FOREST AND STREAM. 



1 



PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR TRANS- 

 PORTING SPAWN. 



tf 



Kochester, November 10th, 1875. 



EDITOB J?OBES»T AND STREAM!— 



I send you a description of a spawn- carrying box, and wben it was In- 

 vented. In July, 1872, ray brother, M. A, Green, constructed a box for 

 the purpose of carrying fish spawn. In the Fall of 187-5 we carried sal- 

 mon trout spawn from Cape Vincent, and wbiteflsh spawn from Detroit, 

 jlich.,totheNew York State Hatching House at Caledonia, and have 

 continued to do so every season up to the present time, and I have the 

 same boxes now that were made in the year 1872. In 1864 1 experimented 

 with spawn by packing them in moss in tin and wooden boxes, and on 

 sand and gravel and cloth, and have experimented every year since more 

 or less. I recommend, if there is no attendant, to pack the spawn in tin 

 boxes, the same as I have for the last eleven years. But if there is an 

 attendant, I recommend the box my brother got up in 1872. This box 

 is a plain one, and can be made of any size. The size we have been 

 using for the last four years is about 12x16 inches. It has a door on one 

 side, the full length of the box, which is kept closed by two hooks, at the 

 top and bottom, and has a handle on top to make it more convenient for 

 carrying. It is fitted and filled with trays made of seven-eighths stuff. 

 The trays are covered on one side with cotton flannel, stretched tightly. 

 The top tray has a cover on a hinge; the frame, made of pine, is also 

 covered with cotton flannel. "When the spawn is to be shipped, the trays 

 are all taken out. A tray is then taken and sunk in a pan or tub of 

 water, and filled nearly even full by taking the eg?s from the place where 

 kept with a dipper or fine net. When placed on the trays they are set- 

 tled by gently shaking the tray while in the water. It is then placed in 

 the bos. Each tray is filled in a like manner until the box has its full 

 complement. When the box is unpacked the trays are taken out, one at 

 a time, and by tipping them up slantingly under the water, and with a 

 gentle motion, the eggs will roll off into the trough. Seth Green. 

 , <~*4, . 



PROGRESS OF FISH CULTURE IN CALI- 

 FORNIA. 



\ San Francisco, October 24th, 1875. 



Editor Forest and Stream :— 



It is a very great pity that we have so many seals, or sea lions, so near 

 the entrance to San Francisco Bay— the Golden Gate- which devour such 

 immense quantities of fish of al kinds, and among them, of course, the 

 young salmon, or grilse, which are now so numerous, thanks to our Fish 

 Commissioners and our Acclimatizing Society, and which about this time 

 and next month enter the bay, bound chiefly for the Sacramento River, 

 and part of which will next year be heading for the San Joaquin and the 

 Sacramento, owing to the public spirit and liberality of Governor Stan- 

 ford and Charles Crocker, of the Central Pacific Railroad, who, at their 

 own expense, have lately placed in the Sacramento and San Joaquin 

 rivers, as well as in Kern River, to the southward, from the Government 

 hatchery on the McCloud River, one million and a half of young salmon. 

 All the professional and amateur fishermen ardently desire that our legis- 

 lature would enact some law to remedy this great consumption of fish 

 from the seals, even if it involved their destruction near our famous 

 Cliff House and Roads, for what is the value of seals, which are merely 

 to gratify sight seers, compared with our fisheries and the public angling, 

 recreation, and sport on the bay and up our great rivers. At any rate, 

 should our representative at Sacramento, our capital, decline to interfere 

 in the matter, our fisheries and amusement will be greatly diminished, 

 and that seriously, for the seals are multiplying fast, and there will be a 

 great contest between them and the precious inhabitants of the waters. 

 It is estimated that, in consequence of the law now existing for the pres. 

 ervation of the seals, they consume at least one half of the salmon pro- 

 vided by the judicious pecuniary expenditure of the State. We trust 

 that the next report of the Fish Commissioners will advise the repeal of 

 the law in favor of the seals; but I believe this has been oftentimes sug- 

 gested, and no favorable response has taken place. 



