The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-29
FISH FARMING.

Sowing a fish crop may sound like new industry to many. but it is now real one. and 1t is the only hope of having fish for the future. When America was discovered and for long while afterward. conditions were quite different from what they are now. The streams and lakes were clear as crys- tai and fish were both abundant and
 good. The natives were comparative ly few in number. and fishing with them was not . sport or matter of business. They killed or caught only what was necessary as food. and the result was that the supply was inex- haustibIe. if none but the Indians had been their enemies.
 The coming of civilized white man was the beginning of new conditions, and these conditions have been con stantly growing worse. so far as the various fnny tribes are concerned. The clearing of the land has caused the streams to become muddy at all sea- sons of tho year in most sections. The building of towns and cities. with the modern sewerage system. has had the effect. as was inevitable, of so pollut- ing and poisoning the water that many
 varieties of fish cannot live in them.
 Added to all this, thousands and mill lions of them are taken from the wa ter when there is no use or demand for them.
 And so 1t came about in the natural course of events that many varieties of the fnny tribe have either disap- peared or have become scarce and in many cases unfit. for human food be- cause of the conditions in which they are forced to live. It might be sup posed that the waters of the oceans could not fail to yield their full sup ply as they have always done, but this is not true. atI least so far as the fish ing grounds along the coasts are con- cerned. Even in some of the bays and sounds along the coasts the same causes which have driven the fish from the fresh waters have had a like effect and fish are no longer caught in quan- tity and quality as was once the case. In and around Boston waters. to take that city as an example. The Globe tells us that while there was good fishing even quarter of century ago. many species of fish have been driven away by the pollution of the waters and other causes.
 For a number of years both the na- tional and many of the State govern ments have been constantly and sys- tematically engaged in the work of resupplying the waters with several varieties of fish. and on a recent oc- casion Fish Commissioner Bowers made this statement:
 "The farming of the waters is re- s so9stant t superyision sInt eSen Se more e tSan the farming of land. yThe cultivation of the ocean floor fs recognized science ea toaaS ana m tnat @ cultivation Skf1f big ocean crops mean good prices. for the demand is constant. inasmueh as epicures must have their delicacies the year round"
 Perhaps it will not be possible to restock the streams with fish like they were when the waters ware pure and clear. but there is little doubt that much has been done and will be done to remedy the scarcity that now ex- ists and to add much to the food sup ply of the country. Whether 1t is be- cause there is meat trust, or wheth- | CT the demand for meats exceeds the | supply, or whatever the cause ia. we | have before us the cold. hard certain | ty that meats of all kinds are fast go- | ing beyond the reach of persons of | limited or moderate means. If 1t is simply owing to the law of supply and demand, and if the country cannot raise enough meat to fill the demands, we cannot expect any reduction in prices, | but may reasonably expect an ad- vance.
 Thus fish farming becomes a strictly | economic question, and one affecting a | large portion of the population. It is not a matter of raising fish to furnish | sport for the anglers, but of supplying | food for the eaters. Good fish meat is relished by most people. and 1t is a good substitute for the flesh of ani- mals. If the efforts of the general and State governments are successful and result in giving the people fish at moderate prices, great good will be done the people. and especially the poor to whom pork and beef are now al- most in the nature of forbidden fruit
 A GREAT DISCOVERY.
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