4 
FOREST AND STREAM 
«#.s//r Culture. 
This Journal Ig the Omclal Orpin of the Fish Cultnr 
Ists’ Association. 
DISTRIBUTION OF FISH. 
'T' HE recent lecture of the Hon. Robert B. Roosevelt, 
1 before the New York Geographical Society, upon 
the Distribution ot Fish in the United States, has not re- 
ceived that attention from us which it merited, owing to 
pressure upon our columns. Alluding to the rapid progress 
which had been made in the science of fish culture the 
speaker contrasted the present knowledge of the habits of 
fish, and the necessary condition of life for different kinds 
of fish, with the Ignorance upon this subject at the not 
distant period when attention was first directed to the 
necessity for the preservation of fish in our streams, and rc- 
populat.ng them with the kinds that had become scarce 
Now it is no more difficult to raise fish than to raise chick- 
ens, when proper methods are pursued. A reason given 
for the scarcity of salmon and trout in New England waters 
is the existence of numerous dams which prevent the mi- 
gration of the fish at Spring and Fall, the Ynnkees in 
their zeal for manufacturing having ingnorantly destroyed 
a great source of wealth, which cost nothing to produce 
Salmon are not found this side of New England. Hendrick 
Hudson reported having seen salmon at the mouth of the 
Hudson River; but Mr. Roosevelt declared that Hendrick 
was mistaken, and that the fish that he saw were probably 
weakflsb. J 
Shad can live in water of much higher temparature than 
treut, and are found in all the rivers running into the At- 
lantic from Florida to Connecticut. They have already 
• 'penred this season in the streams of Florida and Georgia' 
and w,d successively be taken in the streams of the South- 
ern and Middle States, coming northward as the warm 
weather approaches. The speaker declared shad to be the 
fish for 'the people,” while trout and salmon were "for us 
aristocrats He then instructed his audience in the art of 
. , b p °" ,ng . 8ha f ■” . 0ne ,»toht ns well take one of the small 
CU . 1010 bn 18 “cross bones and all, as to cut shad 
in the way It is usually done. Every fish has its "system” 
of bones The shad has its "system.” One series is con- 
nected w,th the spine; from the fins are other series; and 
when attention is paid to the manner in which the bones 
are placed, it is easy to separate them from the flesh 
In the rivers flowing into the Pacific, arc fish belonging 
to the salmon family, though diflering from the New Eng 
laud salmon in some particulars. A marked difference of 
the Pacific salmon is the fact that it lives in much warmer 
water than Us Eastern cousin. It is therefore proposed 
by the Fish Commissioners to take advantage of this fact 
and introduce this salmon to the Atlantic rivers south of 
New England. In return, the Atlantic coast will send to 
the Pacific rivers the shad, which now is not found in these 
waters. 
spermaceti whale and some other kinds of fish. On the 
shores of the Mediterranean Sea where are the salt basins, 
there are minute creatures inhabiting the water, which, 
when it is evaporated to the point of yielding salt, die, and 
yield in their death a perfume like the odor of violets, 
while a beautiful rosy tint covers the surface of the water. 
Many fish exhibit exquisite tints of color, both in their 
living and their dying, Nature having left none of her 
orders of life without grace and beauty. The energies and 
enthusiasm of an Agassiz have opened n wide field of re- 
search among the denizens of the water. And the labors 
of the Fish Commissioners are utilizing the rcientific 
knowledge, and teaching the people how to "make two 
grow, where was one before," Art assisting Nature. 
Was the poet a prophet when he cried— 
M Oh ye gods mid little Ashes!" 
AMERICAN FISH CULTURISTS’ ASSO- 
CIATION. 
