New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-17
LOTS OF COD AND LOBSTER.
NEwFOUNDLAND'S EXPERIMENTS IN ARTI-
FICIAL PROPAGATION.

-
ALL THAT AMERICAN SCIENTISTS HAVE EVER
CLAIMED is MORE THAN REALIZED AT THE ?
Dido HArcHERY-Ax INTERESTING
ANALYSIS OF THIS SEASONS RE
SUITS AND A GRAPHIC Plot
uRE OF THE PROCESSES.
raox A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE 1hneA-
St. Johns. Newfoundland. November ..
In August last / gave an account. IN ine
Tribune, Of visit paid to the Coo anu L"" o.,
Hatchery at Dido Island. Trinity bay. Inc
operations OF the Matching season are no" oiaw
ing to a close The artificial propaeauon VI WV
fish and Holsters, as well as other sai. "a'e,
fishes. is q matter In which the rivih1eu "v''
IN deeply interested II 1t is possioe ny 'n"'
process to increase. 10 any consderaoe eA'en" s,e
supnlv Of food fishes drawn from the ocean THIS
.chiev.ment will be Of great benefit TO the world.
finder the teachings of science. agriculture has
made enormous strides. doubling or treonng the
,,roductions of the soil but aquarculture Is yet
An IT'S infancy. The day is not distant when II
,;,l he seen that the cultivation OF the waters Is
not less important than the cultivation OF the
lands as a means Of increasing the supplies Oh
human food Keeneyed science has OF late turneu
~ attention IN an investigation of the nature
and habits of those denizcns of the waters which
FINNISH food for man. From all quarters comes
The alarming cry that the supply OF the most I'M
uortant of these fishes is falling of; that fisheries
once abundant are exhausted; that certain nshes
are threatened with absolute determination through
human cupidity reckcssness and ignorance. Cah
science remedy this. and sustain or increase our
supply of food from river. lake and ocean, As
far as fresh waters concerned, this question
ia already answered in the affirmative. But
sbn ipcf0 economic
mint of view, when compared with those when
the great ocean Yields. Can science help us
here? Can she teach us how to re-stock exhausted
shore and bay fisheries and save them from aoso
lutte destruction? Is it not manifest apsuroity
to talk about multiplying the fnny tribes Una.
roam through the inaccessible solitudes OIL ocean
NATURE is AUDAc1oUs.
In her benevolent audacity, science docs not
hesitate to erapple with this problem. Patiently
she has set to work. prying into the secrets OF
life. accommodating facts testing by experiments
carefully guarded, undaunted by failures or OPP
positiou. In the great experiment Of the arti-
fetal propagation of marine fishes, the Unlted
States of America has the honor OF ieadlhg the
way Associated with the enterprise are ehe
names of Professor Baird-a naturalist OF world
wide observation-disclosures Verrill ana Brown
(,oode Messrs Miller and Sanderson Smitnman
eminent in the world of science. Great advances
have been made, but far more remains to be ac'
complished. The success already achieved gives
however. glorious promise of what is to follow.
Here in Newfoundland we are following the
path which Professor Bairds scientific investiga-
tions opened up and endeavoring to turn these 10
nracticaI account We have been fortunate In
occurring the services of an able Superintendent
Of Fisheries in the person Of Mr. Adolph Nielsen,
in
Norwegian fisheries as one of the inspectors, and
who combines. In remarkable degree. scle nc
knowledge with large practical experience. am
now to give some account of his Matching opera
tions at Dido during the past summer may
nremise that nv statements rest upon official re-
turns and reports made to our Fisheries Com
mission 50 that they may be regarded as thorough
1y trustworthy.
HOW THE FISH ARE TAKEN.
As mentioned in former letter, Mr.. Nielsen
carried on simultaneously at Di do the hatchi g
of Goldfish and Holsters The ova Of the two
species are totally different and require very diff
ferent methods OF reatment. The cod ova noNt'
being of less specific gravity than the sea water
whereas the lobster Ova sink TO the bot ON In te
auuaratus. Generally speaking cod-ha ching is a
much more difficult operation than lopster-hatch-
ing. The eggs of the cod are ext emely dehcate'
10 that the slightest injury is enough to destroy
their vitality The utmost vigilance is needen IN
securing a constantly renewed supply OF pure SUI
water of a certain degree of salinity ana denslty'
during the Matching time Then the eggs a'oer
beinr taken from the female, have to be fer inca
by contact with the milt; and no small dimcui'y
is encountered in securing sufficient STOCK Vi
male and female Goldfish at the proper spawning
stage On the other hand nature presents tl'e
lobster ova already fortified anc clingng In thou
sands TO the fbrls under the tails of the mother
ell They have only to be removed carefully
md n,aced in the Matching jars or incubafors
and thew bear rougher handling than the others
srvENrEEN MILLIONS FROM SEVENTEEN
HUNDRED.
Mr. Nielsen succeeded in securing 700 s"awnine
Goldfish in various stages of ripeness In May aho
Tune These were placed in POUNDS surrouhueo
with wire netting, to which the sea wa'er ha'
FREE access. and fed whatever oait-hshes "ei'
In season-such as behring's capln ana squius
As the ova and milt ripened the iish were
.str,nned- and then returned to the pound I'll
+rrther ripened: for a female cod takes from By
weeks to two months in shedding her ova' ant
the same holds good Of the male h'h. lhe o'"
when fertilized, are placed in the hatchihg jar
and carefully watched and constantly cie 'nSeu
Dead ova have to be at once removed. Nigne an'
dav the s,eam-engine is pumping sea water iron
a deptb Of thirty feet. All this involves muci
labor and watchfulness. Up till July % he ma"
collected SO, 900 cod ova. OF these 1870,
600 were rejected and 100000 vere Matched
and the young fish were plated ia /" good an'
healthy condition in the wa'ers OF Trinity Say
Thus so l-2 per cent of the total ova ohta ned wer
successfully Matched, which is satisfactory aver
age. s;.s ,,.r
or the 700 cod captured, 2s per cent died iron
various causes, such as injuries received 1ror
the hooks when taken, or afterward IN handiihg, o
diseases Of different kinds 1t is curious 70 I'M
that many Of the fish carried dead o'a IN 'ef
large quantities. This is supposed 70 DC cause
nv the raycncus cod gorging themselves on tn
csn,;n 70 such an extent that the overloaded ston
aohs press unduly on the ovarae and njure tn