230 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 20, 1882. 



THE AMERICAN FISHCULTURAL ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



PROCEEDINGS ELEVENTH ANNUAL MT5ETING. 



THE President called on Col. Mc Donald to state what 

 had been done in the way of retarding shad eggs with a 

 view to transportal, ion across the ocean. 



Col. McDonald— The results of the experiments have 

 shown that, retardation cannot be carried beyond six days, in 

 the case of shad eggs. In connection with Prof. Ryder I 

 undertook to retard them by keepiug them at a constant tem- 

 perature, but it was late in the season and the water was up 

 to 75deg. We found that at 60deg. we could secure a bet- 

 ter development in from seven to eight davs. but when the 

 temperature was below that figure the development was 

 abnormal, and the result was only a period of eight days, 

 not enough to take them across. Eggs had been taken from 

 the fish at a temperature of 75deg. and then kept in water at 

 a temperature of fiOdeg. for seven and eight days, and healthy 

 fish hatched. When kept for a longer period," or at a lower 

 temperature, the fish were invariably unhealthy. It had been 

 proved by experiment, that eggs kept in wet flannels in a, 

 damp atmosphere at a temperature of 60deg. for forty-three 

 hours could be successfully hatched. The'problem of suc- 

 cessful hatching while the e'ggs were en route has now been 

 solved by the use of closed hatching apparatus. This con- 

 sists simply of a jar of about five quarts capacity, with two 

 tubes leading into it. One of these, at the bottom, fur- 

 nishes a constant supply of fresh water, and the other, at the 

 top, carries off the impure water. As this water is forced 

 into and carried out of the jar under pressure, and as the 

 75,000 eggs which the jar would contain he in a solid mass at 

 the, bottom, the motion of a train or rolling of a vessel would 

 not: affect the spawn. If we cannot retard the hatcbinsr 

 until reaching the other side we might at least delay it so far 

 that the fish would reach there before requiring food. This 

 closed apparatus has an advantage over the" open ones for 

 ocean travel, in the fact that the eggs are not displaced by 

 motion as in the closed jars, the rolling of a ship would not 

 affect the eggs in the least; they would lie as quietly as on a 

 labratory table. All that we would need is a water supply, 

 or a means of securing purity to the water by circulation 

 With this apparatus shad spawn might be carried to Europe 

 as safely and successfully as they are now transported to the 

 rivers of California, Colorado and Texas. The only question 

 that a practical culturist is now required to answer is as to 

 the ability to keep a supply of pure water to feed these 

 closed jars while a vessel was en route. It has been known to 

 flshculturists for years that the eggs of the mlmonidm could 

 be transported out of the water without; injury, but not un- 

 til very recently that the same thing could' be done with 

 the eggs of the shad, This discovery was the result of au ac- 

 cident. I hail been thinking of transporting shad eggs for 

 some time, and had constructed an apparatus for earn, in^ 

 400,000 in a man's hand, when we were suddenly called upon 

 to use it. The Pish Commission had a lot, of eggs in water 

 on board of a steam launch on the wav from the spawning 

 grounds on the Potomac to the hatchery in the Navy Tarrl 

 I filled my box and took it in my hand to Washington, 

 where they hatched after being fifteen hours out, of water and 

 proved to be a very strong lot of fish. This accidental dis- 

 covery has resulted in a great saving in the expense of artifi- 

 cial propagation, and has made possible the estabUshment of 

 a central hatching station, at which the Government will 

 hereafter hatch all the impregnated spawn taken in the Po- 

 tomac and Susquehanna rivers. Men will have buckets and 

 take the eggs from the grounds to the hatchery in the armory 

 at Washington. 

 The President — Who invented this apparatus? 

 Col. McDonald — It was not a new invention. It was the 

 same system used in transporting salmon eggs on flannel 

 trays, but it had not been tried with shad, and it has generally 

 been believed that shad eggs are too delicate to transport in 

 this way. 



The President— What has heen done in the hatching of 

 cod eggs? 



