The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-24
STOCKING OF STREAMS
THE NATIONAL FISH COMMISSION Is
NOW VERY BUSY.
Precautions Against Sending Fish
Where They Will Not Thrive-FOr
and Against Carp.


Commission are now in the midst of their
busy season. Shad for the Potomac, white
fish for the lakes. salmon for the CO.
lumbia and carp for the Georgia streams
are being Matched and distributed about
over the country in the scientifically con-
structed cars of the commission. Letters
by the wagon load are coming in from all
parts of the country. from persons asking
questions or applying for fish. so that the
members of the Fish Commission have very
little spare time on their hands. And much
of this correspondence is of freakish ma
ture.
I'VE have a regular printed FORM said
Mr.. j. W. Titcomb, in charge of the d.
vision of fish culture, containing a num-
Der of questions. which we send out to
those who apply for fish. and which they
are required to fill out and return to us
before send them the fish they ask
for. The questions in these forms relate
to the nature of the waters which the
applicant is DESTROYS of stocking. Such
questions are highly important and neces-
sary, and are the means of preventing a
vast deal Of waste In time and labor and
fish. l will give you a practical DEM
onstration of what l mean. Here is a
farmer who has made application for a
number of the young of the rainbow and
form in far better style than is usually
the case. He replies to the questions as
to the size and character of the body of
water he desires to stock with trout, and,
In answer to the question as to whether
there are any fish already in this body
of water, and, If so, what species, states
that the body of water is full of black
bass. Now, bass and pickerel are per-
haps thes worst enemies the brook and
rainbow trout have to contend with, prey
ing upon the young of the latter varie-
10
fish he asks for the government would
be simply put to the expense of paying for
a hearty meal for a stream full of vora-
cious bass. Thus it is that by these Ques-
lions we are able to direct the applicants
in making choice Of fish best adapted to
the waters they intend to stock and avoid
doing work for nothing.
HARD TO GET PLAIN ANSWERS.
However, that is not what started to
tell you about. When we first issued these
printed application forms, one of the ques-
tons they contained was What is the
area of the body of water you wish to
stock with fish,? We soon discovered, by
the absurd and utterly meaningless an
swers we received, that at least two-thirds
of our applicants did not know what the
word area meant. Therefore, we made two
questions out of this one, and, instead of
the old query, 1t reads thus: How long
is the pond, lake, ETC.. which you wish to
have imagined that this was plain enough,
but the trouble with the average illiterate
person is that, when he undertakes to make
out an application of this sort he thinks
he must be as ambiguous as possible and
employ lot of big words which he is not
accustomed to using. Thus 1t happens
that for all that the questions on these
forms are as plain as we can make them,
1t Is seldom that one Is returned filled out
in satisfactory manner. Here is a fair
specimen of what 1 mean. In this form.
tlA ar1rlfn ant In HnNlxr 70 he ion.
How long is the pond. etc, says 'oblong.
and to the other query, How wide is it?'
he makes answer about three acres
LAS for the letters receive, 1 assure
you some of them are gems. Here is one
from a man out in Kentucky, who writes.
stating that near his place, there is
but that despite his efforts, they will not
bite. What bait he asks, can 1 use to
induce these fish to bitter I wrote back,
to the man in charge of our station, at
bait other than the bottled kind popular
in Kentucky. which this man could use.
Here Is another missive containing twenty
four questions. Following are some of
them: What does a trout do with himself
in winter? Could the trout be prevented
from breeding, and If so would they not
long will ii take the largest fish the gov
eminent will furnish to grow to the weight
of a pound?
IGNORANT ABOUT FISH.
"In our work of stocking the country
| with good food fishes, and improving mat
tiers generally, we. of course. encounter
more or less opposition from the ignorant.
| No one is more ignorant Of the nature and
habits of fish than the average fisherman.
| They belong to class from whom II is
absolutely impossible to get any satisfac-
| tory information. Their minds are filed
| with myths and superstition. l am happy
fIo& h.xv >11Nz IL.
| converted the shad and herring fishermen
| of the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers
and Chesapeake bay. They are firm believ-
| ers in the good work being done by the
| commission, and as result of our teaching
| they have all learned how to remove the
| spawn from the shad they take; how. to
keep it fresh and from spelling until they
| can reach one of our stations or hatch
| cries; and to deliver the spawn at the sta
| tons maintain at Havre de Grace Nd.
and other points on the waters have men,
toned.
nowadays on these waters is spawn-taker.
1.-THE fishermen realize that If this spawn
| is allowed to go to waste, is thrown
| back into the water, where it is likely to
| be devoured by other fish, he Is paving the
| way to the ultimate extinction of the shad.
tions, where it is Matched and the young
| kept safely until they are old enough to
| take care of themselves, he will have more
| shad to catch and sell next season. Thus,
| intelligent cooperation and good feeling
| on the part of the fishermen for the COM
| mission officials, has operated to keep the
Potomac, the Susquehanna, and the Ches-
apeake teeming with good fish. whereas in
| other streams ignorance and opposition
| have operated together to reduce the num-
Der of fish in some rivers, almost TO the
point of extinction.
RESULTS OF CARP FAD.
| Speaking of the fads that have taken the
country by storm several times, during
which great run was made on certain
fish, Mr.. Titcomb said: Some fifteen
years ago German carp were introduced
indiscriminately in all the ponds, lakes and
rivers in the United States, many of which
should have been kept free of carp. How
| ever, like the English sparrow, they are
| here to stay, and we will have to make
| the best of the matter The Illinois river
! appears to have been better adapted for
carp than any other stream in America,
| and they have since thriven amazingly, not
only in the Illinois river, but all over that
| State, which is to-day the great carp re-
| gion of America. The reason of this is that
| the carp is something of a vegetarian, and
| as the Illinois Is a muddy, sluggish stream,
| flowing through a low. rich region. and fire.
quently overlooking and covering vast
| stretches of country, the carp have found
things better suited TO their wants there
| than elsewhere, because during these fire.
green stuff under water for them TO eat.
| drawing the waters of one carp pond of
into another basin, and raising a crop of
| corn, beans peas or onions on its bottom,
| and the crop is harvested. the