The daily gazette., 1878-12-30


may be rendered more agreeable after
little more consideration.
The culture Of fish has proved so sue.
sessful as to render IL matter of very
general interest to all the States although
some Of them are more interested in the
trade In fish than others. New York
has taken deep interest in this culture,
and her Fish Commissioners have thor
oughly proved the practicability ofstock-
ing their rivers with shad, salmon, bass
and other fine fish. Pennsylvania and
other States have done likewise. And
now the most interesting experiment
ever made in fish culture is being tried,
and that is the Matching OF cod. In ref
erence TO this we gather some facts from
an article in the n. Y. Times.
Fish are now believed TO be more or
less local in their movements. 1t Is said
the shad of the Hudson, born above AL
bany, go to the sea but never remain
very distant from the mouth of the river,
grow large and fatten, but when the pc
riod comes when they must reproduce
their tind they do not ascend the Della
ware or the Connecticut river, but re-
turn only TO the Hudson, mount that
stream, and endeavor to deposit their
eggs. and to have them fructited, in the
precise spot, above Albany, where they
were born themselves, three or four
years before. The tish commissioners,
then, of New York do not work for the
benefit of Pennsy lvania. In sea-fish,
the rule, it is believed, is the same. or
course, the extent Of range of the adulC
sea-fish Is much greater. Miles of sea
coast may be traversed by the fish when
seeking for food; but, reasoning by
analogy, 1t is quite evident that the sea
fsh will seek the spawning bed where its
first instincts of life were developed.
1t Is an interesting question whether
we can make ourselves independent of
the Canadian fishing grounds, by pro-
ducing cod and other sea fish in our own
waters anu on our own coasts. The expert
) ment OF artiiiclally Matching the cod is
now going on at Gloucester, under the
, management of the United States Fish
t Commissioner. In certain respects, the
procuring Of the eggs of the shad pre-
sented more difficult task, from the
q fact of the tenderness of the shad and its
Inability to resist handi Ing without dying.
; Capacious boxes have been constructed
alongside of the Matching houses at
: Gloucester, where the gravid cod can be
T Kept. A number of cod eggs have already
II Deen secured, and the direct attempt
e VIII shortly be made TO fertilize and
IS hatch them. These eggs have been de.
" rived from the live fish boxes, and from
n fishing boats prosecuting their calling in
l. the Immediate vicinity Of Gloucester
Prof. James W. Miner believes that be.
fore long all the spawn that will be re.
IL quired can be obtained.
l. II these experiments are successfn
/ anew and most useful career is omen to
sr hsh culture the benefits of which ar.
lie hardly to be imagined. There is no fish
lie so wonderfully prolific as the cod. Ma
e. ture seems to have given the gradu, anc
In almost all its different species, the DO wei
\, OF producing in each individual man,
millions of its kind. This bountifulpes,
u is evidently precaution, as the waste O
lie eggs must be immense. 1t is quite Ger
IT, tain that but fractional portion OF tn,
is eggs OF sea-hsh ever mature. The mos
lie conclusive testimony can be brought for
n ward to prove that the percentage O
Sc loss in artificial fish Matching Is immense
' ly less than by the natural process. PEI
of haps If guess were made-for it can b
after all but guess work-in sea-fish no
one egg IN thousand produces a fisl
IL Eggs are devoured by other fish, b
W birds, or are stranded on the shore. a
oy dashed to pieces by the impact of tn
er waves. In artificial shad-hatching "a los
Id of ten per cent. is considered as yer
or large. There are certain ADVANTAGE
,r- which eggs artiticlally Matched in se;
iis water would have over eggs in fres
tv water. In salt water the fungoid gro with
n which arc fatal to the eggs, do not $
readily make their appearance, and I'll
" temperature of the water can be mo,
lie readily managed.
IL Goldfish are not The only sea-fish wbic
10 this new effort in tish-cuture NAV H.
ly Veiop. III Is by no means impossi b
he that the eggs of the mackerel NAV |
sfl collected, fructifed and hatched, an
re- turned out in American waters.
ed How much better it would have beh
- for our own little State and its peonl
had the Legislature turned It's attent,o
ch to stocking our rivers and small stream
lb- with shad, bass, salmon, and other fin
,tv fish instead of voting money for cou
IVY charges, lawyers and Commissioner
y fees, to prevent our neighbors of Ne
ice Jersey catching fish within the twel,
mile sirele from New Castle, which mu
M embrace some miles of Jersey sand b
ION yond low water mark, we do not kno,
III | But II is never too late to hepin 70 d