The Republican journal., 1873-06-05
Fish FARMING.

| OF the earnest search OF mankind after
more abundant and cheap sources of food
| is found in the artificial or protected
| Matching Of tish-a result obtained main
| " through the persevering efforts of a
| few earnest and patient men. The great
advantage and gain Of protecting the i'm
mense fecundity of migratory fishes at the
Matching places, then turning them loose
to grow and fatten in the pastures of the
boundless sea, with certainty that thew
will return to the nets of the locality from
whence they started, must commend itself
to the minds Of even the most obtuse in
economical matters. While the rearing
OF sea fish cannot from its nature be an
individual enterprise, there is scarcely any
direction in which the money of govern
ment can be expended with better results
to the whole people The rearing of trout,
pickerel, bass, and nearly all the fresh
water fish may be undertaken by persons
having the facilities, and is not only
profitable but an exceedingly pleasant
recreation for those needing some relaxa-
ton from business and professional labor.
Those who are in a position to know. de-
clare that no crop which is put in the
ground yields returns 50 large rs the time
and money employed in raising fish, and
we expect to see the time when well
stocked fish pond will be one of the sources
Of profit in every large farm
We have heretofore riven the history
of salmon propagation on the Penobscot,
under the intelligent direction Of Mr. At
kins-a labor which it is confidently be-
lieved will, at the proper time, give
largely increased production to the fishery
in that river Besides the local increase
of the fisheries on the Atlantic coast,
which has resulted wherever the propaga-
ton of fishes has been undertaken, an
advantageous exchange Of impregnated
spawn has been going on all over the
world. European and American fishes
have been interchanged the Atlantic
salmon, which is superior to that of the
Pacific, has been transplanted to the lat
ter coast And New Zealand, which
never had the trout in its streams, has
successfully introduced that delicious fish
The most recent success in this country
is that Of Seth Green, the well known
professor of piscicuture, in introducing
shad into Lake Erie and its tributaries
Two years since Mr.. Green, in the way of
experiment. placed in the Genesee River
at the Lower Falls q quantity of shad
spawn Predictions were freely made
that the attempt to stock the river and
lake would be A failure. Last year per
sons using scoop nets in the river caught
a number Of young shad. and the event
was duly noticed Mr.. Green offered a
reward of fifty dollars for the first shad
weighing three pounds caught this season
III Lake Ontario or the Genesee \ few
days ago / fisherman in drawing his
seine found two shad among other fish
He did not report the fact, considering it
Of no Importance More recently some
fishermen in drawing scines in the lake
brought in five shad The largest measured
eleven inches in length. three nine inches
each
The announcement of the catching Of
the shad produced considerable excitement
among those interested, and the venerable
Seth when he saw the shad felt like exut-
ing.
The result of the experiments recently
instituted the on Pacific coast has Been
watched with great interest and the re-
cent jubilation at San Francisco over a
fifteen inch shad, the first captured in the
Sacramento, was fully warranted That
particular shad, which has now become
historical, was one grown from among
the little fellows deposited in the Sacra-
mento river by the State fishing commits
sioners last season, and the practicabilitv
OF supplying the tables of San Francisco
with this piscatorial luxury Of home pro
duction, is fully demonstrated.