April 13, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



213 



t$iBlfcittture. 



FISHCULTURE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



AT a meeting of the New Hampshire Fish and Game 

 League, held in Manchester April 1, the president called 

 on On, John McNeil of Winchester, Mass., to state what 

 progress had been made in the culture of salmon and shad in 

 the waters of New England. 



In response to the invitation. General McNeil said that it 

 was generally understood that if the Commissioners of Massa- 

 chusetts would build a suitable fishway at Lawrence, the 

 JjState of New Hampshire would restock the streams. A fish- 

 way was built, and last season seventy-two salmon were taken 

 from it. when it was closed for a short time. How n iany went 

 through the fishway we have no means of knowing.' but it 

 'works well, and I don't think the people of New Hampshire 

 have reason to complain of Massachusetts. At on<- ■ . ■ ■ 

 fitter State offered the Fish ( .'ommissioiiers of New Hamp- 

 shire 400,000 salmon, but they were declined, because there 

 was a lack of funds, I suppose! I spoke of this matter to Col. 

 George, and he advanced the proposition to pay for half of 

 them if I would purchase the remainder, and the result was 

 that these 400,000 salmon were put into your waters, aud they 

 are the salmon coining up this river now. Tin rivi i has also 

 been stocked with alewives and lampreys as far as Lowell, 

 and the.}' have been seen there in great quantities. Col. Rid- 

 dle has obtained the. lampreys there and placed them above 

 the falls in your city, ft lias been a matter of doubt with re- 

 gard to shad, but four of them were, discovered this year in 

 the fishway at Lawrence. The only thing we need now is a 

 channel at the foot of the dam here iu Manchester. The fish- 

 way here is a perfect outrage, and it should not be allowed to 

 longer obstruct the passage of salmon up the stream, I under- 

 stand that arrangements have been made for its improvement, 

 and something- should be done in this direction before salmon 

 ■commence running this year. I understand that Mr. Kidder 

 , 'still claims that the alewives seen at the mouth of Cohas 

 Brook were transported from Lawrence, and I will advance 

 "the proposition to give him $5 for every alewive that he will 

 transport from Lawrence, if he will give me five cents for 

 each dead one. I have no doubt that fish can be. restored to 

 our streams, and can see no reason why shad cannot be taken 

 from the Connecticut River and hatched out at the hatching- 

 house at Plymouth. 



Mr. John B. Ellinwood said he had never caught fish that 

 were any more lively than the alewives at Cohas Brook. 



Mr. Joseph Kidder said : I am still firm in the conviction 

 that we have never had any alewives at the falls here. It 

 seems remarkable that they were plenty at Cohas Brook one 

 year and have not been seen since. Why don't they come 

 again i Had I been the. one to transport them, I would have 

 done so for several years, and thus have given the appearance 

 that they came up the river. If they shall come here in any 

 quantity, it will show the good results of our fishculture. I 

 have called the attention of our fish com m issioners to the fact 

 that the fishway here in Manchester is wholly inadequate for 

 the purposes for which it was intended. The question arises 

 .in view of the expenditure of money, time and labor if the 

 .Jesuit achieved is commensurate with the labor performed. 

 With our lakes and ponds the result has been satisfactory, but 

 not so with our rivers. If the experiment has been successful 

 l in the rivers of Massachusetts, we are glad of it. I am not 

 'aware that more salmon were seen this last year in New 

 Hampshire than the year before. 



Gen, McNeil — Then you have not read the annual report. 



Mr. Kidder — There may have been more, seen at Livermore 

 FaUs. Several died at the falls in this city for the reason that 

 they could not get over them. There is no pool or place for 

 them to rest at the fishway here, and the. fishway is not so 

 'constructed that a salmon any size can get into it. It is en- 

 tirely inadequate. I trust the fish commissioners will succeed 

 in getting it into a more satisfactory condition. The one at 

 Lawrence was built over several times before the present one 

 resulted, and I presume the one there now is not incapable of 

 being improved. It is a shame to New Hampshire that we do 

 not take measures to equal the efforts put forth by Massachu- 

 setts after goading her as we have. The fishway here ought 

 to be improved now in order that salmon now* running can 

 "get over the falls. I know of no reason why it was not done 

 last year, as the water was low. I w r ould say further that the 

 streams running into the Merrimack are in heed of fishways. 

 On the Contoocook River there are impassable barriers to 

 fish ; thev can't get over these barriers any more than they 

 could at Lawrence before the fishway was built. If we wish 

 to see adequate restdts we must have our fishways finished. I 

 Should like to have palpable evidence that alewives are cora- 

 jing over the falls at Lawrence, and are coming up here. Of 

 salmon Ave have seen several, but would like to see more. 



Gen. McNeil then wished to know if Mr. Kidder intended to 

 •accept his proposition, and the latter replied that he would 

 consider it and advise him, he thought he could make money 

 by it. 



