The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-05-08

toothsome addition to their vegetable
diet. The cod fishery has been carried
on for more than four centuries without
any interruption; yet the supply at the
present day is something stupendous.
The fecundity of this fish is wonderful,
By those who have taken the trouble to
satisfy themselves, it has been calculated
that when one devOurs q Gods roe he
also devours no less than about $780,
O00,00 pounds of food, supposing it
were allowed to arrive at maturity. Ones
brain reels at the bare idea of reckoning
what might be the condition of cOddom
if these fishes were left alone for q few
years. There are more than 1000 ves>
sells, with 8 tonnage of over 100 600
tons, and employing upward of 10000
men and boys, engaged in the bank or
cod fisheries of the United States.
The halibut is one of the largest fishes
Of the founder family, attaining the
length of six or seven feee and weighing
from three to FIVE hundred pounds. The
habits of the halibut and cod are nearly
alike, emily the former live on the latter
when men do rot live on them, and they
are always to be found where cod most
do congregate. The halibut is q good
L
and solid.
There is no fish more highly priced for
food than the salmon, and there is no
finer salmon than that found in the
rivers of Oregon. This luxurious fish
visits the rivers of both continents. It is
caught by running wire fences across the
streams, into which the foolish fish runs
its head and remains caught-impAled,
IF lnoEirry CSnolo The
gills." Large numbers are also caught
by hook, while in some sections hsrpoon-
ing is practiced. The salmon is from
twenty4four to thirty-six inches long,
and attains q weight of thirty pounds or
more. During the fishing season OF 1877
eighteen establishments on the Colum-
bia river put up 428, ,730 cases, each case
containing four dozen one-pOund cans,
The salmon fishing in the Gulf of st.
Lawrence is estimated as worth $500, 900
a year.
The waters of Massachusetts, bay are
full of this fish. Its colors are beautiful
when alive, but no sooner is it caught
than its luster begins to disappear. it
is voracious feeder, and its growth is
rapid. Mackerel run in 6 schools from
the 10th of May through the summer,
and when vessel has the luck to meet
one of these, lines with bait are lowered,
and the fish may be drawn in as fast as
the arm can move. The first halt hour
of mackerel fishing is fun 1--WE once,went
mackerel fishing and forgot the world
and its cares, especially to persons who
fish for the fun of the thing. There is
no chance for the use of unhallOWed in
terjections in mackerel fishing; no pro-
tame expIetives for ministeTing spirits to
report to heavens chanceFy, as in the
case of angling when fish are scarce, for
the recording angel to put into the same
category with Uncle TOby's oath, to be
wiped out with q sympathizing tear. A
" sailing trip takes some two mOn' hs I;
" fresh trip about three days. From
5000 to 10000 barrels are sold fresh
every year in Boston, and 1000 to
10000. wort tn about 81 100000, are ex-
ported, the pOOtest quality TO the West
and East Indies, and the better qualities
to New York. Philadelphia, and other
towns of the Union. In somr years Il g
alone has been 1000, employing in the
various processes of catching, sailing and
packing about 5000 persons.
Bluefsh belong to the mackerel family
and are found in almost ali seas. They
purse geines in the following manner: A
small boat sets out from the vessel with
one end of the net and quickly rows
around the shoal; weights are attached
to the net, and slso long strings, which
drop to the bottom, one end being re-
tanned. When this is accomplished and
the boat gets back to the vessel, the net
is slowly drawn from the bottom, and
thus the fish find themselves unexpect-
edIy caught--if they think anything
about it st the time, and provided they
can think at all. Bluef1sh are Drized as
food, and often considered quite deli>
cacy:
A strong prejudice sometimes exists
against the eel. In Scotland an Argyle
shire or a LanaTk plowman would as
soon cook a veritable viper as the 'fOul
sarpent creature" which in England
would be reckoned plump silver eel
worth four shillings in the market. The
NeapOlitan has his winter dish of roasted
sea eel when his summer dish of sliced
melon goes out of season. The eel is to
the lszzaroni what solid beef is to the
Englishman. Great quantities of eels
caught at COmmachio, in Corsica, are
sent across to the Naples market. FIe1-
erick Mather has examined an eeIs roe
under the microscope, and has computed
that the number of eggs in this particuN
lar roe was fully 5000, 600.
Then there are the bass, pOTgies, pike,
blackfsh, wbitefish. mullet, founders,
fatfsh, roach, bulIheads, sleeps head,
paIlock, cusk, trout, bloaters. haddies
smelts, perch, swoIdfsh, ETC., all OF
which have their particular merits and
pecUlisrities-Which would occupy too
much space to describe
One of the oldest customs in regard to
hsh was in the time of Henry I. (Who
was born in Yorkshire in 1868, and died
at Rouen, from the effects of gluttOny,
December 1, 1850, the right to what
are now termed royal fish, namely,
the whale and sturgeon. " OF sturgeon" ("
says the royal autOcrat, "caught ON our
lands (sic), we will that it shall be ours,
saving to the finder bis costs and ex-
penses. OF whales so found We will that
the head shall be ours and the tail our
cOnsort's" Fishermen would offer as
their costliest gift to the church q
whales tongue, and it was no doubt
highly relished by the ecclesisstics, for
William the Conqueror, father OF Henry
L, gave q yearly grant Of one to the
monks of Marmoutier.