The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-07-19
,.;.H 80 8 !. S! 81 p.
.,< TIE origin of cormorant fish scrtbed in a paper by Dr.: Bashfor

ScriDeQ III Il paper ny LIZ. bdShhoIN
Dean recently published by the United
States Bureau of Fisheries.
Among the fishes regularly cultivated
are the eel. the mullet, the carp, the
goldfish, and several salmon and trout.
The important salmon fishery in north
ern Japan having suffered from deple-
ton of the streams. the government
sent 4 representative to this country
twenty years ago to study Il hatching
methods. It goes without saying that
he took home with him q well-filled
note book, and, in addition, the plans
| Of one of our salmon hatcheries. and
| shortly afterwards from those plans
built in Hokkaido the first salmon
hatchery in Asia. With this as a model
and centre, salmon culture in Japan
has steadily grown, until there are now
eighteen salmon hatcheries in Honshu
and Hokkaido, and Japan has become
the only competitor Of the United
States in the artificial propagation of
salmon.
The carp has been cultivated from
very ancient times and now receives
much attention. II the Toxic district
alone 225 acres Of pools are devoted to
carp culture, and the annual crop is
upward of 400, 900 pounds, valued at
| $4,000. In one village in the Gifu
prefecture $50 acres of paddy fields,
| in which there is growing RICE have
recently been devoted to carp culture
by the local agricultural society, and
%, 900, 900 young fish are now procured
there annually and sold for stocking
purposes. 1t is q significant fact that
the carp not only does not injure the
rice plants, but benefits them by de-
vouring destructive insects, whereas
in this country n Of the very loud
est and longest walls against the carp
is that it uproots aquatic vegetation.
GOLDFISH FARMS.
The goldfish receives more attention
than any other species, and the place
| it holds in the affections of the masses
illustrates one Of the racial character
istics of the Japanese-namely, the love
for the beautiful and ornamental, and
the time and money all classes bestow
on things that appeal to the esthetic
rather than to the mcrcena"y and prac-
teal. Although the goldfish occurs in
q wild state in japan, it is probable
that China some 400 years ago fur
| nished the stock from which the Won
derful varieties Of japanese goldfish
have been bred. It is reported that
in feudal days, ever when famine was
abroad in the land and many people
were starving, the trade in goldfish
was fourishing. The demand at pres
emit appears to be without limit. and
the output shows q substantial in
crease each year. Many thousands
of people make a living by growing
goldfish for market, and hundreds of
peddlers carry the fish through the
in wooden tubs suspended from a
shoulder bar.
The leading goldfish centre is Kori-
yama, near the ancient capital city
of Nara. Here are $50 Independent
breeding establishments, whose yearly
product runs far into the millions. One
farm which I visited was started 40
years ago; at first it was conducted
merely for the pleasure of the owner,
but it eventually became 4 commercial
enterprise and is now very profitable.
The history and methods of goldfish
culture in Japan constitute a very en-
gaging theme. not less interesting to
the biologist than to the fish c%ulturist.
Some O; the current American ideas
of the II in which the remarkable
varieties have been produced are pre-
| posterous, and evoked much merriment
among the Japanese when I mentioned
them.-National Geographic Magazine.