Dr. Spaulding of the Board of Fish and Game Commissioners, 

 being called upon, regretted that Mr. Powers, who had charge of 

 the hatching house at Plymouth, could not be present. The 

 fishway at Amoskeag Falls was considered at the meeting of 

 the New England Fish Commissioners, held in Boston last 

 week, and Mr. Lyman and myself were appointed a com- 

 mittee to confer with Col. Livermore to see if something can- 

 not be done to improve it. We are satisfied that Col. Liver- 

 more will accomplish whatever is necessary. There is need of 

 a channel on the west side of the river, as the drouth has been 

 so severe the past few seasons that the fish could not reach 

 the front of the fishway. 



We have a fine supply of Atlantic salmon, having received 

 30,000 eggs from the. United States Commissioners, and having 

 020,000 eggs which we hatched out; this gives 4(10,000 Atlantic 

 salmon which we pro post the upper wafers of the 



Merrimack. We have 55,000 fine speckled trout which are to 

 he. distributed in various towns of the State that voted to pro- 

 L.tect their trout streams for a period of three years, and many 

 towns have so voted. Of the land-locked salmon, we have 

 only been enabled to secure 59,000, and propose to put them 

 in two or three of the largest bodies of water in the State. 



RAINBOW TROUT.— Boston, April (!.— The fame of the 

 beautiful rainbow trout had so long sounded in my ears, that 

 I felt anxious to behold its beauties' I went to New York on 

 the 1st. lust, to see those which Mr. Blackford was about to 

 exhibit. I have beheld them. 1 don't want to see any more. 

 The great coarse, black, ugly beasts) A dingy brown with 

 darker spots and a hectic flush along the side as if it had a 

 \nd to compare this coarse, scaled brute with our 

 delicate aquatic gems of fontinalis 1 O, get out! Don't tell 

 me any more about them.' I have seen them once and am dis- 

 gusted. I wouldn't eat one of the fever-flushed h h iking things 

 piles starved. Good-bye, Rainbow!— II. R. G. 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF WEST VIR- 

 GINIA. — We have just She report of the Fish Commissioners 

 bate for the year 1881. Three new ponds have been 

 built at the State hatchery. The seven carp received in 1879 

 spawned very largely last summer before a pond wasready 

 ioi them and the greater parr of the eggs faded to hatch, 

 still a few young were distributed. The two-year old carp 

 TOW in its ponds, will weigh ten pounds each. A list of fish 

 distributed follows, which shows: 1.05;.! carp, S, 500 land-locked 



i brook trout. 51". black bass, 1:.'5 silver perch, and 



■-! wall-eyed pike. Financial statements and. Dr. Hessel's 

 monograph on the. carp conclude the report. 



THE AMERICAN FISHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



[Paper read at the meeting of the Association, April 3.] 

 REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT OF EMBRYO SALMON. 



BY FRED MATHER. 



Persons who are unfamiliar with the development of ani- 

 mals during their embryonic state often ask, when viewing 

 young fish just from the egg, "When does the sac drop off?" 

 This question has often been .put to me, as no doubt it has to 

 other fishculturists, and an explanation of how it is absorbed 

 usually follows. I have 'believed heretofore that every por- 

 tion of the sac was necessary to the complete development of 

 the fish, and have been rather amused at the innocent question 

 given above. All tisheulturists have noted the fact that an 

 embryo with a small coagulation in its sac, caused by an 

 injury while in the egg, or after hatching, will die near" the 

 time that the injured portion is about to be taken up by the 

 absorbent vessels, but. to my surprise. I have seen portions of 

 the sac thrown off this winter and the fish have lived and 

 taken food afterward. g 



In the hatchery of Mr. Thomas Clapham, at Roslyn, L. I., 

 which I fitted up the past winter to hatch salmon for Prof! 

 Baird and Mr. Blackford, the troughs were ad new, and the 

 haste with which they were made allowed but little time for 

 coating with tar. One trough in particular had but a vei-y light 

 coating, and soon after the hatching of the eggs a singular 

 spotted' appearance was observable among the fry. This was 

 caused by the turning white of their livers. Both Prof. 

 Ryder and myself examined them under the microscope, and 

 saw the clouded liver, through which the blood appeared to 



^S^_ 



yj ?/ at * , v '/, ;r:7 



circulate feebly. Knowing no other eause than the exuda- 

 tions of unseasoned pine wood I removed the fry at once and 

 placed them in a wed tarred trough and watched the result. 

 Neither Prof. Ryder nor myself thought that the fish, some 

 15,000 in number", could live. ' He was of the opinion that the 

 trouble originated in the sac, and that a deficient circulation 

 in some portion had affected the liver. It was a new experi- 

 ence to both of us, and his extensive knowledge of embry- 

 ology gave, his opinion a weight which led me to accept his 

 view, although I could not see any trouble in the sac. I gave 

 him some specimens afterward which confirmed this theory, 

 which I am now satisfied was a correct one. 