The national fish of America is the black bass. Wholly 
unknown in European countries, it exists solely with us 
where its vigor, enterprise, restlessness, and independence' 
ts athletic but not altogether comely appearance, makes 
It rather representative in its character. It is self-reliant 
and when placed in new waters not merely makes itself at 
home, but appropriates the locality, explores its farthest 
recesses and devours its aboriginal inhabitants. Its natural 
distribution was through a few of the lakes of New York 
but mainly in the northwestern States. It has, however' 
been acclimated in many other ponds mid lakes, where it 
now flourishes extensively. A younger brother, the Oswe- 
go or grass bass, is more common, and being less parlicu- 
ar m it8 choice of habitat, fills often in coumless numbers 
the muddy and weedy ponds and streams which the true 
black bass disdains. These fish, together with the pike 
percli, (uctopcrcu) a variety of which is called the Ohfo or 
Susquehanna salmon, people the waters of our land from 
New York to the Rocky Mountains, and exist here and 
States? 80 1P 6 ° me ° f S,rCftms ° f the * Stmth Atlantic 
hZu°L h r ,narke ' 1 differonce8 of habits; the 
black bass loves bright, pure, lively water, not os cold ns the 
but' l fre'o from T 9pringprodl -"S U!h and moumains 
rnoiioT •„ f maW0M held 8 UF P e ndcd in it. and with 
motion either of current or from the winds. It deposits its 
eggs on rocky or pebbly ledges. The pik-perch^lives hi 
the gieat lakes, and rarely, as in the case of the smaller 
specimen the Ohio salmon, remains even in the Wr 
r vers; while the grrss bass loves muddy, weedy shores 
along which it lays its eggs. None of these varieties are 
susceptible of artificial cultivation. 
Very many interesting facts were given in regard to 
fn love .f,^ JeCt i eing b8ndled b * ouc ™s evidently 
,|£t lh. " ° ““'l 0 ”- “" dC ° f lhc ,li, 
coveries that the songs of sirens” are to ;be ascribed to 
certain musica! fish. go wo cannot tell'if ouJ ipSakw 
M “ r «l that hi, audience, 
nae nimseJt, would look on fish aud spp ti.nt w • ! 
for food.” Nor did he give his hearers any itc-ms showing 
fl<h to have contributed to the poetry of life 
floating^ tbe\vat^r p ?incipany of 'thT Per , fume ’ f0Und 
Jhere, is supped bc produced tllc TZ^VoUUe 
r T M,E Convention of American Fish Culrurists was 
1 called to order at 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning, at 
the office of its \ ice President, G. Shepard Page. The 
President, Hon. Robt. B. Roosevelt in the chair. About 
45 “embers were present, and before the morning adjourn- 
ment a large number of names were added to the list. 
Mr. Roosevelt took occasion to formally open the session 
by a brief address in review of the progress of Fish culture 
during the year that has elapsed since the previous meet- 
ing. He rejoiced that this great economic interest was 
everywhere advancing, and failing nowhere; success in 
every direction. Mr. Green’s expedition to Michigan in 
quest of grayling and their eggs, was a success to be proud 
of. These flsh had been transported to the New York 
State Hatch House at Caledonia, and under the supervision 
of Mr. Collins, these eggs have been hatched, and there are 
now fish three inches long, the product of this venture. 
Sturgeon were formerly very large and very abundant in 
the Hudson River, and a valuable item of food. It is very 
pro .he, producing millions of eggs, nevertheless the manu- 
facturers of what is known ns “ enviure ,” or tho the dried 
roe of fish, have so decimated the supply, that it lias been 
impossible for the Fish Commissioners to procure eggs 
even for propagating purposes; the more particularly be- 
S"“y°^? U l]fripT m “ tiDg mwmva are MW 
A new fishway, the invention of Mr. Brewer of Muncv 
i., has been placed in the Mohawk river, four miles be- 
low Schenectady, by way of testing its value, and (lie re- 
result has shown it to be' in the estimation of the Commis- 
sioners. the best, most convenient, least expensive and the 
most easily adapted to the dam, than any yet invented We 
shall give a description of this fishway ‘in our next issue 
During the year we have received and distributed black 
bass, shad, white fish and salmon trout among a greater num- 
ber of lakes and strenms of the State than the public can 
have any conception of, and waters that were once totally 
exhausted and barren of any kind of fish or fish food are 
now repopulutcd and fruitful. 
