The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-08-15

ocean, our sounds, or large rivers, are in the
way Of seeing SO many tons of fish brought
up from the great deep, the supply appear
ing under all circumstances to be 20 great
and equal to any kind of demand that NAV
arlse-that they take little interest in fish
raising. But accomplished deeds now prove
beyond all doubt, the practicability Of re-
stocking Albemarle or Pamlico Sounds and
our largest rivers with any variety of fish
that should become scarce or even disappear
altogether. 1t there was not q bass or shad
or herring now swimming in our waters, it
is no longer doubtful question each vari-
ETY., at little trouble and expense, could be
again produced in as large numbers as ever.
And In the up country by a simple and easy
construction of carth-wOrks, on small streams
not expensive nor arduous, every one can
| raise so many of our superior fresh water
fishes, as would feed dense population on
fish alone, if it was at all necessary. The
Megastom, the Pickerel, perch of several va
rieties, and where clear water can be obtain
ed, the Brook-trout (salmo .tontinalis) the
best Of fresh water fishes, can all be grown in
the greatest abundance, and at comparative
ly but little cost and trouble. The science
of pisciculture is practical and important
science, and serves to diffuse information in
regard to the manner and easy mode in
which fish may be propagated in artificial
lakes, mill-ponds, and particularly in our
rivers and large streams, that Of lateyears more
| than ever, have been used as motive
power for manufacturing purposes. We
| publish the following article from the New
York Journal Of Commerce bearing on this
| interesting subject:
"Facts elected by scientific observation
are valuable in directing the action of legis-
lators, and already much has been accomp-
lished toward replenishing rivers once noted
for their abundant yield of choice Species
| Salmon have returned to the Kennebec. The
shad fisheries of the Connecticut were never
| more productive. No doubt the removal of
Instructions. and in some instances the build
| ing of artificial run-ways for fish, enabling
them to pass the dams with greater facility,
has increased the annual deposit of spawn.
| Several States have also enacted laws, with
severe penalties attached, designed to. pre-
serve fish from extinction. In England and
France, countries less favored in the extent
of their coast, and with rivers adapted to the
propagation of fish, the science of piscicul-
ture has attained to large practical develop
ment. In France there are fish-breeding es-
adjustments of some kind on almost every
river. Early in the present month there was
an exposition of fisheries at Arcachon,
which brought crowds of visitors from Paris,
and representatives from Scandinavia, New
foundland, Holland, Russia, &C., who united
with the civic and military authorities in
public ceremonies, under the direction of the
Scientific Society of Arcachon. Later in the
month another similar exhibition would
take place at Boulogne. Fish and oysters
were fancifully arranged in tanks, and some
| of the compartments of the aquarium =" as
sumed a lively appearance" A large collec-
ton of bottled fishes, most of them the product
| of the artificial spawning system, were among
the specialties Some of these fishes, we are
told, had grown at a wonderful rate There
was trout, for instance, from an egg obtain
ed at Huningue, in 1860, which must have
weighed fourteen pounds, and there were
Others which had grown with almost equal
rapidity. Then there was drawing of one
of the departments of Huningue (the central
piscicultural laboratory accompanied by
large collection of eggs and infant fish. illus
trating the different stages of incubation and
subsequent growth. In his description of
this novel entertainment, the writer says:
1--WE have the new-laid egg of salmon
for instance, then the egg few days older,
but with no sign of life in it then again we
see the egg with thread or two of its future
anatomy. just beginning to appear; next We
| have specimens with the eyes formed, and
with the animal correspondingly advanced,
and we go on till we find the little animal
bursting from its fragile prison and ready to
begin life in earnest Then, in various ranges
OF bottles. we see the fish developing itself
almost, so to speak, from day to-day, till it
begins to be food product.'D
The French plan of collecting eggs in
central depot, and thus dealing them out to
| he Matched elsewhere (under the direction of
local fish-brceding societies, now very num-
erous,l has proved highly successful. the sup
plies of food sometimes being abundant from
streams that were fshless In England and
| Scotland each river breeds and protects its
| own fish. as at Stormonttield, on the Tay,
where ponds are leased, yielding large
revenue. The oyster-beds of France consti-
tute another department of pisciculture, the
common method being to lay tiles to receive
the spat, where there is no natural bottom of
old shells; but the young molluses gather so
thickly as to check the growth. The Empe-
ror's beds, at Arcachon, are said to contain
no less than 5O,O00,O0O healthy oysters, all
quite young, however. The eel fisheries of
Adriatic, some of which are said to be the
personal property of the Pope, afford Gu
rious subject for inquiry; but since in Pro-
testant countries, like America, fish are less
essential as an article of food, and as enor-
nous quantities are easily obtained along the
seaboard, it is not probable the system of
artificial culture will be introduced here very
soon to any important extent"