72 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Fbbkuab* 24, 8181 



la 1853 Dr. Thcodatus Garlick and Prof. II. A, Ackley, of 

 Cleveland, Obi >, first, demonstrated in our country, by care- 

 ful and successful experiments, the validity of Messrs.' Gebin 

 and Hbemy'8 discoveries in the streams of the Yosges moun- 

 tains of France. Messrs Garlick and Ackley were the fathers 

 Of fish culture in the United States. About sixteen years 

 since New Englanders began to experiment, for they had be- 

 icome convinced that the artificial propagation of "fishes by 

 • extraneous vitalizing of their ova was founded upoh an em- 

 Ihryological fact, which seemed to he in imitation of a natural 

 law, and hence began the work of stocking streams and fish 

 farms. Closely following these successful experiments State 

 commissions were organized under special statutes, and one 

 State after another, affected by the contagion of success, ban 

 adopted fish culture, until more than one-half the States of 

 (be Union have enlightened commissions engaged in restock- 

 ing thousands of lakes, rivers and crystal streams. Meantime 

 Mr. (ireen discovers that by using boxes that are susceptible 

 •of undulatory motion shad-hatching is made a success, and 

 Mr. Fred. Mather, assistant to the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 has invented the "Conical System of Shad-Hatching," which 

 now very much facilitates the production of young fry. The 

 latter method is largely in use on account, of its efficiency. 



Very soon after many of the. States had inaugurated Slate 

 Commissions, far-seeing men taking a look forward, the Unit- 

 ed States Fish Commission is organized, with Prof. Spencer 

 F. Baird as its head. In the selection of Prof. Baird for the 

 Iread of the National Board, no more valuable person could 

 have been selected, for all of his labors arc subjected to the 

 scrutiny and close examination of science. Hi's reports are 

 the best repertories of natural history in connection with fish 

 culture to be found in the language! and will do more for the 

 advancement of the study of natural history in this depart- 

 ment than any work written. Mr. Livingston Stone, one of 

 Prof. Baird's assistants, is also an eminent fish cullurist, and 

 through him the country is familiar with the embryonized 

 ova of the Sulmo ijuinnni. of the Pacific coast, together with 

 European nations and the distant islands of the ocean. Not 

 the least among the developments of our scientists is the dis- 

 covery of Dr. Brooks, of the John Hopkins University, of 

 Marykmd, how the oyster may be increased by artificial prop- 

 agation. 



Prof. Baird has also brought the codfish into the domain 

 of tislicultiire, and is now producing the fry in millions to 

 supply the immense falling oir of our cod fisheries. Major 

 T. 15. Ferguson, of the Maryland Commission, has also sub- 

 jected the herring to the artificial process, and his experi- 

 ments attest that they can be largely increased by this me- 

 thod. The U- S. Commission has also succeeded in propagat- 

 ing the mackerel by this process. 



I can only say that hybridizing is also going on, and it 

 looks as if it could be practice 1 ad infinitum-. Now, gentle- 

 men of the society, we are only learning the alphabet of fish 

 culture, for as we have already " budded better than we 

 luiew," wonderful developments are yet; to come. The benign 

 results of fish culture are yet to cheapen very largely the poor 

 mail's food. , We have such rich fields for pasturage upon the 

 vast, plateaus of the ocean, that in the near future we are to 

 lie furnished with food-fishes of right royal flavor, almost 

 without money and without price. Nauiwi E. Ballot:. 



Somiwtty, hi, Da: 15, 1880. 



Mi:. Ci,'W:k : If there is no discussion following the paper 

 just read I would like to call the attention of the society to 

 the subject ot retarding fish eggs. It is something on which 

 1 have worked for the past five years. All who have been 

 interested in the culture of whitefish know that there have 

 been long and warm discussions on the propriety of hatching 

 the fish in spring water and so bringing the fry out in mid- 

 winter, when s line people claim there, is no food for them in 

 the lakes. 1 have now eggs of the whitefish on flannel trays, 

 in a refrigerator, which have been there since December with 

 no- water on them and will not he placed in water until 

 spring. Neither is there any fungus or dead eggs, nor has 

 there been any picking of dead eggs. I do not expect to pick 

 out any until April. The box maintains an even temperature 

 of about -iOk degrees Fahr.; the highest has been 31 degrees. 