A quarter of a million of young salmon have been planted in the 

 Truckee River, flowing into Lake Tahoe, and they are flourishing finely. 

 In the mountains near the coast, and even for some distance in the inte- 

 rior, in the rivers and streams there are plenty of brook trout, but in Tulare 

 and Kern lakes the water seems to be, so far as tested, rather too warm 

 for them; and it may be so, too, for salmon, but the experiment with 

 them is about to be again made. It was either from this cause, or from 

 alkali, that one lot of fish was lost lately. Probably these Southern Cali- 

 fornia lakes and rivers, away from, the coast, would be more suited for 

 the valuable and large German carp . 



A few young salmon, with some old ones, have been taken in our bay 

 by bait fishing and on the lines of the professional smelt fishers, but the 

 great bulk of them will not, It is likely, be found there till December or 

 January. One fish of seventeen pounds weight was taken on a smelt 

 line, which was very long, and provided with a succession of hooks and 

 wooden floats. The fish had a very long line, and its weight in the water, 

 with the heavy floats to contend with, consequently he wore himself out 

 completely before the fisherman got hold of the line. The fisherman 

 said that at first he thought he had got hold of one of the large sturgeons 

 that are so common in these waters. 



In about a year and a half, it is hoped, we shall be experiencing the 

 good effects of the Stanford and Crocker supply of young fish, in addi- 

 tion to the Fish Commissioner's lot, which will gambol and feed around 

 the bay before they ascend the large rivers to spawn . - E.J. Hooper. 

 ^ — -«^ . 



Fish Culture in America.— In the few words that fol- 

 low, Mr. A. S. Collins, of the State Hatch House at Cale- 

 donia, N.Y., summarizes in the most admirable manner 

 the condition of fish culture in this country. We clip the 

 article from London Land and Water. As a specimen of 

 literary conciseness it 'is hard to excel, and we are most 

 happy to extend to Mr. Collins this compliment. Many 

 Who have read much about fish culture will wonder, after 

 jading this, that there was so much of the subject that 

 they had not heard. We copy :— 



q1 '' P f5^P 8 y° ur readers may be interested in some notes 



aoout fish culture in the United States. At first the only 



K r ^f- Wa ? made b y P ri vate individuals in a small way, 



mnd f last few y ears appropriations have been 



culh on L tbe Government funds for the purposes of fish 



tepn q? ' Commission ors are now appointed from seven- 



een btates, with more or less money at their disposal, for 



locking and improving the waters. Besides this, so many 



« -our ; streams run through different States that, through 



ecessuy, a United States Fish Commissioner was appoint- 



tw„H seneral operations. The appropriations range from 



S, ° tn °usand to fifteen thousand dollars (currency) for the 



owes, and about fifty thousand dollars for the General 



Srce 1 ?? 1611 *; - In a feW 0f the Sfcates the thil1 S is a mere 

 thp n sa /anes of the commissioners nearly consuming 



sinnt 0pnatlou - But ia most of the Sfcates the commis- 

 diint« ? Serve wifchout Pay, and by definite and well-con- 

 *r7ftt \° per 5 tions are i&creasing the food supply. The 

 cent t w ° n ? er in connection with a business of such re- 

 not Ju° Wt ■ ls the Gumber of private establishments, Which 

 TW £ e ^ lst > "° ut make fish raising a profitable business, 

 "ere are two or three which are nearly as well-known in 



England as in the United States, about twenty-five more 

 well-known here, and two or three hundred engaged in fish 

 culture in some shape. The fish raised are chiefly the 

 brook trout, salmon, salmon trout, and whitefish. Gray- 

 ling and goldfish are also raised to a limited extent. The 

 returns, however, do not come from the sale of fish for 

 market; and the success of the business depends just now 

 upon the fact that our country is full of natural trout 

 streams that have been fished out or run out, and there is 

 a great demand for eggs and young fish for restocking. So 

 long as this demand lasts (and it is likely to be permanent) 

