Vol. LVIII. No. 2590. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 16, 1899 
?1 PER YEAR 
A CHAPTER ON FISH CULTURE. 
WIIAT THE FARMER CAN DO WITH IT. 
How It Is Done in Vermont. 
AN OLD STORY.—So much has been said and writ¬ 
ten about artificial means of propagating fish, and 
so much money has been spent foolishly, and with 
such poor results, that I hesitate to add another chap¬ 
ter on the art. It is, however, not only possible, but 
really practicable, for a large number of .farmers to 
grow fish for profit, just the same as they grow pota¬ 
toes or poultry. In order to succeed with fish, one 
needs a good supply of water; he must be watchful, 
and he must, also, wait. The most frequent error 
made in preparing a home for the fish, is by putting 
in a dam, more or less expensive, across the most 
available brook, thereby creating a pond that over¬ 
flows at every freshet, and sooner or later, washes 
out the dam, so that all the labor of construction is 
lost, besides the owner’s courage and enthusiasm, 
which are usually wash¬ 
ed away at the same 
time. Even where the 
water is very sluggish 
and is not subject to 
overflow, it is not suit¬ 
able for raising fish, as 
the more active and 
valuable kinds of fish 
will not spawn and re¬ 
produce well in such 
dead water; besides, the 
older fish will eat up 
about all the small fry 
that do hatch, and the 
result is a failure. 
A VERMONT 
HATCHERY—Fig. 243 
shows a view of the 
Vermont State Hatch¬ 
ery, at Roxbury, and by 
reference to the plan 
there employed, the 
reader can get a very 
good idea of the essen¬ 
tial principle involved 
in constructing the 
ponds or tanks. It is 
absolutely essential to 
have control of the 
water supply, and this 
is done at Roxbury by 
means of canals or 
sluiceways made of 
boards. Some of the 
water is supplied from 
the river near by, and 
some from cold, overflowing springs. The river water 
comes in through a gate, so that no more is admitted 
than wanted. The tanks are constructed out of hem¬ 
lock plank, and are of various sizes, 10x12 feet, 12x20 
feet, and larger. They are about three feet deep, and 
are so constructed that some of them can be drawn 
down very low, or entirely emptied. Fish of different 
sizes and ages are kept in separate tanks, and are 
handled a good deal as some farmers handle their 
pigs, by opening gates and driving from one pen to 
another. 
WHAT SORT OF FISH?—The Vermont Hatcheries 
confine their efforts very largely to trout and salmon 
culture. They have annual’y distributed several hun¬ 
dred thousand fry and fingerlings in the brooks and 
lakes of the State for several years past, and the 
effect has been very satisfactory in restocking de¬ 
pleted waters. The Commissioners have found it 
more practicable to keep the fry till they arrive at 
the stage called fingerlings (two to three inches long), 
as they are then large enough to take pretty good 
care of themselves when turned out to pasture in wild 
waters. Any one who has running water near his 
buildings, can utilize it in growing all the fish he 
wants for his table. If the water is abundant and 
cold, he can raise brook trout, whereas, if his water 
supply is limited to a sluggish flow, he will succeed 
better with salmon, bass, shad or carp. I would not 
advise any one to undertake hatching his own fry; 
that 'is a trade, or rather, a fine art, in itself. Any 
one can now buy small fish at very reasonable prices, 
from some established hatchery, and confine his ef¬ 
forts to growing the youngsters up to eatable size. 
This he can do without much risk. In some of the 
Asiatic countries, notably China and Japan, nearly 
every land owner has his own fish pond, and the fish 
he raises himself is about the only meat his family 
gets. There it is the custom to buy the eggs, and 
hatch them in their own ponds, but as the climate 
there is different from ours, they succeed where we 
might fail, so our method must be different. 
HOW TO START.—As to the matter of getting in 
shape to engage in practical fish culture, I think it 
will be readily seen that water can be cheaply turned 
out of its natural course, and led to any desired spot 
where the tanks will be above all overflow of the 
brook that feeds them, and be more handy to the 
house. This is quite a consideration for many rea¬ 
sons. A glance at the picture of the Roxbury Hatch¬ 
ery shows a high picket fence surrounding the 
premises. There are, also, some huge mastiffs kept 
at the hatchery for patrol purposes. The tanks shown 
in the engraving are not very elaborate affairs; they 
can be duplicated very cheaply by any one who is at 
all handy with a shovel and a hammer. If one has a 
stiff clay soil and plenty of water, all he has to do is 
to excavate three or four feet deep, and line up the 
sides with plank to keep the walls from caving in. 
If his soil is light and porous, he will find it necessary 
to put in a floor of tar paper, with points and edges 
well lapped, and then cover with two or three inches 
of clay to form a paste which will hold the water 
aDout as well as hydraulic cement. The tanks should 
be so connected by box tubes made of boards, or with 
tiles, that he can turn the water on or off from one 
or all the tanks. If it is possible to put one tank be¬ 
low the level of another, so much the better. It is a 
good plan to have the water fall two or three feet in 
feeding from one tank to another, as the water is 
thus aerated, and is found to be much more accept¬ 
able to the fish. One tank 12x20 feet, 3 feet deep, is 
large enough to start 1,000 fingerlings; as they grow, 
they need thinning out so that, by the time they are 
large enough to warrant disposing of them, say at 
two to three years old, three or four tanks would be 
required. One good-sized tank is sufficient for the be¬ 
ginner, and he can amplify nis plant as the fish grow. 
FOR THE FARMERS.—I believe there are thou¬ 
sands of farmers who would like to do something on 
this line, if they could be assured of satisfactory re¬ 
sults. True, there are 
many things to learn in 
this business, but they 
are not insuperable. 
The United States Fish 
Commission, at Wash¬ 
ington, has made a suc¬ 
cess in restocking many 
of our inland waters, 
with valuable food fish. 
Practical, instructive 
literature on the sub¬ 
ject can be had by ap¬ 
plying for it. Write to 
your Congressman, and 
he will send you full re¬ 
ports and instructions 
about how to proceed to 
raise any kind of fish 
that you think your 
surroundings warrant 
you in attempting to 
cultivate. Aside from 
the food value of fish, 
there is another .value 
that is more highly 
prized by a great many 
otherwise good, reliable 
people, and that is the 
pleasure of catching 
them. Who does not 
enjoy a day off, with 
rod, and reel, and bait, 
to seek the habitat of 
the finny tribe! I say 
“who does not,” because 
they are more quickly 
counted than they “who do”; moreover, I do not think 
this disposition to go fishing needs any apology. 
Every one needs recreation of some sort, and what 
more invigorating, healthful exercise can one take 
than following a good trout stream all day, and if per¬ 
chance, he is fortunate enough to bring home his 
basket full of speckled beauties, so much the better; 
for no fish tastes quite so good to a hungry man as 
the ones he himself has caught. c. w. scarff. 
Vermont. 
R. N.-Y.—One difficulty about fish culture is that in 
many States the game laws are all in the interests of 
the so-called “sportsmen.” The farmer who attempts 
to try his hand at breeding a few fish, finds himself 
hedged in by a lot of laws and regulations which ac¬ 
tually seek to prevent him from using the water of 
the stream which passes through nis land. The plan 
described by Mr. Scarff might squeeze him inside the 
law, but it will be a tight squeeze if the “sportsmen” 
have their way. 
THE GROUNDS OF THE VERMONT STATE FISH HATCHERY. Fig. 243. 
