No. 
 
 I ^^-^s^^^fA^^^^^^-^ fthe 
 Posti ^(WP 5 ^ Ur 
 
 the sa 
 0r mislaid must replace the same #/ their expense. 
 
 No more than a single book shall be loaned any 
 Comrade at any one time, who must return the same 
 previous to securing an additional one. 
 
 All books to be returned within two weeks from the 
 date of receipt, but can be renewed for an additional 
 week on the approval of the Librarian. 
 By order of the 
 
 LIBRARY COMMITTEE. 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
HOME FISHING 
 
 AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 I 
 
 A Practical Treatise on Fish Culture, 
 
 THE UTILIZATION OF FARM STREAMS. THE MANAGEMENT OF FISH 
 
 IN THE ARTIFICIAL POND. THE TRANSPORTATION OF 
 
 EGGS AND FRY, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON 
 
 COMMON FISH AND THE METHODS 
 
 OF CAPTURING THEM. 
 
 BY SETH GKEEN. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 O. JUDD CO., DAVID W. JUDD, PRES'T. 
 
 751 BROADWAY. 
 
 1888. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by the 
 
 O. JUDD CO., 
 in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
mm 
 
 iy 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION , 5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Natural fish farms Utilizing a farm pond or stream... . n 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Fish eggs Their waste The prey of other fish, of birds, 
 
 animals, reptiles and insects 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Artificial fish culture Care of the eggs Dead eggs 
 
 the fish Culturist aids Nature 17 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Motherly instincts of fish The black bass The brook 
 
 trout The bull head 20 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Safety instincts of fish A wise Creator Destruction 
 of game The culture of fish Their discernment 
 
 of enemies 23 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Taking spawn from fish The methods of an expert. ... 26 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The reasoning power of fishes Cases in point Cun- 
 ning of the trout 28 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 How farmers can raise their own trout Stocking a 
 
 stream or pond 31 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Farmer boys and trout A word to young fishermen 
 
 Spare the fish in and out of season 34 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Diseases of fish Remedies Care of the sick Preven- 
 tion better than cure 37 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Malformation of fish fry Curious illustrationsFreaks 
 
 of fish construction 40 
 
4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A lesson in fish culture Small and inexpensive begin- 
 nings Care in selecting waters 42 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Wrong impressions in fish culture Adaptations of fish 
 
 to certain waters Errors in practice 45 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Artificial hatching Three requisites Cleanliness, care- 
 ful handling, free circulation of air and water 48 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Protection of fish Illegal methods of capture Hints 
 
 to farmers 51 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Construction of trout ponds Temperature of the water 
 Ponds near the house Removal of fish into new 
 
 waters 53 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Ponds for artificial production of trout Directions for 
 
 making them 56 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Carp for farmers Construction of a carp-pond 59 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Common fish Perch, rock bass, bull heads, suckers, 
 
 pickerel and the like 62 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Angling for black bass Varieties of this fish The fly 
 
 and tackle to employ 64 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 The sturgeon His peculiarities "Albany beef " 
 
 " Caviare" Enemies of the sturgeon His eggs. . . 68 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Transportation of fish Structure of the fish-can. 
 
 Necessity of care in handling and transporting 71 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 How to ship fish eggs Caution in packing Means to 
 
 ensure safety 74 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Cross breeding of fish Some of my experiments Hy- 
 brids of salmon trout and brook trout 78 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IN the issue of this book the publishers of the 
 American Agriculturist enable the public to se- 
 cure a valuable work on the culture, treatment 
 and habits of fish, from the pen of an accom- 
 plished experimentalist, who is amply provided 
 with the experience and knowledge necessary to 
 the task. Mr. Seth Green's name is of more than 
 national fame ; his keen observation, his prolonged 
 familiarity with all that pertains to the finny tribe, 
 particularly in the inland waters of the United 
 States and Canada, his thorough scientific equipment 
 and his practical enthusiasm, give to his writings a 
 character and authority, possessed by no one else, 
 numerous and able as are his co-adjutors in the 
 same field. Mr. Green has been engaged in practical 
 fish culture for twenty-five years ; but fifty years ago 
 he began to think upon the subject. The field grows 
 larger and more expansive as the years roll by, 
 and after a lifetime devoted to thought and action 
 in this enterprise, he feels, as Newton did, that he 
 merely stands upon the shore of the great and unex- 
 plored ocean of truth. That there is yet a wide 
 area for discovery, he modestly observes, and 
 
 5 
 
6 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 we may be sure he will not relax in the quest for 
 new results, so long as his wonderful energy and 
 vitality last. What the late Professor Spencer F. 
 Baird was to explorations in the waters of the 
 ocean, Mr. Green has been and is, to the activity 
 of research in the lakes and streams of our country. 
 The practical work of Pisciculture began in New York 
 in 1868, in the establishment of the State Hatch- 
 ery at Caledonia, in Livingston County. From this 
 hatchery from one to two millions of speckled trout 
 have been annually distributed, and streams and pre- 
 serves in all parts of the country have been stocked 
 or replenished. There are many similar establish- 
 ments in various States, but those in New York and 
 New Jersey may justly claim pre-eminence. In 
 thirty-seven States and Territories Fish Commissions 
 have been organized, and a noble work has been 
 accomplished. The introduction of the German 
 carp, a fish in supply all the year round, except 
 during the period of spawning, is one of the most 
 valuable achievements of the period. The almost 
 incredible fecundity of fish is made to serve the 
 purpose of steady increase, and the young and ex- 
 posed fish are protected from their natural enemies. A 
 codfish produces from one million to nine million 
 e gg s ; a salmon one thousand to the pound of 
 weight ; a shad fifty thousand in all ; a herring 
 twenty-five thousand ; a trout from two hundred 
 to three thousand according to age and size. Under 
 ordinary circumstances, millions of these eggs cast 
 into unprotected waters, are unimpregnated, or are 
 lost or destroyed. It is the task of all fish cultur- 
 ists to prevent this waste in great part, and to pre- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 serve these fish in accordance with the law of their 
 being. 
 
 This volume includes directions for utilizing the 
 streams and ponds that are to be found on farm 
 lands. It describes the methods of artificial propa- 
 gation, the care of eggs and fry, the process of hatch- 
 ing, and the modes of transportation to new waters. 
 The maternal instincts of fish are delineated, and 
 mention is made of the diseases offish, their preven- 
 tion and cure. The abnormal forms of some fish are 
 noted in the strange " freaks " that are produced in 
 the waters, and which mark the wonderful workings 
 of nature, in disregard of its own fixed laws. Mr. 
 Green points out a curious process of reasoning, as 
 evinced in the action of fish, and shows that they 
 are quite as alive to motives and results, as other 
 classes of the " lower animals." The value of cer- 
 tain so called " common fish," is pointed out, and 
 the methods of taking them, as well as the lordly 
 bass, are described. The laws, relating to the pro- 
 tection of fish, are treated, and illegal and wanton 
 methods of capture are condemned. The boys on 
 the farm, and the men too, are brought within the 
 range of discussion, and are taught how and when to 
 angle, and cautioned against ill-advised destruction. 
 Altogether the book will meet a want among anglers. 
 It appeals as well to experienced old hands, as to 
 neophytes in "the gentle craft." Izaak Walton 
 writes : " This pleasant curiosity of fish and fishing, 
 has been thought worthy the pens and practices 
 of divers in other nations that have been reputed 
 men of great learning and wisdom ;" and of Sir 
 Henry Wotton, he says: " Angling was after tedious 
 
8 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 study, a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a 
 diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a 
 moderator of passions, a procurer of contentedness," 
 an employment " that begets habits of peace and 
 patience in those that profess and practice it." 
 
 Governments, both in the States and in the Na- 
 tion, have provided liberally for this new interest of 
 fish culture. The Chinese practiced the art many 
 centuries ago. The Romans understood and devel- 
 oped it. But in our own civilization, it fell into dis- 
 use practically, until about the middle of the last 
 century, when the work was revived and placed up- 
 on a somewhat intelligent footing. In furtherance 
 of these latter day methods, our Federal Govern- 
 ment has provided steamers and other vessels for the 
 prosecution of the fishing interests, both in the ocean 
 and in the interior waters. The electric light is used 
 in submarine exploration. Many of the railroads 
 have given willing assistance to the work of the 
 commissioners, in the distribution of eggs and fry. 
 Fish eggs to the number of many millions are ex- 
 ported annually and distributed in foreign waters. 
 These eggs are chiefly of the brook, California and 
 lake trout, of white fish and salmon. Bass, both of 
 the small and large -mouth variety, have been 
 sent abroad alive. So conspicuous has fish culture 
 become in this country, that Prof. Huxley, at the 
 International Fish Conference in London in 1883, 
 said : " No nation at the present time comprehended 
 the question of dealing with fish in so thorough, ex- 
 cellent and scientific a spirit as the United States." 
 Every year millions of fish are distributed in our 
 rivers and lakes. At the hatcheries, as many as 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 forty million white fish have been produced from the 
 egg in a single year. A careful estimate of the 
 annual catch of the rivers and lakes of the States, 
 taking the tributaries on the Atlantic and Pacific 
 coast line, and on the shores of the great lakes, with 
 the minor streams that form the larger, is 184,783,050 
 pounds. To these must be added the commercial 
 product of the sea; and the quantity altogether rises 
 to enormous proportions. First in importance, fish- 
 ing is the means of livelihood to thousands of people, 
 and next it furnishes relaxation, amusement and 
 healthful occupation to millions of men and boys all 
 over the land; and we are pleased to note, to an in- 
 creasing number of experimenters and devotees of 
 the fairer sex. 
 
 The fish commissioners of the State of New York, 
 in their last report, remark that the cost of hatching 
 100,000,000 of fish, including the expenditures for 
 real estate, buildings, permanent improvements, la- 
 bor etc., is $250,000. If of this number, one-fourth 
 part or 25,000,000 live, the cost of each is one cent. 
 At a fair valuation these fish are worth fifteen cents 
 each. The investment, therefore returns 1500 per 
 cent, or $3,750,000 for the $250,000, and the land and 
 betterments remain. The commissioners in other 
 States are able to make a similar exhibition of cost 
 and product, and the people at large annually pro- 
 fit by this culture both at table and in pocket, and in 
 the way of " sport." Laws are enacted for the 
 preservation of fish, penalties are exacted for viola- 
 tion of these laws, and war is waged against illegal- 
 ities in the shape of nets, lights, medicating waters, 
 and the use of unusual and abnormal appliances. 
 
10 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 The motive is in every way most worthy. The end 
 is for the interest alike of the professional fisherman, 
 the consumer and the sportsman. A humane con- 
 sideration for the fish at a critical period of their ex- 
 jstence has inspired these laws, and the people at 
 large take a deep concern in their enforcement. 
 The mere " pot hunter," and the wanton aspirant for 
 a " big score," are under the ban of decent and right- 
 thinking citizens. The instinct or appetite for des- 
 truction is corrected and men are learning to 
 abandon abuses and subordinate their tastes and 
 pleasures to a beneficent and well regulated system. 
 
 C. P. D. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 FARMERS AND FISH CULTURE. 
 
 No class of people should be more interested in 
 fish culture than the farmers. Their homes are 
 among the lakes and streams, and the lands which 
 they cultivate border on them, and they, above all 
 others, should be interested in keeping them stocked, 
 so that when they wish a change of food from the 
 regular farm diet, and think that change should be 
 fish, they can get them for the taking, fresh from the 
 waters in their immediate vicinity, without being 
 obliged to send to the markets for them, with a little 
 uncertainty (in such case) as to their being perfectly 
 fresh. I do not wish to be understood as saying that 
 fresh, wholesome fish cannot be obtained at our 
 city markets, for they can many times be had, but in 
 my opinion, the sooner fish are eaten after they are 
 caught, the better food they are, and if you catch 
 them yourself, there can be no doubt in your mind 
 as to how long they have been caught. 
 
 I believe that fish should be eaten as often at least 
 as once every week, and oftener would be better ; 
 but perhaps I am a little enthusiastic on this point. 
 There is scarcely a farm in New York State, and in 
 many other sections of the United States and Can- 
 ada as well, which has not a stream, lake or pond 
 
 ii 
 
12 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 within a radius of five miles, which is capable of sup- 
 porting some kind of fish and furnishing fish food for 
 all the inhabitants in the neighborhood, provided 
 they are not allowed to be taken in any other way 
 than angling with hook and line, and are protected 
 during their spawning season. In one sense, these 
 bodies of water are natural fish farms, capable of 
 producing more food, acre for acre, than the land, 
 besides not requiring the attention and labor neces- 
 sary to prepare the soil for a future crop. 
 
 After the seed is planted, nothing further is re- 
 quired than to reap what you have sown. Wind, 
 rain, hail storms, or cyclones do not damage them, 
 nor are the buds blighted by early frosts or the 
 fruit withered by late ones. 
 
 Farmers having a large spring or other water supply, 
 can have a fish pond of their own without great out- 
 lay, which in many cases can be utilized in winter by 
 cutting a supply of ice, which most farmers now con- 
 sider a necessity. 
 
 After a pond has been built a year or two, it will 
 breed enough food to support a number of fish, and 
 it will not be necessary to feed them. The older 
 the pond the better, and the more fish it is capable 
 of supporting. If fish are put in a new pond, they 
 should be fed, as fish cannot live and thrive without 
 plenty of food, any more than the stock on your 
 farms. 
 
 In regard to the size to build your pond, the 
 quantity of water which is to supply it, should be 
 taken into consideration, and also the kind offish to 
 be kept in it. For trout, it should not be built so large 
 but that it will get a complete change of water 
 
FARMERS AND FISH CULTURE. 13 
 
 every twenty-four or forty-eight hours. For bass or 
 perch, if the water changes once a week it will 
 answer. With carp, only enough water is required 
 to keep up with the evaporation, and the warmer 
 the water gets, the better and the faster the growth 
 of the fish, provided they have plenty of food. 
 
