The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-02

 the beds are being dug too closely. Mean time, through the investigations of the Brown biologists a basis has been es- tablished for an industry, already started in several states, in which seed clans are sown over a definite area at small expense and with the certainty of large yield. The profits from an acre of tidal mud, according to Dr. Meads figures, should run in some cases as high as S2500 The law regarding marine holdings is at present unfavorable in many places to the development of either oyster or clam cul- ture but amendments are likely to be adopted which will give scope to indi- vidual initiative, ever anxious for prof. table openings.
 That the apparently inevitable extinc- tion of the lobster has been prevented by the discovery of new and practical method of artificial propagation is now pretty generally admitted among the scientists The scheme first devised at Wickford, R. L, by Professor Mead in 1860 in accordance with which young Holsters are successfully reared through the first three stages of their life-that is to the time when they are able to protect them selves from the dangers afflicting the very young larvae-has recently received high tribute of approval and admiration from Professor Ehrenbaum of the Ger man Fisheries Station at Heligoland.
 After describing the failure of previous attempts due to the immense cannibal- ism which prevails among the newly matched Holsters this German biologist says of the Rhode Island Commission of Inland Fisheries: But finally the con- tinuaton and variation of the experiments led to the discovery that the secret of success in the culture lies in keeping up a constant motion of the water in the breeding bags. Through this motion of the water two-fold result is obtained The larvae are prevented from lodging in corners and folds of the breeding bags and there mutually feasting on one anoth- CT; and the food is kept evenly suspended In the bag so that it is easily within the reach of all the animals under exper- iment"
 Nearly three hundred thousand partly grown Holsters were set free in 1907 from the hatchery of the Rhode Island com mission, where Professor Mead and some of his advanced students spend the sum mer each year in practical work and scientific investigation. Dr. Ehrenbaum asserts that the setting free of 100000 Holsters old enough to seek the bottom and to hide there instead of helplessly floating in the water has more value for the improvement of the lobster situa- ton than the setting free of as many millions of larvae just matched. He con cludes, therefore, that the problem of lobster culture is practically solved.
 In other directions the scientists trained in the biological departments of our universities making it possible for the rough and ready fishermen to stay in business and for Americans in every part of the continent to have the advant- age of the variety and healthfulness of sea foods. The importance of the work of the Bureau of Fisheries in checking the depletion of the salmon run in the rivers of the Pacific coast is well known. In some of these streams there are now more salmon than ever before in history. The shad have been studied and their extermination practically prevented. At the government hatcheries fin Gloucester and Woods Hole Mass, millions of cod lings each summer are artfically hatch ed and set free in the nearby waters
 striking general example of the value of organized effort in preserving these marine industries is to be noted in Rhode Island where, according to the report submitted to the legislature this spring by the commissioners of inland fisheries, the number of fish traps has grown steadily. In 1898 there were in Rhode Island waters 119 of these traps. In 1903 the number had increased to 195. In the subsequent years it has stood as follows: 1904, 214 1905, 234; 1906 243; 1907, 265
 This report says of the whole subject of preserving the fisheries:
 "The increase in the importance of the commercial fisheries is not by any means local matter but is general through out nearly the whole world; witness the development of fisheries along the Atlan- tic and Pacific seaboards of the United States and Canada, the organization of the federation among the nations of northern Europe into a board of inter- national fisheries, and the paramount fishing industry of Japan. Better organi- zation, new and more effective methods. knowledge of the habits and movements of fishes, increasing facilities for dis tributon to markets. and the correspond ing greater demand for fish food, and the realization of the immense possibilities of the fisheries in increasing the worlds food supply are all factors in the deveI- opment of this growing industry"
 Life In a Bunkhouse.