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Tous laa autras axamplairaa originaux sont film*s an commanpant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraasion ou d'illustration at an tarminant par la darniira paga qui comporta una taila amprainta. Un daa symbolas suivants apparattra sur la darniira imaga da chaqua microfiche, salon la caa: la symbols -^ signifia "A SUIVRE", la symbols ▼ signifia "FIN". Laa cartas, planchas. tableaux, ate. pauvant itra filmto i daa taux da reduction diff«rants. Lorsqua ia document aat trap grand pour itra raproduit an un soul clich*. il est film* i partir da Tangle supirisur gauche, de gauche k droite. et de haut an bes. en prenant la nombre d'imeges n*cessaira. Lea diagrammes suivants illustrent la mOthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 MKIOCOPV MSmUTION TBT CHAIT (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) U£|2£ Emm If 13. Hi ^ LS, ■ 2.0 1.6 A APPLIED IM/OE I 1653 Eost Mam Clreel Rochester, Htm York U609 USA (716) 4«2 -O300-Phor>« (716) 28a - 5989 - Fa» SPECIAL REPORTS BY PROFESSOR E. E. PRINCE. F.R.S.. Canada Dominian C(m\muaiomr of Fuheries I. THE WHALmo INDUSTRY AND THE CETACEA OF CANADA. n. THE PROGRESS OF FISH CULTURE IN CANADA. m. THE SCOTTISH HERRING CURING EXPERIMENT IN CANADA. By Mr. JOHN J. COWIE. Lo.Biemouth, SootUnU (With Explanatory Preface by Professor Prince) 1905 OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1906 •JA'.iHU;! CONTENTS Z-Tlis Whaling Indutry and the Cetacea of Canada. Arctic, or Right, whale'i last resort In Canada '^°,' Alexander, Sir J. E.. on Hesh of the whale Ji Ambergrii, a valuable product of the whale.. ?! Amaion River whale, a fresh water species ! Air breathed by whales ' • Arctic whales ne«d protective laws.. .. ,T Attachment of whales to their young *? Blackflsh (see Hot whale) ; Blood, amount propelled by the heart.. , " storage arrangement In whale • Blowing or spouting of whales A Blowholes described ^' ^1 Blubber of whato T Bottle-head whale " Breathing, Cetacean method of.. .. !! " " erroneous popular opinion regarding. 5 British Columbia, abundance of whales in.. J ».'!■. „.^ ." Industry very promising.. ,? British Whaling Commission.. " *' Brown. Dr. Robt., on spouting of whale.! "• ^l Bomb harpoon now used " Beef made from whales' flesh.. ^' Ca'Ing whale (see pilot whale) 20, 21 Canned whale meat Capture of whales, formerly enormous.". *2 „ ' . " Jn Newfoundland • Capelln bait dvlven away by whaling. . . . 22 ClasRlflcatlon of whales 1* Close season for whales desirable,, '' Collision of whale with ship 28 ^ ". " ■' bridge '.■ ;; }« Decline of Arctic whaling.. .. !• Dundee whaling 23. 24 Eschrlcht, Professor, on whales.. V. .' '*• 23 Eskimos Inflated whale carcase after capture".'. V. H Extermination of whales threatened.. " Factory, whaling, processes carried on In.. A Feeding habits 20 Ferocity of whales, a popular error.. 1' Elbre-ware made from skeleton.. ' Finbacks described 21 Fish differ widely from whales. 1^ Fishermen opposed to whaling operations!! .? Flensing or cutting the blubber. 11 Food of whales 20 Furrows on the throat (see reeves) 18 Fresh- water whales Ganges, species of whale In the 1' Glue, a whale product < Ooodsir, Dr. Harry, on food Investigations!! ! !i Grampus 16 Guano made from refuse! flesh, 4c in far'torlPB' " S""""' *' '•" ^"•'•«>"' •ch;)ols a^ permaSJt 20 Hands or flippers of whale.. .. 5 Hakluyt mentions American whaling " Heart of whale of enormous size '."'.' * •' aid by supplementary plexuses.!". * Herring fishery alleged to be Injured by whiilnit .! Humpbacks described.. .. "y wnaiing -2 Increase, low rate of. In wijale tribe " inflation of the carcase an Important feature * Jacques Cartler saw Canadian whaling " Jaws of whales 4 Killer whale 14 Knox, Dr. Robert, on blood plexuses .'.' !! ^*' "• 1' whale food "!.!.!.!.!.'! ' 6947—11 I.