Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-09-19
A FISH FARM.
An Interesting Breeding Establishment
on the Banks of the Thames.


Close on the banks of the river
Thames, within a stones throw of ebert
sey bridge, a fish-breeding establishment,
which was started some few years ago
by a private gentleman, has year by
year been enlarged and improved upon
until it has now become one Of the most
complete establishments Of the kind in
the kingdom. The undertaking, being
a private one, has been little before the
public, notwithstanding the fact that
the main object of the proprietor has
been to benefit the public generally by
improving the fish Of the metropolitan
river. That is likely he has succeeded
III this respect may be surmised from
the fact that within the last few years
some tens of thousands of fish have
been Matched in the troughs at Chertsey
and turned into the Thames at various
places. Mr. Forbes, the originator and
proprietor, has displayed great ingenu-
ity in the construction Of his fish-breed-
ing house: By a simple yet clever de-
vice the machinery for aerating the
water is worked by the water itself
This is accomplished by directing the
waste flow into a receptacle somewhat
the shape Of bellows. This fills and
empties itself every few minutes. the
action each time setting the machinery
in motion, thus securing q constant and
thorough aeration Of the water. In
other matters ofdetail the same econmy
Of expense and labor have been care
fully studied, and though Mr.. Forbes
has been at great expense IN building
his fish-house, and in perfecting his
plans for regulating proper supply Of
water, he has now succeeded IN being
able to carry On his operations under
the most favorable conditions and at a
comparatively trifing expense. The
water supply is derived from a well,
from which some six thousand gallons
are daily pumped into receptacle or
reservoir placed at the top of the fish
house. Flowing through the tanks day
and night, the water drains off into open
air tanks, situated in the garden where
are deposited number Of full grown
fish of various descrip tions), and even
tually empties into the Thames. At
present there is no Matching" going on.
The tanks are however, filled with q
splendid lot Of fish of various ages and
descriptions. Young salmon, apparent
ly none the worse for their solourn in
their temporary home, great lake trout,
common trout, American trout, Loeb
Leven trout, Ca new and interesting
addition TO the tanks), and a number
of salmon and trout from various con-
tinental waters are all to be seen in
various stages Of growth in splendid
condition. Mr. Forbes and his wife
carefully look after the feeding of the
fish themselves, and are assisted by
Galloway, the only Thames fisherman
who has seen and assisted in the capture
of salmon in the Thames many years
ago when that fish was Indigenous to
the river. In drawing attention to Mr..
Forbes tish-hatching establishme nt it is
only due to him to say that it is carried
on at his own expense without any
pecuniary assistance. The thousand of
fish which are each year reared in his
tanks and turned into the river are a
free gift and with the commendable
view of beneftting Thames anglers
generally by securing a more abundant
stock of fish. This good work, it will be
recollected, was formerly carried on by
the Thames Angling Preservation Soci-
ETY., under the directions of Mr. Frank
Buckland and Mr.. Stephen Ponder
For several years these gentlemen work
ed theoretically and successfully in
rearing fine stock Of fish at the Sun
bury pond, (given by the Thames con-
vservancy board to the society, and
turning thousands into the river The
special fund which was collected form
erly each year by the Thames Angling
Preservation society for this object was
stopped some years ago since which
time the artificial stocking Of the river
with salmon and trout has been left
almost altogether In the hands Of a
private gentleman, whose disinterested
exertions will be duly appreciated by all
Thames anglers. 1t is expected that
when the new Natural History Museum
is opened at South Kensington the
authorities will beenabled to give greater
facilities to Mr.. Frank Bucl1land for
carrying on his fsh-breeding expert
ments. The Accommodations at present
at his command are extremely limited
and far below what they ought to be for
the Investigations necessary for the
study Of the economical working of our
f1Co