 the nursery business will be more profitable than raising 

 fish for the table. Thus far all the experiments have been 

 made by persons with little means. Many of the investi- 

 gations have been patient and thorough, yet the need of a 

 Government establishment for the pursuit and study of fish 

 culture is urgently felt. For instance, I have now in my 

 ponds five species of the Salmonidce, raised from the egg 

 and of fit age for spawning. I would like to cross these 

 and watch the result, but have been deterred thus far by 

 the inevitable expenses. What we need most in our coun- 

 try just now is a fish for warm waters, i. e., for ponds, 

 lakes, and streams whose waters are too warm and slug- 

 gish for trout. We have several good fish, but none satis- 

 factory in all respects. " 



— <**, , 



SPAWNING SALMON. 



1TH the close of the present month and the open- 

 ing of next commences the spawning season of 

 the salmon. With the exception of the Tweed, where 

 angling will be carried on for a month or so longer, our 

 rivers generally are supposed to have passed into the an- 

 nual close season, during which period it is illegal to kill 

 salmon by any means whatever, or even, indeed, disturb 

 them on the spawning beds, to which at this time of the 

 year they are pushing up, and on which in due course their 

 eggs will be deposited and hatched. During this season 

 measures are taken by local fishery boards and others in- 

 terested in the fisheries of the different rivers to protect the 

 parent fish as much as possible from poachers and enemies 

 of every kind, at all times dangerous, but particularly so 

 when they make their way up stream into small tributaries 

 and shallow streams. Unfortunately, however, the means 

 at command to carry out the effectual protection of the 

 spawning fish during the Winter months is totally inade- 

 quate for securing them immunity from slaughter. In the 

 few favored districts where sufficient funds are forthcom- 

 ing, and where conservators and proprietors are active, 

 the salmon are, indeed, fairly protected; but on many riv- 

 ers, where little money is subscribed, and where combined 

 action on the part of the persons interested is wanting, the 

 poachers have it almost their own way. Fish are indiscrim- 

 inately slaughtered, openly sold in the neighboring towns, 

 or surreptitiously exported to the Continent, where they 

 find a remunerative and ready sale. Bad as the state of 

 things is at present, previous to the Salmon Act of 1861, 

 the appointment of fishery inspectors, and the formation 

 of fishery boards, matters were in a far worse condition ; 

 and were it not for the restrictions which have been piaced 

 on poaching since that year, and the assistance given by 

 the Fisheries Acts for ensuring some protection for the 

 breeding fish, it is very probable that the produce of our 

 fisheries generally, instead of increasing immensely in value, 

 as they have since 1.861 , would have fallen off as rapidly. On 

 the grounds, therefore, that with only a partial protection 

 of the spawning beds our fisheries have increased some 

 fourfold or more, we urge that it is of the utmost import- 

 ance that every exertion be made to promote and extend 

 as strict and thorough an observance of the close season 

 for salmon as possible. At present there appears to us 

 particular reasons for insisting upon this. The annual 

 yield of salmon taken generally throughout our rivers 

 within the last few years has not unfortunately shown the 

 advance which marked the improvement of previous years. 

 In several important districts the falling off has been con- 

 siderable, a circumstance which appears to us to be alto- 

 gether due to "over fishing." Our rivers have not yet been 

 sufficiently resuscitated to allow of too much fishing below 

 by nets, more especially when the limit of spawning 

 grounds above us is, as at present, of so prescribed an area 

 and so inadequately supplied with stock or breeding fish. 

