The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-06-10

Robert b. Roosevelt in an Interview Tells How He and Seth
Green Established the First Fish Hatchery in America
Green Was known THE Father of the Fishes
His Patient Study of Brook Trout and Other
Varieties

cold In summer, but ct such nearly
changcable temperature that II never
freezes In the winters and clear as
crystal, and how 1t boils ,un out OF the
earth. q
.slnne shyest, earnest brook trout In the
world were found Iii that WOnderful
spring and In tho strong, ciear stream,
nlmogt little river, lowing from II.
Through studying the trout In that
spring, Seth had discovered the secret
that made fish culture OH q large scale
possible. It ii tile cecret Of 3neratlon,
or more properly speaking oxygenlza-
tioh. Water, YOU know, carries oxygen
IN the form OF q percentage OF nir. "a iie
eggs OF ali flsll need plenty OF oxygen
while Matching This IS particularly true
Of trout, and they can get. u no other
way than by being PLACED where there
Is constant but gentle change OF water
at Just the right temperatures.
I'VE didn't know that when we began,
but tho trout have always known It, and
Green watched them pauentl. till he
found 1t out aud learned just What they
lid 10 secure results Tho brook trout
though long tlloght to be, Isn't really u
trout proper, ut all. but belongs to the
rare char fish family, and Is native only
in the streams Of New England, New
York, Pennsylvania, and perhncs some
to the south Of Pennsylvania. These
streams aTe fed by sprlnEs. and taN trout
deposit their eggs just over the places
where the springs gusfl out. Flat OIL
his face, with his evea cloHs to the wa
ter, Green watched the fish PIN p
mounds OF little stones aver these
places. saw them deposit thcirseggs In
the chlnks between the stones and
watched the eggs hatch out.
.srhen he fixed up artificial spawning
places In which the circulats on OF water
should be as free and gentle as in tho
places selected by the trout themselves.
Then no deposited trout eggs by the thou
sands under Just the right conditions
and waited. After many failures tho
eggs Matched all right and the yn:in;s
fish were healthy and vigorous. Wien
I was sure he. knew what hn was about
i bought tho property on which tho
spring was located and the first trout
hatchery in the world was established.
Not long afterwasd. through the Efforts e, g
+ OF the State Sportsn1en's Assoicat ton, The
State Flsh Commission was appo,n ed!
My friend Governor TIorntio Seymour.
Seth Green and myself 70 re the arst
members. Later the State took over the
& hatchery. and ii g ,een, resigning as 4 q
commissioner. was made superintendent.
That was the real beginning OF fish cal-
ture in this country. and 7hnt VIC 9 tue
way Green got a chance to do his life
work.
Learning the Secrets Of Fish.
Not long nfterward Massachusetts
wanted to borrow Green to carry on the
work Of establishing q Bhad hatchery {
FIIolyoke. Though the Massachusetts
commission was established fifteen years
before Il had accomplished little. We
LENT Green's services. OF course, fora our
purpose was TO help along fish culture
lin any way we could. Later q, sllad
hatchery was established on the Hud-
|! son. hut the conditions were not nearly
80 favorable as at Iio yoke. and It was
clear he could do pioneer shad Matching
work to much better advantage there
1t took him quite while to work out
tho problem-l don't remember Just how
long-but he kept at It till 1t was solved.
\ He went right into the stream at the
foot OF the dam at Holyoke. standing
waist deep for hours at q time. hold
ling the seve-ltke box containing the
eggs In the water. A ns it pu poled ana
boiled below the dam inclining the box
4 first one way end then the otner and
had found out tust how be eggs should
be deposited and Just the conditions that
should surround them while Matching.
NO. j din't see him at this work: b
had to stay at Caledonia and nurse the
young trout there. nut 7 shall never
forget his stery OF how good he felt,
when. at last. after watching that box
for days and weeks he was 90 tisfied that
he had learned his lesson. "a
ri II used to take Green to my Long 1s-
land home. In those days, and we would
/ go h cruising along the north shore In o
queer little yacht I. then had. looking
for fish eggs Of all sorts and experiments
Ing with them. The north shore waters
of Long Island are very shallow, but
with the center board up the yacht didn't