— The Whaling Imliu-try and the Cetace* of raiia.ln— Coh. I'Mtbcr m«d« from whale Up, *c ,, l*ti of whale rudlmontarr fj Limitation of capture deilrable In Canada n Lunti and breathing *J MacaVUter, Prof. Ales., on wbalrs breathing I Maokenile River eituary whaling .1 Mammoth and large whale* compared J McNab. Capt. Campbell, porpoise nih«'ry ,J Mclntoah. Prof. W. C, on whale t milk 1 " " decrease of whalea • MIgratloni of the schooli „ Milk of the whale " Montreal, whalei' vlilts to J Narwhal or Unicorn whale '.' ,J Newfoundland whaling recently developed ."., i " Commlsilon .."... 12 Numerous ipeclei found In Canada » Oil of whale ; ;'. ,! ■perm whale '", \\ '" \[ ij Owen, ProfpBsor R., 00 else of whalei' heart ,. .'. J Perfume mbken' prize ambergrli .« PlayfulneiB of whales ',;, J? Porpolee ■ " ; ' *"' Ji ttshing In the St. Lawrence river. .. IS Power of whale enormous ,".....!!!.' « propulsion estimated j. Proflts of whaling Industry ■- ii Protection against extermination necessary •. Purdle, Prof. Thomas, St Andrews, on whale's mlik '.'. » Reeves or folds on whale's throat ., Rorquals '; .. ■_ " j'j '1 iJ now utilised, formerly neglected .. it Ribs of whale \L Scotland, whales plentiful off coast of.. .. J, SIse of whales .. '; j sperm whale y, young calf , Skeleton of 'nhale ,1 Species, nu? .er of. In Canada .'. '.'. '.'. ',', » " how dl!>ilngul3hed from each other. ,. Spe*d of whale estimated .'' {, 8permac«tl '. '. it Sperm whale .".' '-'. fS Spouting or breathing operation « Success of Newfoundland whaling « Suckle, tbetr young, whales known to ...'...."...'. g Sulphur bottom or silver bottom whales.. .. 17 Tame whales '..'/_ zL Te«th of whales ■,'• ,, Timidity of whales o'lo'tS Toothed whales .,• iv iz their food ,» University of St. Andrews, Brof. Mclntosb on whales'. !..... g V. S. whalers make great captures In Canadian waters 23 Value of whales very great " " 7 " whalebone enormously increased 14 ambergris, excessive _\ ,2 " Newfoundland whaling plant .. Whalebone whales '.'.'.."..'".."".."..'.'.'.". ij " plates and structure described 14 uses of J, " preparation .In factory ii Whaling, old methods of .'.' .'.' Jg " modem methods of. ,« " vessels :f a licensed Industry In Canada.! .. iq Whales ape not fish Z Worst whaling season on record (1905).. .. .. .. V. .. ..........' 23 n.— The TrogTtn of Pish Culture in Canada. Advantages of artJIlcial flsh-culture 31 Si; Anilers' baseless objections to fish culture " m Artificial rearing food j^ iii II.— Tht. Progmt of Fish Culture in Canada— Con. Oeo»nu whirh accrue from batchrriM i'ao". Btehlorld* of mercury curei fungue ' " Black bail, rarlleit hatcblng of '» pUntea lu N, W. T ;■ '* pond. Bay of Quints, Otit.. .. ' J? " Brltlih Columbia wat«ri planted witb <-aatern 'flih i2 Canadian tlih culture, Iti main feature* '"•""• "•» 30 Cape Breton lobater pond *' Capacity of Dominion Bah hatcherlee..".! li Carp Introduced Into Canada S» Char from England, hatched •• Clarke, N .W.. reft-rence to Xewoaitle (Ont.) hatrhVry « r,„.Hin- »t«t*d to have flrit hatched laki- whliefi.h.. .!' .'. „ Crowding on natural ipawnlng beds very harmful il Davy, Sir Humphry, eitlmated few egga survive !? iJiaeaaea of fry and fingerllnga '• Dropiy of iho aac, a fatal diaeaae ** Dry method of fertilizing I'gga '" Early hatrherlea In Canada " Egga. how taken and vIvlHed .'. ** " encmloa of 33 " alio of (aee iltel 35 Erroneoua viewa re hatching ntarlne flih.. Feeding young fry of flahea « Pertllliatlon (artlflclaj) of eggg 3J Plngeo-llnga, rearing of (aff Rearlngl.. .. ^ Flah culture an aid to protection not a Substitute ?! a complex art *» el^'Ti^n.finr""'"'' "* »"PP'>"''« P"™°' flah to hatcherl..a.V :. H tood, plentiful, neceatary for young baas.. • •■ ■ sg of young fry 3" Pry diatrlbuted gratia to apiirovoj appilcanta ^ ■' planting, eight methods deacrlbed.. .. *'- " transferred to retaining tanks ' '* " of lobstera. where found In the aea. . '^ Pungua attacks eggs and flah <1 " methoda of cuning 38 .Oarlick, Dr. Thoodatua.plonMr In Amwieinflsh culture ?L" Growth of young flsh, rate of unurr 25 Hatcherlet auccesaful. If lupplemented by protective rp»ii'i»ii„n. ^* HoUlday John, operates a hatchery on^^lo7ale Xr ^P Q " II Impounding parent Ilah In tidal ponds'. .. ' '' 26 Incubation of eggs, time occupied In . 