 I have kept the eggs in former years until April and have no 

 doubt they can be kept a month longer. After the first lot 

 of bad eggs are picked out there is no further trouble than to 

 Keep the ice chambers charged. The eggs appear as if fro- 

 zen, but onl,y the moisture on the egg is turned to ice, the 

 embryo being able to resist freezing at that tcuiperalutc. In 

 fact they will Miirvivc down to 35 degrees, but below that 

 will freeze and dio. 



Me. Bu.rrrr : It is strange that the eggs do not freeze. 



Mi:. Lyile : At Green Bay I took five trays and loft them 

 in the fish-house. The eggs upon them were frozen in solid 

 in the ice and were shipped to Mr. Douseman, who wrote that 

 they were his best eggs. 



Mk. Gea.uk : The record of my clerk shows that 35 deg. 

 is the lowest that they will stand. 



Mi;. Mit.t.KU: Our water at the Detroit hatchery was 

 colder than at the Pokagon house. It is lake water, and 

 many have said it contaiued no food in winter. Mr. Chase 

 experimented with a very line fcreen placed at the inlet to 

 the troughs, and in the coldest weather there was plenty of 

 animal life of minute forms. AVe held the young whitefish 

 in the house, atid they fouud food and grew finely on it. 



Mk. Clahic : 1 don't want to be too positive, but incline 

 to think as Mr. Miller docs that there is always minute life 

 in the lake water. 



Mit. Matitej: : The. minute insects commonly known as 

 gnats which are seen early in the spring spend their winter 

 as larva in the water. Their eggs must be very small, and 

 so must the worm which hatches from them. These eggs 

 must, be laid the year previous at least to the appearance of 

 the insect, which lives and grows through the winter. 



Ms. Faihbank : Spring water does not contain this life 

 when it emerges from the ground. 



Mb Clark .- No, but we can very well hatch in spring- 

 water and plant in the lakes. 



Tiik PttiwjpKNT: If there is no further business beforfj 

 '■ - i ! flag) ! -'I! i ''II I r iln ■.•>{><ni "i tih< 'iverifitirer. 



The Treasurer reported as follows i 



Chicago, Dec. 30, 1880. 



The Central Fishcultural Society in account with A. Booth, 

 Treasurer. 



1879. Cr. 



Oct. 3— By cash- $81 00 



Nov. 17-Bv subset. S. A. Forbes, Nor- 

 mal, Ills..'. 3 00 



1870. Dr. 



Oct 3-Toensh F. Mather $16 '.'0 



Nov. 17— K. O. Sweeney, cash paid bv 

 Prof. Forbes, used for postage and sta- 

 tionery ,t 3 00 



&B4 00 



§10 20 



|C4 8ii 



Balance on hand 



The report was accepted. 



Mi-:. BAitTLKTT move. I that the thanks of the Society be 

 tendered to the proprietors of the Grand Central Pacific 

 Hotel for courtesies extended to the Society and the use of 

 its club room. Carried. 



On motion the meeting adjourned, subject to the call of 

 the Executive Committee. 



REPORT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION. 



nTHE fifteenth animal report of the Commissioners of Inland 



1 Fisheries ni ?■[, !.' 1 .ni>,ii_.j,'',r-i|i I, ,,i 'iir-^cbns.: 1. 1- h I *f ,.,]■. n c . 

 In addition to their previous duties they have been charged with 

 obtaining statistics of the shove and river act fisheries The own- 

 ers of about 1,11(10 weirs, seines. Rill-nets, etc.. have made returns, 

 and these show a falling off iu number which is not ascribed to a 

 falling off in the fisheries, but from the fact, that imuiv of the men 

 have given up the trade and their successors have faded to apply 

 for papers. The le sing of ponds by the State is practiced, and 

 thirty-five have been so leased within the past five- years, and one 

 has been reserved for IlKlieiilfiirnl experiments. Iti the same pe- 



I !! ' I ■■'■•-• been distributed of eggs or of young fish: Salmon. 



; ;:>,' ■ ' : • ' .,it..rnia salmon, 727,500 (these two kinds wore placed 

 ehielly in the Merrimac and its tributaries in connection with New 

 Hampshire); Laud-locked salmon, 9S8,7G3 in 131 localities; trout, 

 83,500 iu 11 localities ; carp, 000 in 40 localities. 



