FtUVRUaBY It, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



45 



when 



#4 §*ltm$. 



THK IMPORTANCE OF FISH CULTURE, 



THE following extracts are from the speech of Hon. 

 Levi P. Morton, of New Tork, before the House 

 of Representatives, during the discussion of the bill to 

 Sppropriate $30,000 to enable the United States to be rep- 

 resented at the Berlin Fishery Exhibition : — 



The production of fish is a source of national wealth, 

 aud in the early history of the world it was a preventive 

 of famine and 'distress! Experience has shown that while 

 it is a luxury of the rich it is preeminently the poor man's 

 food. This is understood thoroughly in the countries 

 where food production and cheap living are Carried to 

 the greatest perfection, It is estimated that about forty- 

 five millions of Chinese subsist almost entirely on fish. 



But it is not merely inland fisheries that are of import- 

 ance to the poor. The sea fisheries are hardly less so. 

 If properly developed, the price of fish would be so much 

 lowered that the man who could not buy would be rare 

 indeed., and 80 little capital is necessary for the business 

 that there would be sufficient profit left to those who cur- 

 ried it on. 



Ottnr countries do not look upon fisheries as we do. 

 One of these international exhibitions was held at Ber- 

 gen, Norway, in 18*65, at which the fish of all the great 

 countries and many of the lesser ones were well repre- 

 sented, Insignificant Bavaria sent 69 contributions; 

 Great Britain, 174 ; Sweden, 368, and Holland, 435, How 

 lefrom this country? One! Another exhibi- 

 tion was held in France in 1866, and our fish were not 

 presented at all. 



The French government has given so much material 

 aid to (shifl business of fish culture that nearly all her 

 waste waters have been turned into nests for the propa- 

 gation of fish. One of the earliest and most extensive 

 establishments for the culture of fish is that erected by 

 France at Huniugen, which went into operation in 1852, 

 and in six months had artificially fecundated 3,000.000 

 eggs and produced 1,600,000 living fish. 



It is only necessary to call the attention of the public 

 to the subject for it to appear that there is not a State 

 which is not interested in the matter. 



Mr. Chairman, not many years ago the vast internal 

 improvements of this country — the erection of mills, 

 dams aud factories — threatened the extinction of the 

 most valuable species of fish in our rivers. This calamity 

 sited by the timely discovery of the art of pro- 

 pagating fish by artificial means, and at the same time 

 s greatly increased through the aid of 

 have made transportation easy between 

 a brief time. 



iion cost twenty times the price it com- 

 e ceased to be colonies of Great Britain. 

 River, which had been one of the most 

 ns in the world, became almost depleted. 

 nderstand the methods of replenishing 

 which the most valuable species of fish 

 bed. This result is due to a discovery 

 y. and afterward in France, that fish can 

 be propagated to almost any extent by artificial means. 

 Tliis simple fact has led to the creation of one of the 

 most important industries of modern times. The nations 

 of the world have derived incalculable benefit from this 

 discovery, and we are now invited to join in an intarna- 

 tional comparison of the character of our fish and the 

 methods of our fish culture. It is to this science to 

 which I have referred, and which this resolution is de- 

 signed to encourage and extend, that we owe the restock- 

 ing of our waters ; to this we owe the fact that millions 

 of young shad were hatched at Holyoke, Massachusetts, 

 and turned into the Connecticut River. 



In view of the possibilities of our shores, our rneasure- 

 1 1 is and our inland seas, we should lead all na- 

 tions in the world in availing ourselves of every item of 

 information on a subject of such importance to our peo- 

 ple and their industries. The annual value of salmon 

 alone in Ireland is now about $2,500,000, while in this 

 country it averages from thirty to forty cents a pound. 

 The oyster-beds in Virginia alone cover "an area, of about 

 seventeen hundred thousaud acres, containing about eight 

 hundred millions of bushels. 



It appears that in 1874 Norway and France, each 

 ■mailer than some of our States, produced respectively, 

 one-thud more fish than the United States. In 1862 

 the tonnage of American ships engaged in the sea fish- 

 eries amounted to 304,197 ; in 1874 it had fallen to 78,290 

 tons. 



In the fish trade in 1805 Norway had a balance of trade 

 in her favor of $18,588,975. Why was this? Because 

 she resorted to fish production as 'it is proposed the Uni- 

 ted States should do. In this connection the United 

 States Fish Commissioner again says : — 



"Norway is the only European nation that has a scien- 

 tific commission occupied officially in the supervision of 

 the fisheries, and in devising methods by which they may 

 be carried on and extended with the least possible waste. 

