Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-09-15
TROUT SPAWN SOON..
Making Ready at the Madison
Hatchery for the Event.
LIVER VS.. ANGLE.WORMs FOR FOOD

The Three Hatcheries on Which the
State spends 100000 Year-Exhibits
ut Chippewa Falls-Taking Little Black
Bass from the sloughs of the MISSISSIPPI
pi and White Bass from Wolf River.
Madison, Sept. 13.-There is an idea
that trout fed on anything but angle
worms and grubs which they pick up
in running water are not good eating.
IT is said that trout artificially raised
in preserves and fed on meat, etc, lack
the "gamey" flavor. Such are often
served in city hotels. and the wise ones
turn up their noses and tell stories of
fish they caught on the Brule."
But l suspect this is delusion. AT
the state hatchery at Madison there
are trout of all sizes by the tens Of
thousands and they are guarded as
jealousy as if they were worth so cents
pound / have been the guest of the
authorities on a number of occasions
and treated with gratifying considera-
ton But on coming away no one ever
wrapped a tive-pound trout up in a
brown paper parcel and told me to take
ii home to the wife and babies. Civil
service rules
Superintendent NeVin has been there
for many years. He came from Canada
and learned how to breed fish in the
government hatcheries of that country,
which lead the world. So, too, with Val
entine MOgg, the foreman, who has
charge of the squeezing of fish to get
the spawn-delicate skilled work-and
who rears the pheasants. He has had
ten years experience. And Arthur
Sykes, the office man-all of them de-
vote their lives to the fish business
The three hatcheries of the state are
under a board of seven commissioners.
They receive no salaries, though they
may travel over the state free. But
some of them, as General L. e. Bryant
(dean of the law SCHOOL,, chairman of
the board, turn in no bills for expenses.
They work for love, and efficiency is
marked in this branch of the state sery-
ice.
No Free Distribution of Fish.
One of the employees told me that in
six years service he had eaten two of
the states trout. One of them he
found droWned-fSh drown, like Poop
pie. The fish caught its nose in a
grating. The other was a drown
trout" Curiosity got the better of the
official and he did want 20 see how a
brown trout tasted. 1t was not as
good as the speckled brook trout, to
which the Madison hatchery is mainly
devoted, and which is the finest pisca-
torial eating in the wide, wide world.
But both of them, he said, tasted as
good as any fish he ever caught in a
brook. Some 200 pounds of fresh beef
liver are thrown into the ponds and
runs four times a week. Why shouldn't
they taste as good as if fed on worms
and lily-pods? The liver is ground in
machine and when thrown to the
fish 1t was Il rare spectacle. They dash
for it and lash the water into foam, and
jump up into the air.
Fish eat each other. For that reason
it is necessary to classify them accord
ing to size every six months or SO. The
big ones eat the little ones, and of those
hatched out in the same month some
take on size much sooner than others
They are victims of bad habits, like
men. When the habit of eating each
other gets prevalent they refuse nice
beef liver. Fish resemble trampS, too,
in that unwise charity makes them lazy.
l saw one pond in which We're 1900
trout 1t was we'll lined with weeds and
plant grow ths-deliciou food matter for
sensible trout But it is necessary
to cut these weeds, whereas if the fish
did their duty they would keep down
the growth. But they are used to liver
thrown to them in a ladle and decline
weeds.
saw in this pond u big fsh-a ten
FOUNDER.
why doesn't he eat the little ones?"
He can't"
"Why not?"
His mouth won't allow him to do so
He belongs to the sucker order-he's
Il sturgeon"
This is loggy, lazy fish, moves round
slowly at the bottom like an excursion
boat. He has been at the hatchery for
ten years and is but little larger than
when placed there. The sturgeon does
grow however, to weigh $50 pounds
sometimes.
Wisconsin fish made a sensation at
the worlds fair. Ten glass aquariums
are now at the Chippewa Falls fair
They made beautiful sight.
Hatched Fish for Twenty-Five Years.
Wisconsin began the industry in 1874
The annual expenditure is now about
$4,000 per year. There are three hatch
cries, the others at bayfield, and Osh-
kosh. The output of brook trout at
Madison is said to be the largest of
any hatchery in the world.
"Of what benefit is it ALE"
The eggs, fry, young and full grown
fish planted" every year in streams
and lakes have made Wisconsin ia
nous as fishing territory. Middle coun-
ties that once had no fish now abound.
1t attracts thousands of tourists who
Spend their money among us. 1t pro-
vides trout as an article of diet for the
settlers in the northern counties. and
the fish as food taken from Winnebago,
Green Bay and Lakes Superior and
Michigan are cheap eating for the poor.
Some l500 people get their living in
the industry on these big lakes and,
property to the value of over 81 ,O0O, COO
is thus employed
The latest work OF the fish officials has
been the planting Of little black bass
600 Of them. These We're not Matched
out. hut captured alive along the banks
NJ tho NisSi sSippf When the river 10