The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1874-03-28
From Wednesdays Daily Hefnld.l
SCAR ASD BUFFAEO."
WAY NOT giiIize the Small E.akes iii
Dallas County :.--SOmcising AbOu:
fish Culture.

VII, NOT giiIize the Small lakes in
Dallas County :..-Sonaihimg About
fish Culture.
The cry of the fish vcnder is occa-
sionally heard upon our streets. No
interrogatory, however, concerning
the kind offered is ever addressed to
to him, for the invarable response,
"Cat and Buffalo," is anticipated with
his first cry.
Why is not the bass, the trout, the
perch, and other varieties offered as
well, and that, too, at figures within
the reach of all? The answer that the
scarcity of the variety Offered, and
freight rates, and i'll packing incident
to sale, of the kinds inquired for, will
always make fresh fish an expensive
luxury in Dallas, is only partially true;
for, happily, fish culture is one of the
redscovcrcd arts, and makes the
stocking Of the lakes in the county
easy.
And why should not our lakes
streams and ponds be made productive,
and forced to yield our people this
food nj once wholesome, appetizing
and cheap?
The important discovery is an old
one, that fish readily adapt themselves
to new localities that they may be in
troduced in entirely new waters, was
known to the Romans; that salt water
fish may be bred and brought to perfec-
ton in fresh water, the Chinese have
long since established; that the 0va,
properly packed, may be transportedto
great distances, is no longer questioned,
and other vital matters pertaining to
fish culture are no longer dependent on
experiments to found the fact or e8tab-
fish the methods.
Deserted streams in Europe and the
! United States have not only been re-
stocked with Ova from remote rivers,
but fish of different kinds are intro
tllced in sections where they never
bred virtually. pickcrel, it is well
known, have been put into ponds in
western massachusetts, pike from the
northern lakes have been brought to
Connecticut, and choice foreign fish
have been,an are almost yearly being.
imported and successfully reared in the
United States.
Fish farming is no longer "nercly
an experiment" butan established and
paying industry. The choicest varie-
ties, artiiicially bred, are bought and
sold daily in the markets of Europe and
some of the eastern commemorative
in our common country. The lakes,
almost adjacent to the city, now de-
p!eted of fish, of the better varieties,
and Improbable waters, could, at a
small cost, be made most remunera-
tive and paying resorts the greater
part of the year.
The methods of artificial breeding
are the same in all properly conducted
establishments. The purpose of the pis-
ciculturist is to initiate and assist na-
ture. In natural spawning, the female
ascends the stream, digs down into the
gravel or sand and deposits her eggs
the male following goes over the eggs
to milt, or impregnate them, and the
milt and spawn are deposited at the
same time and then the female re-
turns and covers the eggs, and they
are left to become the prey of other
fish, fowl, reptiles, or perchance to
hatch. The office of the fish-farmer is
simply to secure the eggs, see that they
are impre gnated, watch their Matching,
protect the young fish from natural
enemies and their unnatural fathers,
breed and bring them to maturity.
There is nothing elaborate or intricate
in the opertion.
The essentials for fish farm are
clear water, apartments for fish of diff
ferent ages, and Matching house usu-
ally forty feet by twenty. The neces-
sary implements are bucket, tin
pans, ladle, small net, a syringe for
feeding, nippers and syphon to re-
move dead ova. A stove to warm the
house, and troughs divided into boxes
| for the more convenient distribution of
of the eggs, and when the eggs are
Matched, the young fish. This COM
pletes the establishment.
The total absence of the finer varie-
ties of fish, in the lake in question,
would necessitate the importation of
impregnated ova or young fish. hence
the method of securing the eggs and
milt, though interesting as well as
curious, need not here be described.
Impregnated ova can be ordered and
had at any of the numerous establish
ments i'm the eastern and middle
states.
The fecundity of fish is astonishing.
Trout, according to age, will yield from
two hundred to four thousand eggs;
the average annual yield of salmon,
is estimated at ten thousand eggs; |
shad, according to size, yield from fifty |
thousand TO one hundred thousand |
eggs, and the perch, bar-fish, bass and
fish usually found in southern streams,
yield from twenty to thirty thousand |
eggs. The work of the fish farmer is
to preserve this spawn, TO make it pro-
ductive, and SO to supply unlimited
quantities of the best kinds of fish for
market.
In conclusion, let us add, that It is
fully established fact that fish culture
pays. Apart from the remunerative
business of the large establishments, /