FOREST AND STREAM. 
cline that can be made for them. I have not the slightest 
doubt that shad can and will ascend it. But the old chute 
was also visited, in which they did not express the same 
confidence. For, in the first place, the area of the early 
chute is not one-fourth that of the second, whilst the incli¬ 
nation of . the first is as 1:15 is to 1:35. Certainly the latter 
structure is much the more easy of ascent. But the 
effect of the two chutes in the water below was very 
similar. A long stream beginning in white caps and 
undulating in diminished gradation, was observed below 
each of them in the line of the axis of the chute, produced 
and plainly perceptible for about 200 yards below the 
steeper chute and about 150 yards below the gentler one. 
It may be mentioned here as a memorandum that the river 
below the dam, even in high water, is not deep. At low 
water the dam stands on a bottom scarcely averaging a foot 
in depth. And the fishways both fall into water at that 
stage not more than three feet deep, and when the shad are 
running, the water below the dam scarcely averages four 
feet. 
It is well known that shad are always attracted from 
their very earliest infancy by an opposing current; and 
that they are equally attracted by both these currents below 
the dam can scarcely admit of a doubt. So attracted, in 
the one case 200 yards below the dam and in the other 150 
yards below it, they would undoubtedly stem, both currents 
without preferring one to the other. For how could they 
know what there was to overcome at the head? Admitting 
the fact of the shad entering the currents at all the question 
left to be decided is: Can they overcome the velocity of 
the chutes? There is no hydraulic rule on the subjects of 
water moving down inclined planes, which will give the 
water in either of these chutes a greater velocity than that 
of ten miles an hour. 
Impeded by friction and by the water below the dam al¬ 
ways endeavoring to enter the chute, for it must be remem¬ 
bered that if the water above were arrested,the watei below 
the dam would back up the chute nearly, if not quite, to 
the head of the incline, thus impeded, then, the velocity 
must be considerably less than ten miles an hour. It can¬ 
not, indeed, by any possibility, be so great as ten miles an 
hour. For a body falling in vacuo at the third foot does not 
exceed that velocity, as the rule for falling bodies is 
Vs 64.333= U where s equals space in feet fallen and v the ve¬ 
locity in feet per second. Here the space in feet fallen is three 
and this subjected to the rules gives about fourteen feet per 
second for the velocity, which is less than ten miles per 
hour, as any school boy may easily ascertain with a slate and 
pencil. Now then can a shad stem a current of ten miles an 
hour? If he can, then either of these chutes he can ascend 
easily,# 1 he will. It is easy to conceive that although the 
shad can ascend a chute, that he may not choose to do so. 
For he is an extremely timorous fish, and unless the chute 
be made attractive to him, he may avoid it or be scared 
away from it. But a chute from forty to sixty feet wide 
ought not to repel him, and one stillwider of course would 
be less repulsive. It is fair to suppose that width would 
attract him, and that having in Pennsylvania adopted a 
capacious width, we are at least on the road to a successful 
fishway. As' to the velocity a shad attains in swimming, 
it may and probably does reach fifty miles an hour. The 
velocity then of thePennsylvania chute cannot be an obsta¬ 
cle to him. The reason why shad did not ascend the 
Pennsylvania chutes in large numbers Is, that they were 
not there to ascend. Go back of 1867 and ascertain when 
there was any catch of 50,000 shad immediately below the 
Columbia Dam. Come this side of 1867, and in 1871 
there was a catch of some 100,000 at least below the 
darn; and in 1873 we have a catch above the dam esti¬ 
mated, no doubt fairly, at 50,000, whilst there was an 
ordinary catch immediately below the dam. As stated 
then the reason why shad did not ascend the fishway 
in large numbers in the early years following 1867 was, 
that they wfere not there. They had to be made first, and 
where were they made? Above the Columbia Dam assur¬ 
edly, whilst their mothers could not have got there in suffi¬ 
cient numbers had they not been aided by the early chute. 
There is not a navigation chute in‘the river that will not 
admit shad. But these chutes are not located in the right 
places, they are not in the runways. A few get up at 
Columbia, a few at Clark’s .ferry—these are the first two 
dams, but none get up at Shamokin, the third dam, the 
navigation chute of which is as easy as the other two and 
the dam not more than a foot higher. Now both the fish¬ 
ways in the Columbia Dam are well located. The earliest 
runs of shad take the right centre of the river; the latter 
runs take the left centre of it—(right and left in describ¬ 
ing rivers are always referred to looking down stream.) 
So now we are ready for them at both sides, and proper 
structures thrown out from the navigation chutes guiding 
the shad to their mouths will bring very large runs to them. 
In Pennsylvania then, we are on the way to a good chute 
for a low dam, and if success be assured, it will be easy to 
accommodate things to a high one. The principle is wide 
capacity and low velocity. But velocity increases in a very 
strong ratio in falling water; it increases about as the square 
of the fall, and the difficulty of a fishway for a high 
dam is therefore nearly as the square of its height. 