 Many farms have soft, springy portions which can- 
 not be used for the growing of crops, in which a fish 
 pond could be constructed without great expense, 
 and enough raised for family use. But in the taking 
 of fish, whether it be from a natural body of water or 
 from a private pond, you should regulate the killing 
 of them the same as you would your fowls. Do not 
 kill any more than you need at one time, for although 
 you cannot see the fish to count them the same as 
 you can your fowls, yet the fact remains that when 
 one of each is killed, there remains one less fish or 
 chicken for future dinners, as the case may be, and 
 you should no more think of killing more fish than 
 you would use, than you would chickens. I know, 
 the temptation is too strong to resist, when fish are 
 biting well, to stop taking them when you have 
 enough for your own use ; but if you do take them, 
 do not let them go to waste. You have plenty of 
 neighbors who would be glad of them, and perhaps 
 some day when your provisions happened to be low, 
 you might go home and find that a neighbor who 
 had not forgotten your kindness, had sent some- 
 thing in. 
 
14 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE WASTE OF SEEDS AND EGGS BY NATURE'S 
 METHODS. 
 
 IT is somewhat singular to note the method with 
 which nature has carried out her design in the appa- 
 rent over-production of the millions of seeds of 
 plants and trees, and the millions of eggs fish are 
 made to produce. Many millions of each perish if 
 left to themselves, leaving comparatively few to 
 grow, and of these but a small percentage ever reach 
 maturity. 
 
 How many have noticed, in the fall of the year, 
 the countless numbers of seeds falling from the trees, 
 and have seen them swept about by the winds, cov- 
 ered up by leaves, blown into the water; and the 
 next year, out of the myriads that fell, but few hun- 
 dreds ever raise their heads above the soil. Perhaps 
 the spot in which they have been cast is unfavorable 
 to their growth ; the land may not be rich enough 
 to properly nourish them; weeds may spring up and 
 choke them, and there are numerous other causes, 
 quite familiar why they will never survive. Only 
 one out of many ever reaches full development, to 
 reproduce its own kind. As with plants, so with 
 fish. A wise Director has given them large quanti- 
 ties of eggs, knowing that with these, as with seeds, 
 many are destined never to reach maturity, and for 
 causes, though widely different in their nature, yet 
 comparatively the same. When the eggs are first 
 
WASTE OF SEEDS AND EGGS. 15 
 
 emitted from the female fish, the chances are more 
 than even that they will not be vitalized by coming 
 in contact with the living germs of the male fish, 
 and in case they do not, they are worthless, and if 
 not devoured by some other fish or insects, they 
 soon decay and are lost to sight. If the egg has 
 been properly vitalized, let us follow it, and see 
 some of the numerous dangers which beset it, before 
 it shall have changed its form into a fish. In the 
 first place, all kinds of fish are fond of spawn as food, 
 and consider it a great delicacy ; hence they are con- 
 stantly on the look-out for the tempting morsel. A 
 large number of water-bugs, reptiles, and many birds 
 and quadrupeds also, look upon spawn as a desirable 
 food, so that the eggs are in constant danger of being 
 devoured by some one of their many voracious ene- 
 mies. 
 
 Though the egg may be fortunate enough to 
 escape destruction, as above described, " Dame For- 
 tune " must smile on it to a still further extent. If 
 the egg should happen to be carried along with the 
 current, and get covered with the sediment which is 
 constantly flowing in all streams, to a greater or 
 less extent, it would soon die from suffocation. In 
 order that it may hatch, it must lodge in some 
 secluded nook, where it will constantly be agitated 
 to a slight degree by the action of the water, or it 
 must lie directly over where a spring bubbles up, 
 and under these circumstances only, will the egg be 
 liable to produce a fish. We will suppose the egg 
 has escaped destruction, and the little prisoner has 
 broken through the shell. With many kinds offish, 
 when the young fry first emerges from the egg, it is 
 
l6 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 encumbered with a yolk sac, larger in bulk than all 
 the rest of it put together; this sac extends from 
 the gills to the vent, and as long as this remains, 
 the little fish does not require food. The length of 
 time the sac remains on the fry, varies with different 
 kinds offish. With the fall-spawning kinds of fresh 
 water fish, as the brook trout, salmon trout, salmon, 
 etc., it usually requires from thirty to forty-five days, 
 before it is absorbed. With the fish which cast their 
 spawn in the spring and summer, as the bass, shad, 
 perch, etc., but a few days are required before they 
 are relieved of nature's nursing bottle. One great 
 reason why a larger percentage of the spawn and 
 young fish of the spring spawners survive, is because 
 it takes them such a short time to hatch and develop 
 sufficiently to protect themselves from their enemies, 
 by escaping and hiding. While the fall spawners, 
 which are from sixty to one hundred days, and some- 
 times even longer in hatching, are much more liable 
 to be destroyed. The difference in the time of 
 hatching, depends upon the temperature of the 
 water; the warmer it is, the sooner they hatch. 
 With the spawn taken in the fall, each degree of 
 warmth in the water hastens the hatching period five 
 days, and each degree of cold retards it for the same 
 length of time. While with the spring spawners, 
 each degree of heat or cold, makes about one day's 
 difference in hatching. 
 
THE ADVANTAGES OF FISH CULTURE. I/ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ADVANTAGES OF FISH CULTURE. 
 
 IN the foregoing chapter I attempted to explain 
 the dangers and the liability to destruction to which 
 the eggs and young fry are exposed when left to 
 develop by the natural course provided for them. 
 I will now try to explain how the artificial propaga- 
 tion offish overcomes the dangers which beset them, 
 and protects and cares for the young fry, until they 
 are, in a measure, capable of looking out for them- 
 selves, and how it increases the product over the 
 natural method. 
 
 The fish culturist selects the ripe fish which are 
 about to cast their spawn, and by handling them 
 very carefully, extracts the spawn from the female, 
 and vivifies it by placing it in contact with the liv- 
 ing germs from the male fish. This, if done cor- 
 rectly, and if the parent fish are in the proper con- 
 dition, should vitalize from ninety to one hundred 
 per cent of the eggs taken. When I first began my 
 labors in pisciculture, the best impregnation by arti- 
 ficial means then known, was twenty-five per cent. 
 The practice then in vogue was, in taking the spawn 
 by hand, to strip it into a pan about half full of water; 
 but by a series of experiments and gradually reduc- 
 ing the quantity of water, I found that the highest 
 results were attained by using very little water, or 
 even none at all, This then was a great advance, 
 
1 8 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 and I have continued to employ this process in all my 
 operations ever since. 
 
 After the spawn has been taken and vitalized as 
 above described, it is allowed to stand in the pans 
 for a certain length of time, usually from twenty to 
 thirty minutes ; the eggs are then rinsed off and are 
 placed in the hatching troughs or other hatching 
 apparatus. Here they are allowed to remain until 
 they hatch, which, as I have explained in the last 
 chapter, varies in length of time with different varie- 
 ties of fish, some requiring a longer and some a 
 shorter period. When the eggs are in the hatching 
 apparatus, they are directly under the fish culturist's 
 eye. He watches over them daily with almost as 
 much care as a mother does her child, to see that 
 they are receiving the proper circulation which they 
 must have in order to hatch, and although precau- 
 tions are taken to exclude their enemies, they are 
 liable to get among the spawn and destroy the 
 eggs. In my early experience I noticed the eggs 
 dying in certain parts of my hatching troughs, and 
 also observed that some were missing. I was not 
 long in discovering that rats were the cause of the 
 trouble, and a few steel traps judiciously set, soon 
 disposed of them. I mention this to show that 
 enemies which we would least suspect, have to be 
 discovered and guarded against. On one occasion I 
 took the shells of three hundred eggs from the 
 stomach of one rat. While the eggs are in the pro- 
 cess of hatching, they must be looked over and 
 examined every day, and if any dead ones are dis- 
 covered, they must be immediately removed. The 
 reason for this is that after an egg has been dead 
 
THE ADVANTAGES OF FISH CULTURE. 19 
 
 for a short time a fungus growth begins to encircle 
 it, the feathery arms of which reach out from it, and 
 coming in contact with the living eggs, deal death 
 among them. Unless removed in time, one dead 
 egg will be the means of destroying thousands of 
 others. It must therefore be taken out before it has 
 had time to develop this fungus growth. 
 
 Many people have doubtless had occasion to note 
 how detrimental one decaying peach in a basket is 
 to those which happen to lie in close proximity to 
 it. Well, this is precisely the same effect the de- 
 caying egg has upon others, and it must for the 
 same reason be removed. When the spawn has laid 
 in the hatching apparatus the proper time for the 
 eggs to hatch, the little fish which is plainly seen 
 moving in the egg some .time before it hatches, 
 breaks through the shell, straightens itself out, and is 
 a fish. They are then, in the case of most varieties 
 of young fry, very helpless. The large yolk-sac 
 which is attached to their bodies renders locomotion 
 difficult, and unless protected, they would fall an 
 easy prey to their enemies. The fish culturist looks 
 after them until they are relieved of this encumbrance, 
 or nearly so, and then they are in condition to strike 
 out for themselves and fight the battle of life. 
 True, many are liable to be destroyed even at this 
 period. The same rule follows with fish as in human 
 nature : The big fish eat the little ones. But they 
 have had a big lift on their journey in having been 
 protected through their most helpless and exposed 
 period. 
 
20 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE MOTHERLY CARE OF SOME FISHES. 
 
 HAVING told my readers something about the 
 beneficial results of fish culture, and how the fish 
 culturist acts as a foster - mother to the young 
 fry, I will mention a few fresh-water fishes that 
 do not need the protection and care in handling 
 their spawn, which is necessary with other kinds. 
 Most notably among these are the Black Bass 
 and Bull-head. Nature seems to have endowed 
 these fish with certain motherly instincts, which lead 
 them to protect their spawn from their numer- 
 ous enemies until it is hatched, and then look 
 after the young fry until they have in a measure 
 learned to take care of themselves. All they need 
 is the protection of the law to guard against their 
 being caught, or disturbed while they are engaged 
 in casting their spawn. The black bass more partic- 
 ularly needs protection. The bull-head has shown 
 its ability to keep up with the fisherman, without 
 any protection whatever. 
 
 The black bass in the northern part of the coun- 
 try, cast their spawn principally during the month 
 of June. They prepare their nests on a rocky bot- 
 tom, and after the spawn has been cast and impreg- 
 nated, the female stands guard over them during 
 the hatching period, which is usually from five to 
 
THE MOTHERLY CARE OF SOME FISHES. 21 
 
 seven days, varying according to the temperature of 
 the water. After they are hatched, the young fry 
 are about as helpless as young robins ; hence the 
 mother stays with them until they have learned to 
 feed, and then the brood scatter, and the family ties 
 are severed forever. The black bass is a very plucky 
 and game fish, and when in charge of the little ones 
 is very ferocious, and will dart at all intruders who 
 venture near, and unless they make haste to get out 
 of the way, some one is very liable to get hurt. 
 
 The brook trout is considered a much more gentle 
 fish, lives in beautiful little streams, and is much 
 more handsome to look upon, but for all that, these 
 fish are cannibals in their nature, and would not 
 hesitate to devour their own spawn or young fry, if 
 they felt the need of them. 
 
 In all waters suitable for them, the black bass 
 increase very rapidly, forty or fifty mature fishes be- 
 ing sufficient to stock any waters in the course of a 
 few years. The reason of this is because of the pro- 
 tection given their young, as explained above. 
 
 The bull-head is a fish not to be despised. It is a 
 native of many of our rivers, lakes and ponds, and is 
 very prolific, one pair breeding about one thousand 
 fry. It is an excellent fish for the people, for the 
 reason that it is very plenty, and easy to catch. 
 They are caught principally in roily or muddy water, 
 for the reason that they depend upon their nose 
 to discover their food ; they follow the scent, the 
 same as a dog. Their method of breeding is as fol- 
 lows : after they mate, they dig a hole in the side 
 of a bank, and sometimes on the bottom, and then 
 excavate a sort of cave, about two feet across, and 
 
22 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 seven or eight inches deep. After the spawn is de- 
 posited, the water is fanned with the tail and fins, 
 and the dirt kept away from it. The eggs hatch in 
 about five days, late in June, or early in July. When 
 the fry are hatched, they lie around a few days, until 
 they gain strength to follow their mother. The 
 parent fish then cares for them, and teaches them to 
 feed just as a hen does her chicks, until the little fish 
 are about four weeks old. By that time they have 
 learned to feed, and are able to take care of them- 
 selves. Bull-heads do not thrive well in small ponds, 
 unless they are well fed and caught out. They are 
 such prolific breeders that the pond rapidly fills with 
 them, and they cannot get enough to eat. I have 
 seen them in a pond containing an acre or two, 
 where they were nearly all head, and in a starved 
 condition, so that they never grew over seven or 
 eight inches in length. They are unlike many other 
 fish, and do not live on their young; consequently 
 they starve where other fish would thrive on the 
 principle of the " survival of the fittest." 
 
 If the mother fish should be caught or killed, be- 
 fore the young are taught to feed, they would be 
 almost sure to die. Fishermen sometimes find the 
 holes which are occupied by the old fish and her 
 brood, and both parents are speared ; in such cases, 
 the young fry lie about the mouth of the hole and 
 die. They rarely exceed a pound in weight in most 
 waters, but there are varieties in some waters that I 
 have known, where they sometimes grow to weigh 
 two pounds. The bull-head is often confounded 
 with the cat-fish, but it is a different fish. They 
 are quite readily distinguished by their tails. The 
 
THE SAFETY INSTINCT OF FISH. 23 
 
 former has a square, or rounded tail, while the other 
 has a forked tail. The cat-fish grows to enormous 
 size. In the rivers of the South and West it some- 
 times reaches one hundred pounds. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SAFETY INSTINCT OF FISH. 
 
