlike Brigham Young, they find 

 they can be very good Mormons ami increase and multiply 

 without going to a Salt L ike. 



In conclusion I desire to call the attention of the Michigan 

 and Wisconsin Commissioners especially to this subject. I 

 believe that by an extensive and liberal movement on their 

 part, and by batching the salmon by the million instead o£ 

 by the thousand, that Lake Michigan and the creeks and 

 rivers which empty into it. can be made to abound with 

 salmon. 1 am of the opinion that the Atlantic salmon is 

 preferable to the Californii one, if the eggs can be found in 

 sufficient quantities. 1 began and have continued with the 

 latter in Geneva Lake, for the reason that 1 could not gel, 

 the Atlantic salmon eggs and could get from the United 

 States Fish Commission the California eggs in great quantity. 



I have mentioned particularly the Commissions of Michi- 

 gan and Wisconsin for the reason that they have virtually 

 abandoned the propagation of the salmon— for the reason 



that they have not yet seen any result of their early efforts. 

 This 1 attribute to the very limited extent of their work an 

 in -j I -a few hundred thousand per annum deposited in 

 the extrusive rivers of Michigan can hardly be expected to 



manifest themselves to any visible extent. 



If I had only planted In Geneva Lake ten to fifteen thou- 

 sand instead of five hundred thousand I have no doubt the re- 

 sult would have been so trilling as to hardly merit a continu- 

 ance of the experiment. 



RESTOIUNG EXHAUSTED FISHEBIES. 



WE are permitted to publish the following interesting answers 

 from Mr. 13. F. Shaw, Fish Commissioner of Iowa, to a cor- 

 respondent, 3s the subject is one of general interest : 



Anaiiosa, Iowa, Jim. 4. 

 Mr. H. Mayhkw. Grand Mar:ii«. Lake Saps Tier. -Minn : 

 Dear Sir— In reply to your qnestiohn— 



1. "Are fri sU water ri-h. - Idoal in their, habits?" 



In my opinion thevall have their spawning, feeding and winter 

 grounds, upon H Inch, at the proper season, each family of fishes 

 amy with certainty be found; 



2. "Will over-ii.-lung upon any (.articular spawning ground 

 tend to destroy trie Balling in that particular locality?" 



I think taking large quantities of lish from a spawning ground 

 -n,!; i • - • . : n f then eggs will certainly destroy the value of 

 uryfiBheryand believe the hStory of all old fishing grounds will 



a. " What is the best method of 1 



fisheries V" 



Bv artificial propagation where pi 

 he done, I think some method -b . 

 mature eggs of libit (alien should be 



•alne of C 



r lake 



Where this cannot 

 id bv which all the 

 ud returned to the 



The fish being taken upon their spawning grounds, the egga, 

 properly vitalized, should be pUt back there W th« most sruta.ble 

 place. 'In natural spawning but a email pit cent, of the eggs are 

 fertilized j by artificial means nearly all are irnpri gnated. 



:-'. : ,i .. , .dies sown upon :i sniiumig ground are, in my opinion, 

 as certain to produce return., as seed sown on. any ftam. lam 

 unite certain that a fishing ground, properly managed, can be 

 fished to its fullest extent, and continually kepi a| its highest value, 

 ,-iinl that oven depleted fisheries can by this means be made valu- 

 able again. 



To make this work affective, the fisherman mnat learn that these 

 are facts and then in gome way, by proper legislation, they must 

 be made secure m the enjoyment of the fishing grounds that their 

 own labor is to make valuable or their own negligence and care- 

 1,., II,,..,' .,ti,iv. li," properly i-.ii-inii ie.l i.y eoiiipelHiii persons 

 how to do the work elleelivoly and I am sure good results would 

 follow. 



If the mature eggs of lake trout and whitefish that bavsbeen de- 

 stroyed during their spawning seasou had been properly impreg- 

 nated and returned these tish would have increased instead of be- 

 ing destroyed by the fishing. 



Is it wise to go on destroying V or is it better to increaBO the 

 value of vein fisheries by the little labor it cost* to impregnate and 

 deposit these eggs ? B. F. Shaw. 



EEPOBT OF THE KANSAS COMMISSION. 