Col. McDonald — The eggs of the cod, Spanish mackerel, 

 sea mackerel, bonita, and other fish whose eggs float on the 

 water, cannot be hatched in the closed apparatus used for 

 propagating shad eggs. Just how to hatch them while being 

 transported is a question that the Fish. Commission is now 

 trying to solve. The trouble is that the eggs are so buoyant 

 that they will follow the current and pile up against" the 

 screens and clog them. A series of experiments is being- 

 made with a funnel-shaped apparatus which is fed from the 

 bottom with pure salt water. To carry off the impure water 

 a syphon is used, the arm inserted in the upper portion of the 

 apparatus being long enough to reach below the mass of float- 

 ing eggs. The experiments have proved partially successful, 

 and it is expected that they can be made wholly so. The 

 transportation of the eggs of the cod from this city to the 

 Washington hatching-houses is a problem which still awaits 

 solution. An attempt was made last fall by the use of her- 

 metically sealed jars. The eggs were taken at the Fulton 

 Market slip and impregnated, and their development retarded 

 by placing them in water at a temperature of 34deg. In at- 

 tempting to hatch them artificial sea water was used, and the 

 failure of the attempt, it is thought, was due to that fact. 



Mil. Blackford — The possibilities of cod hatching at Fultou 

 Market are simply immense. I wrote to Prof. Baird, the V, S. 

 Fish Commissioner, this winter, and offered, on behalf of the 

 Fulton Market Fishmongers' Association, the use of the ripe 

 cod brought alive in the wells of the fishing-smacks, and of- 

 fered to give all assistance possible. Prof. Baird sent two 

 experts and Prof. Ryder, who wished to study their embry- 

 ology. The first lot of eggs sent on trays and in kettles from 

 the. market to Washington was a failure. The second ship- 

 ment went in glass fruit-jars half full of eggs and filled with 

 salt water, and arrived safely, which proves that they can b» 

 sent that distance. Whatever failure occurred afterward 

 was due to bad water. I have suggested to Prof. Baird that 

 next fall the steamer Fish Hawk, with its appliances for 

 hatching, be sent here, and offered, if this was done, to fur- 

 nish 100,000,000 eggs per diem for hatching purposes. This 

 could easily be done, as a large cod will strip 9,000,000 good 

 eggs. This method will save the expense of sending out a 

 special steamer to catch fish with ripe eggs, and will save a 

 great waste of both fish and eggs. 



The following gentlemen were elected members of the as- 

 sociation: Charles W. Smiley, Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, D. C. ; Lieut. Henry B, Mansfield, United States 

 Navy; Prof. Alfred Mayer. Stevens Institute of Technology, 

 Hoboken, N. J. ; Col. M. McDonald, Fish Commissioner of 

 Virginia; W. L. Gilbert, Plymouth, Mass.; H. P. Schuyler, 

 Troy, N. Y, ; Erastus Corning, Albany, 1ST. Y. ; John T.' Ag- 

 new, Charles Banks, and Benjamin Wood, New York city. 

 A recess taken untU 2 P. M, 



Upon again assembling an election of officers for the 

 following year was then declared in order, the first being 

 that of president. 



Mr. Miller nominated Mr. George Shepard Page for 

 President. No other name was proposed and he was balloted 

 for and elected. 



Mr. Blackford recounted the services of Mr. Page to 

 fisbeultme and stated that it was from his suggestion that the 

 United States Commission on Fish and Fisheries hud sprung, 

 and other facts which are matters of record. 



Mr Mather then named Mr. James Benkard for Vice- 

 President, and his election followed. 



Mr. Page alluded to the fact that the South Side Sports- 

 men's Club, of Long Island, of which Mr. Benkard is 

 President, would market four thousand pounds of brook 

 trout this year, bringing the handsome sum of $3,000. He 

 mentioned this because, it has been asserted that this fish 

 cannot be successfully raised for market, an error that the 

 club is slowly correcting. 



Mr, Blackford named Mr. Charles B. Evarts for Treas- 

 urer. Mr. Annin named Mr. E.G. Blackford ; upon ballot 

 Mr. Blackford was elected and Mr. Evarts moved that it be 

 made unanimous; carried. 