33. 42 lujurloua tlah planted ^' Jara for batching described (aee traya) '" Journeys harmful to fry Lake trout (Salmon trout I egKs obuined at Wiarton'ont F Lobsters planted In Pacific waters B C '""'"'■ ""' ;.S Lobsters hatched In 1S8d ' ]] 30 hatchery near PIctou, .VS. .'.".' .. .. ^1 methods of collecting eggs, Iricubaticin Ac *^ ponds, experiments with.. . *1 Laws to protect flsh as necessary as hatche. iep! ."..■ '.. •■- i} List of Dominion flsh hatcheries. *"■ 32 Liver as food for fry ,. 29 Mcintosh, Prof., on sea-water and saliuo'n fry '* Niordgaard. on hatching salmon In sea-water 28 a lie salmon engage In flghting on spawning beds.' 28 ,, , ' raorr numerous than female.. .. 35 Mo sle River hatchery, north shore of St. Lawreiice;: tl Methods (erlght) of planting flsh 2« •' of spawning flsh artlflclally.. 34 Migration of salmon after spawning 33 Modes of securing supplies of eggs and fry 36 Natural spawning amazingly wasteful 33 Nests of black bass at Newcastle Ont 36 New'7ei^Llf'^^'"''"'''?'"°^""P'«'<^"""''''''n Canada. '^ |« isen Zealand, eggs sent from Canada to 25 ^, " success and failure of salmon and trout >t^kin'.L i^ ^'* Newcastle hatchery, the pioneer establlshm m """' "" ;; •. <« Numerous species hatched at Newcastle, Ont ^' '*• 2^ Objections to flsh culture considered 28 Objectionable water supply referred to 30 Output of fry during twenty years enormous 28 Oysters transplanted from Atlantic to PaolilcV. V. ■.'.;'.'. 29 30 Ir n— The PracTMt of Fi«h CuhuTe in CanikUi— Ct« batrherlei In C«"^ila M Prot«ctlr« laws ruarntlal for Sab aupply (I Pure wat*r abundant In Canada IT Quantity of frr hatcbrii In Canaila It Quebec, nrtt hatcberr In Ibe rlly of, In IIM M Quinle. Bar of, black baaa ponda. 1900 M Rainbow troui Introduced In Nova tcoUa W Rearing of fry at batcher4et ST, M River watitr and spring water for batcblng 17 Roe of nab uted ai (ood for rearlug U Salmon batched Id Ontario H •xtlDct '• H eggi taken to V. 8. In 1U6 27 8alt ai a remedy for fungus diacas* 8t Salt water ponda for parent salmon 31,42 Bandwii'b batchery for whiteflab built 27 8ea flab not lultable for lurreaaful batching 41 Sea water. Ill ellecta on aalmon eggs it Slie of nahea' egga 3« Site of young flabea 31 Spawning mi'lhoda adopted In flih-cultura 34 8partam<'n deitroy too many flab 3} Spring water preferred for hatcherlei 37 St. Jobn aalmon rcialnlng pond for pnrcnt-Sib 34 Stoddart on amall proportion of fry In natural batcbery ,> 35 Sturgeon vr.K* not aullable for batcberlea 42 Stocking, harmful reaulta In aome caaea 39 Tadojaaac aalmon pond experiment In 1871 34 Time occupied In hatching flab egga 37 Tida! ponds for parent aalmon 42 Testimonies establishing the auccesa of hatcherlea 31, 33 Trays and Jais in hatcherlea dekcrlbed 37 Transplanting of flsh jO of British OalumMa salmon 10 Atlantic waters 39 Trout ponds at Lake Lester, P.Q 30 United States hatcherlea under Federal government In 1871 2« procured egga In Canada 30 g ueroslty Jn supplying Pacific eggs for Eastern Canada 39 Waste of eggs In nature avoided by hatcheries 3( Wet method of vivifying egga 33 WhlteUsb eggs hatched In 1808 27 Wllmot, late Mr. Samuel, first hatched eggs 1885 23 " reported on tidal salmon ponds 34 Young fry of fishes described 37 Yolk on which young tish en first feed 37 Zinc harmful to fish eggs 37 m.