 WHEN a wise Creator filled the forests with game 
 and the waters with fish, there is no doubt He fore- 
 saw that they were in time destined to disappear. 
 With His far- seeing eye, He knew that the tillers of 
 the soil would furnish a substitute for the game. He 
 placed enough of the game within the reach of the 
 pioneer, so that he could have fresh meat for himself 
 and family until they could raise crops, cattle, sheep, 
 and fowls, and it would then be unnecessary for them 
 to depend upon the natives of the wild woods for 
 subsistence. With fish the case was different ; there 
 was no substitute for them. It was inevitable that a 
 lighter food would be necessary for the health of His 
 people, and in consequence thereof, He gave each 
 fish large quantities of eggs so they would not 
 diminish; but it was in the order of things that not 
 more than one egg in five hundred cast, would 
 hatch naturally and grow to a size sufficient for table 
 use. 
 
 He also foresaw that in time the earth's surface 
 would be thickly populated, and that the food re- 
 
24 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 sources would be taxed to the utmost. Under this 
 state of affairs the fish supply would be drawn upon 
 to its fullest extent, and when nature's methods 
 were found to be inadequate to supply the unnatural 
 drain, the discovery of artificial fish culture would be 
 brought to its relief. Without this, fish must have 
 disappeared with the game. 
 
 The advance of civilization is fast driving the 
 monarchs of the forest and prairie out of existence. 
 The deer, the bear, and the buffalo are becoming 
 scarce in their native haunts, and not many more 
 generations will have passed, before our descendants 
 will gaze in wonder at the stuffed specimens now 
 preserved in our museums ; at the creatures which 
 ages ago roamed wild and free over the very ground 
 where large cities have sprung up and flourished. 
 
 Agriculture and fish culture should go hand in 
 hand, and I am much gratified to see the interest 
 which is displayed on the part of the farmers in the 
 cultivation of fish. 
 
 The fish culturist in re-stocking depleted waters, 
 has many things to contend against which can be 
 avoided in dealing with stock on our farms. We 
 cannot keep the fish separated. We oftentimes find 
 that certain waters are adapted to the most choice 
 varieties of fish, and in the same localities will be 
 found some of their most deadly enemies. 
 
 If would be a fair comparison if the farmer should 
 put a wolf in his sheep pasture. Now if the farmer 
 found it necessary to do this, he would do as the fish 
 culturist has to do, put in enough sheep so as to have 
 some left, after the wolf had satisfied his voracious 
 appetite. 
 
THE SAFETY INSTINCT OF FISH. 2$ 
 
 It is astonishing to see how quickly young fish 
 learn to distinguish their enemies. They show a 
 great deal of shrewdness and cunning in escaping 
 from them. In fact, it seems to be born in them, 
 and it is undoubtedly that instinct of self-preserva- 
 tion with which every organism that possesses 
 animal life seems to be endowed. 
 
 The home of nearly all kinds of young fish is near 
 the shore, and if by chance, in search of food or 
 otherwise, they should happen to get too far out, 
 and an unforeseen enemy should suddenly make his 
 appearance, they set their little propellers in rapid 
 motion to reach the shallow water where the larger 
 fish cannot go; and when a little fellow reaches the 
 goal, if he is not too frightened, I have no doubt that 
 he chuckles to himself to think how he has fooled 
 his pursuer, or as I have seen them when they were 
 so far out that they could not gain the shore, before 
 they were overtaken and devoured, they will with a 
 quick turn of the body suddenly dive into the mud 
 on the bottom. On one occasion which came under 
 my observation, a chub was making for a little trout, 
 doubtless smacking his lips in anticipation of the 
 tempting morsel, when suddenly the trout disap- 
 peared, leaving his chubship in mute astonishment 
 as to what had become of his prey. 
 
 But all small fry are not so fortunate, and the 
 pursuer often displays as much skill as the pursued. 
 Few people know much about the great reasoning 
 powers of fish, insects and dumb animals, and it is 
 doubtful whether we shall ever understand the 
 nature and extent of these senses. 
 
26 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW SPAWN IS TAKEN FROM FISH. 
 
 MANY people have the impression that the fish 
 must be cut open in order to obtain its spawn, but 
 such is not the case. When the spawn is taken from 
 the female fish to be vitalized with the milt of the 
 male, both parents must be alive and in a healthy 
 condition, or else good results cannot be obtained. 
 
 On one occasion we took the spawn from a ripe 
 female three hours after she was supposed to be 
 dead, and impregnated it by using a live male. After 
 the spawn had developed sufficiently to ascertain, 
 fifteen per cent, were found impregnated, but it is 
 doubtful if every spark of life had departed from the 
 female, as the blood will often circulate long after a 
 fish has ceased to show any signs of life. 
 
 After the fish are captured from the spawning 
 races, into which they have run in anticipation of 
 casting their spawn in the natural way, they are 
 placed in a tub of water and the ripe females se- 
 lected. Experience is about the only thing which 
 will tell you with certainty when the female is in 
 perfect condition for operating upon. The eggs 
 must be perfectly mature, and ready to come from 
 the fish, just as nature intended they should. If they 
 are pressed from the fish prematurely, your efforts 
 will be wasted, as such eggs cannot be fertilized. The 
 ripe female, by an expert, can be told by the touch. 
 When in perfect condition, the belly of the fish feels 
 
HOW SPAWN IS TAKEN FROM FISH. 2/ 
 
 soft and flabby, and if she were held up by the head 
 her spawn would settle downward, while with the 
 unripe female, the spawn remains stationary in 
 place, and feels to the touch hard and bunchy, like 
 shot. 
 
 When all is in readiness, the fish is taken by the 
 head with the right, and by the lower part of the 
 body with the left, hand, and held over the pan, with 
 the belly as near the bottom as possible. The fish 
 will struggle quite violently at first; it is many times 
 necessary to place it back in the tub for a moment 
 and commence again. When the fish gets quiet, 
 the right hand is gently slipped down from the upper 
 part of the body, and the forefinger used to press the 
 belly, the hold on the tail or lower part of the fish 
 being retained. If the fish is a large one, it is often 
 necessary for the operator to have an assistant to 
 hold its head, as it would be very difficult for one 
 person both to hold and take the eggs, without 
 injuring the fish. 
 
 If the fish are handled too roughly, the slime which 
 covers the bodies of the fish will be broken, and in 
 that case a fungus growth appears upon them, and 
 the result is almost invariably death. In some in- 
 stances they may be cured by immersing them 
 several times in a strong salt water bath until they 
 turn over, and then placing them immediately in 
 fresh water; but this is rarely effectual. The pan may 
 be slightly elevated on one side by placing a small 
 block under it about an inch in thickness; this is so 
 that the spawn and milt will occupy less space. The 
 bottom of the pan should be moistened by dipping it 
 into water and immediately pouring it out. This is 
 
28 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 all the water that should be used, aside from what 
 would naturally drip from the fish. 
 
 The impregnation takes place instantaneously. 
 
 After the spawn and milt have been taken, they 
 should be jostled about in the pan for a short time, 
 so as to thoroughly mix. More water is then added: 
 when the eggs adhere to each other and to the side 
 of the pan. The spawn is then set in a hatching 
 trough where the water is flowing ; in about twenty 
 or thirty minutes it loosens up and separates. It 
 should then be washed in several waters, and 
 placed on the hatching trays. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE REASONING POWER OF FISHES. 
 
 FEW people know that fishes possess intelligence 
 and reasoning power. In my long experience with 
 fishes I have many times witnessed actions on 
 their part, which could not have been performed if 
 they had not possessed a certain amount of reason- 
 ing faculty, over and above what is commonly term- 
 ed instinct, with which all animal life is endowed. 
 
 I will give a few observations which have caused 
 me to believe that fishes can reason. In the winter 
 of 1840 I hunted deer and fished for salmon trout in 
 and around Bonaparte Lake, Lewis Co., N. Y. 
 I fished by putting down one hundred hooks through 
 holes in the ice about four rods apart. These were 
 
THE REASONING POWER OF FISHES. 29 
 
 baited with good-sized minnows hooked through 
 the back, in such a manner as not to kill them. After 
 the lines had been down the first night, I took from 
 them in the morning twenty-five good-sized salmon 
 trout. Each successive morning thereafter, I took 
 less and less, until on the eighth day the number 
 had diminished to about seven or eight. But the 
 astonishing part of it was, that the bait was gone 
 from every hook just the same as it was on the first 
 morning, when I made the big catch. I knew that 
 the trout were not all caught out, but it was very 
 apparent that I could not catch any more, without 
 removing to a new ground and cutting a new set of 
 holes, which I accordingly did, about a quarter of a 
 mile from my former grounds. There my results 
 were the same as before, and after fishing seven or 
 eight days, I found it would be necessary for me 
 to move again. 
 
 One day I ran a line of hooks in such a direction 
 that one of them came over a rocky bar where there 
 was open water. I saw there was an opportunity 
 for an experiment, which I at once decided to try. 
 I fastened the upper end of the line to an overhang- 
 ing piece of brush, so that nothing could interfere 
 with the bait below without decidedly moving the 
 brush. Then I lay down on the ice with a coat 
 over my head, so that I could look down through 
 the clear water and watch developments. Presently 
 a large, fine trout came along and began manoeu- 
 vring with the minnow attached to the hook, and 
 operated in the following manner : He kept as close 
 to the minnow as possible, and repeatedly snapped 
 at it very cautiously, re-opening his mouth before he 
 
30 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 had fairly closed it, so as to prevent getting any- 
 thing in his mouth he did not want. When the 
 lively minnow had swum away far as the line would 
 permit, the trout made a more forcible snap at it so 
 as to cut it entirely from the hook. The minnow sank 
 to the bottom, and the trout went after it and soon 
 had it stored away. I then discovered why I had to 
 move so often. I immediately baited the hook with 
 another minnow and lowered it down ; the trout 
 came for it again and snapped at it as before. I let 
 it sink to the bottom, where the trout went after it 
 and swallowed bait, hook, and all, and I never miss- 
 ed another one; where I saw the trout working at it. 
 
 But how came all the trout to adopt the same 
 plan ? I do not believe they could have done so, if 
 there is not some way by which they can communi- 
 cate with each other. I have no doubt they would 
 have had the best of me again, if I had let one get 
 away, so that he could have held a consultation with 
 his brethren. 
 
 Trout are not the only fish which possess this 
 reasoning power. We will take the little shad just 
 hatched, with which many of our rivers have been 
 restocked, particularly the Hudson and Connecticut, 
 by the artificial method discovered by myself in the 
 year 1867. When I deposited them in the river, on 
 either side, they would start directly for the middle 
 of the stream. They knew that there were thou- 
 sands of hrge minnows which roamed along the 
 shore to keep out of the way of the larger fish in 
 the middle of the stream, and that they would eat 
 up the little shad, which were too small for the 
 larger fish to notice. 
 
HOW FARMERS CAN RAISE TROUT. 31 
 
 Now if these little fish had not some sort of under- 
 standing aside from instinct, I do not think they 
 would have pursued this course to avoid danger. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HOW FARMERS CAN RAISE THEIR OWN TROUT. 
 
 THERE are many farmers who own trout streams, 
 and would like to have them restocked. Some very 
 feebly attempt to do it by putting in a few thousand 
 young fish. This would restock a small stream if it 
 were done every year successively. But it is folly 
 to suppose that a large stream, which has been 
 fished for years, and thousands taken from it 
 every year, can be restocked quickly by putting 
 in a few hundred, or even a few thousand, young 
 fry. 
 
 It is much easier to stock a stream than to raise 
 fish in ponds, because the young fish will take 
 care of themselves much better than any one can 
 take care of them, and if they are protected from dan- 
 ger until they are about forty-five days old which 
 is about the time the fish culturist takes charge 
 of them and until they are ready to feed, they 
 are then tolerably able to look out for themselves. 
 In stocking a stream with trout, the young fish 
 should be taken to its head-waters, or put into the 
 springs and little rivulets which empty into it. As 
 they grow larger, they will gradually settle down 
 
32 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 stream, and run up again to the head-waters in the 
 fall and winter to spawn. 
 
 When putting fish into a stream, do not put them 
 suddenly into water much warmer than that of the 
 vessel in which they have been transported. They 
 will not be so likely to be injured by putting them 
 in water a few degrees colder ; but try to avoid all 
 sudden changes, and gradually raise or lower the 
 temperature of the water in which you bring them, 
 until it is even with that of the stream in which they 
 are to be placed. Perhaps in no branch of fish cul- 
 ture are the results more immediate, or more 
 apparent, than in restocking streams. Very many 
 inland streams that were once inhabited by trout, 
 are now wholly depleted, not only of that fish, but 
 of all others. They are beautiful, sparkling little 
 streams, but so far as good food-producing element 
 goes, they are valueless. In a large majority of 
 cases, they will make a wonderful return for the 
 restocking. 
 
 In the year 1875, the State of New York directed 
 its Fish Commissioners to purchase a trout-breeding 
 establishment, and to raise and distribute brook 
 trout. Since then, from one to two millions have 
 been hatched and distributed each year, and the 
 results have been most gratifying. Those that were 
 taken first, after the restocking, were small, of 
 course ; those that were left, had the more food, 
 and by the next year, yielded nearly as much weight, 
 although fewer would be taken ; and the following 
 year the fish were still larger, furnishing a splendid 
 return for the expense of restocking. 
 
