FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 1 69 



raise the fry to the fingerling stage, in the hope that the larger and stronger 

 fish would be able to withstand the condition of the water. In 1895 the 

 Connecticut Commission secured an old water privilege on Rams Horn 

 Creek at Joshuatown, and spent $4,500 in building a dam and repairing 

 two dams that already existed on the stream. Three ponds were thus 

 created. — the upper one containing seven acres, the middle one containing 

 three acres, and the lower one containing five acres. Each pond was cleaned 

 out and the bottom sloped toward the creek which naturally ran through 

 them to the river, and at the outlet of the lower pond screens were put in so 

 as to prevent the fish from passing out until, in the judgment of the Com- 

 mission, it was best for them to do so. The outlet of the lower pond is but a 

 few hundred feet from the river itself, and the ponds are located about ten 

 miles from the mouth of the river. An average of 3,000,000 fry are annually 

 placed in the three ponds, and are fed with crushed crackers. The fry are 

 held until the latter part of October when they would naturally run down 

 the river to the sea, and the gates are then raised, and the contents of the 

 three ponds are released. By this time the shad are from two and one-half 

 to four inches long, and are strong and active fish. Good results were 

 obtained from this experiment within three years after the ponds were 

 first drawn off, and in 1904 the fishermen caught 172,000 large shad as 

 compared with a catch of but 18,000 a few years before. 



In correspondence with our Secretary, Mr. E. Hart Geer, Secretary 

 of the Connecticut Commission, says relative to this experiment: 



' Prior to the establishment of the retaining ponds, the run of shad in 

 the Connecticut River decreased each year, notwithstanding the millions of 

 fry planted at various points. We have found in our experience that the 

 fry are very susceptible to the slightest contamination of the water, and 

 that, when they have to pass through water filled with sewage on their 

 way to the sea the result is fatal to them. By raising the fry to fingerlings, 

 which at six or eight months old have grown to be two and one-half to six 

 inches long, we find that they are abundantly able to stand the pollution 

 of the water and to take care of themselves against their common enemies. 

 We are confident that a supply of shad in the Connecticut River can be 

 maintained only by placing the fry in ponds where they can be held until 

 they are at le months old. Every fisherman on our river recognizes 



this fact, and appreciates the benefits which have followed the adoption of 

 the plan." 