The first indication of trouble in the sac was an elongation 

 of the posterior portion of it, and a constriction about midway 

 between its extremity and its c mnection with the body. This 

 is shown in the specimens here before you in the vials Nob. 1 

 and 2. Sometimes the portion beyond the constriction con- 

 tained the large od globule, and sometimes it did not, and this 

 globule seemed to be very irregular in its position. All the 

 fish in this trough were 'so affected, and in addition to the 

 "fiver complaint." the blue swelling, or ''dropsy," appeared. 

 The latter was fatal in every case, the microscope showing a 

 deposit of watery fluid between the two membranes of the 

 sac, in which great numbers of blood corpuscles could be seen 

 drifting about. 



No. 3 shows one. form which foUowed. In this the part cut 

 off from the circulation by the constriction seemed to wither 

 away, and 1 suspect that 'in these specimens only a small por- 

 tion was affected. No. 4 shows a small globe separated from 

 the sac by a cord, and this globe is clear and has no sign of an 

 opaque spot or injury. No. 5 shows larger portions of the sae 

 cut off by the cord and held suspended. Thus far I had but 

 small hopes of the fish surviving until one day while trying to 

 capture a hvelv fedow which had a large bad hanging by a 

 string, the fish made a sudden turn to escape the feather. 

 Which was under it. and 1 saw the cord break and that portion 

 of the sac contained in the bad fall to the bottom. That par- 

 ticular fish was soon lost in the mass and could not be identi- 

 fied In No. C> arc to be seen specimens which have lost the 

 pendant bad and are about ready to take food. Of the origi- 

 nal fifteen thousand in the infected trough, about three thou- 

 sand died with blue swelling, and two thousand more from 

 other causes, leaving ten Thousand fry now taking food, of 

 greater portion have lost some pari of their sac 1 

 firmly believe that had I not ajiphed a remedy promptly the 



whole lot would have been past saving if left in that trough 

 twenty-four hours more. 



I do not know that any such experience is on record, and 

 wid frankly say that I should have considered tins a very sus- 

 picious story if told by some fisheulturist whom I do not 

 know, or, at least, a story that required verification: and 

 while I am aware that it actually happened I cannot help 

 feeling that some persons may suspect that a mistake has been 

 made in some material point. To this I can oidy answer, 

 " here are niy specimens, and I have seen the cast-off balls 

 from the sac'in the bottom of the trough where the fry which 

 were affected as described are now swimming and feeding." 

 When I say that I might have considered such a story "a sus- 

 picious one," I do not wish to be understood as meaning that 

 I would reject an experience related by a brother fisheulturist 

 which did not acord with my own, but wished merely to 

 state that I fully recognize the fact that a naturalist should 

 believe nothing that he hears and only half of what hesees. We 

 have no word to express the state of mind which is open to 

 conviction, but neither believes nor disbelieves. To those to 

 whom it seems incredible that part of the sac of a trout or 

 salmon should be thrown off by a mighty effort of nature 

 when found to be poisoned, I would suggest following my ex- 

 periment, if a blunder can be so called, and wdien the liver of 

 the fry turns white remove the fish into a clean, healthy 

 trough and note the result. 



In this connection it has occurred to me that the reason 

 that trout do not flourish below sawmills is on account of the 

 water being impregnated with either pine or oak. In 1875 I 

 lost a lot of California salmon, at Blacksburg, Va., in an oaken 

 trough which one of the then fish commissioners of Virginia, 

 in whose employ I was, insisted upon my using. The impreg- 

 nation of tannin was perceptible to the "taste and the fry died 

 as fast as hatched. The theory of the fishermen near sawmills 

 is that the sawdust gets into the gdls of trout and kills them. 

 This may be true to some extent, but I doubt it, for the rea- 

 son that sand or other material does not appear to injure the 

 gills, and I have taken adult trout below saw nulls. I incline 

 to think that the mdls are destructive merely to the 

 young, by covering the spawning beds to some extent with 

 sawdust, but more by the absorption of turpentine from the 

 pine, or tannin from "the oak, the evil effects of which we 

 know too well. 