In making a chute then, for a high dam and for shad, 
you must divide it into a series of low dams, thus interrupt¬ 
ing the uniformly accelerated velocity so that the propor¬ 
tion may be directly as the height, instead of as the square 
of the height nearly. There will be difficulty and expense 
then to be overcome in the case of high dams. Difficulties 
from freshets, difficulties from ice, but American engineersen 
have not often been beaten, and it is fail to presume they 
will not be beaten in this instance. Fishways have been 
made which are a success for almost all other kinds of mig¬ 
ratory fishes, Mr. Bracket’s improvement on Foster’s 
being perhaps the best of them. The timidity of the shad 
has baffled us a little at the outset, but we will yet accom¬ 
modate him and fishways will be made as attractive to 
him as to the salmon, the alewife, the rock, and the eel. 
The history of this fishery movement will become in¬ 
teresting one of these days, and I read this paper in the in¬ 
terest of the truth of that history. Its initiation and its 
progressive steps ought to be known and understood. 
There may be mistakes and errors of judgment. Nay, 
t ier<? must be, because it is managed by human creatures! 
But let us have as few mistakes and errors as possible. 
_ 1 close by saying that the Pennsylvania Fishway is be¬ 
lieved to be the only one in the world that has as yet in ap¬ 
preciable numbers admitted shad; that the first one will 
not admit as many as the second only because it is much 
smaller and much steeper ,they both being built on the same 
principle; that that principle is due to consultations held 
by the under signed, in the first place with Daniel Shure 
and George M. Lamnan, of Pennsylvania, the latter now no 
more, and with Theodore Lyman and Mr. Brackett, of 
Massachusetts, and latterly with H. J. Reeder, James 
Duffy and B. L. Hewit, the present Fishery Commissioners 
off Pennsylvania, whose orders were obeyed in the construc¬ 
tion of the latter work. There is no doubt of ultimate 
success, for we are moving in the right direction, even if 
we have not struck the actual pathway. 
THE WORKING OF THE CANADIAN 
FISHERY LAWS. 
Quebec, February 24, 1874, 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In the Toronto Globe newspaper of the 4th of February, Mr. Yenning 
replies to your inquiries respecting the administration of the fishery laws 
in his district. In this, the Quebec district, I will give you my exper- 
ence and statements that can be corroborated. 
In the District of Quebec, particularly above the city of Quebec, we 
have many fine rivers that formerly abounded in salmon. Most are now 
barren; a few—a very few—may have a stray fish. The Jacques Cartier 
alone retains its character for good fishing. .This I attribute to the care 
and expense t have bestowed upon it for the past twenty years at my own 
expense, and with little, if any, aid from the Government. As one in¬ 
stance of the aid received from Government, some five or six years since 
I complained to the department of illegal netting going on on this river. 
Mr. Bunfret, Mr. Whitcher’s assistant, was sent to investigate the com¬ 
plaint. He found matters as I stated. Mr. Hamel, the party com¬ 
plained of, made no secret of the matter. He showed Mr. Bunfret the 
place where he caught the salmon, a natural trap at the foot of a sal¬ 
mon pass, where it was his custom when the water was low to build a 
stone wall across the entrance to prevent the escape of the fish, then to 
take a scoop net and capture them. He showed Mr. Bunfret the net. and 
entertained him at dinner with some of the captured fish. This occurred 
in close time also, when the laws forbid netting on a river. The Govern¬ 
ment or the department would not prosecute. I did so, and obtained 
convictions against Mr. Hamel. I have no doubt this statement will be 
contradicted, but the records of the case before Judge Maguire are in the 
Court House of Quebec. In connection with a gentleman of this city, 
we rented the St. Ann’s River above Quebec. There is a dam upon it; 
also, a large saw mill. There was an attempt at a salmon pass made on 
the dam, but it was so snperficially built it was carried away the first 
winter. Sawdust in vast quantities are thrown into the riyer,and poach¬ 
ing goes on without interruption. I lodged a complaint and issued sum¬ 
monses for the sawdust nuisance; had all my witnesses ready on three 
rivers, when a member of the Government stepped in and proceedings 
were quashed. It was on the eve of a general election, and the offending 
party was powerful. This is one of the many instances of the protec¬ 
tion given by Government to the salmon fisheries. The St. Ann’s River 
is capable of being made as fine a one as many in the Dominion, but is 
now destroyed for the expediency of a vote. 