 To the labors aud observation of such men as Dr. Boeck, 

 Professor Bars and others, is due much of the present 

 efficiency of the Norwegian fisheries." 



In 1867 we imported about as much fish as we exported. 

 If we devoted sufficient energy to the business we could 

 expert one hundred times as much, and need import none 

 at idl. 



Fish culture is in its infancy. Its resources are immea- 

 surable. It may approximate and even rival agriculture 

 in importance, Its development will give employment 

 to large numbers of men and bring food within the means 

 of the poor as well as of the rich. The propriety and 

 utility of international exhibitions, where the represent- 

 atives of our nation can learn the nature of the products 

 of the others as well as show its own in a universal mar- 

 ket, cim no longer be questioned. 



the 

 railroac 



remote 

 In 18 

 manded ■* 

 The Connectic 



fertile fish stre 

 Few, In 

 our waters fro 

 have been bai 

 made hi Germs 



Protection to Potomac Fish. — Washington, Feb. 16. — 

 Mr, Samford, of Alabama, who is a member of the House 

 Committee on District of Columbia, has introduced a, bill 

 for the much needed protection of fish in the Potomac 

 River within the jurisdiction of the District. It pro- 

 vides : — 



That: it shall not be lawful to fish with fyke net, pound 

 net) stake net, weir float net, gill net, hand seine or any 

 other contrivance, statiouarv or floating, in the Potomac, 



.thin the district of Columbia, after the oOM , o 



Mav in any year. That dining the fishing season, viz : 

 From the' 1st of February to the 80th day of May . in 



pery year, there shall be observed in each wee! a c! 



lason, beginning at sundown on Saturday evening. 



id ending at midnight on Sunday night, during 



hich time it shall be unlawful to lay out any hand seine 

 or float net. or fish the same, and all stake-outs and the 

 leaders of all hedge ponds, fyke nets or weirs shall be 

 lighted clear of the water, so as to allow unobstructed 

 passage to the fish : Provided, That in the case of weirs 

 \t will be sufficient to remove a section of the hedging 

 lesrt the pond or pen, not less than twelve feet in length. 

 That it shall be unlawful for any person to take in any 

 other manner than by angling or with the out-line, auy 

 fish of the species known as " black bass " or " salmon." 

 That it, shall be unlawful for any person to have in poses- 

 sion or expose for sale in the District of Columbia, after 

 the 30th of May in any year, lish of the shad or herring 

 species, fresh, under a penalty of $5 for every fish so ex- 

 posed or found in possession, that any person who shall 

 offend against any of the provisions of this act shall be 

 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon sufficient 

 proof thereof "in the Police Court shall be fined not less 

 than I nor more than $100 for each offense, and shall 

 forfeit to the Dsitrict his nets, boats aud other apparatus, 

 which shall be sold and the proceeds of such sales and 

 all lines accruing under the act, shall be paid into the 

 Treasury, and therefrom to the informer, in each case 

 where conviction ensues, shall be paid the sum of $2, 

 Provided, That nothing in the act shall he constructed to 



prohibit angling or fishing with the out-line, or to prevent. 

 the commissioner of fish and fishing or his agents from 

 taking from the waters named in any manner desired fish 

 of any kind for scientific purposes, or for (he purpose of 

 propagation. 



' Hatching Trout in a Cellar,— Eagle's Nest, Feb. 10th. 

 — And now a word about a trout enthusiast in Stamford, 

 New Tork. John N. Bennett is the man. He has now 

 five fine trout ponds well stocked with various sizes. 

 Only last spring he lost over three thousand nice trout, 

 many of them large, through the filthy drainage of a 

 creamery on the stream which supplies his pond ; but 

 that has been remedied by more care at the creamery and 

 a grated filter of ten feet'depth at the inlet to the ponds. 

 And now, in the depth of winter, with the thermometer 

 much of the time below zero, Mr. Bennett is hatching 

 trout in bis cellar in a most ingenious and interesting 

 way. He pumps water from Ilia well into a barrel, and 

 through a small pipe lets it run into a box constructed on 

 the principle of the Holton hatching box. He uses about 

 one hundred and fifty gallons of water in twenty-four 

 hours, aud has succeeded iu hatching seventy-five percent. 

 of the eggs taken. He took the eggs from trout iu his own 

 ponds. The eggs taken on the llth of November com- 

 menced hatching Jan. '.'lib, temperature Of water kept 

 about 48 degrees. The fry are lively and doing well. 