The building of fishways has been encouraged, new ones erected 

 and autiquated forms replaced by new models. The restocking of 

 the Saugus ltiver with alewivcs is thus announced in a letter to 

 Commissioner Brackett : 



Wakefiemi, May 3. 



Mr. E. A. Brackett— Dear Sir : 1 have the pleasure of inform- 

 ing you that the reopening and stocking of the Saugus ltiver is a 

 success. Yesterday thousands of alewivcs were seen iu the river 

 in Wakefield above all tke fishways, and no doubt they are in the 

 pond before this. The first aletfives were planted iii the pond 

 three years a o this month, and those seen yesterday are the. first 

 that have been in Wakefield of their own accord for shout thirtv 

 years. Very respectfully, Qa, An srowni.i,. 



A large rim of salmon in the Merrimac is recorded, hut owing to 

 drought and depredations of men, but few reached tile spawnfjig- 

 grounds, being kept back by low water. Thev congregated near 

 North Andovor and at the mouths of brooks between there and Hav- 

 erhill and became, a prey to the poacher in the night. This was 

 not known until too late, to remedy the evil. Massachusetts has its 

 liHh-hatehing done jointly with New Hampshire, and Mr. A U 

 Powers, of the latter State, gives ;-;n account of his work. From 

 nine salmon he obtained 60,000 eggs. The 100,000 eggs mentioned 

 in his last report hatehed with a loss of four and a quarter per 

 cent. The Superintendent of the Lawrence fishwav reports more 

 fish in the way the Brit part of the season than ever before, and 

 that in June the river was rull of salmon, but the low water of 

 August, September and October prevented a fidl run of fish. The 

 Commissioners behove that the land-locked salmon is being suc- 

 cessfully established in many of their ponds, as individuals havo 



in ■[. L.i I: en ■-•- ';-'. ' i ' :- I rum on, I" In' < poind!.: : 17 I, HIV of them 



were hatched and distributed the vcar previous. This year t'1880) 

 Mr. Cbas. G. Atkins writes them that he will probably have. '100, 000 

 for them. 



Nothing has been done in the Connecticut River on account of 

 the differences between the fishermen of Massachusetts and Con- 

 necticut— differences which, wo are sorry to sav, extends to the 

 Fish Commissioimrs of these States. The carp has been euteu- 

 Biyely introduced, and in the appendix an account of its culture by 

 .Mr. HcBsel, extracted from the report of the Q, K. Commissioners, 



Part IV.. 



introduced; 



FISH CULTURE IN ILLINOIS. 



rpiIE Quiucy Whir/ recently published an account of the work 

 and prospects of the Fish Commisaiou of that State from 



Inch v 

 Ther 

 into the shallo- 



a rule, overflow their banks, every spring, and out 

 iakes, ponds and low place.-: created by the over- 



flow the fish go to deposit th, 

 the fish find their way back to deope 

 is hatched, and * hen the water ha 

 these shallow places are cut off fn 

 commence to dry up. so that unit ■. -•. 

 of young native fish contained in 

 these risk, selecting the game fish, s 

 pike, etc., and patting tie- rest, sued 

 Jiah into the nearest deep water, ha> 



recedes 

 water, the spawn iu due time 

 fallen within its banks and 



a la- 



ss, croppy, wall-eyed 

 ah, buffalo and sun- 

 gely the. work of the 



vere pat into ponds and live boxes until they 

 at to other portions of tke State. 

 for fish for private ponds were supplied free of 

 ids. and hundreds a mile:.! throve! \os of the op- 

 ring a si ok of fish. 



:h of September of this year the commissioners 

 use of the steamer 1 laisy auderow by the owner, 



The game fisl 

 could be disk ibu 



Allapplicition 

 charge, at the p 

 portunitv of proi 



During the me 



V.i'l!.' RellUt HHI 111... tll -,u vi vuv uiruitwiw j-'«is* 4 * auumon u\ uj C (,!« 1 It;. 



