Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-09-20

H9A able husbGndry. The
IL ~ artificial propagation Of
INK edible fishes, which is
-AAGaAzsa- shown by experiments
@s-=@~in every quarter to be
practicable, is assuming national importance.
s.It NAV mover become one Of the great
producing interests of the nation" said an
official Of the fish commission to a rep
resentatiye of The STAR, but il undoubtedly
adds to the Injuries OF generous tables
and increases in some degree the food
supplies of the people; for the public fisheries
can be improved by artificial means at small
expense. -.
fsh in their rivers and canals" he continued,
shave practiced fish Matching successfully for
centuries. Fish are there so cheap that a
penny will buy enough for a breakfast Tor
small family. An ingenious method of artif-
cIsl Matching has been adopted. The business
OF collecting and Matching the spawn for the
supply of owners OF private ponds is extensive.
When the for Matching arrives the
operators empty hens eggs by means of small
openings, sucking out the contents and sub
for a few days under a hen. Removing the
eggs the contents are placed in water warmed
by the heat Of the sun, the eggs soon burst and
the young are shortly able to be removed to
waters intended for rearing them. France,
England, Scotland and Ireland, among other
European countries, are all enjoying a manifest
increase Of tsh supplies from arhficia! propa-
CATION.
with population of over seventy millions,
to become over hundred in wenty-fve years,
and no one knows how soon to equal that OF
Europe, it is folly TO allow SO great a delicacy
as the speckled brook trout to become extinct,
as has the sea-Soing salmon very nearly upon
our eastern coast. The shad is becoming COM
paratiyely scarce in all our waters Why should
not the lakes and ponds of the east. full OF yell
low perch and pickerel, be stocked with the
superior black bass and white fish and other
valuable kinds? Ii has been done successfully
In few cases; why may it not be done gener-
ally?
THE BLACK BASS,
ranking little below the brook trout az a game
fish and surpassed by few species ill quality and
faSor was a few years since unknown in the
Potomac, but is now found in abundance in
the markets OF Washington. Two sportsineu
have killed in few hours of a summer day, q
short distance above this city. with the red ibis
fy, eighty pounds OF this fine fish. 1t is said
that thlse waters were supplied with black
bass a result of the Introduction Of a dozen
o. more. which had been brought from the
west In locomotive tank by Mr. Stabler and
thrown into the Potomac at Cumberland The
increase in this river has been rapid and is in
dicative of what may be accomplished in stock
ing eastern rivers with new species of fish as
we'll repIenishirg them with old kinds.
Within the memory Of many of our oldest
streams were populOus with fish, many OF the
species now nearly extinct Without protection
from Law, inconslderate fishermen have cap
tured them on their way to the spawning beds,
or by series of artificial Instructions they
have been debarred the passage of the streams.
MANY of our most valuable fishes have their
home in the sea- but the deep water OF the
ocean affords poor facilities for depositin2 their
spawn. and therefore they seek the rIvcrs COM
nI1ncating with the sea. which they ascend.
fDla tn aorair1 oil
intervening falls, to deposit their spawn in Sc
clsrity ia the still shadows above. Tho fish 10
endowed with great power, which enables 1t to
leap perpendicular height of ten or twelve
feet TO overcome AN obstruction on its way 70
the Spawning ground
WATER FARMING.
''It has not been many years since water
farming became an industry. 1t began as a
diversion. 1t is now claimed that rs much
money can be made of acre of water as of
an acre OF land, including well-located fish and
frog ponds on the one hand and ordinary farm
ing on the other.
Il man who lives near the White Water river
in Indiana. has made a success of water farm
ing. He determined to flood the low land AMI
to add to his possessions the adjoining hign
lind for park purposes. His place now includes
fourteen acres of water and twenty-one of land.
HIS business IL largely with the water and only
incidentally with the dry land lie first estab-
lished a carp pond from which to supply the
market and later stocked his waters with bass,
and his lake is now full Of them, aud they thrive
on the carp"
FROG DEPAn .MESr.
"Stiil another department has been added to
the farm This season-that OF frogs. -Four
acres of shallow water. well grown in flags,
were set apart n breeding place for frogs
They breed and grow rapidly. -Four thousand
tadpoles were put in this breeding pen early
he - -.
marketable SIZE. Next season they will be
giants-big, l0-lnch long. cultivated bull frogs,
worth q. 80 and SO dozen.
FISH FARMS ON THE POTOMAC.
A plumber Of gentlemen living along the Po-
tomac river have formed a company whose OBJ
ject is 20 establish fish farms along that river
and its tributaries. Diamond-back terrapin.
bass and salmon fish. frogs and crabs will be
their speciaites. In conversation with The STAR
reporter the president of the company said: ..wo
have purchased nine sites along tho Potomac
several Of which are mile or two up several of
the tributary streams. Our bass and salmon
and frog farms will be located as far up in the
fresh confuent waters as Is necessary for their
successful propagation. The turtle crab and
tide water hshs farms will be located to suit
proper conditions. We select low lying lands
90 situated that VIC can construct bikes and
Canals IN order to furnish the supply Of water
Necessary without danger OF overflow from the
river. We Will have in our nine farms about
twelve thousand acres. The frog farms will
be wired of from the fish and turtle portions
Of each farm and planted in water lilies and
other water grasses, and We will establish our
own hatcheries."
The United States fish commission has
brought this science Of piscicuiture to n high
perfection, and during the last decade has
taken for this government the highest prize
for its exhibits from every international ex-
hibit- The official reports show that by re-
Ilenisbing the rivers with native fish the sup-
ply has increased more than three-fiFths. be-
sides the species peculiar to the rivers and
their tributaries of the Pacific slope have been
stocked with fishes peculiar to the Atlantic
rivers, and vice versa
FISH WAYS.
Many OF our rivers have Instructions that
prevent fish from ascending as far as they
would To remedy this various devices have
been adopted The fish ladder for a time
served at considerable falls, then the fish way
was introduced.
Col Mcdonald, the superintendent OF the
Dab commission, has devised an improvement,