Now this is a nice winter indoor amusement, aud per- 

 haps next winter some more readers of the Forest and 

 Stream will try it. Mr. Bennett is one of your subscrib- 

 ers, and as earnest in fish worship and fish culture as Seth 

 Green himself, Mud Bunt line, 



** Liberating Fr v.— Miramirhi, Feb. 12th.— An artiple iu 

 Forest and Stream of 6th inst. leads me to ask through 

 you whether it does not occur to your fish culturists that 

 the proper time to liberate artificially propagated fish 

 is a week or two before they are to liberate themselves 

 from the ova? Have any of your readers interested in 

 fi3h culture tried the experiment of depositing the eggs 

 on natural spawning grounds, and watched the result ': 

 There is an opinion held by many who know some- 

 thing of the subject that much belter results may be 

 obtained by disposing of the ova in the way suj 

 than by keeping the young fish until they are famil- 

 iarized with objects which, in then- natural condition, 

 wotdd frighten them into seeking protection, and con- 

 sequently become easy prey "to the almost Innumer- 

 able finn ed, winged and furred enemies seeking to de- 

 vour them. \y, G B, 



*— 



Nebraska,— -North Platte, Fab. Hh.—l was commis- 

 sioned by our North Platte Sportsman's Club last week 

 to go for 5,000 salmon fish, which the State of Nebraska 

 have been stocking then streams with to plant in the 

 waters of some of county streams, which we did ; and 

 will put in bass and trout in their seasou. W. W. C, 



— In the Salinas, or salt marshes, near Cadiz, Spain, a 

 peculiar kind of crab abounds, of which the hind claws 

 are considered a great delicacy. These are pulled off 

 frond the live crab, which is then set free to develop an- 

 other pair. 



— Efforts are to be made to secure the enactment by the 

 Texas Legislature of some laws for the protection offish, 

 The only enactments now in force provide for the con- 

 struction of fishways and prohibit the use of nets and 

 traps between Feb. 4th and June 14th. 



Washington. — Prof. Baud appeared before the House 

 Committee on Appropriations Feb. 17th and requested 

 that an appropriation of !f Id, 000 be made to furnish a fish- 

 batching steamer to be employed along the coasts of South 

 Carolina and Georgia and Florida. He also desired the 

 Secretary of the Navy to be empowered to detail an officer 

 Of the navy and sufficient number of seamen to man the 

 v«g»l, 



§m mid §iv&[ <grJiw$, 



FISH IN SEASON IN rBBKirAKV 



SOUTHERN WATERS. 



Porapano, TtatffllUltWcarolinu-. | Greener. .■: 

 Drum (two species). Fajmly-i Trout (bin 

 .-.-.- j lis atrariiis. 



Kincfisb, Mi-iitu-iri ux ri.J-nl - ■■-■■,: ' ------ ,' 



sea Jiuss, .sYi.rim,''-: m; It.i'u-: I n 



ishead, AiThoAi-nni.-: proha- Tai 



filial >i„'. Bin 



Red Snapper, l-^'nv:::- h:<u-.,;--! - 



GAME AND FISH DIRECTORY. 



iris lei 



rirsT AN! 



es to the 

 snakes and 

 these that 



— The United States Mining Investment Company will 

 be hailed with satisfaction by a great many of our 

 Western friends who have an eye to the golden opportu- 

 nities the untold wealth yet hidden in the " Rockya" is 

 bound to afford. The hunter and trapper and the sports- 

 man on a tour often meet with the chance of picking up 

 some "prospect hole" for a mere song and developing 

 what was a " location'' pure and simple into a promising 

 mine, "When they seek to float their lucky ventures, no 

 quicker or surer method can be found than to obtain the 

 official indorsement of the United States Mining Invest- 

 ment Company. 



in Sending 



Game ami Fish Resorts, <jur eorresni ii iden i i itedtogftg 



the following partieulnrs, with sneh otUer Information asttuy 

 may neeni or value: Stutc, Town, Count) ; means Of aooess; ffotO 

 and other accommodations i Game and. its Season; Fishiuidlts 

 Season : Bouts, Guides, etc.; Name of person to address. 



SNARING AN ALLIGATOR. 



IN ray last I detailed the efforts made to snaro a deer 

 and the results attending, which efforts led to the fol- 

 lowing exciting adventure. 