THE second biennial report of the Fish Commissioner of Kau- 

 a. sas, dated To; tka, kr-.-... , 1880, I- - I land, ibe difficulties 

 ,,' .iiii'li ;, ['ended him as a novitiate have been dissipated by cxperi- 



trials, and he baa turned loose m the waters of the Stab 500,1 



tish with 100,000 more in the hatchery nearly ready to shift for 

 themselves. His means are limited to only 8600, and but for " gen- 

 erous hands" and free transporta'i-m by the railroads it would not 

 have been possible to accomplish so much. On this subject he 

 says : "If Kansas expects to keep pace with Missouri, Nebraska. 

 Iowa, Colorado and the other Western State,: in fisheulti.re as in 

 other internal improvements that she ha- BO proudly led, she must, 

 OB t be v have dene, appropriate funds to braid a hatchery and a. 

 liberal appropriation to operate it, and pay its conmns-i mi c < Its I 

 fioieut salary, bo that his time and energy ceo I given to the work 



favorablv wiV.be'": ■■ ' ' ':"!, k Vljeiumg !m d sb-n-r States." 



I: -. iplahi, V. S. A., writes Mr. Long that 



thu quhiuat salmon have been captured in the Smoky Biver, and 

 that he bar. purchased and eaten tbam on several occasions ; and 

 Mr. Louis Hanback, of the Land Office, saw many of the fry hauled 

 ashore In a net. on the Wakuinsa, in Shawnee County, which be 

 restored to the water. 



Mr. C. F. Jbt>e writes the commissioner that, iu March and 

 April, 1879. he Baw several "small BtrihgB of ,kad ' wliich worn 

 caught in the Kansas Itiver, and were from ten to fifteen inel ee in 

 length, or from one to one and a half pounds. Ho thinks that 

 there were two or three hundred shad caught there last summer, 

 and claims to be familiar with the shad of the Atlantic coast. 



Of the carp be received 160 for persons within the State who had 

 applied to Prof. Baird for them, and of this fish he says : "They 

 are a domesticated fish, hardy as the catfish, and hi quality equal 

 to the trout." Iu May he received 10,000 of the land-locked 

 salmon eggs from Mr. O. &. Atkins, which were hatched and dis- 

 tributed. From Prof, Baird 100,000 shad fry were received, which 

 were planted iu the streams, whUc in 1878 and 1879 there were 

 30,000 quhiuat Salmon received each year from the same source. 

 Shaw & Co., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, furnished some lake and 

 brook trout which, owing to railroad delays, wore not in good 

 order. 



The appendix contains the list of fish commissioners from 

 Forest and Stiieam and the fish and game laws of Kansas. 



KEFOET OF THE ILLINOIS COMMISSION. 



THE first, report of the Illinois Fish Commission is at baud and 

 comprises the work done in the years 1879-'M), the Board not 

 being organized until July of the first-named year began their 

 work in August, 



Attention is called to the fact that every year the Mississippi and 

 Illinois rivers overflow their banks, backing the water into the low 

 places, shallow lakes and sloughs. Into these places the fish go to 

 deposit their spawn, whi-h is there hatched, and as the water re- 

 cedes the parents find their way hack to deeper water ; the young 

 are left to perish, either from the drying np of such places or from 

 being frozen out, iu winter. The Commission has done good work 

 iu saving the bass, croppies and wall-eyed pike for distribution iu 

 other places more favorable for then support. They have taken 

 from such places, where they would have died if not rescued, and 

 deposited in the rivers and lakes along the Mississippi and Hlinois 

 rivers, as well as other waters nilhin the State, one hundred and 

 ninety-nine and three-quarter bushels of the youug native tish of 

 thn species named above, as well as perch," suntish. catfish, etc. 

 These fish were estimated at 20.000 to the bushel, or, in the aggre- 

 gate 3,995,000 fish. 



The State has no hatehmg- 

 reqmred, there being few str 

 the necessary Mbit, iirl, . r ,< 



I, provided the Leg! 



ud it 



ml to 



vith. 



ed and ha 



n the subject of lish la 



id. 



oubtfid if one ia 



ed to trout and salmon, and 



die can bo obtained at a 



s an appropriation anfii- 



ld leather carp were ro- 



, the 



tag i 



ays : "To violate the Jaw 

 lajority of 'those engaged m the busmen oi li ' 

 d lakes; v. bet tier from ignorance of the law or 

 cannot, state, but the fact of the law being vio- 

 lated at ah times exists. During the close season, when seining 

 is unlawful, lish of all kinds have.been openly offered for sale. 

 Complaints to the Commissioners, from all parts of the State have 

 been frequent, asking us fo prosecute or suggest some nieau.t of 