— The Seottiih Herring: Cnring Experiment in Canada. Barrela In British Columbia are of superior kind S4 British Columbia experiment in Scottish curing 44 herring industry "omparel mtth Atlantic Bl " samples of cured .erring in distant market 52, .il Canso, N.S., one of the centres for Sottish experiment 49 Canadian herring compared with Scottish hemrlng 45 Canada Is now at the stage formerly 1 eached In the herring Industry In Scotland .... 47 Clark's Harbour visited by Scottish staff 49 Curing of herring should be done on ahore not by fishremen 47 Draining of the pilckle 53 Drifter No. 33 at herring and dog-fish work 48, 48, 51 Details of Mr. Oowie's work in season, 1D06 ..'..' 48 Details of the herring curing scheme carried out 4S Directions how to cure be'-ring by Scottish methods 54 Dog-fish a source of harm and loss 50 Excellence of benring packed by Mr. Cowie'astaff 49 • Extra large full herring obtained and cured 50 Fllshermen in Nova Sootla supplied part of the herring 50 " too roughly handle herring In Canada 45 " make very large earnings In Scottish towns 49 " should catch, but not cure herring . .47, 54 in Scotland formerly cured fish wlih poor results . . ' 47 First filling up of barrel 53 ni.— Th« RcottUh Herring Curing Experiment in Canada— Con. __ .. . FAO«. rri>*h bcrrlna riirntlal tor curing m full iMtfitlna obtalnxtl In Bay o7 ffuodjr Z " l«ri» harrUi accurcd .. .. Ovrman it'oiand for hMvy lalted herring « Oradvi or Scottiib cured bprrlng «■ u Outtlng thf barrlna d*iertb«d M Halifax KxblblUon. N.g.. barring ttaC at th«.. "..',."..",." « if HarrlDg K>undi (sited on Atlantlo abor* « ID Initructloii In leapr<-ad. In N'analmo. B. C, experiment li U Kinds of NcottUb lurml herMng deurlbad S L4Wge • full • herring '.".'.'."..". u '..arger boats for herring flsbarmsn ratarri-'l to.. u Low pricr reaklxed by uaual Canadian .ur.d barring 44 Matile herring In demand ii » Marki'ts op«<^ "P°n it. ^e see that the whale until this day appears within precisely the same limits in which it was found at the beginning of the^^ution but m numbers so diminished that the fishing at least in the ordinary meS will hardly repay the trouble and expenses attending it, the whales, therefore, are m peculiar danger of extermination under modem destructive and systematic methods. ■ WHALES AHE NOT FISH. All the Whale tribe are commercially valuable, indeed, increasingly so- but thev are also profoundly interest ng both to the scientific man and the ordLa^ irve? They are the last of the leviathans which flourished in the seas of n»a7^i ^ i ^e. before ,he ^.». „ ,hei, .„h..„„,. ^.^iC-VT «!.?£' SIJT™ C!t47— 21 well-informed persons speak of them as fishes, and the professional whalers always refer to them en ' fish ' and their calling as ' whale fishing,' although it would be as correct to call a beaver, or a moose, a fish, and speak of beaver or moose fishing, be- ratiae theae animals so frequently resort to the water. Not one of the chief charac- teristic* of the fish tribe applies to the whales except their boat-like form, their paddle- like hands or flippers, and their double-fluked tail. Fishes are somewhat cold blooded, uauaily clot'ie 1 with scales, breathe by gills, produce in the majority of species, eggs, never posses- hair, and do not require to come to the surface of the water to breathe. Whales on the contrary have warm, indeed very hot blood, their skin is smooth and pliable, and some parte in early life are hairy*, while their young are bom alive, and Buckled like cnlves, and resort to the water's surface at short intervals, of necessity in order to empty and refill their capacious lungs. When whales are stranded they per- ish miserably, not owing to the clogging of the gills, as in the case of a fish, but from injury to their unwieldy bodies and from hunger, and most probably terror, as they are with one or two notable exceptions most timid creatures. HUGE DIMENSIONS OF WHALES. Their monstrous dimensions are an impressive feature. In length they rangfe from lour