Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-12-11
WHITEFIsH BREEDING.


The experiments Of Mr.. Nelson w. Clark,
OF Charleston, Mich, have resulted in prov
ing that this inhabitant of the deeper lakes
aud rivers can be successfully propagated ar
tiicialy. In 1869, he attempted to hatch
out $4,000 eggs, which are spawned in the
fall, and as near as can be ascertained, re.
main in shallow water around the margins
Of lakes, under the ice all winter. Mr..
Clarks experiment was tried with spring
water, as usual in Matching trouts eggs.
Out Of the whole lot he hatched only 800,
aud these soon died. The temperature Of
the Matching house was from 469 to 4S7
He became convinced that spring water
would not do for whitefsh. Their eggs natu-
rally hatch out in April succeeding the depo.
sition Of the spawn. He therefore fixed a
pond in which to place eggs, and which
could be allowed to freeze over and remain
so all winter, thus keeping the water so cool
that incubation would be more gradual. He
succeeded in Matching the greater number of
the eggs, but the young fish died when fed
with any food (arti6ciaD that he could pro.
cure. The next year he succeeded in hatch.
ing fifty per cent. of the spawn, about April
lst, four and a half months after taking tho
eggs. The young fry were Immediately put
into the Detroit river and into three small
lakes in Oakland county The next season
he took 100000 eggs, of which he Matched
66 per cent; 2l6,OOO eggs in a forward
state Of incubation were shipped successfully
to California.
Mr.. Clark is certain that he can succeed
every time if he can keep the water, in
which are the eggs, covered with ice until
April lst; and he is equally certain that
the eggs Of the salmon, salmon trout and
brook trout should be hatched in running
spring water Their eggs hatch about Feb
list, and the young have an umbilcal sac at
tached to them, from which they derive all
their sustenance for about fifty days I'm.
til this sac is absorbed they require no arti-
fetal food, and after feeding them few days
they can be turned out in pond to take
care of themselves. But the whitefsh when
first hatched have no yolk sac left, and for
some reason or other artificial food kills
them every time. They must therefore be
retarded from Matching until spring so that
they can be Immediately turned out.
None of the fish put into the lakes in Oak
land county in 1872 had been seen until
Nov. 18th Of last year, when they were
found in apparently countless numbers in
one of these lakes. A single boat load of
fishermen took 80 in an hour with spears
400 or 500 being taken a few days after
wards in the same place. These were all
whitefsh Of fair size for the table.
The Detroit Tribune, from which we gath.
er the above, says that Mr. Clark had in
December last over 100000 eggs in his
Matching boxes at Charleston, expecting to get
at least 100000 young fish therefrom.
Mr.. Clark is much to be commended for
his perseverance in his attempts to re-stock
our fresh water lakes with fish which is so
staple an article of commerce. The white.
fish (COregOnaS dl6nS) is one of the salmon
family, and is the principal fish caught for
export in the waters of Lake Erie, Detroit
River, and the straits at the lower ends of
Lakes Michigan and Superior Owing to
the constant demand for this fish, it has
been SO relentlessly hunted that the average
yearly catch has fallen off nearly one-half.
1t is to be hoped that Mr.. Clark's success
may induce the general artificial propaga-
tion of one Of our great sources of animal
food