Experiments are always doubtful, and thus the experi- 
mentof planting shad in freshwater has not yet prived 
that these fish can be thus acclimated. It is true that large 
shad have been taken in Lake Ontario, the Gcnessee and 
other rivers where young fish were placed. It is ascer- 
tained that small fish will grow, and large ones will live 
under the changed conditions of food and water but it re- 
mains to be seen whether they will deposit their spawn and 
propagate herefrom. The problem is not yet solved So 
also with the introduction of salmon from the Pacific —the 
small fry have thriven and grown to large maturity, but we 
Cannot yet determine w hether they will multiply and pro- 
Our greatest triumph in success has been with our native 
ns . salmon, trout, etc Striped bass, it has been found 
can be treated exactly like shad, in the melfiod of culture 
and be produced in abundance,— a very important fact in- 
fishes C ' ^ U 1S ° ne ° f ° Ur m ° St valued 1111,1 delicious food 
The Secretary Mr. Collins, then read the minutes of the 
hist meeting. After which followed a paper by Fred 
Mather, Esq., on "Poisoning und Obstructing Waters" 
which w ill be printed in our columns next week verbatim 
lie showed that our streams are poisoned by chloride f 
ime iron, paper nulls, dyestuffs from cloth works, and , nr 
oil f| om gas works, and Hint fishways are not built into 
he dams, ns is required by law. Our law prohibits 1 
po uhon of waters under heavy penalty, but is rendered a 
nullity and inoperative by the exception it makes in case of 
running water that furnishes power for mills. Mather bad 
seen dead fish in the Hudson 12 miles below Albany doub 
IrVf kl , ed f b '' t * ie chemical works above, and on Vhe shad 
grounds of the Connecticut river below the dam where are 
two paper mills and a cloth mill, lie estimated tbm n.Y’t 
of chloride of lime aud dyestuff was discharged f om tliese 
mil s each day Sewage from cities was aSerTalis of 
pollution that demanded attention, a cause of damage most 
inexcusable, inasmuch as there were numerous processes of 
Mrirfi ng P f ,lianU, ; e ’ or Precipitating it altogether The 
‘ Pa,1 >unient has a proposition now before it to cor- 
wh I/ c!?w r/h 1U 1 le i rh . uinos - Tlie process of doing away 
with sewage by carbonization was a most excellent nn<. 
and might be- applied with advantage. Rivers are .don 
ofleu polluted by the percolation through the soil of ? 
nurcs placed on the land. He said that, if our rive i wtro 
rnint 11 * P “ rc 'J 0 ™! , as when ou r fathers first setSed the 
S now^^he?, ^ thG Sam ° abund ™<*°f fish in 
oi Mrsas; ssiiM" ravM * *■» 
ss essxs ."* 6 “ v ° - *»«'»« asssssra 
Eastern waters. Mr. Bowles continued the recital of his 
experience on the Au Sable, and commented upon the 
clearness of the stream, whose fish could he seen in the 
bottom in water of 20 feet depth. He camped each night 
in a different place, and found the fish so plentiful ns to 
debar sport lie considers the grayling, although the flesh 
is white and tender is not equal to the trout for the table 
With regard to graying and trout in same stream Mr 
Green stated that as the trout spawn in Fall and grayling 
In Spring, when the grayling are small and standing on 
their " tail ends ’’ the trout will " go for him and take him 
sure." 
Mr. Collins had experimented with grayling eggs and 
hatched them at same time as trout, when the grayling were 
so small and puny that they hid in the gravel, and it was 
difficult to say that there was fish there. The same food 
was used ana they ate it before sack was entirely absorbed. 
The experiment as such was successful, and he succeeded 
in savintr 90 per cent. Mr. Mather for many reasons pre- 
fers the graylrog to the trout — and considers it a question 
as to which are best for table; require less food and care 
than trout. Tlie discussion was continued by Mr. Green 
and Mr. Mather. A telegram was received from Mr. 
