The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-03-04
MARYLAND FISH CULTURE.

The appropriation given by the State
u MARYLAND for the fish culture bein"
equally divided between two commits
sloners. one Tor the Eastern, the other
t"r the Western Shore, MAJOR T. b. Fer
-,nspn presents III his report an account
j the work accomplished bs him on the
y c>trrn Shore. In bis particular de
nlrrmeut. during 1881. l.5OUO 900 >had
mi $50 cam have been dist rIbulrd in
,'AteIs wholly within the Western see
ION. though the benefits 10 be derived
nom these iISh are perhaps as an advau-
tdYeouS to one part at the State as to
'nc other. in relating the operations of
Jhe year 1879 Major Ferguson shows the
marked increase of shad for that year
near the head of Chesapeake bay i'll the
Potomac. During the spring of 1880
this increase was even more decided and
the catch not only exceeded very large
~ the returns for any one Of several pre-
vious years. - but also and III Il marked
iegree the catch OF 1879, the year i'm
nedatelv preceding.
In collecting the statistics of the CEN
>us bureau for 80. Colonel MELON Id
has shown qnite conclusively how the
>had at the head of the bay and in the
Susquehanna have increased during the
last eleven years. Taking the aver
age catch of the last eleven years it was
ISL. 800. During the first five years it
was 6:ii.Sn0. and during the next five
years JlS. 200, But in 1850 the shai
caught number 6I4.0n0 there having
been a gradual increase ever since 1876.
when the effects OF fish culture became
at once apparent. y very Interesting
liagram is presented in the report of the
comparative Yields of the Potomac and
Susquehanna rivers. The Susquehanna
having had the advantage of one years
altliicial propagation. first shows an as
cending curve.
The fish commissioner of Maryland.
who has taken the lead in many investi-
cations of a special character. has had
his attention particularly directed to-
ward the propagation of salt water fish
and he thinks that they may be treated
successfully IN the same way as are the
fish. The eggs of the mack
ercl having been carefully examined,
it was determined that these Scouberx.
IN ripe condition. may he secured
I nestIrake bay. Not IA great man,
tt'iS htttl Ntlt ttptllttI DIS luI
mp the bay as Baltimore. where they are
now absent. The eggs are lighter than
water. and float on the surface. and a
particular apparatus will be needed for !
their Matching. but there seems no great /
difficulty in constructing such special ap.
parltuS. as Major Ferguson states that |
some experimental method had been |
found to act most Satisfactorily.
lDrtf,..S,r ;,.I' =,
when under his directions the United I
States fish commission at Gloucester =,
hatched many cod. and introduced the
into the harbor there. proves conciuSia
~ what ii great future there is 10"
fish culture. There may arise c,.'a'
in he method of pr - -;
ting sea fish ia which they ma oliie'
from fresh-watrr fish in a gene way
hut from such information u '' "a, o' en-
derived directly from Pro es !. d III IL
is quite certain that this mo '''''H III
the Matching of sea fish is 'ite {, a 'ii'iol
matter aud is already qu' "e'' ''"e'e'-
STOOD n', "y me ne eom Ln,. $4,000 young
,ln,nn co' ,nI st f',r, 2gs> taken from
irnnhscnt r;,.nr ,,Innl, We're introduced
into MARYLAND waite, III addition to Il.
Moo I,nd IncEed mon with 165. 900 of
ha cal;s,,.,,; aa, on and IS 600 Califor-
min t"nnt "a, culture in Maryland
,,.a,,s -, Lo,.. zen wonderfully success
rnI +, .an, favored localities in the
i-n;+ad $50. either from climate or
>,nd t,a n.p seems to do better than in
,.,.,,,,, 1t grows more rapidly, ma
-nr.s ore quickly. anu writing of the
!; .tr: ution of carp made in 1880. Ma A
n,. erguSon thinks that some Of them
:, be likely to spawn this year. In
lis report are to be found a number of
tiers from recipients of carp. who are
over their fish. In one case o.
III not more than an inch and Il half
ng. received in November of 1875 had
1880 grown to be ten inches in
Myth One correspondent at Belair
artford county, Md. received fish i:
,ree inches long. weighing half an
ince. in May, %, from the Druid Hill
,tchery- house, and exhibited one on
lie nth of October. 50. which weighed .
pounds. In the report may be found
very thorough description of carp
,nds and how they should be construc,
d.
The work formerly undertaken by fish
of States was restricted
ltirelv to fish, but to-day oyster culture
tiers into their duties. Before the alb
lutte propagation of the oyster can be
ldertaken the attention Of the State +
licers must be directed toward a study =
the oyster beds. and they must find .
1t to what causes the decrease of the
nllusks may be due. AL! the surround
Is Oh the oyster have to be understood,
hat are its enemies. \ scientific ex-
nination of the mollusk, the methods
propag ition, must be undertaken. In
aior Fergnson's report OF - the ex-
edingly intcrestin. work began by
rnreSsor Brooks WAS given and in the :
esent report are presented researches,
Prof. John A. Ryder on the same
bject. OF the Importance of the work
ere can be no doubt. as We find from
g census descriptive of oystering in
$3.50, in Maryland, that no less than
2115 people found employment, that 50,
IS 900 were used in the business, which
we 01G9. Q06 bushei. Of uysterS. 7
Major Ferguson reports are always |
nong the most interesting of similar .
of tiSE culture work for i'll ,
tditinn to absolute practical details
ere is always to be found scientific re- |
arch OF a novel character. The ground
be covered by fish culture in Macy
nd is a very vida upe From ith con-
,uratim.. It's numerous large rivers, its
". which divides the State, Mary land
'esents the rarest opportunities for the
neral propagation OF both fresh aud =
It. water fish: There is no doubt that
the science of fish cnltare grows,
aryland will hepane that great nurse
from wheIler material Will be derived
ON the stocking of many Of tho rivers
I'd seas in the adjoining States.