Mr. Evarts named Earnest Phillips for Corresponding 

 Secretary ; elected. 



Mr. Blackford named James Annin, Jr., for Recording 

 Secretary ; elected. 



An Executive Committee, whose names are given below, 

 was then elected. The officers of the Association for 1382-3 

 now are: 



George Shepard Page, New York, President. 



James Benkard, South Side Club, Vice-President. 



Eugene G. Blackford, New York, Treasurer. 



Barnet Phillips, Brooklyn, Corresponding Secretary. 



James Annin, Jr. , Caledonia, N. Y. , Recording Secretary 

 Executive Committee. 



Fred Mather, Forest and Stream, (Chairman). 



G. Brown Goode, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. 



Seth Weeks, Cony, Pa. 



Bent. W. West, Fulton Market, New York. 



T. B. Ferguson, Washington, D. C. 



Chas. B. Evarts, Windsor, Vt. 



Dr. W.'M. Hudson, Hartford, Conn. 



[By an oversight the first paper, read by Mr. McGovern, 

 was omitted from our last issue. It will be given in our 

 next issue.] 



BULLTROUT AND POMPANO. 



IN your issue of March 23 I find a note on the "Bull 

 Trout" of Lake Coeur d' Aline, Idaho, in which the state- 

 ments are made, on the authority- of Drum Major Lattes, that 

 this bull trout is a "charr;" that" it, is identical with the charr 

 of the lakes of Scotland and Ireland, and that it was first 

 described by Dr. Richardson as the "hood charr" (Seilmo 

 hoodii). 



I have examined specimens of this bull trout sent by Capt. 

 Bendire to the National Museum. It is the species which we 

 call Sah4in us malnw, the ' 'Dolly Varden trout, , " fi rat descri bed 

 as ftrlmo malma by Walbaum in 1792. It is a "charr, " and 

 not, a "trout,,'' as those words are used in England, although 

 not quite the same as the charr of Scotland. It is not the 

 "hood charr" of Richardson. I have examined Richardson's 

 specimens in the British Museum. One of these specimens, 

 considered by Dr. Gunther the type, is a lake trout (Crixtiw- 

 mcr nmaayenah), the others are common brook trout (Seilmli- 

 v/iixfoiiU'iuilis). The Salvdinvs hoodii is therefore to be sup- 

 pressed from our lists. 



The large "pompano" referred to by correspondents in the 

 same issue belongs, as you suggest, to the "A friean pompano, " 

 or ' -permit" {Traclu/notuH gpreenm), a species not rare in south- 

 ern Florida, and possibly simply the adult form of the round 

 pompano (T. <ftxMM$). If anybody ever heard the pompano 

 called "pompynose" at New Orleans, it would be a gratifica- 

 tion to have him speak up, or else for ever after hold his 

 peace and let us drop that atrocity from our list of "common 

 names." David S. Jordan. 



Blooming-ton, Ind. 



"J. R., Jr.," RISES TO EXPLAIN. 



EtlUi/r Forest and Stream : 



When I wrote the article "How is Your Fishing Tackle?" 

 which appeared in your issue of Marcn-80; I bail little idea 

 of getting Ned Buntfine into my wool; had such a dreadful 

 alternative been before my eyes, I doubt if the article had 

 ever seen the light; and now let me tell why. 



I remember the time, long years ago, when Ned Buntline 

 commenced the publication of "Ned Buntline's Own," in 

 an office on Spruce street — I was a boy then, and well do I 

 remember him as he appeared on the streets in those days; 

 we boys looked up to him as a perfect hero, one who cared 

 for neither man nor beast — who dared do anything — and I 

 can recall how anxiously we watched for each number of 

 his paper as it was issued, and how eagerly wo devoured his 

 tough yarns with the keenest relish; but woe to me if my 

 good father found in my- pocket a copy of the aforesaid 

 paper. He, a true blue Presbyterian, could not tolerate that 

 kind of literature — I could. In later years I have heard ter- 

 rible stories about Ned, with rifle in hand and fire in his 

 eye, chasing Alvah Dunning around the Raquette Lake 

 region, and again of Alvah chasing Ned. Both alive at last 

 accounts, however. 