 This addition to the yield of any stream is so 
 
HOW FARMERS CAN RAISE TROUT. 33 
 
 apparent as to convince the most skeptical. It is 
 indisputable; and those who have once visited a 
 trout stream the year after it has been stocked, 
 and have seen the young fish then from three to 
 five inches in length darting out from under the 
 weeds and roots, will need no further proof as to the 
 practicability of trout culture. In such cases one 
 may almost say that the number taken from a stream 
 will depend simply upon the number put in, provid- 
 ed the stream is well stocked with food for them, 
 while the cost of hatching and transporting is small, 
 indeed, when compared with the pleasure that is 
 derived. 
 
 No brook, that has once contained trout, need be 
 without them, if the waters remain pure and cold. 
 I believe there are no waters more satisfactory to 
 stock than brook-trout streams, because they are 
 always before you. When waters are stocked with 
 shad or salmon, these fish migrate to the ocean, and 
 only return once a year for the purpose of spawning. 
 Salmon-trout and white-fish stay most of the time 
 in the deep waters of our lakes ; but brook-trout 
 remain where they are placed, grow, and are caught, 
 and contribute directly to the support and amuse- 
 ment of the people. 
 
 Streams that have been wholly worthless in pro- 
 ducing food can be replenished, and be made a very 
 valuable addition to the farm. 
 
34 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FARMER BOYS AND THE TROUT. 
 
 I WANT to tell my young readers something of 
 the habits of brook trout, and how they can aid in 
 their protection and increase their numbers in the 
 streams that flow through their farms. Brook or 
 speckled trout cast their spawn in their natural or 
 wild state, principally from October i$th to Decem- 
 ber 1st; while in confinement they continue until 
 March I5th. 
 
 At this time they frequent the shallow waters at or 
 in the vicinity of the head waters of the streams, 
 where there is a plenty of gravelly bottom on which 
 to deposit their spawn. The males at this time are 
 gaily decked out with their brilliantly spotted coats 
 and beautifully colored crimson fins. The females 
 maybe readily distinguished by their more matronly 
 appearance and sombre hues. After they have 
 mated, the female begins to prepare her nest. 
 
 Now the point I wish to make, and impress upon 
 the minds of my young readers, is this : While 
 rambling about the farm in the fall, and along the 
 banks of the stream, the trout are frequently dis- 
 covered in the shallow water, and it is many times 
 an easy task to capture them, and not infrequently 
 they are thrown upon the shore with the hands. 
 This in -itself is a great wrong, and as a matter of 
 principle should not be done, any more than you 
 
FARMER BOYS AND THE TROUT. 35 
 
 would take the sitting hen from her nest and wring 
 her neck. In each case the act of bringing forth 
 their young is stopped. 
 
 By the laws of the State of New York it is illegal 
 to take, kill, catch, or have in possession after the 
 same has been killed, any brook, or speckled trout, 
 from the first day of September to the first day of 
 April in each year, under a penalty of $10 for an at- 
 tempt, and $25 for each fish so caught, killed, ex- 
 posed for sale, or had in possession; and a penalty of 
 $50 for disturbing or molesting fish upon their spawn- 
 ing beds, or taking spawn or milt therefrom, with 
 $25 additional for each fish taken thereon. 
 
 Although it is unlawful to take trout during the 
 above time, and we all should have due respect for 
 the law, it is not a very difficult matter to destroy 
 a great many trout out of season without being de- 
 tected, and I hope I may succeed in interesting my 
 young friends to look upon this question as a matter 
 of honor with them, and as something which is for 
 their interest to look after and protect. Certainly 
 there is no other class who can do more good in this 
 direction if they exert their influence in the right 
 way, and none who can do more harm if they are so 
 disposed. 
 
 When you have " a day off" to go trout fishing at 
 the proper season, or invite your friends from the 
 city to join you in a day's recreation, your desire is 
 to take some fish, and if the trout are not allowed 
 to breed (unless kept up by artificial planting), the 
 stock will just as surely run out as would your fowls, 
 if they were not given an opportunity for breeding. 
 In addition to protecting trout through their spawn- 
 
36 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 ing season, a great deal of good work may also be 
 done in cutting brush and scattering it along the 
 edges of the stream. This will form hiding places 
 and protection for the young when they hatch out 
 in the spring. It is not a good plan to cut the trees 
 and bushes away from the shores, as they form 
 shade for the fish and the roots hold the water back, 
 and prevent the streams from drying up. 
 
 A great many trout streams have been ruined by 
 cutting away the trees from the head waters, 
 and where they flow through the meadows. By so 
 doing the streams are exposed to the entire heat of 
 the sun during the summer months, which renders 
 the water too warm for the trout and they soon dis- 
 appear. From sixty-eight to seventy degrees F. is 
 about the limit of warmth of water in which trout 
 ca*n survive, and unless they can have immediate 
 access to the springs feeding the main streams, they 
 will die. 
 
 I have no doubt that many of our young readers 
 have heard their fathers tell of the brooks in which 
 they used to fish when they were boys, and of the 
 numbers of the speckled beauties they had drawn 
 from the waters ; but the brooks have now, for the 
 above reasons, become unsuitable for trout, and the 
 haunts which knew them once know them no more ; 
 and so I wish the farmer boys of to-day to profit by 
 the mistakes of their fathers, and protect the trout 
 streams that still remain, before it is too late. 
 Another point to which I wish to call your atten- 
 tion is, to throw back the " fingerling " trout. 
 
 Do not save any that are under six inches in 
 length. In another year these will more than 
 
THE DISEASES OF FISH. 37 
 
 double their weight, and be fish worth taking. Do 
 not act on the principle that if you do not take 
 them, some one else will ; but do your share man- 
 fully, and your good example will, without doubt, 
 have its effect on others. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DISEASES OF FISH. 
 
 I AM very often asked the question, Are fish sub- 
 ject to sickness and disease the same as other orders 
 of creation? My experience with them indicates 
 that they are. Sickness is not only liable to take 
 place among individuals, but an epidemic sometimes 
 breaks out among certain kinds which destroys them 
 in large numbers, and nothing can be done to check 
 the scourge, until it has run its course, as is usual- 
 ly the case with cholera, yellow fever and other con- 
 tagious diseases, when they attack portions of the 
 human race. 
 
 It is quite a singular fact that, when an epidemic 
 breaks out in any waters, only one kind of fish is 
 affected at the same time, which shows that the 
 disease cannot be caused by any impurity of the 
 waters or any cause of a like nature. If it were, 
 all the different kinds of fish in that body of water 
 would be affected in a similar manner. 
 
 As is the case with the human race, certain fish 
 escape the contagion, and it is a pretty good rule 
 
38 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 that where they can be taken by angling with hook 
 and line, such fish are safe to eat. 
 
 When fish are affected by disease, they almost in- 
 variably die; not one in a hundred recovers; and 
 there is at present no known remedy which can be 
 said to be efficacious. 
 
 The only effectual remedy which I have known, 
 is a common salt and water bath. I have used it 
 with good results in a few instances with trout. The 
 brine should be made strong enough to float a 
 potato. The sick fish is then placed in it and al- 
 lowed to remain until it turns over, which will 
 usually occur in a few minutes. It should then be 
 taken out immediately and placed in fresh water. 
 The fish should be immersed in this bath about twice 
 a day, and the operation be repeated about half a 
 dozen times. If this does not cure the fish, you may 
 give it up as a hopeless case. 
 
 The disease most common with trout and I have 
 seen it with other fish as well makes its appearance 
 in the form of a white fungus growth. It may ap- 
 pear on any part of the body in whitish patches, but 
 spreads rapidly, and soon reaches the head and gills. 
 When it reaches the gills, or breathing apparatus of 
 the fish, the fungus apparently fastens them together, 
 and death is the result. The theory concerning this 
 disease is, that the fungus is a parasitic growth, and 
 the object of the salt and water bath is to kill the 
 parasite. If this is accomplished, the fish stands a 
 chance of recovering, provided it is taken in time. 
 
 Concerning the health offish kept in confinement, 
 the same rules are applicable to them as to our- 
 selves. They must be plentifully supplied with 
 
THE DISEASES OF FISH. 39 
 
 good water and good food, or else they will lose 
 their vigor and activity, and soon become thin and 
 emaciated and die a lingering death. 
 
 Of course, there are certain kinds of fish so con- 
 stituted that they can endure greater hardship than 
 others, and it was a wise provision of the Creator, to 
 provide fish which were adapted to the peculiarities 
 of the different bodies of water, just as He created 
 mankind, organized so as to be able to withstand the 
 climate, temperature and atmospheric changes to 
 which the different parts of the globe are subject. 
 
 It is therefore necessary, in the cultivation offish, 
 to provide for them the elements their natures re- 
 quire, in order that they may be healthful. As fish 
 are difficult to cure, the great secret is to properly 
 care for them, so they may keep free from disease; 
 in other words, the cure consists in the prevention. 
 In their wild state, fish undoubtedly die from the 
 same relative causes as the human race. They are 
 infested by a variety of parasites, etc. Tape-worms 
 are not infrequently found in their intestines; on one 
 occasion I took out of a minnow, not more than three 
 inches long, five tape-worms, measuring, when 
 stretched full length, from two to two and a half 
 inches. They occupied at least two-thirds of the 
 abdominal cavity. I took this fish on a small hook, 
 and it did not seem to be inconvenienced by the 
 extra load it was carrying. I have also found worms 
 imbedded in the solid flesh along the back of the 
 fish. 
 
 Another disease which I have observed in trout is 
 the growth of tubercles in the gills. When these had 
 attained a size so as to separate the gills and inter- 
 
4O HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 fere with their normal action, death was the result. 
 These tubercles seemed to be filled with a watery 
 matter, and thus it appears that the inhabitants of 
 the watery kingdom are, like ourselves, subject to 
 aches and pains and many diseases, and, like our- 
 selves, perish because of them. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MALFORMATION OFFISH FRY. 
 
 FEW persons are aware that the young of fish, 
 when first ushered into this world, are as liable to 
 unshapeliness as are all other orders of creation. 
 Indeed, some of them are even more peculiarly form- 
 ed in some respects than any other living creature. 
 But the good Lord has ordained, as the fate of all de- 
 formed fish fry, that they shall cease to live after a 
 certain number of days, rarely ever exceeding thirty, 
 and in the majority of cases not as many. 
 
 The causes through which these singular freaks 
 are brought into existence are undoubtedly due to the 
 violation of some of the unchangeable laws of nature. 
 I have never taken the trouble to ascertain accurate- 
 ly just what proportion of the young fish which have 
 passed under my observation are thus deformed, but 
 the percentage is very small, and, at a rough estimate, 
 I should say about one in five thousand. With the 
 varieties of fish I have hatched artifically, those 
 among which most of the deformities occur are the 
 
MALFORMATION OF FISH FRY. 4! 
 
 brook and salmon trout ; rather more of the former 
 than of the latter. I can account for this on no other 
 ground than from the fact that as a rule the brook- 
 trout inhabit small bodies of water, thereby render- 
 ing the possibilities of inter-breeding greater than 
 with other fish. In any event, the percentage is so 
 small that it in no sense interferes with the results 
 of artificial propagation. The two kinds of malform- 
 ations most frequent among the young fry, are 
 those with two heads and one body or trunk, and 
 those known as Siamese Twins, from the fact of 
 their being connected similarly to that celebrated 
 monstrosity. Rare cases occur, where the fish have 
 three heads on one body. Among the millions of 
 young fry that have passed under my observation, I 
 have seen but two specimens of this kind. 
 
 The fry are also subject to all sorts of curvatures 
 of the back-bones. The curves are found at nearly 
 all degrees, from a slight bend to a complete circle 
 the head and tail meeting. Some that are affected 
 in this way are able to swim, but they go round and 
 round in a continuous circle. Others are so knotted 
 as to be unable to make any progress whatever. 
 The cause of death in these instances is the ab- 
 sorption of the yolk sac which is attached to each 
 young fry. While this remains, food is unnecessary, 
 and it will sustain life in the deformed fry for about 
 thirty days, and in a healthy fish for about forty days. 
 When it is gone, the former die of starvation, as they 
 are unable to find food. For the sake of the experi- 
 ment, I have tried to prolong their lives by careful 
 feeding, and have succeeded in so doing for about 
 sixty days, after which they succumb. One pecu- 
 
42 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 liarity is that the malformed fry have a tendency tow- 
 ard a superabundance of heads rather than of tails. 
 I have never found a specimen with more than its 
 share of caudal appendage. 
 
 Albinism is not unfrequent. The fish are perfect 
 albinos in every respect, even to the pink eyes. 
 These I have raised, and they are really beautiful lit- 
 tle creatures, and when placed in a glass jar, every 
 bone and fiber in their nearly transparent bodies, 
 fins and tails, can be plainly discerned. The great 
 trouble in keeping them in ponds is that they show 
 up so distinctly that they make an excellent target 
 for king-fishers and fish-hawks, which, in spite of all 
 our watchfulness, are almost sure to capture them 
 sooner or later. One of the albinos I kept until it 
 was three years old, when from some unknown cause 
 it died. It was a female fish, from which I took 
 three hundred spawn, a good percentage of which 
 hatched, but the young fry showed no peculiarities 
 different from other trout. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A LESSON IN FISH CULTURE. 
 
 I AM almost daily in receipt of inquiries : "How 
 may I best obtain practical information on the culti- 
 vation of fish ?" First of all, I recommend reading, 
 so far as possible, good works on the subject. By so 
 doing, you will be saved many vexations and trials, 
 
A LESSON IN FISH CULTURE. 43 
 
 and avoid the failures and mistakes made by 
 those who were obliged to learn by hard study and 
 experience. When I first began practical fish cul- 
 ture, I had but very little of this literature to guide 
 me, and consequently it often took me considerable 
 time to work out problems which now appear very 
 simple. 
 