 These remarks on the importance of ensuring a due obser- 

 vance of the annual close season for salmon have been sug- 

 gested, not so much from the fact of that season having 

 just commenced, as from two questions in relation to our 

 salmon fisheries which have lately cropped up— one in ref- 

 erence to the disappointment felt at the wretchedly poor 

 yield of this year's salmon, and the other the announce- 

 ment that one of our most important rivers, the Wye, was 

 likely to be left almost totally unprotected this Winter on 

 account of disputes betweenthe upper and lower proprie- 

 tors. Owing to these circumstances it appears of import- 

 ance to take steps to arrest a decline in the salmon fisheries, 

 which heretofore have advanced satisfactorily, but which 

 unfortunately are showing signs of mismanagement and 

 retrogression.— Pall Hall Gazette, London, Oct. 2Mh. 



^ ■*♦*■ 



Breeding- of Gold Fish.— We have had numerous en- 

 quiries as to the breeding of gold fish. The following ex- 

 tract from Hardwicke's Science Gossip, will be found of in- 

 terest as containing much valuable information regarding 

 the culture of these beautiful specimens of the carp 

 family : — 



"To breed gold fish in any numbers your pond ought 

 not to be less than eight feet wide and two and a half feet 

 deep, with a smaller tank two feet deep near the centre, 

 for the fish to go in when the pond is cleaned out. The 

 following plants should be placed in the pond: three of 

 Valisneria spiralis, two of the water-soldier (Stratiotes), two 

 of the water-lily, and three plants of the Anacliaris, which 

 is the best plant I have discovered for a pond that will 

 cause gold fish to breed in it. The fish will always find 

 food where the anacliaris grows, and will eat it, hide in, 

 and spawn on it. I lent a gentleman a self-air-acting can 

 some five years ago to bring home two dozen gold fish 

 from Paris. I was to have half of the fish for the use of 

 the can. Two dozen were put in the can at Paris; only 

 nine fish arived safe; I would not take any of the fish from 

 him, as he was making a new pond, and I was fitting up a 

 fresh water and salt water aquarium for him. I placed 

 two of the smallest of the gold fish in the fresh water aqua- 

 rium; the remaining seven gold fish I placed in the new 

 pond. The fish lived all right, but did not spawn in the 

 pond. The gentleman came to me some eighteen months 



after, saying that he could not get the fish to spawn. I 

 asked him if he had placed any plants in the pond, and he 

 said he had not; whereupon I told him he could not ex- 

 pect to getthe fish to spawn if no plants were in the pond. 

 I asked him to allow me to place six plants in the pond, 

 and was allowed to do so, and placed the following six 

 plants: one Valisneria spiralis, one water-soldier, two water- 

 lilies, two Anacliaris, all in plant pots surroundsd with 

 rockery to keep them steady. Some time after I visited 

 the pond, and found the plants growing most beautifully, 

 particularly the Anacliaris. I did not see the pond again 

 for some months, when the gentleman sent for me, and 

 we visited the pond together. I found the pond full of 

 young gold fish. There were thousands of them. We got 

 a dip-net and thinned them out for a minute; the gentle- 

 man did not like to destroy them in that way, so another 

 large pond was built, and the fish thrown into it. Thou- 

 sands of fish have been given away from these ponds. The 

 Anacliaris plants, when grown too large, should be taken 

 out twice a year. When the plant has grown too long, nip 

 off some of the young sprouts and place them in some 

 fresh earth in pots to replace the old plants, which may be 

 thrown away. This plant grows very fast. I would not 

 recommend it for a very large pond or sheet of water, as 

 it will soon choke it up, unless swans are kept there. 

 These birds feed on it, and thrive well. I think our aqua- 

 rium tanks are too small for the spawn of gold fish to come 

 to anything. I kept a large tank for twelve years, and 

 never got any gold fish from their spawn, after trying ail 

 sorts of ways. To keep the gold fish healthy in the aqua- 

 rium you must only give them a small fly or a small red 

 worm. If you can get enough plants of Valisneria, do not 

 place in any others. Above all things do not give the fish 

 biscuit, oread, or meat, as it will cause a disease in the fish. 

 The fish like a little gravel at the bottom. They take it in 

 their mouth occasional! v; it does them good, and cleans 

 the mouth of the fish. 