FISHCULTURE IN DELAWARE.— The city of Wilming- 

 ton has a local fish association, composed of Mayor Allmond, 

 Dr. E. G. Shortlidge, Jacob Pusey, S. N. Trump and others, 

 which is earnestly desirous that City Council shall take im- 

 mediate action upon the request recently sent to that body, 

 that permission be .granted to construct ponds on the lot at 

 Cool Spring Reservoir. Dr. Shortlidge recently said that he 

 and his associates were sorry Council should ' delay taking 

 action one way or the other on then- petition. It has been 

 their desire to have the hatching establishment in opei-ation 

 by this time, if it was located at the reservoir lot, and that 

 they had expected to have California salmon in the proposed 

 basin by this time. He also said that the fish company in- 

 tended to spend money liberally, the lot would be graded and 

 improved, and by co-operation with Fish Com m issioner 

 Moore, the streams would be stocked with fish. There seems 

 to be a favorable sentiment among the members of CouncU, 

 and many of them think that the recommendation of the 

 Chief Engineer with reference to the waste water basin should 

 be carried out at this time. Chief Engineer Mclntire thinks 

 the basin the city needs could be constructed for from §3,000 

 to $4,000. The Water Committee is expected to consider the 

 petition soon. 



THE FIRST CALIFORNIAN EEL CAUGHT.— The San 



Francisco Chronicle of February 8, reports the catching by 

 George Bird of the first eel. resulting from the plant of 12,000 

 made by the California Fish Commissioners. It was caught 

 on the easterly shore of San Francisco Bay, and measured 

 three feet in length. 



BROOK TROUT WANTED.— See advertisement in another 

 col umn of party wanting 5,000 or 10,000 yearling trout. 



Imnet 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 



April 18, 19, 20 and 21— New York, Sixth Annual Bench Show of the 

 Westminster Kennel Club. Entries close April 3. Chas. Lincoln, 

 Superintendent. 



May 9, 10, 11 and 12— Boston, Mass. Third Bench Show of. the Massa- 

 chusetts Kennel Club. Chas. Lincoln. Superintendent; E.E.Hardy, 

 Secretary Exhibition Committee, P. O. Box 1798, Boston. Entries 

 close April 22. 



June 6, 7, Sand 9.— Cleveland, 0.. First Animal Beach Show of the 

 Cleveland Bench Show Association. Charles Lincoln, Superintendent; 

 C. M. ttunhau, Secretary, 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Sei nber— National American Kennel Club Field Trials on Prairie 



Chickens. Jos. 11. Dew. Columbia. Tenn., Secretary. 



December -l-Nati'iaid Am -ri'-.-e: !'.>.': !■ 1 Club I ieW Tivds on Quail, 

 Grand Junction, Ti-un. D. Bryson, Memphis, Tenn., Secretary. 



NATIONAL DERBY. 



WE give below the remainder of the entries for the N. A. 

 K. C. Derby, making upward of eighty in ad: 



Oliver's Dan (Rake-Bessie Lee) black, white and tan English 

 setter dog, Aug. 6. J. H. Kraft, New Albany, Ind. 



Kraft's Rake, litter brother to Oliver's Uaii; same owner. 



Countess Mollie (Count Noble-Spark) white aud lemon Eng- 

 lish setter bitch, July V). John D. Ladd. Martin. Tenn 



Blsa (Drake-Countess Mavl black, white aud tan English 

 setter bitch, Apia! 12. E. E. Hardy. Boston, Mass. 



American Dan (Lincoln-Daisy Dean I Hack, white and tan 

 English setter dog, April 18. "Montview Kennel, Columbia, 

 Tenn. 



Count Titcomb and Pride, of Fairlew, white and liver, Utter 

 brothers to American Dan ; an m e owner.* 



Daisv Lion, white and liver, litter sister to American Dan; 

 T. B. Gordon, Columbia. Tenn. 



Old Wast, white and lemon, litter brother to American 

 Dan; J. A. Titcomb. Columbia, Tenn. 



Cynthia Walker (Guy Mannering- Whirlwind) black, white, 

 and tan English setter "bitch, June. Chas. H Raymond, New 

 York. 



Midnight (Chipps-Nettie) black pointer dog, June I§. E. S. 

 Wanmaker, Elmwood, N. C. 



Darkness, black, Utter sister to Midnight; same owner. 



Rip Van Winkle (Count Noble-Spark) white and fiver Eng- 

 lish setter dog. July 13. J. W. Orth, Pittsburg. Pa. 



Pope, emon and white, litter brother to Rip Van Winkle; 



Startle (Leicester-Crook) blue belton English setter dog, 

 July VI. Major G. R. Watkins, Brooklyn, N, Y. 



Chester, orange and white, Utter brother to Startle: same 

 owner. 



Flirt (Thunder- Minerva) blue belton English setter bitch, 

 Aug. 9. A. 8. bishop, Pittsburg, Pa. 



Reddy (Odd-Megi liver and white English setter dog, June 

 27. Samuel Scranton, < Hiieyvflle, K. [, 



Garnet (E)cho II.-DeU), red Irish setter dog, April 5. Thos. 

 Stodd, Catasauqua, Pa. 



Nannie, litter sister to Garnet. Same owner. 



May Star (Count Noble-May Laverock), black and white 

 b L9 1883, •!. J, Snellcnburg, Now 

 Brighton, Pa. 