Capt. Henry it Oorley, a generous sportsman. Tho bout was UBcd 

 to work tho Mississippi ltiver and sloughs from the northern part 

 of Hancock County to the mouth of the Illinois Paver, and up the 

 HliuoisPdvor to Peoria, and was tinder il .. in-.nn dime en.fm] < f 

 Mr. Bartlott, the member of the commission from Quiucy. who 

 carried groat- quantities of these valuable fisk to the streams and 

 lakes, and proved himself most, efficient and successful in the 

 work. The extent of his labors will I ifi at ii irqaiatad f a an the state- 

 ment that the commission have saved, distributed and put into 

 deep water, from July 1, 1*79, to Oct. 31, 1SS0, nearly 6,000,000 

 young native fish, every one of which would have perished, either 

 from drvnn: up of water m- treezing out in winter, had they not 

 have boon taken from the points and boles « here thev were fouud ; 

 and yet but a small portion of the work that ought ti ' 



nip 



done ha; 



perish this winter that' 

 81,000 to w ' 

 after, the e 

 InN 



shed. Million 

 light to have hi 

 the other fish i 



of fish pe 



:ad for, but 



.h and will 



ith only 



date to look 



direct fn 



i the bliited State.- 



carp dii 



with the exception of the 

 tious for them from Prof. Bat 

 ponds at Fall creek, built for tip 



Stivta is admirably adapted for t 

 Tho statu ponds su situate 



(ftlltton, tmthMl, P„ ,vh'. 11, II, , 



of the Shy levee embankment, and consist of a series of ponds 

 supplied with living water. The carp ponds are natural ponds or 

 lakes, supplied by deep water from the river, welt protected by 

 artifical lines and fences. The larger ponds will be so constructed 

 as to admit of the natural propagation of bass, croppy etc., being 

 a continuous flow of water for oue and three-quarter miles, vary- 

 ing from one to twenty feet in depth. 



The commission have ou hand in then* ponds and live boxes in 

 the liver, Jnr distribution, 30,000 v. nine, bass ami croppy, which 

 will bo sent to inland streams as soon as possible. When it is 

 taken into consideration the large- territory oyer which tho com- 

 mission are expected to work, and the limited amount of money 

 they havo to do with, the amount of work done bv them seems in- 

 credible. The management of ;■■ (Tail's has certainly keen excellent, 

 and while the commission as a. whole is entitled to 'credit, the active 

 services of Mr. Pari led have been especially apparent to all in- 

 terested in the subject of fish culture. 



The commissioners have under consideration a plan of work for 

 next year by which it is expected that every stream in the State 

 will receive its share of young native fish. The railroads will be 

 asked to co-operato with them, and if an appropriation is secured 

 large onough to successfully carry out all branches of the work, 

 plenty of fish in all our streams and lakes will only be a question 

 of a few years. 



An effort will be made bv the commissioners to secure such 

 legislation the coming season as will make it possible to enforce 

 existing laws, or have suck laws amended, making them stringent 

 enough to protect the tish. It is a fact uot generally known that 

 the decrease in the supply of native iish has been over one-half in 

 the past ten years, and that a marked decrease can be noticed 

 every year, which decrease is to a great extent due to the unlawful 

 use of the seine and net. 



GROWTH OF CARP— Schenectady, N. Y., Feb. L— Seeing the 

 report from various sections of our country iu Forest and Srn bam 

 in regard to the growth of the German carp, 1 thought I would let 

 yon know how they grow up here in our cold climate. 



Last may, about the 25th, oar enterprising jeweler. Mr. J. T. 

 Welton, obtained from Iho New York Commission eleven young 

 carp, the largest of which did not exeed two inches. They Tore 

 put mto a pond of running spring water, about forty bv seventy 

 feet, and perhaps three feet deep', with a mud bottom, these fish 

 uever have been fed, only for a few days after they vrere first in- 

 troduced into their new home. 



October 1 some of them exceeded a foot iu length, but none of 

 them have over been weighed and wo do not think that any of them 

 spawned last season. 



Thank you very much for the exposure of the Dittniar powder. 



Also, I think it the dntv of every citizen to lift- his voice- against 

 the "refrigerator act." D. Or, 



DAMAGE TO THE V. S. SALMON-BREEDING RANCH.— 

 Advices from California say that all of the low lands of the Sacra- 

 mento Valley are under water from the floods. There has been no 

 mail from the northern part of California for more than a week 

 and ouly one telegraph line in operation. On the 8th a telegram 

 was received that, the Pit, MC'loud and Sacramento rivers were 

 verj high, ferry-boats washed away and all cemmm ideation inter- 

 rupted. The report is that all the Government fish-hatching 

 works on the Me'Clemd River, imam] log ail ike l.niililme,. bs veLmen 

 washed away by the extraordkiarv flood. 



