The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-05-01

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satisfy themselves, it has been calculated
that when one devours a Gods roe b
i also devours no less than about $50,
I 600, 600 pounds of food, supposing j
were allowed to arrive at maturity. One
+ brain reels ut the bare idea of reckoniD,
what might be the condition Of coddon
I if these fishes were left alone for a few
I years. There are more than 1000 yes
I sells, with tonnage of over 10000
r tons, and employing upward of 1000
I.znen snd boys, engaged in the bank o
cod fisheries of the United States.
! The halibut is one of the largest fishe
i.cf the founder family, attaining tn
length of six or seven feet aud weighin,
from three to five hundred pounds. TIL
habits of the halibut and cod are nearl,
.slike, emily the former live on the latte
when men do rot live on them, and the,
aEe always to be found where cod mos
do scongregate. The halibut is q goo,
eating fish. The meat is nice and whit
and solid.
FSere is no fish more highly priced 70
food than the salmon, and there is NJ
finer salmon than that found in thu
rivere of Oregon. This luxurious fist
visits the rivers of both continents 1t il
caugh. by running wire fences across the
streams, into which the foolish fish rum
its head and remains caught-impaled
as it were, looking "pale around the
gills." Large numbers are also caugh,
by hook, while in some sections hsrpoon.
ing is PSacticed. The salmon is from
twenty,faur to thirty-six inches long,
and attaiRs weight of thirty pounds or
more. During the fishing season of 1877
eighteen establishments on the Column
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
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. 1t
is Eoracious feeder, and its growth is
rapid. Mackerel run in " schools from
the 10th of May through the summer,
and when a vessel has the luck to meet
one of these, lines with bait are lowered,
and the fish msy 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 tun of the thing. There is
no chance for the use of unhalloWed in
terjections in msckerel fishing; no pro-
fame explosives for ministering spirits to
report to heavens chsncery, 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 sympathizing tear. A
" sailing trip takes some two months;
fresh trip about three days. From
5000 to 10000 barrels are sold fresh
every year in Boston, and 100000 to
100000, worth 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 some years tie
number of vessels from Massachusetts
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 all seas. They
congregate In shoals and are caught by
purse seines 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 bottem, 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-
edly caught-if they think anything
about it at the time, and provided they
can think at all. Biuefsh are priced as
food, and often considered quite deli
cacy:
4 strong prejudice sometimes exists
against the eel. In Scotland Sn Argyle
shire or a Lanark plowman would as
soon cook a veritable viper as the 'fOul
sarpent creature" which in England
would be reckoned a plump silver eel
worth four shillings in the market. The
Nespolitan has lis winter dish Of roasted
sea eel when his summer dish OF sliced
melon goes out of season. The eel is to
the lazzaroni what solid beef is to the
Englishman. Great quantities of eels
caught at Commachio, in Corsica, are
sent across to the Naples market. Fred.
erick Mather has examined an cells roe
under the microscope, and has computed
that the number of eggs in this particu~
lar roe was fully 100000.
Then there are the bass, porgies, pike,
blackfsh, whitefsh, mullet, founders,
fatfsh, roach, bullheads, sleeps head,
pallock, cusk, trout, bloaters, haddles,
smelts, perch, swordfsh, etc., all OF
which have their particular inertia and
peculiaritias-which would occupy too
much space to describe.
One OF the oldest customs in regard to
Fl 81 was in the time of Henry l. (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" fi4h, namely,
the whale and sturgeon. "Of sturgeon"
says the royal autocrat, " caught on our
lands (sie), we will that it shall be ours,
saving to the finder his 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 a
whales tongue, and it was no doubt
highly relished by the ecclesiastics, for
William the Conqueror, father OF Henry
l., gave a yearly grant OF one to the
monks of Marmoutier.