Middletown transcript., 1871-06-24
PROPAGATION or FIsu-Is suAD CUL-
TCnE SUCCESSFUL,

We take the following interesting ar,i-
Gle from the Rochester q r. Daily Uni.
on and Advertiser of june lOth
About four years ago the first move
men, WIS made To demonstrate in pub
lie way tha, the fishes in the great rivers
could be assisted IN propagation ani ,Lcir
numbers be immensely multiplied by the
artificial process Seth Green had picvi.
ously been engaged in the cultivation of
brook trout with more Of less successful
results. lie had turned his attention to
shld aud insisted that with n small outlay
of time aud money these excellent fishes
ceuld be produced in such quantities as to
glut the market and make shad the cheap
food for the poor To demonstrate this it
became necessary TO iud suitable place
where the work coull bc done under the
protection Of law, aud some pccnniary aid
from the public could be obtained Mas
sachusetts and Connecticut were induced
to lend their aid in joint effort 10 stock
the Connecticut Mr. Green made libcr-
al proposal TO the Commissioners of these
States aud wet; 20 the dam n, llolyokc,
the head waters of the Connecticut, for
,had. and there began his work under
great disadvantages. including ihe opposi-
tinn Of iht ignorant fishermen aul rccciv-
ed but little cnuntenance from the public
# the locality generally. lie sought 10
demonstrate the truth Of his theories and
was willing 10 make almost any sacrifice
to do this He had declared his firm be-
lief that the shal hatehcd in a particular
river would annually return 10 that river
aud wen, resort 10 10 other. and that
by Artificial propagation ninety per cent
Of lhc spawn would be productive while
10y the natural mnihol not live per cent
were hatchcd The correctness of his pp.
'i;iou ha. been demonstrated beyond III
doubt How tbs has been done ie, the
tummis.,oEor- .f the State # Connecticut
tell In their report to The Legislature
the following
In thc month af july. 1867. Nr S.th
Green. Of Numf,rl. y Y. uuicr the Joint
patyonrg" # ih Massachusetts, and Goa.
ncciicu, Commissioners. made tn first cx-
pcriments in tue artificial propagation q
,hai il ,hr Cnnn -'ieu River slor,
.lis'auce below lla!y1kr pam Mr.
Hre,m' ,iil! aal iarge tSpeteuce in tn
culture II li.h especially fitted him tpr the
work Ills ,irs' llempl resulted in hatch-
ju- tWa fer c.ut II thu uyl ila second
a'imf, wi'h improve. attaae mruts.
ls'Hsi8 80 rvgntY pr cont q the oya
III, ti4d r.'r' secured ujufs n.nr per
r'h, SUI IN three wtel, b. PIT iutn ihe
CuA#H5isai hivat abont forty mIlipu- uf
yoene tgl " tlis inc nothing wa.
reai', kHaNn about the growth oi lht shad
there W. great difference Of opinion 4.
AMONG ii.hcrueu aal nnturli.ts; some rs.
serted thai It reached maturity, ar market.
able 81 il one year; others that It
took from two to five years IT, better
opinion -esinrl te h. not lr-s lh4n three
nor NOR than i've years aud Ills was
partially earrohoried rs the Investigation,
&c Mr. u : 1rraf ii Easiiar#l. which
showed that alcwiyes. which are clusrly
allied u had. taiy four years 10 mature
II was also currnhnrntpd hy the limeof tl.t
disappearance Of shli afr.r the building
# daws In the Full Of ls67. more
young ,had were ols.r9cl :, various
places along the the ri.ss from Glaston.
lGry - IL mJatil on their way to the
Sound, than lna been noticed f.f several
year. The irpy .ta.ds on ih, rigcr re-
ryalcdly .eoored llgm NJ on tie. aprons.
while many were eansh, by the fishermen
IN th If iin,.lArs shed nets,
4" the following simmer, June 20
lNGs, Nr Green repeated hi, experiments
ia the hairlas of .aai a, llalleke. under
the directions OF lhe Massachusetts, Com-
missioners. ana for about twenty days had
complete success H. turned out sever.
Al millions = Of young fry daily On the
l2,h Of July, the weather became so cx.
trcmels hot that the temperature of the
water ranged from 81 10 IS degrees, and
the spawn was spoiled il the haiching
boxes II is estimated that sixty million.
Of ycuue s''ad were pat into the connec.
ticut that year
During The sane year attempts were
malc by the Connecticut Commissioners
to hatch shad ut Bra.kyay's Point. but it
was the sih Of July before the osa were
placed in the boxes. and the cxt.g;uc heat
of the weather destroyed them
No attempts were made to hatch shaa
IN ir-n. the Commissioners deeniing it
prndct, IL avail, the results Of til cxpcr-
imcn,s If | ls6T and lsGS. before inrnrrinr
further expenses The great increase Of
Young .hai seen in 1866, as in 1865,
confirmed the belief that they would ma
iurc in due time aud an abundance Of
mcrchen,atlc shad would appear by the
year 1871 Mt the fhthrrcst
10 the surprise and delight of our peo-
pie, however, they appeared in unusually
great numbers in 500 Such run of
shai had no, bcon seen in twenty years.
On Sunday, the AID of May, they appear
ed in the Sound il vast numbers; captains
Of vessels sailing through the Sound, re-
ported immense shoals of them near the
surfacc of the water. all making for the
mouth Of the Connecticut River On
Monday morning. the 23d, over 2s, 900
shad. Of good size were taken from the