New-York tribune., 1873-02-06
AMERICAN SALMON.
STOCKING OUR RIvERs AND LAKES.
PROSPECT or AN ABUNDANCE or THIS DELI,



mon during the proper season of the year. to such
an extent that apprentices, paupers in workhouses
and others objected to being fed with them moro
than three times a week. From the st. Croix 10 the
Connecticut inclusive, the seaboard, the num-
bers of salmon very great, and they were bat
little less common in the lakes just mentioned AT
the present time the is very different the only
United States waters where salmon occur being
few streams in Maine. The causes Of their partial
determination TO be found in the erection OF I'M
passable dams which cut them of from access 10
their spawning-beds; in the discharge OF sawduss
into the streams by which their eggs, when laid.
are covered up ia indiscrminate capture at i'm
proper times, &c.
Similar experience abroad as TO the reduction in
numbers of this valuable fish, and the desire to
restore it TO its original abundance, especially IN
view of ts commercial and economical value, led TO
experiments for its restoration, and with such sue
cess as greatly to stimulate effort thfoughout
Europe More recently the subject has attracted
attention in this country and for some years past
the Fish Commissioners Of all the New-Engiand
States have been earnest in their endeayors 70
| renew the supply. Their first efforts directed
to the gathering Of eggs in the rivers OF New-Bruns
wick and were not very successful They then
applied to the authorities of tho Canadian Salmon
Breeding Establishment, at Newcastle, not far from
Toronto, and succeeded in procuring few thou
sands at q of $40 per thousand in gold. pHcs
which prevented their securing large supply, or
one sufficient to make satisfactory experiment.
As may be readily imagined, the young salmon
when hatched and placed in the water are liable TO
be deyOured be their fellow inhabitants, and 1T s
only after these have taken their toll that surplus
can be counted For this reason, the larger tho
number introduced at one time, the better the
chance of success.
Limited az above mentioned, IN their efforts 10
obtain sufficient supply of eggs for their purposes.
the State Commissioners and the leading piScicul
tursts of the country, at annual meeting Of
Society established by them, determined to ask
Congress for aid in accomplishing their object
Their appeal was met by an appropriation during
the session of l871-72, the dsbursal of which was
placed in charge of Prof Spencer /. Baird OF the
Smithsonian Institution, and at the time United
States Commi ssioner of Fish and Fisheries. Aitef
consultation with gentlemen interested, and realz-
ing the Importance of leaving no effort untred to
accomplish the object, the Commissioner deter
mined upon three methods looking toward
this end excluding at the time any
idea of dependence upon the Canadian Gov
eminent with its exOrbitant charges. The
first method was found in plan devised by Mr.
Charles G.. Atkins, formerly Fish Commissioner OK
Maine and practiced by him with much success IN
1871. This consisted in securing the living hsh
principally by purchase at the weirs and pounds
from the period of their first entrance into the
PenObscot River, in Spring, and transferring them
TO fresh water pond near Bucksport, Name, unth
their spawning season should arrive. About 0OO hsh
of both sexes were thus secured, and the eggs
stripped from the females when ripe about the end OF
OCTOBER ana fertilized by the milt of the male. the
total Weld being about million and half of eggs
Half the expense of this experiment was borne by
the United States and the other half BY the States
of Maine, Massachusetts,, Connecticut and Rbode
Island. 1t has been distinguished sue
cess, and will, we hope, be repeated on
a larger scale during the coming season.
The next source OF supply suggested was tho
Sacramento River, the salmon of which, though OK
different species from that of the Atlantic waters
is equally good and has the advantage of thriving
in much warmer water and thus of being fitted for
introduction into such States as Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, aud possibly the Mississippi
Valley To turn this opportunity to practical ac-
count Mr.. Livingston Stone well-known plscicul-
turist was sent the Sacramento River and erected
a hatching-house on the McCloud River, one of the
tributaries. Mised by the information furnished AZ
to the spawning of this fish, Mr. Stone arrived
on the ground little too late for the full realization
of his purposes. and succeeded in obtaining Onlya
few eggs. These were sent East and hatched out
at the establishment of Dr. Slack, at Bloomsbury.
VI
now awaiting the period of their transfer TO the Sus-
quehanDa River, their ultimate destination. They
prove to be very hardy. and there will be no
difficulty in greatly increasing the number another
season.
These two efforts not promising sufiicency. Prof.
Baird directed his efforts toward obtaining a supply
from Germany, and on application to the DeatSchS
Fscherei Verein, informed that the German Gov
ernment would give orders to the Director of the
National Establishment at Hiningen on the Rhine
to reserve at the proper season 100000 eggs as
present TO the United States. To supplement this
generous act and to make sure of ample supply.
an additional 500 900 ordered from Mr. Schuster.
Burgomester of Freiburg. at the low rate of 81 per
lOOO-a considerable difference from the Canadian
$40 These eggs were duly packed up by the middle
of January last and delivered TO hr. Rudolf Hesse,
an experienced fsh-breeder of Offcnburg Ba-
den, who sailed with them on board the Bre-
men steamer Weser which left for New-York on
the lSth arriving on Tuesday. the 4th of February.
BY the courtesy of the officers of the ship who
rendered every facility in their power. the boxes
containing the eggs were placed in a small house
deck where they could be readily attended to by Mr.
Hesse They filed 60 boxes, occupying about seven
tuns of measurement. The unprecedentodly warm
weather which prevailed in Germany during the last
of 1872 and prior 70 the sailing of the Weser was
very unfavorable to the of the experiment.
"a il hurried forward the Matching Of the eggs and
| rendered them much moro delicate than usual. IL
was, therefore, not surprising to find on unpack-
ing them, that q considerable number OF the
eggs had spoiled, though it is hoped that
the majority will be saved. As soon as tho
vessel arrived, the eggs tTanshipped to the fish
Matching establishment of Dr. Slack, where they arc
now undergoing the necessary treatment. whatsoever