Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-12-12
Washington Correspondence to the n. Y. Trib.
FISH-CULTURE,
Report of the United States Fish Conn
mission,

drawing up their annual report. III
following facts are a summary o
their years labors:
The place selected for their head
quarters the present year, was tn
pleasant little fishing village O
Noank, in Connecticut. Situated a
the end of Long Island Sound, an,
looking out on the Atlantic Ocean
minway between New London anC
Stonington, with a population prin
cipally engaged in fishing, it wa
well suited to the purposes of tht
Commission. To aid them in theil
labors the Secretary of the Navy
sent the small steamer-The Blue
Light, Capt. Beardslee, of Washing
ton Navy-Yard in command-witl
picked crew of eight or nine men
The chief work of the steamer wa,
to carry the party to the scene Of
their daily labors, and to do the
heavy work of dredging and trawl
ing. By this aid of steam, the
amount of work done in the season
was at least quadrupled. Including
the scientific gentlemen, their fami
hes, their assistants, the crew of the
Blue Light, and the numerous scien,
fists who were often visiting them,
about seventy persons were constant
ly assembled at NOank, studying
fishes, their food, their habits and
their habitats.
While investigating the question
concerning the food fishes of the At
lantic, great attention has been paid
to the food fishes of the lakes and
rivers. Under the direction of Prof.
Baird, Mr.. Livingston Stone has
been employed on the Macleod RiY-
er, a branch of the Sacramento, OBJ
tainng salmon eggs, of which he
has secured some 100000. The
salmon of the Macleod are very Wig
orous fish, growing rapidly and lar
ger than our Eastern salmon, weigh
ing 20 and 80, and occasionally so,
pounds. This species is especially
adapted to The warmer waters of the
country, and the eggs thus obtained
have been distributed in the head
waters of the Susquehanna, Potomac,
James, Delaware, and even the Mis-
isSippi. They come forward much
earlier than those from the colder
waters of New England and Cana
da, the ova being obtained in Au-
gust and September, and the young
fishes, fully Matched, intrusted to
their future homes in November and
December.
Of the 10000 eggs obtained by
Mr.. Stone, 1000, 900 were restored
to their native river, that the source
of supply might not be dried up;
the other 5000, 900 were distributed
in the Middle and Western States;
100000 were sent to Michigan, and
10000 to Utah. Half a million
were placed in the clearinghouse of
Mr.. Alexander Kent, of Baltimore, to
be distributed over Maryland and
Virginia, and another large amount
to a similar institution at Blooms
burg, n. J. Besides these salmon
gathered from Oregon and scattered
in the warmer waters of the country,
Mr.. Charles G. Adkins, of Bucksport,
Me-, on the Penobscot, has obtained
100000 eggs from that river. These
fishes, adapted to the streams of
New England and Northern New
York, are slower in coming to matu-
rity than the Western fish. They are
secured in October and November,
and placed in tie water in the fol-
lowing February and March. From
Maine and Oregon, therefore, 1900
salmon eggs have been this year
gathered and distributed in all the
rivers of the land that run to the
ocean.
But in addition to this, Prof.
Baird has succeeded in obtaining
eggs of the land-locked salmon of
Lake Sober, in Maine. This species
of salmon, though now fresh-water,
is supposed to have run up thither
from the ocean, but never to have
returned. They are a small fish
weighing from 3 to 8 pounds, but
very fine eating; 100000 of these
eggs have been secured and distrib-
uted among the rivers of New Eng
land and Michigan that run into
lakes.
The two principal sources of sup
ply of shad ova are at Castleton, n.
Y, on the Hudson, and Holyoke,
Mass, on the Connecticut; and at
these two places some 100000 OF
100000 eggs have been secured.
Salmon eggs are sent across the con-
tinent imbedded in moss; but shad
are so lively, being Matched in five or
six days after they are impregnated,
that they can only be distributed as
living fishes. Large cans, therefore,
are made, holding ten or twelve gal
Ions of water each, and in each can
are deposited 5000 or 10000 OF the
little fishes. These 100000 or g.
900, 900 shad have been distributed
over New England, New York,
Pennsylvania, Illinois. and as far
West as Iowa. The Southern States
have also received their quota-5O,-
600 having been for the first time
deposited in two streams in Texas;
so that in three years from this
time-it requires three years to
bring the shad to full maturity
the shad will be our national fish,
and will be caught in every stream
in the Union. Some of these shad
eggs have been deposited in the
tributaries of the Mississippi and of
the great lakes. But the latter is an
experiment, the shad hitherto hay-
ing always found his way to salt
water. But small shell-fisb, OF the
same species as the shad feeds upon
in the bottom of the ocean, having
been found in the depths OF the
great lakes. it has been determined
70 trv tho oxnerin1ent of both shad
and salmon for lakes:
Rnt if is no experiment to stock
rivers running to the sea with food
fahns Tn 1867 the ova of shad was
erst carried to the former Matching
niocos in the headwaters of the Con-
pocticut. During the three years
reouired for their growth, the Con-