 After you have informed yourself about the neces- 
 sary requirement for success, commence by obtain- 
 ing a few spawn or fish, and make your first experi- 
 ments in a small way. Although you may be well 
 versed theoretically, you will find, in attempting 
 to make an actual application of your knowledge, 
 that you will meet with obstacles you did not 
 dream of before ; in other words, you must edu- 
 cate your hands as well as your head to do 
 the work. 
 
 Commence in a small way, and conduct your first 
 experiments as cheaply as possible. "But why?" 
 you may say. " I have read up thoroughly on the 
 subject, and the path seems clear enough. Why 
 let a year go by without doing work, that will 
 amount to something ?" My friend, could you rea- 
 sonably expect to read how to make a clock, or any 
 other piece of machinery, and then sit down and 
 make it ? There are, undoubtedly, geniuses who 
 are able to do this, but they are the exception, and 
 not the rule. The chances are even, that you will 
 make some fatal mistake the first season, and your 
 experience will be just as valuable, and not nearly 
 so expensive, if you start on a small scale. A great 
 deal can be learned by visiting some establishment 
 which is in successful operation, and the observa- 
 
44 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 tions made there will be of great value to the 
 beginner. 
 
 Many failures occur through the impression that 
 fish culture is so very simple. This is a great mis- 
 take, as to conduct it successfully requires constant 
 attention, the same as any other business. The 
 value of experimenting and making practical tests 
 cannot be too highly estimated. There are so many 
 things which to your vision look clear and practical, 
 which an actual trial will prove to be useless. The- 
 oretically they may be true, but practically failures. 
 I have many times caught an idea which seemed to 
 be just the thing, and must prove a success, and 
 found I was wrong, so that my usual plan now is, 
 when I undertake to solve a difficult problem, to 
 have several different experiments under way at the 
 same time, and among them will be some which I 
 had made up my mind would be certain failures, and 
 many times some one of these would be just the 
 thing I wanted. 
 
 There are many waters where it is impossible to tell 
 whether certain fish will live without putting some 
 in and giving them a trial. For instance, if one 
 wishes to stock a stream that is impregnated with 
 some kind of mineral perhaps iron or sulphur he 
 would have no way of knowing how strongly the wa- 
 ters were impregnated, or just what degree of strength 
 the fish could endure. In this case I would advise 
 placing a few fish in the waters in question as a sure 
 means of ascertaining. Of course, there are certain 
 kinds offish which, if deposited in waters having the 
 necessary temperature, depth, bottom, etc., will al- 
 most to a certainty thrive if placed therein. There 
 
WRONG IMPRESSIONS IN FISH CULTURE. 45 
 
 are waters possessing such characteristics that 
 we know that certain fish will not live in them ; but 
 when the waters are such that it is a matter of 
 doubt, the correct way is to experiment. 
 
 A new beginner cannot expect to learn it all the 
 first year, or the second. The more he studies and 
 experiments, the more he will find there is to learn ; 
 in fact, fish culture does not differ from any other 
 business in this respect. I have been working at 
 practical fish culture for about twenty-four years, and 
 had it on my mind since the year 1837, and I find 
 there is still a great deal to be learned and discov- 
 ered about hsh and how to raise them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WRONG IMPRESSIONS IN FISH CULTURE. 
 
 THERE are a great many wrong impressions con- 
 cerning the cultivation offish; and, with this idea in 
 view, I will try and explain to my readers some of 
 the false opinions which I find have been formed in 
 the minds of people with whom I have come in con- 
 tact. 
 
 One of the most prevalent errors is, that if a per- 
 son controls a body of water, a lake, stream or 
 pond, as the case may be, that he can, through the 
 medium of fish culture, raise, or keep in confine- 
 ment any kind of fish his fancy dictates. Now if 
 the tillers of the soil will think how unreasonable it 
 
46 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 would be for any one to suppose for an instant, that 
 he could produce any kind of grain or fruit on any 
 kind of soil he chose, he will readily comprehend 
 his mistake in regard to fish. The Creator, in His 
 wise distribution of things on the earth's surface, 
 placed them with an eye to their adaptability to the 
 quarters to which they were assigned. He did not 
 place whales in the inland lakes, or sturgeons in the 
 small spring streams, but He placed them in the 
 bodies of water where there was room and food in 
 abundance for them, and which were suited to their 
 peculiarities. He placed in the small spring 
 streams the brook or speckled trout, which do not 
 grow to a great size, and, as a consequence, the food 
 intended for them can be produced in sufficient 
 quantities to sustain them. He placed the sturgeon in 
 our large inland lakes and rivers, and the enormous 
 leviathan in the ocean. I have purposely taken the 
 extremes in my illustration, so as to better demon- 
 strate my meaning ; but there are many fishes in the 
 intermediate class which, as a rule, grow and in- 
 crease in proportion to the abundance of food and 
 extent of the waters they inhabit, to the limit in 
 size to which Nature, has designed they should 
 attain. 
 
 And so in fish culture there is nothing visionary, 
 or theoretical, or in conflict with Nature's laws. It 
 is only by working with Nature and assisting her 
 that we can hope to succeed ; the very moment we 
 deviate from this path, failure is sure to follow. If 
 you transfer the bass from the river or bay to the 
 brook, and the trout from the brook to the bay, 
 they will not thrive, because the elements are not 
 
WRONG IMPRESSIONS IN FISH CULTURE. 47 
 
 there which their nature requires. It is only by aid- 
 ing Nature in her unchangeable course that success 
 is attained. 
 
 Another point which has frequently come to my 
 notice is, that in the artificial manipulation of fish, 
 the erroneous impression has been gained by many 
 intelligent people, that young fry can be produced 
 from the eggs of a fish in which life had departed. 
 It is my opinion, based upon actual experiment, that 
 the eggs cannot be vitalized, after the heart has 
 ceased to beat. To test this matter correctly, it is 
 necessary to wait some time an hour at least 
 after the fish has ceased to exhibit any outward 
 signs of life; as I have ascertained by examining 
 young fry under the microscope, that the blood will 
 flow and the heart beat for twenty minutes to a half 
 hour after the fish is to all outward appearances dead. 
 In order to obtain the best results from artificial im- 
 pregnation, both parent fish must be alive and in a 
 healthy condition, and the eggs fully matured 
 naturally. If the eggs are forced from the fish pre- 
 maturely, the operation will result in failure and the 
 fish thus operated upon will almost always die. 
 
 Another false idea, which is by no means uncom- 
 mon, is that fish can live and thrive without food. 
 This is a mistake ; fish require food the same as any 
 other living creature, and in abundance, according 
 to their size. This wrong impression has been 
 gained through keeping gold fish in aquariums in 
 which they have been known to live for months, and 
 in some cases years, without putting in food ; but 
 the means through which they live is by sucking the 
 greenish matter from the sides of the aquarium and 
 
48 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 stones. This matter contains microscopic plants 
 and animals, on which they subsist. In cleaning an 
 aquarium in which gold fish are kept, never wash the 
 stones, but take them out carefully, and replace 
 them without disturbing the slimy substance on 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 ARTIFICIAL HATCHING OF FISH. 
 
 IN the artificial hatching of fish eggs, there are 
 three principal conditions necessary, without which 
 success can rarely be attained. These are cleanli- 
 ness, careful handling of the eggs and plenty of 
 circulation. The importance of providing these can 
 hardly be over-estimated. 
 
 CLEANLINESS. One of the main reasons why 
 artificial propagation is superior to the natural 
 method is in this particular. The eggs must be 
 kept free from sediment or dirt in any form what- 
 ever, or else they can never reach the hatching 
 point. We will take the clear, flowing brook as we 
 observe it casually : it has the appearance of being 
 free from all foreign substance, but, by examining it 
 closely, we discover that in the bed of the brook a 
 great deal of matter is constantly moving down- 
 ward. This has the tendency to cover up all eggs 
 which have been cast, and, when this occurs, the 
 egg will never come to maturity. In hatching eggs 
 artificially, this is guarded against by filtering the 
 water through flannel screens, and also by having a 
 
ARTIFICIAL HATCHING OF FISH. 49 
 
 large tank into which the water flows before enter- 
 ing the hatchery. This gives the impurities a 
 chance to settle at the bottom, and the water will 
 become purer ; and when it afterward flows through 
 the flannel screens, it is purified to a still greater ex- 
 tent. But, even with these precautions, a great deal 
 of sediment will force itself through into the hatch- 
 ing apparatus, and the eggs have to be looked over 
 and feathered nearly every day in order to keep 
 them bright and clean. The hatching apparatus it- 
 self needs frequent washing to keep it free from the 
 matter which accumulates on it. Without scrupu- 
 lous cleanliness, artificial propagation would not, in 
 this respect, be superior to the natural. 
 
 CAREFUL HANDLING. This, in my opinion, is a 
 most important consideration, and one that cannot 
 be over-estimated. Some persons claim that there 
 are stages in the development of the eggs when 
 they can be handled very roughly, and will stand a 
 great deal of abuse without injury. This is con- 
 trary to my experience. From the time the egg is 
 first taken, until it is hatched, the utmost caution 
 should be taken to prevent any ill-usage. While 
 there is undoubtedly a certain period when the eggs 
 are less liable to be killed by exposure to some 
 amount of hardship than at other times, still, I find 
 that the most careful treatment given them is none 
 too good ; and the more gentle we are with them 
 the larger percentage of strong and vigorous fish 
 breaks through the shell of the egg. Even in 
 "feathering " them over with the beardecl side of a 
 feather in search for dead eggs, it would be better if 
 the eggs were not touched, but simply moved by 
 
50 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 the agitation of the water. It is also important 
 that the eggs should always be entirely under water 
 while examining them. " Handle with care " is an 
 injunction the common sense and value of which 
 will demonstrate itself to anyone, as his experience 
 in fish culture extends. 
 
 FREE CIRCULATION. The object to be kept in 
 view, in the construction of apparatus for hatching 
 ftsh eggs is, to have it so arranged that the eggs or 
 spawn will receive the constant action of flowing 
 water without being washed away. By "plenty of 
 circulation," is meant sufficient to keep the eggs 
 slightly in motion, but not enough to move them 
 violently. The eggs of some fishes are much 
 lighter than those of others. For instance, those 
 of the trout and salmon are much heavier, and more 
 bulky, than those of the shad or white-fish. Conse- 
 quently, different apparatus has to be used in the 
 hatching of different kinds of fishes. A successful 
 fish-hatching apparatus should be so constructed 
 that the water will circulate freely around each indi- 
 vidual egg, and this current must not be allowed to 
 cease from the time the eggs are first put in until 
 the fishes are hatched. Absence of circulation re- 
 sults in sure death to the eggs, and this is one of 
 the reasons why so few eggs, cast naturally, produce 
 a fish. The egg must be fortunate, indeed, to be- 
 come located in as favorable a position as can be 
 given to it under artificial propagation. 
 
 Taking into consideration the number of eggs cast 
 by all kinds of fish, I do not believe the average of 
 those hatched is more than one in a thousand , and 
 this is a liberal estimate. 
 
THE PROTECTION OF FISH. 51 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE PROTECTION OF FISH. 
 
 I AM in receipt of a letter from a correspon- 
 dent, concerning the protection of fish. He says : 
 "I am much interested in your researches. I never 
 caught a fish in my life, but can appreciate the 
 importance of protecting our fish from the unthink- 
 ing or selfish who despoil our rivers and streams." 
 The matter of protecting our fish is a subject which 
 should interest every good citizen, whether he be a 
 fisherman or not; it is a question which concerns the 
 food supply of the country, a matter of vital import- 
 ance to every man, woman and child. 
 
 Now I propose to show how fish are destroyed 
 by the unthinking, or the class of men who do 
 not care whether there are any fish left in the waters 
 or not, so long as they manage to transfer a few 
 paltry dollars to their pockets, which, as a rule, do 
 them little or no good. 
 
 The fishermen who do the most damage are those 
 who take the fish during their spawning seasons. It 
 is at this time that the fish come into shallow 
 water to complete their work of procreation, and are 
 then easily captured. All fish have certain localities 
 to which they resort at the season of the year when 
 their eggs are matured and ready to cast. Different 
 varieties seek different localities; as, for instance, 
 the speckled or brook trout cast their spawn on the 
 gravel; the lake or salmon trout on rocky reefs; the 
 
52 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 pickerel and perch among the weeds; the bull-head 
 in holes excavated by them in the mud, etc. These 
 localities are well known to poachers, and where the 
 fish congregate in these places in large schools, they 
 draw nets around them and frequently capture the 
 whole lot at a single haul. Where the bottom is 
 such that it is impracticable to draw a seine by rea- 
 son of its being covered with boulders or rocky reefs, 
 the "gill net" is used. 
 
 This net is made of very fine thread, and the 
 meshes of the net are made in proportion to the size 
 of the fish intended to be captured, and as the name 
 of the net implies, the fish, while swimming through 
 the water, thrust their heads into the meshes of the 
 net, which catch them under their gills and hold 
 them securely. If, by any chance, the fish should 
 succeed in freeing itself from the net, it does not 
 stand one chance in a hundred of recovering; the 
 reason of which is that the gills are, comparatively 
 speaking, the fish's lungs. When the fish feels him- 
 self caught, he instinctively struggles violently to 
 escape, thereby lacerating his breathing apparatus 
 to a great extent. We all know the usual result of 
 injury to our own lungs, and it will, therefore, be easy 
 to comprehend the effect upon fish. 
 