With all this in mind, well might I dread the thought of 

 crossing swords with our worthy friend; but as it happens 

 to be only pens that are crossed this time I guess the affair 

 will not hang crape, on very many doors. 



My article was made up from actual experience either of 

 myself, or of some others of my fishermen friends. * * * 

 One of the keenest fishers I ever traveled with, was one of 

 the most careless men with his tackle. I had him in mind 

 when I wrote of the tangled mess of rusty hooks, etc. 



When we went to the Saranac Region he had his fishing 

 tackle in a large tin box. On our arrival at Martin's the box 

 was opened and he begun to get out a rig to go trolling with, 

 and it took most of an aft ernoon to get things into decent 

 shape, and then it was a miserable apology for an outfit; and 

 he is not the only one of the kind that I "could name. 



The flybook alluded to was one made for the purpose, 

 with leaves of jwchment alternating with leaves of cloth 

 into which the flies were hooked, and when opened the col- 

 lection of flies were the the most forlorn my eyes ever lit 

 upon, Scarcely a perfect one left — the moths had gone 

 through the. whole business in a business-like way. 



Now, in regard to the kingfish which were "credited to 

 "Old Reliable Rod." In the waters of New York Bay I have 

 taken at various times several fish that have always been | 



called, by those that pretend to know, "kingfish." I have 

 also bought them from fish dealers, and they gave them the 

 same name. The fish in shape somewhat resembled a trout, 

 and in length was from ten to fifteen inches; color, if my 

 memory does not fail me, dark yellowish brown, with some 

 little marking on the sides. Those I have taken have always 

 been on weakfish grounds. Webster's dictionary gives an 

 engraving of the Southern "kingfish or opah"; this is NOT 

 the fish I referred to. 



I thank Ned Buntline for the kindly manner in which he 

 has overhauled my article; it shows that he is in search of 

 light; hope he got some. J. R,, j r . 



Trout in the Adiuondacks.— Enclosed find a slip from 

 the Chateaugay Record of March 24, 1882. The statement 

 is wholly true, and much more might be added to it, for 

 while on a flying trip to the lake (Upper Chateaugay) one 

 day last week I saw five salmon trout, the smallest weiging 

 six pounds, and the largest eight and one-quarter pounds, ah 

 taken from one hole through the ice. Our "shad," or white 

 fish, (a delicious fish by the way) are being taken in the same 

 way. The speckled trout I am glad to say are saving their 

 strength for the fly. All the fishermen and 'guides that I have 

 come in contact with from different parts of the Adirondacks 

 within the past six months speak of last season as being an 

 "off year," but that the "signs of the times," and the extra- 

 ordinary way in which the fish are now taking bait indicate 

 that the coming season will be one of unusual success in 

 that direction. The slip from the Record says > ' 'As a result of 

 the efforts of Messrs. Humphrey and Boomhower, and other 

 gentlemen who have caused many thousands of lake and 

 salmon trout to be placed in the waters of Upper Chateaugay 

 Lake, the fishermen are now catching with sunk bait many 

 pounds of as fine fish as were ever taken from those waters, 

 and one gentleman, who is good authority, declares that the 

 Chateaugay Lakes are to-day as well" stocked with lake 

 and salmon trout as any body of water of the size in the 

 State of New York." Ralph's, the popular summer hotel, 

 has been enlarged this last winter to three times its former 

 capacity, and many of the old guests have already engaged 

 rooms there. — Jno. 



The Connecticut River has flowed a much larger body 

 of water this season than the spring of last year. In conse- 

 quence thereof the catch of shad and alewives promises to be 

 first rate. Already the Douglass Brothers have caught several 

 bushels of "whops" and one shad, besides a considerable 

 quantity of suckers, perch, and dace. In their pot, which 

 they set, close to the shore every spring, they caught, last 

 Saturday morning, a fine muscalonge, which weighed an 

 ounce less than eight pounds when" taken from the water. 

