Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-06
SETH GREEN'S WORK.
A DISCOVERY MADE WHILE FISHING,
NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO.

Tho Great New York Hatchery How
Game Fish Are Batched by the Mill
! Ions at the Caledonia spring-sOms
Interesting Details
When the first settlers came into this part
OF the state, nearly a century ago they found
water gushing out of the earth where the
quaint old village Of Caledonia now stands
The volume of water was ~ great that It
formed wide, deep stream. which flowed
away to the northward The water clear
as crystal and cool and soft and il was not
long until the settlers discovered that the
largest and most luscious trout lurked
beneath the ripples and in the depths of tho
eddies Of the stream.
The spring a. it is called, covers an area Of
several acres. The water bols up through
sand as white rs snow The appearance OF
the spring is rather that Of a charming
mountain lake From one side Of il food
gate permits the passage Of sufficient water to
form a pleasant rivuet that murmurs
through the low lying meadow, and from
which rural youngsters pilfer many choice
trout by rude but eminently successful
methods
The outlet of the spring il a 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 hanks in the thres OF four
miles Of country it trsyerses. It's wonderful
transparency and beautiful Tsle green tint
are never changed by the floods 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
Head creek, in Canada, and one day was at
trsctei by the singular movements OF a a sal
mon at the bottom of the stream. He no
ticed that the fish made with her tail a hole
in the pebbly bottom Of the creek where the
water was running very swiftly. A male
salmon lowered 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 mllt upon it,
and that fish of the salmon family choose
swift running water for propagating pur-
poses. He resolved to make Use Of his discOy-
cry at some future day, believing that the
spawn Of fish could be Matched by artificial
a. well as natural processes
In 1854 the fisherman above referred TO eI.
perimented on the discovery he made in lS;;d
He succeeded in Matching p per cent, Of Q
quantity Of trout spawn. His experiments
continued until he succeeded IN irupregnat-
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 a
doubt that fish could be artiacially hatched
and propagsted. His experiments were made
on Caledonia creek, where the state fish 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 is 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 teerned-
HATCHERY AT CALEDONIA CREEK
The remarkable fecundity of Caledonia
sreek m trout led the state fish commission
IN 1877 to make a scientific examination Of
its water and surrounding The fauna and
fora OF the creek were found 20 be unusually
abundant The number Of the plant species
was not large, only q 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, OF moisture-loying moss, Is
found i'll no other water in the state and is
known only in four other states in the Union.
These plants were found 10 be inhabited by
myrisds 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, yertebrates and
articulates- II was at once determined that
the existence Of 50 great and varied quantity
Of trout food in Caledonia creek explained
the presence Of the large number Of trout
and the furnishing OF food" from Caledonia
creek to other waters in the state has since
been an important feature of Mr.. Green's
work in propagating fish.
In ,he first pond at the state hatchery there
are 100 large brook trout that were cap
tured with the fly in unfrequented streams
and lakes of the Adirondack region Il is
these trout that Mr.. Green says have con
WINGED him that fish have reasoning powers
and memory. When they were hooked, he
says, and were reeled slowly to the boats
they had time and opportunity to note the
form and character of the tackle that made
them prisoners. They have never forgotten
that. They will follow Mr.. Green as he
walks about the pond Let him have a walk
ing stick and fishing rod hidden behind his
back. II he reveals the former TO the fish
by holding it out over the water, they pay no
attention to it; but the moment he produces
the rod, with its tackle, away they will
scsmper to distant parts Of the pond. Mr..
Green says he will permit anyone to cast fly
in that pond TO his hearts content, as he is
satisfied that not one Of the trout will come
near it, so vividly do they remember their
enemy of five years ago-New York Mail
and Express