Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-21

~ a. r Star reporter. By that
"a time water farms will
| NJ - have become as plenti-
| e full ~ land farms, and
~ = tn the . ssssss. acre, RE-, wi" il,
A@ much attention s,o... a: tn the
ing is, in fact, to be the great industry of the
future. II is far more profitable even now, for
q given area, than the filling of the most fertile
soil. A fruitful acre of earth will support one
young bullock. increasing the weight Of the
| beast 500 pounds In twelvemonth One acre
Of water properly located, will produce IL, 900
pounds Of oyster meat, shells and Juice not
included in the same length Of time. Oysters
are weight for weight. very nearly equal to
| beef for making fesh and blood. By artificial
| propagation, as it 10 now beginning to be car
ried on, the entire bottom surface Of all streams
near the sea, and estuaries also, can be made to
| yield crops in this proportion.
But great as will be the business of raising
oysters on our coast a century from now it will
bear but small comparison with the cultivation
Of fish. This will be carried on in three
| branches. The most important will be their
propagation for market in the waters Of the in
terror, which will afford opportunities hitherto
uDdreamed Of for economic fish farming.
| INLAND LAKES TO BE INCREASED AND UTILIZED
1t IL not generally realized that there are in
this country literally millions upon millions Of
lakes available for this purpose, in size all the
way from mere ponds to the great inland seas
of fresh water. In Illinois alone there are tens
OF thousands of lakes and hundreds of thous-
ands more can be readily created. There are
in that state hundeedB Of thousands Of extinct
lakes which can easily be transformed into sheets
of water by the simplest means. All the enormous
Lake Plain, as it il known to biologists, COM
prising Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan
north OF the Ohio river, is dotted with count
less sheets of water, conditions being abundant
for creating a million more by such mex
pensive articles az the damming of streams. By
damming at intervals every creek and rivulet
can be made to form artificial lakes. Every
where in the United States it is pretty much the
same, and every acre Of this water can be made
to produce several times as much food ~ can
be obtained from the most fertile acre Of land.
IN THE ARID LANDS.
Even the vast arid region--the "Great Des-
ert" Of the VESTS speckled all over with
multitudes of extinct lakes which can be filed
once more and made to team again with fish
life as they once did. In the marshes, where
once these dead ponds were, countless shells
and fish fossils are found today. From such
sources were obtained the remains OF masto-
dons preserved in the museums. the mighty
beasts having got mired when they went for
water and 30 perished, leaving their bones be-
hind to excite the wonder of later age. When
the irrigation Of the arid belt has become an
accomplished fact the water stored in reser-
voirs will produce as much value in the shape
| Of fishes as from the land in the form Of vege-
tables.
STOCKED WATER FARMS
All these millions of water farms, as they are
some day destined to be, will be- planted with
fishes native to the Mississippi vLley-such az
the crappie. black bass. rock bass and pickerel-
as well as with land-iocked salmon. carp and
other suitable species. palatabls and quickly
multiplying. The Mississippi valley itself, by
the way, with it mult,tudinous bayous will AZ
ford extensive and most proftabl, areas for
the fresh water is at hand that can possibly be
wanted for the growing Of fish in any quanti-
ties that may be desired.
One principle at the bottom Of the fact that
water farming makes bigger gains than land
farming is that whereas a pound of beef must
| carry its own weight, as 1t were, the animal
wasting most of what it eats in the muscular
effort Of walking about, the fish is suspended
| without effort in its native element, having
| merely to waggle its fms occasionally in order
| to achieve what locomotion is necessary, so that
| nearly all of its food goes to support aud in
crease the bulk OF its body ut so much per six
teen ounces market price.
CULTIVATION OF COAST WATERS
The second great branch Of the water-farm-
| ing industry Of the future will be the cultiva-
ton Of the coastal water Of the Atlantic and Pa
eific oceans, as well as those OF the Gulf Of
| Mexico. II Is easy to stock those waters as
to do the like for the ponds and lakes, and op-
erations for propagating purposes can be car
ried on with equal certainty OF success. The
migrations of the cod as limited and well
defined rs those Of the shad. Cod do not 20
far from shore, merely retreating into deep
water in summer and coming back to the
/ spawning grounds to breed in winter The area
L n 4 a afnifa ma aud
propagation can be carried on inside Of that
| area with perfect confidence in sure results
Within the last half dozen years tine fish COM
/ mission has
REMADR THE GREAT COD FISHERY OFF THE NEW
| ENGLAND COAST.
| During the month Of January last IL took for
Matching $50, 600 900 cod eggs. Out Of this
number about One-half will be safely Matched
and will grow to three inches in length, when
they will be carried in tanks upon steam
launches to the fishing grounds and dumped
overheard to shift for themselves. 1t is esti-
mated, well within the mark, that of those
125, 000, 900 80 000, 600 will escape the maws OF
bigger fishes and other perils of infancy and
s grow to be adults d.; Suppose that these 5000
ought to average twenty pounds. aud cod often
reach eighty pounds, and that they are worth
only three cents pound. That makes Sl5, 000. 000
worth Of cod created by one seasons Matching,
| win ehlah CApSHuituHo duo comparatively
little labor. BY . not very costly expansion OF
the work the schools Of cod on the shores OF
New England could undoubtedly be multiplied
In numbers by ten. The only limit to such
multiplication IL the amount OF food available
in the sea for the fish, and there il plenty of
that and to spare. Each female cod lays hun
dreds Of thousands Of eggs at O spawn, but,
owing to natural causes, nearly all Of them are
lost. They float on the surface of the water
and furnish food for every fish that swims. De-
pending as they do for being rendered fertile
upon accidental contact with the floating milt
of the male, most Of them remain unimpreR-
mated and every breaker cast upon the rocky
beaches by northeast storm destroys them by
myriads. But by the artificial method, the egg
and milt being stirred together in q pan OF
water, nearly an are Matched and the little
fishes are taken care Of until they can look out
fairly well for their own preservation.
In recent discussion Of the question OF reci-
procity In trade between this country and the
South American republics no one seems to have
thought about the cod, which in those coun.
tries is considered the greatest Of all deicacies
When the treaties are signed this government
cannot do better, 1t Is thought by fish experts,
than to appropriats big sum Of money for in.
creasing the product OF cod to its maximum,
which could be accomplished within . few
years by the fish commission Al quickly =,
these southern markets are opened By the re-
movaT Of duties there win be an enormous new
demand by whole continent that il actually
starving for codfsh, hitherto purchasabls fos
nothing under % cents pound and thArsfors