\ktuml 



l r J7iis Department is now under the eharge of a competent Naturalist, 

 indorsed by the Smithsonian Institution, and will henceforth be made a 

 sjiecial feature of this paper. AIL commvni cat 'ions, notes. Queries, re- 

 marks, and reasonable observations wilt receive careful attention.] 

 , » 



THE DESERTION OF PENEKESE. 



• ■ ♦ ■ 



THE abandonment of the School of Natural History 

 at Penekese Island, which will be remembered as the 

 last public work of the immortal Louis Agassiz long after 

 its details have been forgotten, will be regretted by every 

 reader; for no school, large or small, ever took such a 

 deep hold upon the interest of the whole nation. A brief 

 sketch of this unique enterprise may be interesting. 



In 1872 Prof. N. S. Shaler, of Harvard College, proposed 

 to Prof. Agassiz the establishment of a station at Nan- 

 tucket, where, during the Summer months, a limited num- 

 ber of persons might have an opportunity to study animal 

 life in the most practical, experimental way, and learn 

 chiefly how to observe, while at the same time they might 

 receive the benefit of lectures on special subjects from spe- 

 cial students. Prof. Agassiz seized upon the idea and elab- 

 orated it. But the money was wanting. At this juncture, 

 in the Spring of 1873, Mr. John Anderson, a merchant in 

 New York City, offered Prof. Agassiz the gift of Penekese, 

 a small island at the mouth of Buzzard's Bay, Massachu- 

 setts, and $50,000 in cash if he would found this proposed 

 school there. Prof. Agassiz— for by this time Prof. Shaler 

 had gone to England for the benefit of his health— grate- 

 fully accepted the gift, buildings were put up as early as 

 the weather permitted, and on July 9th Professors and stu- 

 dents and friends gathered there, and the Anderson School 

 of Natural History was organized. 



Among the Faculty were Profs. Burt Wilder, Water- 

 house Hawkins, A. Guyot, A. S. Packard, E. Bicknell, 

 Count L. F. de Pourtales, Dr. T. M. Brewer, and Mr! 

 Reuyter. The students numbered about fifty, all teachers 

 of normal or high grade schools in various parts of the 

 country, except three or four from Prof. Agassiz's museum 

 in Cambridge. 



Prof. Agassiz lectured frequently on subjects connected 

 with geology, and especially upon the general features of 

 the glacial theory. Prof. Wilder gave a fine course of in- 

 struction on anatomy, illustrating by dissections, and con- 

 stantly aided students in the use of the knife. Prof. Bick- 

 nell showed how to use the microscope, and Prof. Packard 

 described the natural history of iuvertebrate animals, while 

 Count Pourtales took out dredging parties every fine day 

 in the yacht which Mr. C. W. Galloupe had put at the dis- 

 posal of the school. But between times, from daylight to 

 dark, the little tables in the long laboratory were f unoccu- 

 pied with an industrious company seeking knowledge at 

 the fountain-head, working with knife and tweezers, micro- 

 scope >nd pencil among the bones and tissues of various 

 animals, comparing and contrasting, sketching and noting 

 down. And the hardest worker of them all was the great 

 Professor himself, who found new materials for investiga- 

 tion every day. 



The following Winter Professor Agassiz died, but his 

 last thought was for the school, and he enjoined its con- 

 tinuance upon his son, Mr. Alexander Agassiz. In July of 

 1874, therefore, many of the old students gathered again, 

 and the school started a second time with every appearance 

 of success, but at the end of a hard-working session itw\as 

 found that no promise of opening it a third season could 

 be made, and that was really the end of it, although the 

 affair was not formally wound up until a short time ago 

 The trouble was a want of money to render the school 

 self-supporting. Very few of those who sought its advan- 

 tages had wealth, and while the original fund of the o-o ne oui 

 giver of the island was insufficient to fully endow the 

 school, the needed sum in this depressed season was not 

 forthcoming. It is unfortunate for both Mr. A-assiz and 