 Another method by which our inland waters are de- 
 prived of hundreds of thousands of young fish annu- 
 ally, is through the means of the murderous spear 
 and jack-light. The depredators approach at night 
 the spawning beds of the salmon trout, bass or 
 other fish; the strong light of the jack, as it is 
 called, thrown upon the water, enables the spear- 
 man to see down in the clear water for several feet; 
 
CONSTRUCTION OK TROUT PONDS. 53 
 
 the darkness of the night serves in the same way as 
 a cloak thrown over the head in the day-time, in 
 looking below the ice, through which means objects 
 can be seen a considerable distance down. The fish 
 have apparently little fear of the light, and- the boat 
 is easily paddled up to within a few feet of them, 
 when the deadly spear is used. Not only are many 
 captured in this way, but many are injured which 
 are not brought to the boat, so that they die by 
 being pierced by the tines of the spear, and death 
 is the result in a few hours or days, according to the 
 injury. 
 
 There are also several other ways by which fish 
 are destroyed while on their spawning beds, as by 
 shooting, snaring, etc., but I think I have explained 
 the matter sufficiently, and trust it will make an im- 
 pression .on the minds of my readers, so that they 
 will exert their influence to protect the fish from 
 illegal modes of capture at all times, and their 
 wholesale destruction, particularly when they are 
 on their spawning beds. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF TROUT PONDS. 
 
 THE most necessary requirement for the construc- 
 tion of a trout pond is a plentiful supply of pure 
 spring water. The spring or springs, if there are 
 several should have a fall of two or three feet, and if 
 
$4 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 more than one pond is to be made, a fall of from five 
 to ten feet would be an advantage. If the water sup- 
 ply is abundant, there is less necessity for fall. 
 The water from a spring near its source remains at 
 nearly the same temperature during the whole year, 
 and is therefore the best for trout raising. Brook 
 water which does not rise higher than sixty-eight 
 degrees Fahrenheit during the hottest summer 
 months, may be used to supply ponds for adult trout. 
 If the water remains cool enough only during ten 
 months or even more in the year, and then during a 
 dry time gets warmer, it causes the death of all the 
 fish. 
 
 It is not, as a rule, a good plan, by damming up a 
 stream, to make ponds that vary in volume. There 
 should be enough level land by the side of such a 
 stream to make ponds to be supplied by the stream, 
 and it is best to have a stream much greater in 
 volume than is necessary for the ponds. This will 
 always furnish a good supply of water, and there 
 will be no trouble with the surplus in case of a 
 freshet. 
 
 It is desirable to have the pond as near the dwell- 
 ing house as possible. You will then be able to give 
 the fish more care and attention than if the pond 
 was at greater distance. Another reason, and quite 
 an important one, too, for having the pond near the 
 house, is, that it may then be guarded against 
 poachers. There are many men who would have no 
 particular conscientious scruples against quietly 
 stealing to your pond at night and drawing a net 
 through it, after you have it nicely stocked. There 
 have been many instances of this kind, and too much 
 
CONSTRUCTION OF TROUT PONDS. 55 
 
 caution cannot be exercised in this respect. A good 
 watch dog in the vicinity of the pond will prove a 
 valuable protector. 
 
 Trout ponds should be made too small rather than 
 too large; the fish will be found to thrive much bet- 
 ter in small than in large ponds. The water supply 
 may be cool enough on entering the pond to sustain 
 the trout during the entire year, but by spreading it 
 over a large space, it presents too much surface to 
 the sun and consequently becomes very warm. Al- 
 though in such cases the trout will, through the in- 
 stinct of self-preservation, gather in the vicinity of the 
 inlet and springs, if there are any in the ponds, and 
 save themselves, as far as possible, the result will be 
 the loss of many. When it becomes desirable to 
 construct a pond in a place where there are springs, 
 or to dam up the water and make a pond in a springy 
 place, it is a good plan to cover the springs with 
 several loads of gravel, for the fish to spawn on. The 
 borders of such a pond should be made very shallow, 
 so that the little fish may run up in the shallow 
 water and escape the large fish, or have the pond so 
 arranged that after the fish have spawned, the large 
 ones may be removed. By so doing, the eggs will 
 hatch out and the young fish will grow without 
 danger. When the next season of spawning comes, 
 the little fish may be removed into another pond 
 and the old ones let in to spawn again. Such a pond 
 is specially adapted for persons who cannot devote a 
 great deal of time to it, and who desire to manage it 
 with as little care as possible. In this way a good 
 many fish can be raised without much trouble. The 
 gravel must be sifted and all the fine parts rejected; 
 
56 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 none smaller than a hickory nut should be used, 
 and from that to a good-sized hen's egg. 
 
 Not infrequently the bottom of such a pond is 
 porous, and absorbs the water nearly as fast as it runs 
 in, so that there is but little if any overflow at the 
 proper outlet. If you are short of water and wish to 
 use all you can possibly get for another pond, or for 
 other purposes, it is best to cement the bottom. 
 But if you have no further use for the water, it makes 
 no difference how it goes off, provided there are no 
 holes in the bottom large enough to let the fish es- 
 cape, and the water keeps up to its level. In case 
 the water should prove too warm for trout, such a 
 pond would answer for bass, perch, gold fish, or carp. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PONDS FOR ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF TROUT. 
 
 THERE are scarcely two locations that present 
 exactly the same conditions for the construction of 
 trout ponds, and where the same plans could be 
 carried out with equal success. Perhaps the best 
 system for economizing water and space, and which 
 at the same time is the most convenient for chang- 
 ing the fish from one pond to another, is to build a 
 series of four or six ponds. 
 
 Make them entirely of wood. The plan I have 
 adopted is to build them two abreast, and the others 
 following in order. Each should be about twenty 
 
ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF TROUT. 57 
 
 feet long, by twelve feet wide, and five feet deep. 
 Unmatched hemlock lumber, an inch or an inch and 
 one-half in thickness, is suitable for the purpose. 
 The ground is measured and staked off to the de- 
 sired dimensions. The excavation is made as if for 
 one pond, and stakes are driven at regular intervals, 
 a few feet apart, around the entire excavation. If 
 the bottom is made of lumber which is necessary 
 if the ground is porous that should be laid first ; 
 scantling should run across the bottom and be at- 
 tached to the stakes around the sides of the pond, 
 upon which to lay the bottom. If the bottom is 
 made of lumber, the pond can be kept cleaner and 
 the water is always clear. After the bottom is laid, 
 the sides should be enclosed with planks running 
 lengthwise, and not straight up and down, for the 
 reason that the wood between " wind and water " is 
 always the first to decay. By placing the planks 
 lengthwise, new ones can be substituted with but 
 little expense ; whereas if the boards are m perpen- 
 dicular position, it would necessitate an entire 
 change of lumber. 
 
 A double partition extends through the centre of 
 the excavation ; the space between the sides should 
 be about two feet in width and filled in with earth. 
 This strengthens the sides of the ponds, and also 
 affords a walk between them. The two sides are 
 then partitioned off into compartments of equal 
 sizes. The ponds on each side of the central divi- 
 sion should have openings of about three feet in 
 width between them, into which screens should be 
 introduced, so as to keep the fish separate and yet 
 allow the water to flow through. The screens 
 
58 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 should be so arranged that they can be readily re- 
 moved, when it becomes desirable to give the fish 
 the range of two or more ponds. 
 
 At the head of each side of the ponds the spawn- 
 ing races should be located, and through these the 
 water that feeds the ponds should flow. The race- 
 ways should be about thirty feet in length and 
 four feet wide ; the depth of the water flowing 
 through them should be about six inches. The 
 sides of the raceway should be made of one and a 
 half inch plank and about eighteen inches in depth. 
 This raceway must be filled with coarse gravel, of 
 the size of a hickory nut to a hen's egg. The bot- 
 tom of the pond must slope gently up to the race- 
 way. The head of the race should be carefully 
 screened, and the screens kept clean, so as to pre- 
 vent the fish from escaping. It is desirable to 
 bring the water into the race through a long box, 
 as the water will very soon work around or under a 
 short box, and allow the fish to escape. If the 
 water enters with a fall, it may be allowed to pour 
 over an apron constructed of slats, one-half or one- 
 quarter of an inch apart, and set edgewise. This 
 will let the water through and keep the fish from 
 running up. Trout will run up stream very freely 
 and work their way through a very small passage, 
 but are not so likely to run down stream. 
 
 The outlet of the pond should also be carefully 
 screened. The screens may be made of common 
 wire, and painted with tar mixed with one-third 
 turpentine or to the consistency of paint. They 
 may also be made of copper or galvanized wire 
 sieving. Wire screens for keeping the small fry 
 
CARP ON THE FARM. 59 
 
 should be fourteen threads to the inch, and for one- 
 year olds five or six threads to the inch. The 
 frames of the screens should be fitted in grooves 
 and made to fit as close as possible and still admit 
 of their being easily removed. A good screen for 
 two and three year olds and for larger fish, can be 
 made of strips of lath nailed to a strong frame, with 
 quarter-inch openings between them. The slats 
 should be four inches wide, so that if a leaf strikes 
 against them it will catch or pass through without 
 obstructing the flow of water, or lie flat against a 
 single slat. If the slats are narrow, the leaves will 
 lop around them and clog up the screen. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CARP ON THE FARM. 
 
 IN reply to several inquiries about carp culture, 
 the following condensed directions are given, as 
 undoubtedly many are interested in this subject. 
 
 To construct a pond, first stake off your land the 
 desired dimensions ; then take a plow and scraper, 
 and with them make the necessary excavation. 
 The pond should be about five or six feet deep in 
 the centre, gradually sloping up to the edges. The 
 object in having the pond deep in the centre is to 
 provide the fish with a place to settle into during 
 the winter, without danger of the water freezing 
 solid and thereby killing them, as would be the 
 
60 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 case in cold climates if the water was all shallow. 
 The reason for having the bottom sloping is, that 
 thereby the fish may have access to plenty of warm, 
 shoal water, and also, that in case the old fish 
 are not taken out after spawning, the young will 
 have the protection of the shallow water along the 
 edges, into which the larger fish cannot swim if 
 they should feel inclined to make a meal on some 
 of their younger relatives. 
 
 The outlet should be about three feet wide, and 
 so constructed that it can be well screened to pre- 
 vent the fish from escaping, and so as to admit of 
 the water being drawn off when it is desired to re- 
 move the fish or to cleanse the pond. The screens 
 may be made of wire netting, and painted with 
 gas-tar mixed with one-third turpentine, or to the 
 consistency of paint, and applied with an ordinary 
 paint brush. The wire netting should be tacked to 
 strong wooden frames, made to fit the space to be 
 screened. To screen a carp pond effectually, three 
 screens of different sized meshes should be used. 
 These should slide in a grooved framework, so 
 that they can be taken out easily and cleaned. 
 The coarser screen should be placed first, or nearest 
 to the pond, so as to catch the principal part of 
 the drifting matter, and prevent the clogging of 
 the lower and finer screens. About eighteen inches 
 back of the screens the outlet boards should be 
 placed, fitted to slide in a groove. They should be 
 about six inches wide each, and made to fit closely, 
 as it is by these that the overflow is regulated. 
 
 It is advisable to have the top boards narrower 
 than the lower ones, so that the water may be 
 
CARP ON THE FARM. 6l 
 
 raised or lowered to any level desired. If gal- 
 vanized wire which is the best, although more ex- 
 pensive is used for screens, it need not be painted 
 with gas-tar. For a pon-d containing large carp 
 only, the outlet screen may be made of slats about 
 three inches wide, with half-inch openings between 
 the slats. If a leaf strikes against slats of this 
 width, it will pass between them without obstruct- 
 ing the flow of water, as it cannot lap around them, 
 as it would do if the slats were smaller. In all cases 
 the screens should extend nearly to the bottom of 
 the pond, so as to present as great a surface as 
 possible. 
 
 Carp can be raised in well water, but water from 
 a brook is preferable. They will succeed in the 
 Northern States, if the ponds are deep enough not 
 to freeze to the bottom in winter. Carp do not 
 require feeding in winter, as they burrow into the 
 mud or hibernate, until the ice disappears in the 
 spring. 
 
 There appears to be a difference of opinion 
 among the authorities as to which is the best kind 
 of carp. The scale carp are said to be the most 
 prolific, and the leather carp grow the fastest. 
 For my part I prefer the latter ; it is the handsomer 
 and finer fish of the two. As to their qualities as 
 table fish, so far as my experience goes, I have not 
 been able to discover any difference between them. 
 
62 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 VALUE OF COMMON FISH. 
 
 I WISH to say a few words concerning the great 
 value and usefulness of what are usually termed the 
 " common varieties " offish. These include the yel- 
 low perch, rock bass, bull-head, sucker, pickerel, and 
 the like.. These fish, though they do not command 
 the attention of writers and fish-culturists, as trout, 
 salmon, black bass, white fish, and shad do, still hold 
 a very important place in the fish-supply of the 
 country, and furnish pleasure and food for many 
 thousands of people. 
 
 The class of fish above referred to do not require 
 the care and attention to make them plentiful, that 
 is necessary with the finer or game varieties. Arti- 
 ficial propagation is not required, and about the 
 only thing really needed to keep a plentiful supply 
 in the waters to which they are adapted, is to pro- 
 tect them while they are in their spawning-beds, and 
 fish for them only by angling by hand, with hook and 
 line. In this way you get the greatest amount of actual 
 enjoyment in the capture of the fish; and who is 
 there that does not relish a mess of fish caught by 
 himself, better than those purchased, or procured in 
 any other way ? 
 
