Wichita daily eagle., 1886-04-16

tICHiTA DAILY EAGI
SETH GREEN'S WORK.
A DISCOVERY MADE WHILE FISHING,
NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO.
The Great New York Hatchery-How
Came Fish Are Hatehed BY the 3ill-
ions at the Caledonia sprins-soms
Interesting Details
When the first settlers came into this part
Of the state, nearly q century ago, they found
water gushing out Of the earth where the
quaint old village Of Caledonia now stands
Ths volume Of water was % great that il
formed wide, deep stream, which flowed
away to the northward The water was clear
q crystal and cod and soft, and It was not
long until the settlers discovered that the
largest and most luscious trout lurked
beneath the ripples and in the depths Of the
eddies Of the stream.
The spring, as it is called, covers an arca Of
several acres The water boils up through
sand Is white a. snow. The appearance Of
the spring is rather that Of q charming
mountain lake. From one side Of it q food
gate permits the passage Of sufficient water to
form Q pleasant rivulet that murmurs
through the low lying meadow, and from
which rural youngsters pilfr many q choice
trout by rude but emineotly successful
methods.
The outlet Of the spring is stream Of an
average width Of probably twenty feet, and
of such rapid flow that it furnishes abundant
power to several mills and factories that are
collected on its banks in the three or four
miles Of country it traverses. Its wonderful
Transparency and beautiful pale-green tint
are never changed by the foods Of spring or
fall, which convert all other waters for the
time into currents Of muddy hue While
every other trout stream in this part Of the
state was long ago despoiled Of its gamey
inhabitants by the constant inroads Of the
angler, Caledonia creek, while yielding larger
number Of trout than any Of the others.
gives evidence that their numbers are to-day
undiminished
SETH GREENS VALUABLE DISCOVERY.
A well-known fisherman Of western New
York was angling for salmon in 1888 on Bend
t1Gdu CIcek, Ill SdXldud, 1Uu Ollt u6y "aS ut
tracted by the singular movements Of a sal-
mon at the bottom Of the stream He no
ticed that the fish made with her tail hole
In the pebbly bottom Of the creek where tine
water was running very swiftly. A male
salmon hovered about the spot, and the fe-
male filed the hole with gravel, using her tail
as before. After watching the fish for the
greater part Of the day, during which the pro-
cess Of digging hole and filling it up again
was constantly repeated, the fisherman was
convinced that the female salmon was cast
ing her spawn, and the male his milt upon it,
and that fish Of the salmon family choose
swift running water for propagating pur
poses. He resolved to make use Of his discov-
cry at some future day, believing that the
spawn Of fish could be hatched by artificial
as well as natural processes
In. 1854 the fisherman above referred to ex-
perimented on the discovery be made in 1885.
He succeeded in Matching 25 per cent, Of a
quantity OF trout spawn His experiments
continued until be succeeded in impregnat-
ing IS per cent. Of spawn with milt, and it
was then that Seth Green, the fisherman who
had secretly watched the movements of the
breeding salmon in the Canada creek nearly
thirty years before, demonstrated beyond
doubt that fish could be artiicially hatched
and propagated. His experiments were made
on Caledonia creek, where the state 6sh farm
is now located, and it is to the magic waters
of that creek that the hope for the future pis-
catorial glory Of the state ia directed, for
from them its despoiled streams and depopu
lated lakes and ponds are being restocked
with every variety Of game fish with which
their waters once teemed.
HATCHERY AT CALEDONIA cREEK
The remarkable fecundity Of Caledonia
creek in trout led the state fish commission
In 1877 to make scientific examination Of
its water and surroundings The fauna and
fora of the creek were found to be unusually
abundant The number of the plant species
was not large, only watercress, achara and
four moses being found, but it was the
quantity of each Of these that was extraordi-
nary One of the moses, known as hypnum
metropolitan, or moisture loving moss, is
found in no other water in the state, and is
known only in four other states In the Union.
These plants were found to bs inhabited by
myriads Of insects which form the choicest
food for trout. a single bunch Of moss
pulled from the bottom Of the creek con-
tanned representatives Of three classes Of the
animal kingdom, mollusks, vertebrates and
articulates 1t was. at once determined that
the existence Of so great and varied a quantity
Of trout food in Caledonia creek explained
the presence Of the large number Of trout,
and the furnishing of food from Caledonia
Greek to other waters in the state has since
been an important feature Of 3ir. Green's
work in propagating fish.
In the first pond at the state hatchery there
are 1000 large brook trout that were cap
tured with the fly in unfrequented streams
-. - &l< do L. ..