Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1883 — FISH CULTURE. [ARTICLE]

FISH CULTURE.

Stocking Streams and Lakes with the Finny Tribe. J * Work of the United States Fish Com*. mission for the Past Tear.

[Washington Telegram to Chicago Times.] At the last session of Congress there was appropriated for carrying on the work of tiie United States Fish Commission in all its forms—for propagating fish, distributing them, studying them, at sea, with the assistance of steamers and steam launches, collecting statistics, preparing portraits of distinguished fish for the snnnzi report of the Commissioner, eta—#236,5001 Of course it is the stocking of rivers and lakes that attracts the most attention to the Commission, bnt this la far from being the whole or most expensive part of its work. The distribution of fish daring the past year Bbows ample preparations are being made by a wise ana liberal Government to supply future generations of Americana with unlimited supplies of brain food. For example take the autritration cf the highly-bone-lferous shad and herring, fith whose meat will certainly stimulate the mind if the eater has good luck and. does not get choked to v death with the bonea In the season of 18i3 there were sent oat by the commission 12,4c8.i00 shad and 6,850,000 herring. Of these 552,000 shad were pat into the Illinois river at Peoria, the same number were put In the same river at Havana, and haO.OOO herring were put into the same Stream at Peoria Then take that excellent article of food, the lake whitefißh. In the season of 1882-8 the Commission planted 20c,000 of them in the Minnesota watera and 400,000 in the Nebraska watera At Sulphur, Mich., 2,000,000 were put Into Lake Huron; at Grand Haven 2,000,000 were put Into Lake Michigan; at Alpena, Mich, 3,000,000 were put into Lake Huron; at North Point, Mich., 2,000,000 were put Into theßame lake; at Ludington, Mich., 2,000,000 were put into Lake* Michigan. Another 2,000,000 were put into the same lake at Petoskey. Then 2,000,00 * went into Huron at Black river, 4,COl),000 went inte Lake Michigan at Milwaukee and Kenosha, 2,000,060 went into Lake Huron at Oscoda. 2,000,000 went into Lake Superior at MarSuette, 100,000 were put into Long lake, [lch. Another 5,000, <XX> went into Lake SuWr at L’Anse. Lake Huron got another 000 at Partridge Point Lake MinhigM got another 2,000,000 at Michigamme. Tjdra Michigamme got 1,000.000, and Lake Michlfan came in for another 1,000,000 at Milwaoee.

In all, 45,750,000 whitefish fry and 11,960,000 whitefish eggs were distributed. The details already given Bhow that Lake Huron got 13,000,000 fish, Lake Michigan 11,000,000, and Lake Superior 4,000,000. There were also put into Lake Ontario 9,000,000, and into Lake Erie 6,000,000. The Commission’s station at Alpena supplied 32,101,000 of these little whitefish. Of the eggs, the Minnesota State Commission took halt The North Carolina State Commission took 225,000, the California State Commission 250,001 the Pennsylvania State Commission 2,000,000, and the New York State Commission I, Over 1,000,000 went to Gennany, and 200 000 to Paris. Of the total appropriation mentioned above, it is specified that #BO,OOO shall heap* plied to the production and distribution of carp. This iish was first sent South, where it matures more rapidly than in Northern waters. Already plenty of carp weighing from five to seven pounds are being caught in leathern ponds and lakes In the North they have not as yet had time to reach frying size. That the desire to cultivate them is rapidly increasing is shown by the fact that, in 1879,6,203 fish were given to 273 applicants in 181 localities; In iß<o, 81,443 fish were given to 1,374 applicants, in 717 localities. In addition to the numbers of fish given above, 4,741 in 1879 and 19,021 in 1880 were given to State Fish Commissions to 1831,145.696 fish were given to 5,758 applicants, and 1,244 poor appßcants never got n fish. In 1882, 2>9,188 fish were given to 9,872 appßcants, who Uved in 1,478 counties and 285 Congressional districts. This shown that last year the carp had been spread pretty thoroughly over the United Staten Of last year’s distribution, more than went to Kentucky, more than 22,(00 to Georgia, 15,000 to Missouri, 12,000 to Illinois; a few more to Indiana, and 10,000 to Mississippi. North Carolina got 25, COO, Ohio 11, Pennsylvania nearly 18,000, South Carolina 10.C00, Texas nearly 19,000, and Virginia 15,000. These are not all the fish cultivated by the Commission, but they are the principal ones The only purely ornamental fish that is cultivated is the goldfish in sevesal varie- ' ties. The Commission is experimenting with the golden ide, a German fish, like the carp; but more ornamental than useful It is alsos experimenting with the English trench, but has not yet got enough to distribute. In regard to the carp it should have bde» ■aid that it has taken about all the Commission could raise thus far to Bupply the individual appßcants, by whom the fish are put in private ponds, but the fish wUI live to rivers, and last year Mr. Marshall MacDonald, who has charge of the distribution of the fish, planted three lots in rivers The cost of producing a million shad used to be from #3U) to #SOO, but it is now only #6O. Shad, herring and whitefish are planted with no expense to any one. In the case of carp, the applicant must pay the express charges from the nearest point at which the Government carp-car stops Some other fish the Commission has produced in small quantities. Last year there were produced about l.OOO.tXXTPenobscot salmon, which were distributed in the Hudson river, and the streams of the and Delaware, and 200,000) California trout were produced and distributed in small lots among State Fish Commissions Some of the California trout were put into the head waters of the New, Potomac, Roanoake,-and Tennesee rivers, in an effort to naturalize them. Two hundred thousand brook trout were produced and distributed in the streams near the hatcheries Over 1,000,000 Lake trout were produced, most of whicM went into Michigan waters, though 101,000 of them went to Germany, and 50,000 to Francs Finafiy, there were 500,000 landlocked Salmon, which yyere distributed to 1 the waters of .New England and the Middle and extreme Western States