or five feet (the porpoises of the Amazon and Ganges — fresh water whales — for example) to 30 or 40 feet, up to SO, 90 or 100 feet. No doubt there has been much ex- aggeration in descriptions of the size of whales, but on reliable authority one was men at close quarters several times this year (1906) oflf Barclay Sound, Vancouver Island, which was ectimated to be not less than 110 feet long. It was a sulphur-bottom whale (Balcenoptera sulfureua). In the fall of 1903 the whaling steamer Humher har- pooned a finner or rorrual of the same length (110 feet) in the North Atlantic, and it towed the steamer at : : te of seven miles an hour, though the engines were reversed at full speed, creating a ». r ^xade movement equal to eight miles per hour, and the whale did not weaken for twenty-nine hours. At the shoulder, one of these monsters will measure 12 to 15 feet; the tail, which is horizontal, measures 18 to 20 feet across, and the flipper or hands are from 7 to 15 feet long — the last measurement being that of the hump-back (Megaptera hoops or longimana). Professor Owen gave in his book on ' The Skeleton and Teeth,' a figure of a rorqual (Balcenoptera mueeulua) 96 feet long, while Scoresby's well known whale stranded at North Berwick was 78 feet long and weighed 140 tons, tli' ngh there are records of whales whose total weight ap- proached 250 tons. The Bowheads or Arctic right-whales are not so large as the lees valuable rorquals, though chey range from 50 to 60 feet and may even be 70 feet in leng:th. The monstrous mammoth is diminutive when compared with the largest whales. Thus the huge mammoth or hairy elephant in the Imperial Museum at St. Petersburg is 9 feet 3 inches high and about 10 feet long, while the still finer example, in the Chicago Museum, is 9 feet C inches high, and nearly 12 feet in longitudinal measurement. A whale was c.iptured 8 or 9 year- -><^o on the Scottish coast, with a harioon in its body which had been 50 years : ise, thus indicating that their great age is in keeping with their huge size. BREATHINQ OR SPOUTING OF WHALES. The method of brenthing or spouting as it is called, is so remarkable in whales and so generally misunderstood that a brief reference to it is necessary. Artists so frequently picture whales in the act of throwing up lofty fountains of water, that it is necessary to point out the impossibility of any whale breathing out water. These creatures breathe out air, their lungs being of enormous size and extending • A few 8tUf yellow hairs occur at the tip of both Jaws toothed wbaies Iialr occurs ooly aloog the upper lips. and Dear the blow-hole: and In much furthor back than in most air-breathing creatures. The organs are broad fnd not divided »nto lobes, but their substance is so elastic that any air contained in them can be completely squeezed out, and each lung becomes, as it were, a solid mass. Thus eMily emptied, the lungs are ae easily filled, as one well known authority pointed out, so olosely da the air cells open into each other, that ' by blowing into one branch of the trachea, not only the part to which it immediately goes, but the whole lungs ar« filled.' 'I he inspiratory muscles and the diaphragm are greatly strengthened and the latter has a very small tendon. Elastic tissue abounds in the lunga and makes the expiration T>roce83 easy. Whales are compelled to come to the surface of the sea to breathe. If detained under water too long they die. They are drowned, precisely as a human being is drowned, by asphixiation and water-choked air passages. The nostnl or blow-hole (in some cases two nostrils or blow-holes) are situated on the top of the long ponderous snout, the breathing being called ' spouting,' becau''e the breath is spasmodically forced out like a jet of vapour resembling the snorting of a hard-driven horse, but on a gigantic scale. Each spout is followed by a