The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1909-06-10
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| ADVANCE from SaYagery, ana It's be-
ginnings were already lost in the
mists of antiquity when the first
crude attempts were made toward in
creasing the natural productiveness
Of the waters
Vastly inferior to agriculture
though it be, both age and economic
Importance, aqui-culture-the Gull
ture OF the waters-is nevertheless
of respectable antiquity and OF no
mean value as a producer and con-
server of wealth.
Fish culture was first practiced by
the Chinese, who at a time so re-
mote that there is no record of its
beginnings, placed in the streams fag-
OTIS and fascines of brush, upon which
breeding fsh-probably carp-could
spawn. The eggs were removed and
Matched near by, or else sold for tran
! sport, to stock more distant ponds
| and streams.
The ancient Egyptians also knew
the art Of fish culture, and we later
hear Of It in Rome during the republic.
There are pictures extant showing
the methods Of that day, which we're
wholly different from those of the
Chinese, dealing, too, within distinct
species OF fish.
bitches were dug inland from the
sea, into which the fish ran at GER
tain seasons to deposit their spawn,
their egress and that of their progeny
being prevented by fiood-gates. The
breeding fish, after depositing their
eggs, graced the tables Of the luxu-
rious Romans, and the young Matched
in the bitches were reared to matu-
Tity in captivity. The species cult
waited were the red mullet and the
moray.
The early Germans, too, had fish
ponds, some of which to this day
furnish an important part of the food
supply Of Central Europe; but in this
case landlocked bodies of water, eth
er natural or artificial, were stocked
with breeding fish, the only atten-
ton required being a supply of food
It Is interesting to note that the |
Hawaiians and other natives of the |
South Seas, savages, perhaps, but of
a high order of intelligence, followed |
much the same methods, and had |
fish ponds long before the advent of !
the white rance.
In the fourteenth century a monk, |
Dom Pinchon, discovered the utility |
of boxes and running water in raising |
fish from naturally fortified eggs, |
but the first successful attempt at ar
81 Il |
until 174S, when jacob, a German,
discovered the process. This impor-
tant discovery, from which modern |
fish culture may be said to date, made
little progress outside Germany for
more than three-quarters of a CEN
fury; then It's principles were indie
pendently rediscovered by Shaw, in
England, in 1897, and FIVE years later
by Gehin and Remy two French fish
ermen, whose process attracted the
attention of the distinguished Pro-
fessor Coste, and secured a govern
ment grant.
In most spawning fish the eggs and
milt become so loosened in the body
that a slight pressure tends to dis
a
proper handling Of the fish and the
application Of the pressure consti-
tute the art Of stripping" and fer
tilization, the details varying with
the species. The process follows
closely that of nature, but it eXcels It
in the completeness with which the
eggs are impregnated.
.h1v |
the fish merely discharge the eggs
and milt into the water, many of the
former fail OF fertilization and die;
but a skilled stripper, working with
fully ripe and healthy fish, will sue
coed in fertillzing practically ALL
Formerly it was the custom to fer
tilize the eggs in considerable guam
titles of water, under the assumption {
that this was natures method, and ]
therefore to be copied; but expert
ence has shown that superior results
are attained by the use Of the dry {
method, in which the quantity Of
water employed is merely sufficient
TO moisten the container. II
How the Eggs Are Treated. !
This method Of stripping is fol- {
lowed with practically all fish except I
hose belonging 70 the family which |
contains the black bass. crappies and {
ienfsh, alf-of which build and guard /
nests in gravelly places, and for some
reason not we'll understood do not I
give up their eggs under pressure. I
Here again man bows to nature, and q