 Another poinf concerning these common fish is 
 that, as a rule, they are easily caught, and it requires 
 no especially fine tackle to take them, though the 
 most successful fishermen are careful in the arrange- 
 
VALUE OF COMMON FISH. 63 
 
 ments of their hooks and lines, and also keep their 
 hook properly sharpened, and well baited. A com- 
 mon cane pole, such as can be purchased for a small 
 sum, will be found equally as serviceable as a high- 
 priced, split bamboo, jointed rod. These fish also 
 inhabit large rivers, lakes and bays, which are ac- 
 cessible to the millions. They are also found in the 
 canals, to which thousands resort in summer for the 
 capture of a mess of fish. In such waters as these, 
 the finer grades of fish cannot live and thrive. There- 
 fore the ordinary bull-head, with his great powers of 
 endurance, is a welcome and valuable inhabitant of 
 this class of waters. The yellow perch, with its 
 white, flaky flesh, when properly cooked, is the equal 
 of any common fish in the country. I have made 
 many a good meal on the usually underrated sucker 
 and mullet. 
 
 A great many harsh things are said against the 
 pickerel, but it is a good fish, and a worthy inhabit- 
 ant of the kind of water in which it is found. It is 
 not a suitable companion for the trout, nor is there a 
 sufficiency of food for it in trout waters, but there is 
 plenty in our large lakes, rivers and bays, and many 
 a day's sport have I had pickerel fishing. As a 
 table-fish, the pickerel is not, in my opinion, equal to 
 the yellow perch or bull-head, but when properly 
 prepared it is very palatable. While pickerel do 
 not possess the game qualities of the muscalonge, 
 still in some waters I have found them to have con- 
 siderable " fight," and one of eight or ten pounds 
 weight affords both sport and an exercise of skill to 
 land. 
 
 Who has not seen a row of bare-footed urchins 
 
64 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 sitting on a bridge or the bank of a stream, angling 
 for suckers ? And what a happy expression they 
 bear on their faces, when they trudge home with a 
 string long enough to dragon the ground ! Many a 
 great man, and angler as well, has taken his first les 
 sons in fishing from catching the slow-going fish that 
 gains his subsistence by sucking the nutriment from 
 the stones on the bottom of the stream. 
 
 The value of our common fresh-water varieties is 
 very great. They come in where they are most 
 needed, and with our extensive watered area, no one 
 need be denied the privilege of fishing, or cultivating 
 a love for this harmless and healthful pastime. When 
 the head of the family decides to take the little ones 
 out fishing, and they are all gathered in the boat, 
 each one furnished with a rod, no salmon fisherman, 
 with his rod bending under the strain of a twenty- 
 pound salmon, enjoys the fun with a keener delight 
 than the parents and children, as the perch and rock- 
 bass come flopping in over the side of the boat. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ANGLING FOR BLACK BASS. 
 
 MANY who delight in angling,have doubtless caught 
 the black bass. I do not know of any one fish that is so 
 general a favorite with anglers as the genuine Small- 
 Mouthed Black Bass. He is so game and full of 
 pluck that he excites your admiration, and when 
 
ANGLING FOR BLACK BASS. 65 
 
 you have at last landed him, you feel that you have 
 conquered a foeman worthy of your steel. 
 
 There are two kinds of fish known as the 
 Black Bass, but they are quite different in their 
 nature and habits. They are known as the Small- 
 Mouthed Black Bass, and the Large-Mouthed or 
 Oswego Bass. The latter, as the name implies, has 
 the largest mouth, and lives in still water where 
 weeds, flags and pond-lilies are plentiful. He is 
 caught quite readily at still fishing, using minnows 
 for bait, and is also captured by trolling along the 
 edge of the weeds with the spoon and minnow, at- 
 tached to a gang of hooks. The latter is my favor- 
 ite way of fishing for them. The big-mouthed black 
 bass is the poorer table-fish of the two kinds, and 
 does not possess the game qualities of the small- 
 mouthed variety, which lives only in pure lake or 
 river water with rocky bottom. They are taken 
 still-fishing with the dobson, also known as the hell- 
 gramite, the craw-fish, or fresh-water crab, and the 
 minnow. These three are undoubtedly the best baits 
 for fishing from an anchored boat. 
 
 In my opinion, the finest way to take them, and 
 that which gives the most sport, is by trolling with 
 the following described rig: I use a nine-foot single 
 gut leader, and attached thereto are 'two flies, tied 
 on a good-sized hook, not smaller than a. No. I or 
 larger than a i-o, and a gang of hooks on the end. 
 The leader is made in two parts; the part to which 
 the line is attached is six feet long; then a small 
 swivel number 8 or 9 is placed between, and then 
 the remainder of the leader. 
 
 I have used hundreds of different kinds of flies, and 
 
66 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS 
 
 have kept sifting them out until I have now but four 
 kinds. If I use but two flies on my leader, my upper 
 one is a red body, white wing, and white hackle and 
 a gold tinsel stripe. My second is called the 
 " grizzly king." It has a green body, and a mottled 
 wing of a mallard or red-head. It is called by fly- 
 makers the under wing ; it has a grizzly hackle and 
 red ibis tail. My two other flies are called the 
 " Governor Alvord " and " Seth Green." The wing 
 of the former is made of two colored feathers, cinna- 
 mon and drab. The cinnamon is used for the under 
 part of the wing. The body is made of peacock 
 hackle and a red ibis tail. The "Seth Green" is 
 made as follows : The body is green with a large 
 yellow stripe. The hackle red, from the red rooster. 
 The wing is made of feathers out of a bittern or 
 woodcock, or any cinnamon-color wing. I do not 
 cover the body of my flies with hackle ; the hackle 
 is all put on at the head of the fly. 
 
 The gang of hooks is made as follows : Use No. 
 8 " O'Shaughnessy hooks;" solder two sets of three 
 hooks each, back to back, in the shape of a grapnel, 
 and tie them on a single gut, having the first set on 
 the end and the next from one to two inches above, 
 and a short distance above, tie a single lip-hook. 
 The gangs should be made to fit the size of the 
 minnows used ; attach the minnow to the gang by 
 hooking the upper or lip-hook through both lips, 
 which closes the mouth ; insert one of the lower 
 hooks in the side near the tail, and one of the middle 
 set, in the side. The minnow should have a very 
 slight curve when on the gang, which will give it a 
 slow rotary motion when drawn through the water. 
 
ANGLING FOR BLACK BASS. 6/ 
 
 Use a rod and multiplying reel, with about one 
 hundred and fifty feet of line on it, but the length of 
 line used in actual fishing is usually from forty to 
 seventy-five feet, depending on the depth of water. 
 In fishing in twelve feet of water, I would use 
 seventy-five feet of line, and put two No. I split-shot on 
 my leader. In still-fishing with minnow, and hold- 
 ing the rod in hand, hook the minnow through both 
 lips; fish near the bottom and -give it short starts 
 ahead. When still-fishing with a cork, measure the 
 depth of the water and place the cork on your line, 
 so that the hook will be within one or two feet of 
 the bottom, and hook your minnow through the 
 middle of the back, being very careful not to touch 
 the back-bone, and throw your line out as far as 
 you can. 
 
 When the bass goes for your bait ne goes with 
 a rush, and when he strikes it, will probably go three 
 or four feet before he stops. Then he will turn the 
 minnow in his mouth and proceed to swallow it, and 
 as it is going down he will start to swim off slowly; 
 then is the time to strike. 
 
 If you will follow these directions you will miss but 
 very few bites, but if you strike when the cork first 
 begins to bob, you will lose your fish more than half 
 the time. In hooking on craw-fish, insert your hook 
 through the under side of the tail, near the body, 
 and have the hook come out on the back. Lengthen 
 out your line so that it touches bottom, and it is a 
 good plan to cripple the crab by breaking off one 6l 
 his claws, or raise him a little off the bottom occa- 
 sionally. Otherwise he is liable to crawl under stones 
 and hide. 
 
68 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE STURGEON. 
 
 THIS fish is fast becoming extinct, and I dare say 
 that the time will come when mounted specimens 
 will be carried through the country along with 
 other curiosities which usually accompany a men- 
 agerie. The sturgeon is the largest species of fish 
 that inhabits the fresh water lakes of this country. 
 It grows to a length of six feet, and in some in- 
 stances more, and frequently weighs over a hundred 
 pounds. It is also found in the large rivers flowing 
 into the ocean, and there attains a greater size than 
 the fresh-water variety. I have heard of specimens 
 weighing as heavy as four hundred pounds. 
 
 During summer it is a great sight to see sturgeons 
 leaping from the water. They come straight up, 
 and look, at a distance, like great logs shooting up 
 full length above the surface of the water. This 
 they do, without doubt, for their amusement, as, by 
 the peculiar construction of their mouths, they can- 
 not obtain their food from the surface, as do many 
 kinds of fish, and I can, therefore, assign no other 
 cause for this strange action. Their mouth is located 
 on the under side of the head, and is toothless. 
 They obtain their food by means of suction ; that 
 is, they suck their food from off the bottom, and do 
 not grasp it, as do other fish except those belong- 
 ing to the sucker or carp families. The food of the 
 sturgeon consists of shell-fish, crabs, shrimp, and 
 
THE STURGEON. 69 
 
 insects, which by means of his long snout he is 
 able to unearth. 
 
 These immense fishes are caught principally in 
 the large pound nets, also in seines, and sometimes 
 in gill nets set for smaller fish. In the latter, in at- 
 tempting to pass, they get tangled and roll them- 
 selves up so that they cannot escape, and frequently 
 break the nets badly. They are also caught by set 
 lines. As food, when properly prepared, they are 
 very good, and highly prized by many. They were 
 at one time so plentiful in the Hudson River, that 
 the flesh was familiarly known as " Albany beef," 
 because of the resemblance of the flesh to beef 
 rather than ftsh, and by reason of their being mar- 
 keted and shipped from the capital of New York 
 State in large quantities. Great numbers of them 
 are smoked after they have been pickled in brine, 
 and, prepared in this way, they are an excellent 
 relish. The sturgeon has large quantities of eggs, 
 and, when made into the Russian dish called 
 u caviare," is considered a great delicacy. From 
 the waste parts of the fish and the entrails, quite a 
 large quantity of oil is extracted, and from their 
 bladders isinglass is manufactured. 
 
 One of the great enemies of the sturgeon, aside 
 from man, is the lamprey eel, which attaches itself 
 to the body of the fish and sucks its blood. After 
 relinquishing its hold, it leaves a raw sore, which 
 upon healing leaves a permanent good-sized scar 
 on the body. The fish cast their spawn principally 
 during the month of June. We have propagated 
 them artificially in the Hudson River, but not to 
 the extent desired, on account of the scarcity of 
 
70 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 the fish and the consequent great difficulty in get- 
 ting a pair together at the same time which were 
 in a perfectly ripe or mature condition for casting 
 and fertilizing the ova. As I have said above, the 
 sturgeon yields large quantities of eggs, it not be- 
 ing an uncommon thing to obtain from a single 
 specimen as high as from fifty to sixty pounds of 
 solid eggs. The eggs are of a dark brown color, 
 and seven of them placed side by side will measure 
 an inch. They will hatch in from three to four 
 days, in water ranging in temperature from sixty- 
 seven to seventy-four degrees. 
 
 The eggs when taken from the fish are very glu- 
 tinous, and adhere to each other, and to everything 
 they touch. The only way they can be kept sepa- 
 rate is, by constantly stirring them for from thirty 
 minutes to two hours, after which the gummy sub- 
 stance appears to dissolve. When the young break 
 through the shell, they are very helpless little crea- 
 tures. One peculiarity is noticeable on the part of 
 the fish in the egg, that it is able to move only the 
 middle part of the body, while with other fish the 
 tail is the principal part most moved. The yolk 
 sac, which is attached to the body is unusually 
 small for young fry, and is absorbed in about six 
 days, after which the fish seeks its own livelihood. 
 
 There is no doubt that sturgeons can be largely 
 increased in the great lakes by artificial propagation, 
 provided they are kept in pens until they are in 
 proper condition to operate with. The great draw- 
 back to penning them in tide waters, is that the 
 small eels destroy the eggs, by entering the fish 
 through the vent. 
 
THE TRANSPORTATION OF FISH. /I 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE TRANSPORTATION OF FISH. 
 
 DOUBTLESS most people are familiar with the 
 milk-can, but probably few know the important part 
 it plays in fish culture. The cans are used for the 
 transportation of fish, and in all my experience I 
 have never found anything better or more con- 
 venient to handle. In shape the cans are like those 
 used by milkmen in delivering milk, and not like 
 the regular dairy can with straight sides. The 
 trouble with these is that the water slops about so 
 as to endanger the lives of young fry, in case they 
 should swim to the top of the water. With mature 
 or full-grown fish they will answer the purpose very 
 well. 
 
 Our cans will hold about thirteen gallons, but 
 about eleven gallons of water is all that is placed 
 in the cans when fish are being transported, the 
 remainder of the room being left for aeration. The 
 bottoms of the cans are made perfectly flat on the 
 inside, as experience has shown us that in trans- 
 porting young fry, if the bottoms are oval or crown- 
 ing, the fry are very liable to settle about the edges 
 on top of each other, and unless they are constantly 
 watched and stirred, the under ones will smother. 
 With the flat bottom this danger is avoided in a 
 great measure. Young fry should not be shipped 
 until the yolk sac is sufficiently absorbed, so that 
 they can swim about in the can. 
 
72 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 Besides the can above described, an ordinary 
 water pail and large tin dipper are necessary ; also 
 a piece of rubber tubing with about a five-eighths 
 inch opening, to be used as a siphon in drawing off 
 the water. When it is necessary to change the water 
 the rubber hose is inserted in a tin tube about three 
 inches in diameter, and in length within six or 
 eight inches of the length of the can, inside. The 
 tube is perforated with fine pin holes for about six 
 inches up from the bottom of the tube. This is to 
 admit the water. The upper part of the tube is 
 funnel-shaped, with the opening large enough to 
 admit the siphon. A hook is soldered on the top 
 of the tube, which is caught over the rim of the 
 can, when it is inserted for use. I presume most 
 readers have had occasion to \*se a siphon, the 
 operation of which is very simple. When the 
 rubber hose is placed in the tube as far as it will go, 
 place the mouth over the end hanging outside 
 the can, and suck the water into the hose until it is 
 nearly full, then suddenly drop it down, so that 
 the end, outside is lower than the inside end of the 
 hose. The water will run until the desired quantity 
 is removed, when the tube may be taken out and 
 new water put in. 
 
