The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-16 00:00:00

ARTIFICIAL BREEDING OF FISH.

A public meeting of members and other gentle
men interested in the process of pisciculture, now

cazied on by the Thames Angling Preservation
Society, at LTamPton, for the purpose of stocking
the river with salmo;.'; trout, and grayling, was
held at the Freemason's Tavern.; yesterday, to con-
sider the progress of their operations.
Mr. HANNAN was unanimously called to the chair,
and said that the meeting had been convened for
the purpose of communicating to them the result
of the efforts of the Thames Angling Preservation
Society. A meeting had been held on the 13th of
March, 1861, when it was resolved that an attempt
should be made to breed and preserve fish. A com-
mittee was accordingly nominated, and they ap-
pointed a sub-committee to carry out the wishes of
the members. The attempts to breed fish from the
ova had been successful in nearly all instances, and
where they had failed it was from no fault of their
own, but was attributable to other causes. With
trout, salmon, and grayling the sub-committee had
been very successful, and they had prepared a re-
port to the committee, which that body had
adopted, and it would now be read to the meeting.
Without going into particulars, he would state that
Mr. Ponder had given his unceasing attention to
the breeding of those fish, and they were all deeply
indebted to him for the benefit they had derived
from his services and experience. The funds for
this purpose had all been spent, and it would be
for the meeting to decide whether the operations of
the sub-committee should continue.

Mr. Ponder then read the report of the sub-com-
mittee, which, after some preliminary remarks,
stated that, in preparation for the coming trout sea-
son, two sets of apparatus had been completed for
use by the 15th Nov., 1861, one set being placed
in the open meadow and supplied with spring
water, the other set being erected under cover in a
green-house and supplied with water from the
Longford River. On the Ist of January, 1862,
the first trout ova were taken, the last on the 22d
February, the total quantity being about 37,000.
Of these 17,000 were placed in the meadow, and
20,000 under cover. The hatching commenced on
the 4th of March, and occurred at intervals of from
50 to 60 or more days from the impregnation of the
ova. At the present date the hatching process was
completed excepting only the last parcel, which was
taken the 22d of February. After careful compu-
tation they considered that the number of fish
hatched were about 90 per cent. of the ova deposited,
and after making reasonable allowance for losses
during rearing time that they would be able in the
course of the season to turn 30,000 young trout into
the Thames. The trout ova were obtained from the
rivers Teste and Bourne, in Hampshire, the Colne
in Herts, and the Wandle in Surrey. Of salmon
they had received 1,500 ova from Galway, and 2,000
from Clitheroe ; the former they did not succeed in
hatching, being in their opinion not fecundated;
the latter were hatched, but being at present under
the gravel the result was unknown to them. They
had received from the French Government at
Huninque, boxes of various ova packed in damp
moss, generally more or less in bad condition, the
results of which had been regulated by that con-
dition. The ova were from Rhine salmon trout,

common trout, and char. Of the salmon, 2,800 ova
being in good order, 2,665 were hatched; whereas
the others, being in bad condition, not more than
one-third were hatched. It was the intention of
the sub-committee to distribute the fish fairly at
suitable places in the river Thames, within the con-
trol and management of the society, but at present
that could not be done, owing to the flooded state

of the river. In offering these results they trusted
they might be considered successful and satisfac-
tory to the society and others interested in pisci-
'

culture. If desirable, they considered that without I
difficulty or great expense, 100,000 trout might be I
hatched and reared annually for the Thames,which
river, although for many reasons unsuited for
breeding, yet supplied suitable food in abundance,
and combined all the requisite conditions for
healthy development, as shown by the great
weight and excellent quality of the Thames trout.
The young fish grow rapidly ; and should pisci-
culture be carried on with spirit the Thames would
shortly be well stocked with that fish, so highly
valued by the angler and approved for the table.
It was with great pleasure they recorded their obli-
gations and thanks to Martin Tucker Smith, Esq.,
M.P., the Earl of Portsmouth, Lord Malden,
Samuel Gurner, Esq., M.P., the Messrs. Ashworth,
and Thomas Garnett, Esq., for the permission and
facilities they afforded to the sub-committee in ob-
taining the ova from salmon and trout ; and also to
Francis Francis, Esq., for whose influence and
assistance in procuring ova they were greatly in-
debted. Their attention was now directed to gray-
ling, and preparation was made for obtaining
the spawn in the course of the present month.
They had received ample •permission and offers to
co-operate with or assist them from all to whom
they had applied, and they trusted therefore to
succeed in procuring a good supply of ova, and if
as successful as with the trout they might in
the course of the present season store the
Thames with many thousands of that desirable
fish. The account current to the date of the
report being the close of the trout seasons was an-
nexed, from which it would be seen that the pro-
cess of pisciculture was not in itself expensive, and
probably but few objects with such important and
valuable results could be obtained at such moderate
cost. But they must observe that as the river
Thames became stocked with valuable fish the
greater would be the temptation to poaching,
which must be guarded against by having addi-
tional effective river keepers—that, of course, in-
volving considerable expense. That was the report
he and his colleagues had to lay before the meeting,
and he hoped they would approve of it. One ob-
ject they had in view was to register some of the
details of their operations, which were of great in-
terest
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attempt at pisciculture. The results of those at-
tempts need be bounded only by their desires, for
they could be multiplied to any extent. Mr. Ponder
then went to show how it could be done, and gave
a most interesting and elaborate description of
the apparatus, and the mode of hatching the ova,
and was listened to with the greatest attention. He
concluded by delicately hinting that, small as the
expenses were to carry on those operations, still
money was required to keep the wheels moving.
(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN read the cash statement. from
which it appeared that the receipts were £37 65.,
and the expenses £57 55., so that they were £2O
out of pocket, which Mr. Farnell, their hon. secre-
tary, had advanced.
Captain Buckland, of the 2d Life Guards, highly
eulogised the conduct and services of Mr. Ponder,
and for the satisfaction of the meeting produced
samples of all the fish they had hatched. (These
little things m ere examined with the greatest in-
terth
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ought to be done, and that was to stock the Thames
with salmon. (Hear, hear.) He believed if they
were supported they would be able to produce that
fish at the rate of £1 per 1,000.
On the motion of Mr. BoRN, seconded by Mr.
BIRD, a resolution to the effect that the report hav-
ing been considered, that meeting decide that the
breeding of fish be continued, Was carried unani-
mously.
Dr. GUNTER advised them to turn their attention
to trout, but to give up the idea that they would
motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by
ever again bring back salmon to River Thames.
a vote of thanks was given to Mr.
mro.nwthoetyp,
Ponder for his services.
On the motion of Captain BUCKLAND, seconded
by Mr. BoIiN, a vote of thanks was passed to those
who
chairman bad given the ova, and similar complimentito
closed the proceedings.
the
£3O Is. was subscribed towards the future ex-
penses of the sub-committee.

Mr. R. A. Bentham, for 22 years it the London
Joint Stock Bank, has been appointed manager of the new
Imperial Back,