Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-05-23

How the Propagation IS Carried on by
the Fish CemmisSion

"SA@N< %"s~Nt So ot>'ANE bpGAlIJtEa--AS IN
PROVED FlsHwAf TO RE putIr AT GREAT
FALLS.
Few people who eat tho toothsome sI,sd, salts
fed with the delicate davor of It's flesh. aud
vexed with its innumerabIe bonrs have any
Idea Of the care that II taken I'm the develops
meflt and propagation of this species of the I'm.
ny tribe. A visit To the old ar,nors building
now occupied by the U. =. fish commission, will
greatly enltghten them OH this subject Here
may be seen long rows OF glass lars, arranged
upon tanks and containing glass tubes ~ which
are attached rubber hose extending into the
tanks, so that the Jars constantly sutplie,l
With running water In these Jars if Won look
closely you Will see myriads of tiny eggs. and
these are the eggs OF the shad Take other lars
ana you Will see on these eggs minute black
specks These are the embryo fish who are es-
Gaping from the egg, and So the process of hatch
THE PRIMARY STEP
In the work of shad-hatching IL taken Mt Fort
Washington, where the fish commission has n
Matching station. Here the female shad are
taken when they are ripe for spawning aud the
roe pressed out by slilful hands into a bright
basin. Then the melt of the male is pressed
over the roe until II is completely covered The
process OF fertilization il allowed to go on for n
few hours, and then n square sieve Is taken,
over which Is placed a wet cloth and on this
cloth Is poured the eggs, the sieve being gently
shaken until all lay fiat upon the surface. Other
covered Stoves are filled In the Same way and
piled on each other until n crate In made when
1t Is ready for shipment. These crates are
brought to the city by the steamer Corcoran,
which Is met on her arrival Mt the wharf by u
wagon OF the fish commission. and the crates
are at once taken to tho Armory building,
where they are emptied OF their contents, which
are placed In the Jars referred To.
COUNTING THE EGGS
A measurement is then made to ascertain the
amount OF the shipment, for accurate account
is kept, SO as to determine the number of fish
Matched and the percentage of loss in the pro-
cess. a sieve will contain from ten to twenty
thousand eggs, and as high as 5000, 900 have
been received in one day. The method of meas
urement Or computing the number in u jar Is
ingenious. square. something like that used
by builder or craftsman, is made, the arm
Just reaching the top OF the jar. with the leg
resting on the table upon which the Jar stands.
This is graduated so that 1t registers the num-
Der of eggs, and the system of graduation was
discovered by counting the number OF eggs in
a quart which was found to be $4,000 The
divisions and multiples OF that standard were
then easily made.
REMOVING THE DEAD :,
Care must now be taken to remove the dead
eggs. which are lighter and more Opaque than
the live ones, and which readily rise to the top
of the water, and are withdrawn by means of q
syphon. When the Matching commences care
is taken to notice the progress at each step,
from the time the little eye speclSs begin to be
percevable until the fish has escaped from the
egg and is seen swimming about with its little
food sac attachment. This sac is upon the I'M
QefSluo OF the ISti, ana through it life is pre-
served until the throat aud Stomach are de-
veloped, when the sac is absorbed and the food
Is taken per Dram. Before this development
takes place. however, the miniature shad are
withdrawn from their tanks, placed in tin cans
and sent to stock the rivers in the various
parts of the country, for SO soon as the fish has
escaped from the egg and has attained q growth
of from quarter to half an inch it is then CON
sidered safe to be left to itself. 1t is "a funny
being perfectly transparent with a tiny little
bulb of a head and Il long slender body under
meath the upper part of Which hangs the food
sac: Its movements, however, are decidedly
active, and it wriggles through the water with
the celebrity OF a fun grown shad.
THE PERIOD OF MATCHING
from the time the eggs fare received until the
fish has sufficiently developed to be ready for
shipment averages about seven days, and dur
ing this time the water must be kept at a uni
form temperature, usually about 63 degrees
Farenheit. The success which has attended the
work at the arm0fy hatchery has been remark
able. Formerly it was hardly expected to hatch
over 20 per cent Of the eggs received, and il so
per cent were Matched it was all that could be
expected. So excellent are the appliances here,
however, and so expert are those pursuing the
work, that the average loss is now but six per
cent.
The same process that has been described as
to the shad is pursued in Matching the carp the
salmon, the trout, white fish and other species
that have been experimental upon by the fish
commission; and the results in All cases have
been generally satisfactory. An idea OF
THE POSSIBLE YIELD OF EGGS
from single fish may be formed from the fol-
lowing figures, prepared by Prof Ryder, who
Is an admitted authority of the highest rank:
Shad, 100000; rock, 100000; cod, 2, 1000 900
to 100000; pollock. 4,OOOOoO: haddock,
100000: brook trout, 400. 900: salmon.
5000: While these amounts have not been
verified, they are believed to be correct and in
the case of the shad, single fish was found by
actual measurement to contain 1O2 900 eggs.
WORK OF THE FISH COMMISSION.
a1,y><
in increasing and cheapening the food supply
can hardly be estimated. The demands for
fish are increasing daily from almost every
section of the country: showing the interest
that is taken in the work. Rivers that have
not for years contained fish have been stocked
multitudes of good fry, which serve as food to
the inhabitants Of those localities. In Texas
when the streams dry up in certain seasons of
the year and where great tanks are built to
catch rain water for the immense herds of cat
tie that are raised there, many of these tanks
have been stocked with carp. and the herders
and cattlemen now enjoy the luxury of fish,
which they had not known before. The de-
mands OF the southern states for fish from the
any other section, though carloads have been
sent to Maine and Oregon, to Minnesota and to
Arizona. shipment was made to Arizona on
Monday of this week. million shad being sent
TO stock the Colorado river.
HOW THE FISH ARE SHIPPED.
These shipments are made in cars built espe-
c1aily for the commission. On either side runs
long Zinc-lined tank, into which the cans
containing the fish are placed, and then they
are filed with water, which can be kept con-
stantly changed, or be changed as often rs de-
sired, by means of hose and escape pipes. The
temperature of the water IS regulated by ice
tanks at each end of the car, capable Of con-
tanning about two tons of ice. Al one CT d is a
boiler and range, where the cook officiatcs in
providing meals tor the crew. and at the other
is an office, clothes closet wash room, &c. The
crew usually consists of four persons, the officer
these persons have been in the service of the
commission for years, that they are now
thoroughly expert in their duties. Along the
sides OF the car above the tanks, berths like
those in an ordinary sleeping car, where the
meen sleep at night, and which are shut up out
OF the way during the day.
WHY THE FISH DON'T COME BACK.
"The return of the shad in a river which has
been stocked is sometimes complained of as
unsatisfactory" said one of the oldest and
most experienced employees to STAR reporter,
but they don't take into consideration all the
circumstances. Take, for instance the Poto-
mac, which has been well stocked with shad
and which should have given a large WELD Of
that tsh this season. II did not reach the ex-
pectations of some, but why: There is proba-
bly, no river which is SO filed with nets as the
Potomac. It's mouth is lined with them, some
times extending into the channel, and even en-
crOaching on the bay. When the fish come up
to spawn and reach the mouth OF the river it is
difficult for them to find passage up the river
and they either run into one OF the nets and
are captured they go elsewhere
This year when they reached the mouth
OF the Potomac, owing to the extremely cold
and backward spring, they found a current of
the salt water in which they had BEEN SO
they turned away and sought a warmer river