 The object in not having the tube the full length 
 of the can, is to prevent all the water from being 
 accidentally drawn off, and thus leave the fish 
 stranded. It is not well to give the fish a full 
 change of water, which is liable to prove very in- 
 jurious, and has been the means of killing a good 
 many fish while being transported. The idea is to 
 keep the temperature of the water as nearly even 
 
THE TRANSPORTATION OF FISH. 73 
 
 as possible, and if it is made colder or warmer, the 
 change should be very gradual. Persons who have 
 not had experience in transporting fish should al- 
 ways have a thermometer, so that the temperature 
 can be tested. A safe plan is to keep the water a 
 few degrees colder than that in which the fish have 
 been living. In warm weather this can be done by 
 using ice, which, if placed directly in the cans, 
 should be broken in small pieces. 
 
 Watch your fish carefully and do not let them 
 suffer. If you cannot give them a change of water, 
 you can refresh them and carry them long distances 
 by re-aerating the water, either by drawing it off 
 into a pail and then pouring it back into the can, 
 or by dipping it from the can and raising it high, 
 allow it to strike on the inverted cover of the can, 
 upon which the fall will be broken, and from thence, 
 it will fall quite gently on the fish. 
 
 While the fish are in motion, either on the cars or 
 in a wagon, there is but little danger of losing them 
 because of the jostling about and consequent aera- 
 tion of the water ; but when they are standing still, 
 careful watch must be kept over them constantly, 
 and those having fish in charge should not sleep, 
 as in that case they would run an almost certain 
 risk of losing them. Large fish show signs of dis- 
 tress by coming to the top of the water, and some 
 kinds, as for instance, trout, will make frantic 
 endeavors to jump out of the can. Young fry at 
 first swim about uneasily, roll their eyes, turn on 
 their sides, and unless relief is given them immedi- 
 ately, they will be dead in a very few minutes. 
 
 The number of fish of the bass and perch families, 
 
74 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 that can be carried safely in a can of the size men- 
 tioned above is from ten to thirty, according to the 
 size, ranging from one-fourth of a pound to two 
 pounds, and of the salmon and trout families from 
 four to six thousand young fry can be carried. 
 The fry of shad and white fish are much smaller 
 than the salmon and trout, and, therefore, eight to 
 ten thousand can be taken in each can. About six 
 or eight cans are all one person should attempt to 
 take charge of at one trip, unless the circumstances 
 are very favorable or he has had experience. 
 
 The cultivation of fish should receive the atten- 
 tion of every farmer who has a stream or a pond, 
 and he should learn the best means of transporting 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 HOW TO SHIP FISH EGGS. 
 
 THE eggs, or spawn, of fish are now shipped to 
 nearly all parts of the globe, almost as readily as the 
 seeds of plants or vegetables, but, as they are 
 "perishable property," there are certain con- 
 ditions that must be more strictly observed than is 
 necessary in packing and shipping the seeds of 
 vegetation. The spawn of certain kinds of fish can 
 be sent only a short distance, on account of their 
 rapid development. 
 
 The principal points necessary for the successful 
 shipment of fish eggs on a long journey, are care 
 
HOW TO SHIP FISH EGGS. 75 
 
 and skill in packing them, and also judgment and 
 experience to determine when the eggs are in the 
 proper condition for the trip. The eggs must also 
 be packed so as to maintain as even a temperature 
 as possible, and withstand the jars incident to rail- 
 way and steamship travel. A few degrees of heat 
 or' cold are liable to affect them, and a sudden jar, 
 such, for example, as the dropping of the package, 
 would be almost certain to result in the death of 
 all the eggs. 
 
 The temperature of the eggs should remain as 
 near that of the water out of which they were taken 
 as possible. The ova best able to stand transpor- 
 tation are of fish belonging to the salmon family, 
 viz., the salmon, speckled trout, salmon trout or 
 lake trout, land-locked salmon, and the like. 
 The eggs of the white fish also stand transportation 
 well. This ability to stand transportation is chiefly 
 from the fact that they are fall spawning fish and 
 require a long period for hatching. This period 
 varies from seventy to one hundred and thirty-five 
 or one hundred and forty days, according to the 
 temperature of the water ; while the eggs of spring 
 spawning fish, as shad, herring, pike, bass, etc., 
 require only from three to ten days, the tempera- 
 ture of the water also affecting them. The warmer 
 it is, the sooner they hatch. 
 
 Probably the best way to pack fish spawn in 
 quantities not exceeding ten thousand, to be sent 
 by express, is in small round tin boxes, in the fol- 
 lowing manner : The boxes are about three inches 
 wide and two and one-half inches deep. A few 
 small holes are punched in the bottom to let the 
 
^6 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 water run off. A six quart pan is filled with water 
 deep enough to barely immerse the box in which 
 the eggs are to be packed. The bottom of the box 
 is then covered with moss, and it is placed in the 
 pan. The moss used is such as grows in swamps or 
 in wet places, as on the stones in a brook or the 
 timbers of an old dam. It may be ' collected and 
 kept all winter in a damp place in a hatching house. 
 The moss must be well washed to free it from dirt 
 and insects, and the green fibres must be cut from 
 the roots with scissors. Only the green, soft and 
 living fibres are used and the rest are thrown away. 
 This fine moss is once more washed thoroughly. 
 A very convenient way is to nail wire netting over 
 the bottom of an old soap box, cut the moss into 
 this, and dipping it into water, wash thoroughly. 
 By lifting the box out of the water the moss is 
 drained and is ready for use. 
 
 The eggs are then taken out of the trough and 
 counted by means of a graduated glass marked 
 with a file, so as to indicate five hundred or a thou- 
 sand, having previously counted the eggs carefully so 
 as to ascertain where the marks should be made. 
 When the eggs are measured, pour them into a 
 ladle small enough for the purpose. Then sink the 
 ladle beneath the water in the packing box, and by 
 gentle tipping it, the eggs will fall to the bottom of 
 the box on the moss, where they may be spread 
 evenly with a feather. A layer of prepared moss 
 must then be lightly laid over the eggs, without tak- 
 ing the box entirely out of the water. Then another 
 layer of eggs is placed on top, and so on until the 
 box is filled. It is then taken out of water and 
 
HOW TO SHIP FISH EGGS. 77 
 
 allowed to stand a little, so that the water may 
 drain offthrough the holes in the bottom, and the 
 damp, spongy moss be left, which forms an elastic 
 cushion to protect the eggs from the effects of sud- 
 den jolts on the journey, and to supply them with 
 oxygen. When the water is all drained off, the 
 covers are to be placed on the boxes, and tied on 
 with stout string. Great care must be taken not to 
 drop the box in handling it, as it would probably 
 result in the death of all the eggs. I have learned 
 this by experience. 
 
 A single box of the above dimensions will hold 
 about five hundred eggs of brook trout. The tin 
 boxes are then packed in sawdust in a pail or box, 
 which should be provided with a handle. The saw- 
 dust should cover the boxes for at least an inch, and 
 then, if they are not exposed to a freezing tempera- 
 ture, or a hot fire, and if not roughly handled, they 
 will travel thousands of miles in good condition. I 
 have kept them sixty days in such boxes and 
 hatched them successfully. 
 
 Care should be used that none of the eggs touch 
 the sides of the box, and they should not be pressed 
 too tightly. Clean, bright, tin boxes, free from rust, 
 should be used, as eggs coming in contact with 
 iron rust almost invariably die. Trout eggs stand 
 transportation best at about twenty days old. Fish 
 eggs are also shipped successfully in large quantities 
 in wooden crates packed in moss, the eggs being 
 laid on mosquito netting, and also covered with 
 a piece of the same, so as to keep them in place and 
 to facilitate unpacking them. They are also shipped 
 in wooden boxes which are fitted with wooden 
 
78 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 trays, the under sides of which are covered with 
 Canton flannel tightly stretched. Each tray is 
 about an inch deep, and filled even full with eggs 
 so they will not shake about. A hundred thousand 
 or more can be carried successfully in a box about 
 eighteen inches square, for a journey of several 
 days' duration ; but when shipped in this way, they 
 should always be in the charge of an experienced 
 man, who will see that they are properly handled, and 
 kept in a moderate temperature. One man could 
 take care of a million or more of eggs packed in this 
 manner. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 CROSS-BREEDING OF FISH. 
 
 ALL farmers know something of the attempts that 
 have been made at crossing the breeds of stock, poul- 
 try, etc., and the results. The established methods 
 from which the best results have been obtained were 
 discovered by long years of study and actual experi- 
 ment. Hybridizing also extends to fruits, vegeta- 
 bles and flowers. It will undoubtedly be interesting 
 to know what has been done in the cross-breeding 
 of fish and the results. The first experiment I ever 
 tried in crossing the breeds of fish was about the 
 year 1869, when I made successful crosses of the 
 white fish and salmon trout, and striped bass and 
 shad. These attempts were kept sight of only so 
 far as to hatch out the fry, and what kind of a fish 
 
CROSS-BREEDING OF FISH. 79 
 
 the combination made consequently remains un- 
 known. 
 
 In the year 1877, I made some experiments in 
 crossing the native brook trout with the California 
 salmon, the spawn of the latter having been sent 
 from the Pacific coast, and the fish hatched and 
 reared at the Caledonia hatchery. The result of 
 this experiment was that the fish were nearly all 
 deformed in some way. We kept some of them until 
 they were eight or nine years old. They showed 
 characteristics of both parents, but resembled the 
 salmon rather more in general appearance than the 
 other parent. When they were between three and 
 four years old they began to show indications of 
 spawning. One of the peculiarities discovered was 
 that male fish were either absent or sterile. On at- 
 tempting to take the spawn from the females artifi- 
 cially, an unexpected difficulty was encountered. 
 To all appearances they had the organs of the 
 brook trout and the eggs of salmon, which are much 
 larger than those of the brook or speckled trout 
 By the careful use of a knife we took the spawn from 
 the fish, gently pressing the forefinger down the 
 fish's abdomen. There being no milters, we tried to 
 fertilize the eggs thus taken, by using a male brook 
 trout, but without success, as none of the fertilized 
 eggs ever produced fish. The original fish grew 
 well, and when about three and a half years old 
 some of them weighed nearly if not quite two 
 pounds. The cross never amounted to anything 
 practically, but had much interest as an experiment. 
 The salmon used had been hatched and reared en- 
 tirely in fresh water, and were consequently not in 
 
80 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 
 
 as good condition as those in their natural 
 waters. 
 
 The most successful cross I have made, and the 
 one which produced the finest fish, was between 
 brook trout and lake or salmon trout. These fish 
 were mostly beautiful in their markings, very sym- 
 metrical in shape, and were perfect hybrids in every 
 way. As with the first mentioned cross, the brook- 
 salmon trout showed marked characteristics of both 
 parents. The spots, though not as brilliant as those 
 of the speckled trout, were much brighter than those 
 of the salmon trout, but in shape they seemed to 
 more nearly resemble the lake trout than the other. 
 They breed naturally, and a fair percentage of their 
 eggs hatch. Their spawning period comes in almost 
 exactly between that of the brook trout and 
 salmon trout, which is from about October 25 to 
 November 25, the straight salmon trout com- 
 mencing earlier and the brook trout later. The size 
 of the eggs produced by the hybrids was also nearly 
 exactly between those of the respective parent fish. 
 The speckled trout eggs of Caledonia Creek measure 
 six eggs to the inch, while the salmon trout measure 
 four and a half eggs to the inch the cross com- 
 ing in between the two, measuring five eggs to 
 the inch. 
 
 The hybrid fish have grown to a weight of over 
 five pounds, strong and vigorous fighters on the 
 hook, and equal to either of their parents as table 
 fish. We have also carried this experiment still 
 farther by crossing the hybrids with the straight 
 brook trout, giving us a fish one-fourth salmon trout 
 and three-fourths brook trout, with characteristics 
 
CROSS-BREEDING OF FISH. 8l 
 
 proportionate to the cross. We then crossed this 
 fish with the brook trout, which gave us a fish one- 
 eighth salmon trout and seven-eighths brook trout, 
 and these fish can scarcely be told from the straight 
 brook trout, even by an expert. 
 
 I have also made other attempts at crossing dif- 
 ferent breeds of fish with more or less success, but 
 as yet I cannot say that any particular practical 
 benefit has been derived from such attempts. They 
 are valuable in so far as demonstrating what can 
 be done in this direction. In fish culture as well as 
 nearly everything else, all discoveries of value have 
 been the result of actual experiment, and it is 
 through this means that we ascertain the truth or 
 falsity of our theories. 
 
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 JRROO.V|-rOR\ AND BROOMS ... .50 
 
 New and Revised Edition. Cloth. 12mo. 
 
 GARDENING FOR PROFIT $2.0O 
 
 By PETER HENDERON. A new, entirely re-written, and greatly en- 
 larged edition of (his well-known standard ivork. The best book on 
 Market and family gardening. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, 12rao. 
 
 GARDENING FOR PLEASURE $2.00 
 
 By PETER HENDERSON. New Edition, greatly enlarged. 
 
 For all who keep a garden for their own enjoyment, rather than for 
 sale of products. Fully illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. 
 
 Send your address immediately on postal card for our 
 8O-page finely illustrated Catalogue of some 3OO Rural 
 Books, and it will be sent you, FREE, by the Publishers. 
 
 0. JTJDD CO., DAVID W. JUDD, Pres't, 
 
 751 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 
 University of California Library 
 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
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