 The beauty was presented to Mr. E. M. Reed, Vice Presi- 

 dent of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. 

 Just what the effect will be with the shad because of the 

 closing up of the Enfield dam, four miles above this place, 

 last summer, as regards their going any further up the river', 

 remains to be seen. We think that the fishway is sufficient, 

 because the dam is so low, but others think differently.— 

 Lower Bunk. 



Tennessee.— Nashville, April 8. There were a great 

 many jackfish in our market this morning, varying in size 

 from two to twenty pounds weight. Within the last few 

 days we have gentle warm rains, and the streams are now in 

 excellent conditon for angling. A party of gentlemen re- 

 turned from White Oak last Friday. They had unusually 

 good luck and a delightful trip, Fish in that, noted stream 

 are not only abundant, but large and of most delicious 

 flavor. Jim Palmer, Colonel Griffith, Hermann Ruckholz 

 and Jack Bentley are making grand preparations for an 

 expedition to Buffalo. When "that team do start, thev are 

 indefatigable, and do things up in the best, of style. 'Carp 

 about here are reported to be spawning; if they turn out as 

 well as is desired for them, by this time a twelve month 

 there will be millions of them in the State.— J. D. H. 



Mountain Trout in Southwest Virginia.— Under the 

 shadow of White Top, Washington Co,, Va., April 1882.— 

 It has occurred to me that the closing sentence in my last 

 note to the Forest and Stream may mislead some enthu- 

 siastic fisherman, who might suppose from the simple 

 statement of the abundance of trout, and their ignfiraace of 

 the dangers of rod and fly, that the situation was adapted to 

 the use of the fly. The creek is upon an average scarce 

 twenty feet wide, and its banks are lined with laurel and 

 rhododendron. Though I am no fisherman I should imagine 

 it next to impossible to cast a fly there, and as a matter of 

 fact, people fish with a line from a rod five feet, long, and 

 catch with almost any sort of bait. The flab themselves are 

 speckled beauties indeed and in great numbers. — Denbigh. 



A Spot for Big Bass.— A few miles south of Wilming- 

 ton on the upper Potomac River is a rare spot for black bass, 

 namely, Chambersburg, Pa. Rod fisherman camp there 

 during the summer and take them in numbers. Dr. Hoke, 

 now of Philadelphia, formely of Chambersburg, speaks of 

 the place as his choice over all others, and will spend his 

 vacation intent upon the capture of big fish. Your corres- 

 pondent is told that both the minnow and the little toad are 

 faking baits at this point on the Potomac, and has been in- 

 vited to join the "canvass party" that will tarry a week 

 there. — Homo. 



Tim Pond and the Seven Ponds.— We understand that 

 several of the gentlemen who were at Tim Pond, Maine, last 

 year, are going there again this summer. The accommoda- 

 tions are to be enlarged. 



Maine. — Parties who desire some excellent spring fishing 

 would do well to visit Enfield, Me. All particulars in rela- 

 tion to it may be obtained bv addressing A. J. Darling, 

 Enfield, Me.— 'J. F. S. 



-bammerless 

 ompany, the 

 lerlcss is just 



PUBLISHER'S DEPARTMENT. 



The Semi-Haitmerlebs.— Attention is called to the serai- 

 gun, mamifactiu-ed and sold by the American 

 well-known makers of the Fox gun. T 

 such a gun as many demands have been made fo; 



We have received the elegant catalogue published by Messrs. J. 

 Palmer O'Neit & Co., of Pittsburgh. Pa,, Hie well-known dealers to 

 fine guns and all sportsmen's supplies. The catalogue is admirably 

 illustrated and does credit to the house, whose advertisement will bo 

 found elsewhere. 



TRAINING vs. BREAKING.— In book form, with two 

 sketches, entitled "My Old Dog Trim'' and "The One-Eyed 

 Grouse of Maple Run," by 8. T. Hammond — "Shadow" — now 

 ready. 