sigh like that of the piston of a mighty Cornish engine. The huge finners or rorquals, the porpoises, belugas, and others send forth one column, but the Arctic whale, called the bowhead or right-whale, and tlie sperm whale or cachalot, force two high columns into the air. As the well- known Arctic authority, Dr. Brown, has said: — This ' blowing,' so familiar a feature in the cetaceani^, but especially in the right whales, is quite analogous to the breathing of the higher mammals, and the 'blow- holes' are the perfect analogues of the nostrils, xt is most erroneously stated that the whale ejects water from the ' blow-holes.' I have been many times only a few feet from the whale when ' blowing,' and, though purposely observing it, could never see that it ejected from its nostrils anything but the ordinary brearii, a fact which might have almost been deduced from analogy. In the Arctic air this breath is gen* terally condensed, and falls upon those close at hand in the form of a dense spray, which may have led seamen to suppose that this vapour was originallj' ejected in the form of water. Occasionally when the whale blows, just as it is rising out of or sinking in the sea, a little of the superincumbent water may be ejected upwards by the column of breath. When the whale is wounded in the lungs, or in any of the blood vessels supplying them, blood, as might be expected, is ejected in the death-throes along with the breath. When the whaler sees his prey ' spouting red,' he concludes that its end is not far distant, for it is then mortally wounded.' Some of the whales spout eight or nine times and then go below the surface for half an hour. The monstrous sperm whale spouts with regularity for three seconds and then a ten seconds interval follows before the ' spouts ' recommence. The inter- vals appear to vary, some whales spouting every thirty seconds, some every minute and a-half, while Professor Alex. Macalister observed a Megaptera rising regularly every two minutesL Whales have ken known to remain down for half an hour— or even an hour and a-half, a most remaricable thing for an air-breathing animal with warm blood to do. We know that the pearl-oyster divers after long experience and training can remain under water for five minutes, but not longer; and the whales are able to keep below the surface for lengthened periods owing, it is considered, to an enormous develop- ment of arteries around the spinal cord, especially in the region of the ribs, where the ribs are articulated to the backbone, also inside the vertebral column, the basis cranii, and other places, these relia mirahilla, of which the details are given on the next page, being present not only as devices for storing blood, but for repeating the heart's rythmic impetus, as we find is the case in other gigantic creatures, the elephant for instance possessing considerable arterial plexuses near the base of the hind limbs and in other parts of its huge body, these acting as supplementary hearts.* • In the Sloths which creep In a reversed posture rrtia are prewnt at the base of th« limbs. HIAKT AMD BLOOD CnCULATIOV. The heart and blood circulation are also remarkable. The pumping organ it Urge even for auoh large creatures as whaka. the main artery or aorta where it leavea the heart Wng of the diameter of a man's waist, in the great rorquals; while the heart itself, aa Profeaeor Owen stated, ' may be more than a yard in transverse diameter ad not much less in length,' while its apex or pointed end is often rounded or indeed flattened and sometimea partly divided, though far lees ao than in the dugonga or In^an sea-cows in which it is deeply cleft. When a whale is injured or harpooned It bleeds profusely, so abundant is the blood, that the sea becomes reddened for a oonsiderable area. At each pulsation of the heart 10 to 16 gallons of blood are driven through the