Our informant says : " I have no exact means of knowing, but 

 estimate the loss there will not be less than ,r25.000. This is based 

 on tke statement that all tke buildings have been washed away 

 If the attendants had had notice probably some of the property 

 might have been saved, but until the mails get through we cannot 

 get the particulars." 



Later advices say : With the exception of the Post-office, alt the 

 buildings of the C. s. Hatching Station, eight in number, wero 

 carried away by the flood. Xho loss will amount to about* 15,1100." 



TRANSPORTATION OF CAttl'.-That carp can be sent long 

 distances without an attendant is demonstrated bv the following: 

 On the 21st of January, N. Y. State Fish Ccim'uissioner E. G. 

 Blackford sent to Mr. E. IT rich, Sauford, Orange Co,, Flu., two 

 ten gallon cans, each containing ten carp six inches long, and thev 

 arrived without loss. They were sent from New' York by steamer, 

 and were nine days on the way. There was uo change of water, 

 the cover of the cans being perforated to admit air. Mr. Black- 

 ford has also sent carp to Cincinnati and Chicago without au at- 

 tendant. 



THE NATH (HAL i lAUb PONDS.-The damage reported by the 

 floods was much exagerated. Advices from Washington say' that 

 the ponds are not seriously injured. How mauv of the carp have 

 beeu lost it is impossible to say until tke ice melis and the water 

 can bo drawn off. It is believed that tkere arc enough lei t for im- 

 mediate practical service. Their habit of bedding in the mud in 

 ai'ib. r has pruhtihly sa'.ei.l the moi-L of thorn. 



Jftyi» fennel 



April I, at Columbia, Touu.— Close of entries, National Ameri- 

 an Kennel Club's second American Field Trial Derby. Joseph H. 



HAVE DOGS AN EXTRA SENSE ? 



'T'HERE is something about that which is commonly called tho 



-•- scent of the dog, more particularly tke hunting 'dog, which 

 from an obsei", iug point of view o o,,i e;,i\ i teresting but, per- 

 haps, a little mysterious. 



We arc accustomed to accept tho theory that a dog follows birds 

 and other game by the aid of the sense of smell very much as we 

 accept a great many other— notable theological— notions and for 

 tke same reason— namely, that, our lathers did so before us. 



In calliug this the sense of smell we are forced to wonder at the 

 exceeding fineness and delicacy of a sense which can distinguish 

 the track of a bird long after it has passed along, whan oven tho 

 bird itself held to our own nostrils gives out no perceptible odor. 



Not only is this sense in the dog so fine that lie distinguishes ky 

 it tho tract of a bird -onio time after it has passed bv. but it is very 

 much liner than simply that, bar, of a. very short "scries of such 

 tracks, the dog (rill nil .- lick was made last and thus follow tho 

 trail towanl, instead of away from, the bird. 



If it be the sense of smell" which enables our canine friends to do 

 all this, it, is evidently a so much finer sense than a man possesses, 

 the difference im degree is so great, that it practically amounts to 

 a difference iu Idnd. 



Is it the same even iu kind V 



If it be by tke sense of smell that a dog thus pursues the track 

 - ense of smell is so keen and 



of a bird, if follows that the 



delicate that odors which are 



Now odors which are puuf 

 huuiau sense, but faint to tk 

 stronger otters ; a faint odoi 

 stroved iu tke presence of a 

 well-known one and needs u, 



The sense of smell in the 6 

 of II 



On 



inch it ma 

 okodient to tke 



> perceptible to 



tke dog. 

 rceptible to the 



ih. L-inil with that 



s test, t 



jose where the dog follows the track 

 een to be obedient to the law. 

 '' ' : Mtioapf the I Almost every hunter who.owus a bird dog has seen this test ap- 



■ n i- i . plied, but has not been specially observant of it. It Is not lit) «i> 



two ni'e vest of fa! !.;e-!, een! !"■"! . ■ ,. i'1'n'i.." , in huutiiig, for I lie dog to come upon, hi, 

 i'o>v miles I,.' --..--. 



