New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-02-19
FISH CULTURE.
incentive.


ture and care Of fish in the interior waters OF
the State, and she has appointed Commission
ers who make annual reports; but it seems
that boys and sportsmcn generally do not SUM-
GENTLY realize that there is property i'll fish.
man may own pond of pure fresh water, OF
greater or less extent, which is covered by the
deed of the farm on which it lies, and yet, not
withstanding recent enactments whatever nsh
an idler NAV be able 10 catch belong to him.
The Commissioners reasonably inquire why, IL
ones horses and cattle are induced to come up
and be caught. they also should not, through
this means, become the property OF another; or
equally so, should they be found straylng
along roads or upon uninclosed grounds. III
is manifest that before fish culture can become
established, the yagrant ideas held by vagrant,
rural fishermen must give place to clearer
apprehension that fish are as much property as
| nocks and herds and nothing will contribute
more to this end than few prosecutions, III
| various parts of the State, followed by the
| proper verdicts and the necessary sequence Oh
| execution.
| IL NAV seem hard to come in on old customs
in this manner, but the truth is, and it is by
| no means new one, that those who have
in the country streams are, as a general thing,
| expert in no other pursuit, and 1t is noted that
| they who arc LATEST, who live poorest at
home, and who would prefer whisky to any
other beverage, are Oftenest seen coming home
at evening with long strings of fish. Their
art simply lies in persistent laziness, by which
| means they drain our streams, in which fish
already have become scarce, and they prevent
the Restocking of streams, that there may be
! abundance and an opportunity for taking them
within reasonable time. IL is true that there
is another class of fshermen-that is, gentle
| men or spOrsmcn, who fish as pastlme and
! recreation, and with whom the fish they take
| are of far less Importance than the excitement
| arising from the exercise of skill. AS these
| gentlemen have leisure, and would not be
| thought TO be without money, sport may not
! he denied them in localities where no damage
can be done, and on the condition that they
pay whatever may be just in the case for the
pliviegc. Indiscriminatc fishing, and which is
pursued without other regard than to destroy
| life, can have only debasing tendencies, and it
| is not at all improbable that the practice often
prepares the way for the commission of crime.
The light in which the business OF fish oui-
| turo is now viewed is solely with reference to
| the supply of fish rs food. That our streams
nay be re-stocked, it is absolutely necessary
| that spawn shall be deposited where the young
can he Matched and preserved, or at least that
n sufficient time shall eapse for the propaga-
ton and growth of those varieties which have
not yet been eXtermnatcd. To effect this the
economic processes by which wealth Is accumu-
lated. and provision made for future wants.
must become established, and the wasteful,
reckless habit corresponding to the IMPROVE
dcnce of the dissolutc and poor, must be
abandoned.
OF the profit of breeding and growing fish
! the Commissioners above referred TO state that
| the curd of the skim milk of a good COW 10
amply sufficient for the production of 5QOpounds
| of trout This will be worth, in any market,
| twice the same number of pounds of pork, but
| the food mentioned would not produce more
| than one-quarter as much pork. Aside from
this exhibit of profit, which cannot be much
| below the truth the value of fish, and III par
ticular of the hard and sweet varieties OF flesh,
| such as i'm trout and shad, is of still greater
importance, for it furnishes in the phosphorus
| the clements of brain food, now become
an absolute necessity in the advanced
intellectual development of our people.
The truth is, and it is only becom-
ing to be appreciated, that social and intel
lectual progress are based upon varied and
abundant supplies of food, and it may be stated
as n law that there will never be any
high civilization where the diet Of a people
is limited to n few kinds of staple food, no
matter how favorable these may be for estab-
fishing what is called condition free from
disease. From this it is evident that the rice
diet of the people of Eastern Asia, and the
limited elements contained in the acrid food of
the people of the tropics, will not permit any
Of these nations to rise above the barbaric.
81, In, f,,1l tha n