body, this amount per stroke being 240 times the quantity driven at each heart-beat in man. The hugh heart, capacious arteries and rich vastfular ■Vstem are neceesary to contain the enormous quantity of blood in the whale's system, but a very marvellous provision exists in addition for the storage of the fluid In the head a network of arteries, supplied by the inner and outer carotids, is found round tae base of the skull, while a similar enormous plexus or network extends into the canal of the vertebral column*. Dr. Robert Knox found inside the skuU a blood plexus under the dura mater, which constituted no less than one-half of the contents of the oranium, and similar coiled masses of arteries lining the sides of the chest close to the nbs. These convoluted intercostal arteries are not branching, but simply complexly folded as a garden hose-pipe might be coiled up so that as Professor Owen stated, they can be unravelled and traced to a great length without sending off bnnehes or changing the calibre.' These astonishing blood reservoirs no doubt fulfil "cveral functions, keepinj? the neural axis and nerve sy8t<>m supplied with oxygenated blood and retaining a quantity of the same during the lengthy periods, of submersion. When the act of inspiration and purification of the blood is impossible. whale's uile. Whales give birth to living young, usuaUy one calf, though in very rare instances twxna Lave been observed. On the Finmarken shore (Norway) ten or twelve years ago a female whale was noticed with two calvee, but until then no such event had been observed since 1866. Whalers so rarely have noted such an occurrence that it must be unusual. Like cattle, the calf is fed with milk which the female whale produces m quantity. The fluid is very dense, like soft taUow, of a yellowish white colour and possessing an offensive fishy odour. The mammary glands are two long narrow bodies, below the blubber, situated on the under side of the body, not on the breast, but a long way back. Each has a main tube or duct, and terminates in a teat, concealed in a groove, which no doubt opens widely so t' at ths teat projects for the nourish- ment of the calt. Professor Owen thought that tht muscles near the two milk glands had little to do with the pressure and ejection of the miUi, this being accomplished, he thought, by the great 'pressure of the surrounding water. .. .upon the extended surface of the mammary glanH, hence we may readily conceive that when the nipple 13 grasped by the mouth of the young, and the pressure removed by the retraction of tue tongue the milk will be expelled in a copious stream by means of the surroundinir pressure alone, independently of muscular aid.'* Prominence has recently been given to a proposal to save and utilize the fluid from the two huge lacteal glands of female whales, several barrels being obtainable 'Knox pointed out In 183. hat the blood plexus filled three-fourths of the spinal canal Dr ]."JhnT,?nf '*'L7'.'"t\?^"r,L''''^ °"^"' """^ '■" ''■" ""="" '■> thicknessln sSme place. • Anat. ol Vertebrates, Vol. III., p. "78. from one whale, but this ia a revival of a very old propoul made by Profeator William Macdonald, a venerable teacher in the Univenity of St Andrewa half a <«ntury ago. He aaid that as whales give milk like cows and goats, a large siiecimen might be secured by a long chain near such a oity aa Edinburgh, and supply milk daily to the city. A quantity of this milk, which I examined when it was being described by Professor W. C. Mcintosh and analysed by Professor Thomas Purdie, did not appear very inviting though its nutritive qualities were very high. The Qreenlanders have long regarded whales' milk as an esteemed dainty. The calf of the various species of whales and porpoises is disproportionately large, newly-horn specim(>n« being recorded, which measured 16 feet in length, while a calf