Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1875-03-25

which are left. These embodiments o.
evil must be fed, and grow more dAlk
gent in the search for food the scaTexs
it becomes. Still man keeps on witt
net and spear and hook, making yearly
larger drafts, as the human race increaS
es, and extending his machinery as The
prey diminishes. So the whole systera
of nature is disarrangdd. The edisse
fishes at first diminish, then as the n,9
cess goes on in geometrical ratio
decrease more rapidly, the operatIliLotf
comes accelerated at every step Til -sas ~
stream or lake which once aboundetI
with excellent fish is utterly and abso-
lutely denuded, left sterile, bare and un-
productive. The insects have devourea
the last edible fish which mans greedi.
ness had failed to reach. This has hap
pened with so many of the ponds and
water-courses of our country, that it il
safe to say full one half of the lakes,
rivers and streams of the State of NeEG
York were utterly depopulated of food
fishes when the Fishery Commission was
appointed three years ago.
How nature is improved upon by the
artificial process of fish breeding, is told
in matter of fact way, that must aston
ish those, not fully conversant before,
with the comparative results of the nat
ural and artificial processes.
In the natural method not one in 500,
certainly not one in 100 survives to ma
ture and produce perfect fish. By the
artificial plan fully ninety in every hum
dred are saved and developed Here Is
the great gain in fish culture. 1t is in
the primary stages that the advantage is
secured. Say that afterWard the perils
are alike, and still see the enormous diff
ferences in its favor. Allow that young
fish after their birth are in continual
peril of their lives that enemies still
pursue and waylay, no matter how they
are bred suppose that one-half of all
that are born perish before attaining
marketable condition. In one instance
that half has to be taken from a supply
already decimated; in the other nearly
its full number is to be drawn upon.
The springing into life as if by magic
of the myriad of living, moving creatures
in the Matching boxes, can best be de-
scribed by one who has watched the pro-
cess, as the foster father of this innu-
merable family:
''Some mornings when he goes to hls
troughs he will notice broken egg shells
in the water, and on closer inspection
will observe wriggling nondescripts on
the bottom, neither like fish nor eggs,
but compounded of both, and occupied
with wonderful intensity in the sole
purpose of hiding from observation.
These are ungainly, Informed fry,
weighted down and encountered with
the ugly, troublesome, umbilical sack.
When they once begin TO appear they
come in thousands, in myr;>. ID. = .iT.ay.z.il-
len III II il aqhhiee5-ssh afd eee5sh top oftle
- aud the eggs alh gone. The 10 1 ssssssi M
need more water at this time, but re-
luire less care, though still they mH b
be watched For about thirty days they
remain comparatively helpless and need
40 food except what they carry about
with them. Then they change into
bright, active, shapely fish, difficult to
see, cunning to hide, rapid of motion,
little fellows, self-reliant,
md ready to face the world and all its
snares.
Mr. Roosevelt then discusses the ques-
lion of feeding the young salmon, which
has been found to be difficult. The fact,
however, is stated, that as soon as it be-
comes necessary to feed them, they are
matured to be placed in the
streams which they are intended for,
ahd able to care for themselves. .,. e.
$50 our salmon or trout when he has
been. successfully carried TO this period
If his life, must be, as he ought to be,
5urned out oshift for himseH If he is \
4 salmon, after few months prepare
ion to strengthen his sinews and test his i
powers, he goes down to the sea, there 3.
10 dwell and feed and grow, gaining
in SIZE, drawing his susie
nance from the eXnaustless storehouse of 1
he world, and coming back TO man In a
'eW months a magnificent embodiment
# strength and beauty, bringing to the
ord of the universe five or ten pounds
IF as delicious food as eyer delighted a
palate, or satisfied hungry
mans stomach. If he is only q trout, a
younger brother of the glorious family /
If the so Hs0Rd}B, he will .luFk about the
bottom of some pond, or Craze some
1ebbly mountain brook and struggle up
o a half pound or more before twelve
months shall have rolled over his head" /
. The capabilities of our lakes and riy- /
RS, in which the advantages to Yer
mont will be. readily seen and aPpreci--
led, are thus stated :.a-r .s.s-E ...-....ts 1
q The Namagash or AIaekinaw sal
non, which attains a weight of eighty /
can live in all our large lakes. 1
Possibly more valuable than even. this /
plendid fish Is the. California salmon, a
'ariety of our ordinary salmon, which |
las special characteristics admirably
dapting It to rivers of The Atlantic
coast ia which salpGn could not exist
N account of the Temperature of the
yater' 1T spawns. in tho spring, and 4
viii live In rivers which attain a high
in. seontFadistinetionto to the
Eastern salm0a and trout, which cannot |
ndure a heat exceeding 20 degrees. !
Strenuous. efforts are; being made to. .in-
roduee this fish among us by the United |
,tates Commissioner, Prof. Spencer r. /
Baird And, finally, there is the new |
pecies, only lately discovered in our |
ountry, the Graylings-; a fish which is !
lighly priced in Europe both tor the .ta- i
lie and sport. = =, $50. -.
The remarkable success. which. has at.
ended the artificial production of shad,. /
ives as the assurance Of the benefits the
whole country wilE reap, when the in:
rease of these two great families,
1.-The salmon and chad, shall, without |
anger of annihilation, become the COM !
lon food of man The following sta
istics which we presume are reliable. |
re most gratifying -ll. .-,'.ss, Il <. ri
Already has the price of: shaa been |
argely reduced by such efforts at fish 4
ulture as have been possible in face of i
eglected legislation and Unlimited fish
ng. For four years past the New York. |
commissioners have yearly deposited 1
,000, 900 to 10, 100000 of .shad fry ia
be Hudson, while the Conneoticlt Com
aissioners in one year raised the .enor- i
nous number of s92, 100000. Fisheries
which were exhsusted have revived. ]. the i
lumber taken at a single haul of the net |
las been largely. increased, while the |
rice has been reduced so:that shad We're !
old at wholesale last year at the fisher
IS on the Hudson for SO a hundred, 1
whereas two years before contracts had
een made at $18, The yield from the |
river in 1870 and 1871 was
.reater than it has been since 1902. AS |
many as !, ,060 were taken in one hanl, 4.