Wbitcber regretting bis not being able to come, but the 
Dominion was worthily represented by Mr. Wilmot who 
gave a most interesting description regarding bis expe- 
riences, and referred particularly to the great increase of 
salmon of late years. 
Professor Theo. Gill, of Washington, made some inter- 
esting remarks regarding the classification of fish, with re- 
ference more particularly to the grayling. 
Dr. Milner discussed the white fish of the lakes, their 
mode of feeding, etc. 
The subject of grayling was renewed by various gentle- 
men interested in the subject. Mr. Bowles said this fish 
was found m Bavaria with a mouth like a sucker. Mr. 
Hallock alluded to Capt. Beudire as having met grayling in 
Montana; lie considered him good authority. 
On motion of Mr. Bowles the meeting adjourned to meet 
at same place and hour on Wednesday."' As we go to press 
on Wednesday our report cannot be completed in ibis 
issue. 

Fish Culture in Virginia.- A bill is before the Virginia 
Legislature to secure tlie appointment of Fish Commission- 
ers for that State. It empowers the Governor to appoint 
two competent persons, who shall continue in office for 
two years and be known ns commissioners of fisheries. 
They are to inspect all the streams of the State with a 
view of stocking them with the best food fishes; to consult 
with tlie Fish Commissioner of the United States, and of 
the several States, as to the best modes of constructing 
fish ladders, propagation, &c., and examine into the feasi- 
bility of cutting a channel around the Great Falls of the 
Potomac, or constructing fish laddeis at that point to ad- 
mit the passage of fish from tide water iuto the Upper 
Potomac and into the Shenandoah, and also inquire into 
the expediency of constructing ladders to admit the pass- 
age of fish over dams or other obstructions in the Upper 
Potomac and Shenandoah, or elsewhere in the Slate, aud 
make an estimate of cost, &c., and report to the next Gen- 
eral Assembly of Virginia. 
They are to select proper locations for the propagation 
and culture of such food fishes as it shall be deemed desir- 
able to introduce into the waters of the State, obtain the 
necessary ova, and erect suitable houses and devices for 
hatching them and protecting the small fish until fit to be 
Of ftnd 1 lh r, n '° dlsllibute them among such waters 
nlwor be deemed proper; are also to have the 
power to take fish from any of the streams of the Slate for 
tlie purpose of propagation and investigation; and nrc to 
make an annual report to the Legislature. The act appro- 
priates *2,o00 to carry out its provisions and pay the neces- 
sary expenses of the commissioners. y 
—A gentleman who has lately visited the Bucksport sal- 
mon breeding works, informs us that two men are now 
busy there attending to the work required in changing the 
water, caring for the eggs, etc. Several million eggs are 
on bund at the present time. Near the close of February 
a large number of the little fish will be placed in the lake 
and stream and look out for themselves. The works ap- 
pear to be quite successful, only a few eggs spoiling the 
though a°few rb l ! lillS a " ligbt - NeaH > r ll » «fe Irsb live, 
though a few dead ones are taken from the ponds. 
“ 
-The work of stocking the "Twin Lakes," at Salisbury 
Ct with salmon trout was begun in good earnest on the 
20th of January, on which day Ernest S. Pease, the artist 
placed the results of the hatching of the first five hundred 
Sed if T ^ Se !!' GreCn °" ,hC 15,81 ^ cent venture. 
Placed in the gravelly part of the lake where no grass or 
h * lt8r l ° lh !! lr enemics * it 18 hoped that they 
wilt make their way to deep water without much loss. Of 
in .1 “Y 1°,“?’ W0 hope t0 soe • ‘ in it ." 3,000 are still 
sg.^g a^ 3 Ma ‘“' “ 
sioner P *flner y conten >Plates giving the Commie- 
Kuf n £« y “” d eSpe " scs - A enough 