I have prosecuted owners of bush weirs and stake nets on the Island 
of Orleans (immediately below Quebec), also some owners on the south 
shore of the St. Lawrence, for illegal fishing,first, the meshes of the nets 
not being according to law, and next in respect to bush weirs being used 
in capturing salmon. My cases were proven, bHt by legal ingenuity I was 
defeated. No correction of the abuses has been attempted since by the 
department and destruction goes on as usual. I instituted those pro¬ 
ceedings, not from malice, but to protect my own rivers, whoso fish I 
daily saw exposed in the market for sale. I could state many other 
cases to show the protection since. 
I would not now refer to matters so long since passed, but I do so in 
the hopes that under our new Government those abuses will be remedied, 
and it will not require to resort to the expediency tactics to secure a vote, 
and the laws will be honestly administered. Under the late Govern¬ 
ment, if a complaint was made for infringement, the party complained 
of went to his member, who went to the Minister and said: “Such a 
one is my friend, and you must kill off the matter, otherwise do not 
count on my vote.” Political influences have been the bane of the fish¬ 
ery laws. 
Another instance of members’ influence: A fishing inspector was sent 
to Grand Lake, near Murray Bay, and at the private expense of a gentle¬ 
man, and on complaints of residents there of poaching, the inspector 
caught one man, seized his nets, &c., &c. This person, it was stated, 
killed 2,000 dozen trout in the year. He reported to the department, the 
delinquent was fined $5. He was cousin to the inspector of the district 
and friend of the member. 
Mr. Wilmot, on Lake Ontario, has established a provincial ovarium, 
and has succeeded in his operations. The gentleman deserves great 
credit for his exertions. To come to the utility and cost to the country 
of Mr. Wilmot’s exertions, so far as relates to salmon, I fear that it is 
a waste of time and money, from the following facts: From Levis to 
Rimouski, on both sides of the river and on the island of Orleans, bush 
weirs and stake nets may be counted by the hundred. To you and many 
of your readers it is unnecessary to give the habits of the salmoh, but to 
some it may be well to state them. The smolt or young salmon remains 
in the rivers to which they are bred until they attain to four, five or six in¬ 
ches in length. In May, June and July they leave fresh water and go to sea, 
' hugging the shores of the river in their descent; doing so they are caught 
or stopped in these bush weirs and miserably perish in the slime and 
mud. Before a Fishery Commission of Parliament, our honorable Sena¬ 
tor gave it as his evidence that in one bush weir, and in one tide he saw 
from one to one a half bushels of salmon fry or smolts thus perish. Any 
one taking the trouble can see thousands of small fish so destroyed by 
those murderous engines. I will ask how is it possibte that Mr. Wilmot, 
or any of the American gentlemen can succeed in introducing salmon 
into any river that flows into the St. Lawrence? 
Under our new Government I hope for a better state of affairs, and I 
have no doubt representations from the American Government would re¬ 
ceive every attention. The demand should be, abolish bush weirs 
on the shores of the St. Lawrence. Salmo Salar. 
Maryland Fish Commission.— We announced recently 
that a Fishery Commission would no doubt be created for 
the State of Maryland. We are indebted to G. C. Carpen¬ 
ter, of the Baltimore Gazette, for a copy of the bill to 
establish such commission, and are assured of its immediate 
passage. This is a matter for general congratulation. We 
append the bill herewith. It will be remarked that ap¬ 
propriations are made for salaries, which we think' is 
wise:— 
Whereas, Both the marine and inland fisheries of this 
State have of late years much deteriorated, and a vast 
source of food for the people has been greatly diminished 
by causes within the reach of legislation, and— 
Whereas, The experience of many of the States has 
shown that their fisheries can be fully restored by the 
proper propagation and culture of fish, and for that reason 
have appointed Commissions to take charge of the propa¬ 
gation of food fishes, and— 
Whereas, The Congress of the United States has also 
appointed a Commissioner General of Fisheries, who is 
ready and willing to co-operate with the Commissioners of 
Fisheries of the several States in furnishing such aid and 
information as may assist in the stocking of the waters of 
the said States with food fishes; therefore— 
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly.of Maryland, 
That the Governor be and he is hereby authorized to ap¬ 
point two competent persons, who shall continue in office 
85 
for two years from the time of their appointment, and until 
their successors are appointed, who shall be known as Com¬ 
missioners of Fisheries of Maryland. 
Sec. 2. Be it enacted. That it shall be the duty of said 
Commissioners to immediately proceed to inspect all the 
waters of this State, with a view of stocking the same with 
such food fishes as in their judgment shall be most advan¬ 
tageous, and with such object shall communicate with the 
Commissioner General of Fisheries of the United States, 
and with the Commissioners of Fisheries appointed by the 
different States, and report the result of their inspection to 
the Governor of this State as soon as practicable. 
