The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-09-09
The Future Of Fish Raising.

lillcu W supply bulHSlSHo "lil, I"iu vi
meat, The same is substantially true
# birds. Among savages the plants,
animals, and birds are ike themselves,
Ill wild. As the men become civilized
and come TO live in towns aud cities the
spontaneous growth Of plants and the
natural mere ,se Of the animals and
birds arc not sufficient TO supply the
d,maHd. There is then need Of farm
crs, stock rasers, and poultry flnciors,
Fish were the last things to be domeB,
| ticated and the reason is obvious. The
area Of water as compared with that Of
the land is very large. The number Of
fish is greatly i'll excess OF that
Of animals or birds, and ii takes
longer to extcrminate or greatly reduce
| them. HcLc1 the need Of doing any
thing to protect or multiply fish is post.
poncd longer than in the case Of ami
mails or birds. AS population grows
dense, however, in any country there
comes necessity for protecting fish,
and for increasing their Numbers. Thie
period arrived centuries ago in China,
and fish feeding there has been engaged
10 many centuries.
England, though surrounded by seas
aud filled with lakes aud rivers all cor
tanning fish, found it necessary long ago
10 prevent the catching Of them at
certain periods Of the year. More re-
Gently it has been found necdfnl to
adopt more stringent measures to pre-
vent the wanton destruction Of fish,
and to ensure their increase. Within
the past few years the artificial propa.
cation of fish, the stocking of lakes ana
rivers, and of private ponds, have re-
ceived great attention at the hands OF
the governments and of individuals.
Fish. breeding in Great Britain to-day
ranks among the great industries, and
it shows better than almost anything
else tie high civilization Of the people.
In this country the population has
been comparatively small, while our
food products have been very large.
Tho inland parts were well SUPP lied
with fish while the coast fisheries became
famous almost rs soon rs the country
was discovered. Such being the fact 1t Is
not strange that the fish were very plenty
for long time. Years ago, however,
certain much-prized varieties began to
crow very scarce. This was especially
true of the salmon, trout, and shad.
The last, which was fish OF commerce,
almost disappeared from the market.
Salmon was too expensive a luxury t.
be eaten by any but the rich. As t(
brook trout they were only to be fonnc
in streams remote from settlements.
Daring the past five years fish. breod
ing has made rapid advance III TIM
couLtry. Eighteen states nov have iisl
commissioners Last year the commits
sionors of New York turned loost
3 600 600 shad into the Hudson river
In the Connecticut river as many a
90, 600, coo young shad have been lie
loose within few years. In conse
nuence of this shad have fallen in price
in some places from S25 per hundred tt
S3. In one instance 1850 fish were
taken at single haul on the Conncctl'
cut river This was SO IN spite of the
fact that the shad fisheries had almost
run down to nothing.
In the meantime private tish-hatche-
ries have multiplied very fast in the
northwestern and Pacific states. As
they were generally owned by persons
who constructed them quite as much
for pleasure as for profit, they generally
turned ont fancy fish, such rs trout
salmon, and grayiing. At present these
private fish breeding establishments arr
very profitable, as poGrl" who buy tn
eggs or small fry Of salmon, trout, o
grayling, expect to pay roundly TO
them. There is also quite a deman
for large trout to put i'll tanks in orni
mental pleasure grounds. There are
plenty of persons who are Wiling 1
pay a dollar pound for the trout til
catch in private waters.
As soon rs it is demonstrated thu
there is as much, or more, money
ralsing fish as in raising beef, porl
or mutton, farmers will not hesitate
engage in fsh.farming. 1t is rare t
find n d ,rson who does not have thst
for catching fish, and a taste Tor eatin
them after they are caught and cooked
MANY persons take kindly to breeding
fish. and would not exchange work III
fish hatchery for work elsewhere. Th
labor is light, and the occupation pleas
ant. 1t is moreover singularly adapte'
TO persons who are not able to do heav
field labor.
II requires as little knowledge
enpsrc in the business Of fish Dreedin
as IN any branch of farming. Thel
are several works on the subject thi
, are cheap, plain, and comprehensiv
One can learn to be II good fish farmt
. by the study Of books. In no yei
! distant future there will be sufiiclel
J patronage for fsh.breeding establisl
ment in every county in the west.
, present every town of five thousan
, inhabitants remote from a fishery SUI
, nlied by nature, would give suiliclel
+ support to fish pond owned by an i
q diyidual and stocked artiticially.
In time we believe the great maiori
: Of farmers who have supply of wat
7 will raise fish. To do this it will II
D be necessary for them to have hatchir
, houses, though they are cheaply ma
and managed, as they eau obtain SIN
: fish at hatcheries at slight cost. f
= things would add more to the value
G a farm than well.stocked fish po
). Nothing would make farm life m
. moro enjoyable than constant sup
g of live fish. Almost every one enI
a fishing. Nothing would bo finer u
IN to C Itch mess of fine fish when &C
pany calls, and there is nothing nj
e. suitable for a good dinner.
nd The new boot in Paris wnlcn !ii da" ,au
rp are now looking forward to win u, g's pi,
se mes is the Pompeiian. IL is ,0n,;un o, NJ, q
NO velvet and very high tne ieSShm6 aIhr6
re front all Venetian cut wo,A' TLa To ~,