Our stay in the section referred to was protracted into 

 the summer, arid we spent much of our time fishing. We 

 were trulv in an angler's paradise. Two miles hack of us 

 was the W River, with numerous large creeks empty- 

 ing info if. Bis miles west of us was (lie hay info Which the 

 W and S rivers emptied, making a very commodi- 

 ous harbor. In front of us, five or six miles away, was the 

 Atlantic, with numerous small inlets aud numbers of 

 small islets. Fish of every description was abundant, 

 and it may- well he believed' we enjoyed < 

 i : . : 1 1 ■■ - 1 . bur most serious drawbacks \\ 

 alligators, and so numerous and so ugly v 

 till this day (.he colli shivers creep down my back when I 

 think of some of our narrow escapes from these venom- 

 ous and disgusting reptiles. 



One day r we had been fishing in one of the " reserves " 

 — an immense body of water reserved to flood the rice 

 fields — and we had found snakes and alligators particu- 

 larly numerous, so much so that they became almost our 

 sole topic of conversation. We had shot large numbers 

 Of them, so many, indeed, that we failed to extract any 

 further interest from it. 

 While ive were talking, one of the party said : 



"P , why don't you and Joe snare one of tbesa 



'gators? Your success" with the old bucks warrants you 

 in trying your hands.'" 



A laugh followed, as it always did at any mention of 

 our deer scrape. 



" What say you, Joe ? " Tasked, when tho laugh had 

 subsided. 



can do it," he answered, " aud if you say so, ws 

 will." 

 Of course I assented at once. 



When we reached home we began to discuss ways and 

 means, and in the course of the next few days we'rigged 

 up the following contrivance ; we procurr'ed a strong 

 seven-eighths manUla rope, forty feet long, a small halter 

 chain (twisted links), eight feet long ; and a piece of well 

 seasoned hickory. The latter we cut to a length of eight 

 inches, leaving the diameter one and a half inches, and 

 bringing tho ends down to a long sharp point. A.t the 

 center we girded it with a quarter iuch groove, leaving 

 the diameter still one inch. We now repaired to the 

 blacksmith, and had him forge a fink three, inches long 

 of quarter-inch iron, one end of which we slipped into 

 the groove on our stick, and then putting the halter-snap 

 in the other end we put the center of the link into the vise, 

 giving.it a severe nip, bringing the sides of the links to- 

 gether and securely fastening the stick Of wood to the 

 link. To the other end of the chain our rope was fast- 

 ened. Our snare now had the appearance of a cap T with 

 the upright stroke very much elongated. We now pro- 

 cured a ten-pound chunk of beef, into which we securely 

 wattled the piece of hickory, and then, bringing c 

 of the stick parallel with the chain, we fastened it there 

 with a bit of yarn. 



Repairing to the reserve we selected a spot, secured oar 

 rope to a pine tree growing near its edge, and then by 

 the aid of a canoe we carried the bait out as far as the 

 rope would permit, To insure the floating of the bait 

 near the surface of the water we laid the rope across a 

 five-foot strip of plank. Everything completed, we re- 

 tired to await developments. Early next morning wo 

 were at the reserve, and thore, 6ure enough, we had a 

 'gator fast, and judging from the muddy condition of 

 the water he was a whopper, and had been there some 

 time. The rope was moving ttoough the water in quite 

 a rapid manner, aud without unfastening it we made a 

 pull with all our strength, but we might as well have 

 tried to lift an elephant by the tail. The question now 

 was what to do with the chap since we had him, and in 

 order to solve it the whole parly were invited into the 

 discussion. After much talk it was suggested and agreed 

 to that we make use of a small wagon and a pair of 

 mules belonging to the party, I went for the team and 

 in my haste did not take time to put the body on the 

 wagon, it having been removed for the purpose of haul- 

 ing wood. Hastily throwing a plank across the bolsters, 

 I seated myself aud drove over to where tho party 

 awaited ine, 



The rope had been secured by a slip — low without 

 passing it around the tree, so we had only to fasten the* 

 loose end to the hind axle and drive away, and thus slip 

 the knot and make a direct pull on the 'gator, A iter se- 

 curely fastening this rope to the axle 1 seated myself on 

 the plank and gave the mules the slack. The mules were 

 young, fiery and hardly broken to harness, and had ra- 

 psatedly runaway, endangering our lives on more than 

 one occasion ; but we had not thought of this iu our 

 excitement. For a moment after starting the team there 

 strain on the rope, and the! - ' u ' 



monster, 

 foam with his tad, the 

 extent tho heatings of ; 

 looked around ; and as 

 roar that made the ve 

 alligator, and your bun 



nto 

 ling l' i some 



nster gave a 

 d the team, 

 rhome. The 

 distance was about two miles, and I thuik if Rarua had 

 seen us he would have left the track with a broken hearty 