Sec. 3. Be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said 
Commissioners of Fisheries, after making the inspection 
and obtaining the information required in the preceeding 
section, to proceed to the selection of proper locations for 
the propagation and culture of such food fishes as it shall 
be deemed desirable to introduce into the waters of this 
State, and obtain the necessary ova, and construct and erect 
suitable houses and devices for hatching the same, and pro¬ 
tecting the small fish, until fit to be distributed, and then to 
distribute the same among such waters of this State as shall 
be deemed proper. 
Sec. 4. Be it enacted, Th at it shall be the duty of the said 
Commissioners to make an annual report to the Governor 
for transmission to the General Assemby of the State, of the 
work accomplished by the Commission, and also embracing 
such suggestions for the protection and propagation of food 
fishes in the waters of this State as may be the result of 
their observation and experience; provided , that nothing in 
this Act shall interfere with any existing rights of catching 
fish in the waters of this State. 
_ Sec. 5. Be it enacted , That the salaries of said Commis¬ 
sioners shall be fifteen hundred dollars per annum each, 
and that the sum of three thousand dollars per annum, be 
and the same is hereby appropriated to pay the said 
salaries. 
Sec. 6 . Be it enacted, That the further sum of thirty-five 
hundred dollars per annum, or so much thereof as may 
in the opinion of the Governor be necessary, be and the 
same is hereby appropriated for the purpose of carrying out 
the provisions of this Act; and the Comptroller shall issue 
his warrant on the Treasurer for the payment of the said 
sum on presentation of the accounts of the said Commis¬ 
sioners approved by the Governor out of any monies in the 
Treasury, not otherwise appropriated. 
Sec. 7. And be it enacted, That this Act shall take effect 
from the date of its passage. 
—La Ghasse Illustree, in its last number, has a most inte¬ 
resting article in regard to M. Pierre Charbonnier, who de¬ 
votes his time to the rearing of fishes, and whose wonder¬ 
ful establishment for the sale of aquaria and rare fishes is 
one of the attractions of Paris. M. Charbonnier has several 
live specimens of the gourami and of the telescope fish, 
and many varieties of native and exotic fishes. M. Char¬ 
bonnier has curious specimens of fish all the time on exhi¬ 
bition, which would make our good friends Green and 
Mather wild with delight. At present, however, in the 
United States, we must be satisfied with the useful and 
practical; after awhile will come the ornamental and deco¬ 
rative. 
—In the last bulletin of the Paris Acclimatation Society 
M. de la Blanchere gives considerable space to a description 
of the Nile fish—the binny. Some of our friends who have 
done the Nile have spoken to us enthusiastically in regard 
to not only the beauty but the excellence of this fish. It 
grows to almost three feet in length, and might be some 
of these days introduced into our southern rivers. The 
Fellahs, to express bow good the binny is to eat, say:—“If 
thee canst find anything better than I am, well then don’t 
eat me.” 
—The Forester Club, of Penn Yan, Yates county, New 
York, have just placed 100,000 young salmon trout into 
Keuka Lake. Over 250,000 of these fish have been put into 
these waters within the past three years, and the largely in¬ 
creased number of small fish caught in the lake last year 
shows tbat the efforts at restocking have not been without 
its useful results. 
—We print herewith a copy of the Lobster Law, which 
has just been passed by the State of Maine:— 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 
Legislature assembled, as follows :— 
Sec. 1—No person shall catch, preserve, sell or expose for 
sale, within the limits of the State of Maine, any lobsters' 
between the first days of August and the fifteenth day of 
October, of each year; and from the said fifteenth of Octo¬ 
ber to the first day|of April next following of each year, no 
lobster shall be so caught, preserved, sold or exposed for 
sale, under ten and one half inches in length, measuring 
from one extreme of the body to the other, exclusive of 
claws or feelers; but from the said first day of April to the 
said first day of August of each year there shall be no such 
restriction, nor any restriction, as to time or size, in the 
taking, preserving, selling, or exposing for sale such fish. 
Sec. 2. Any person violating any provision of the above 
section shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars for every 
such lobster so caught, used, sold or exposed for sale, as 
aforesaid, one half to the person making the complaint and 
one half to the use of the town in which the offense is com¬ 
mitted. 
Sec. 3. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this 
act, and especially chapter twenty of the public laws of this 
State, approved February twentieth, in the year of our 
Lord eighteen hundred and seventy-two, are hereby re¬ 
pealed. _ 
—We are requested by the Saratoga Rowing Association 
to print the following card: 
SARATOGA ROWING ASSOCIATION. 
It is necessary for the Saratoga Rowing Association to have the ad¬ 
dress of every amateur rowing club of good standing in the United 
States and Canada. The Association propose to issue soon its circulars 
concerning its annual regatta, which will he given some time in August. 
Therefore it is to he hoped that all rowing clubs will send their address, 
giving name of President and Secretary, so that none may be over¬ 
looked, nor fftil to receive circulars. Address 
SARATOGA ROWING ASSOCIATION^" 
Saratoga Springs, New York. 