still suckling was captured which measured about 20 feet in length— it was a baleen or Arctic whale. In some museums there are specimens (unborn whales) from 2 to 8 J or even 8 J feet long, but at birth the size is extraordinarily large as stated. From evidence obtained by scientists the whalo is held to produce young every second year, not annually. The mother whale has a strong attachment for her young, and often rushes to certain death to rescue or defend her offspring. Whalers are, indeed, accustomed to secure the calf first, as they can rely upon the mother before long approaching and affording an easy opportunity of capture. WHAUE8 NOT FEROaOCS. The whale tribe as a whole are not ' fierce, destructive monsters,' as MichaeJ Drayton described them, and even the popular idea that they are hideous and un- couth beyond description is far from the truth. The late Professor Blackie once likened the great Forth Bridge in Scotland to a whale, because of its extreme ugliness, but no one can watch the movements of a porpoise or a whale gliding with eoae and grace through the water, without realizing their perfect adaptability to the conditions of life to which they are subject. Sailors' stories of the ferocity of whales are almost wholly groundless, although a harpooned specimen in it» agony will bound and rush about with territif speed and power. By nature they are gentle and even timid, like most anim:ils of huge size. Newspaper correspondents, ignorant of the true nature of whales, publish for their eager gaping readers glaring paragraphs of a sensational nature. Not long ago a British Columbia newspaper published an account of whales, by some writer not very thoroughly posted in the habits of these monsters, stating that the lorqual is the fiercest of all the whale tribe, a statement almost as true as that the lamb is the fiercest of all the sheep tribe ! As an example, I clipped from a paper, a few years ago, the following paragraph, which is a type of newspaper notices published frequently: — ' Desperate Encounter with Whales.— Despatches from San Francisco received at Queeiistown yesterday contain intelligence of the arrival at San Francisco of the whaling barque John H'tnel*u«J>edatforhi8pain8. He has now prove<'. ,ond CLASSinOATION AND ANATOMY. The order of whales or ceUcea has been divided into three sub-orders, viz.:— (1) Myitaeocete. Right-whales, Finners and Hump-backs. (2) Denticete. Sperm-whales, Beluga, Porpoises. (3) Zeuglodontia. extinct whales with long snout, and a neck and three kinds of The skeleton of the large whales is very massive, the skull being as larire as . from 17 to 20 feet in length and weighs about a ton. The total weight of t^A^l over 3,000 lbs., or more than IJ tons. The ribs are several inches in diameterTnd 10 to 16 feet long and their number has long been regarded as so constant? th^tsLimcM not agreemg in the number of ribs are regarded as not belonging to the sameTpS The number of nbs and vertebra is held to be constant in the different spedes?^ the Arctic right-whale has 13 pairs of ribs, whereas the Japanese and ?he southern right-whale have 15 pairs of ribs. Naturalists do not regard them therefore as £ Jongmg to the same species. Of the fin-back whales, which maly authori fes have wC *\ i1 '" "°"'^' -^^''^^ ""'^"■" "'^^ «P«"^«: Bal<,noptera rostratTZ pike- whale, has 11 pairs of ribe, whereas B. musculus, the rorqual has 15 r^»\r« .J*L mqual called B^ ,i,as. by Professor Eschricht, the greatSt authority on t"; sleet L « .fr"/ ^n the other hand. B. laticeps. which i, po^ibl, of L . me S as B. robusfa of Lilljiborg, for in both the lower jaws are less curved th"n ^Z pike-whalo or the great rorqual, the number of ribs is 13 pairs. I Danish sch "d four flngan, but in tha rorqual and in Ponloporia the thumb la abaaot A oonunon aheath of muacla and akin incloaea them, to that thay appear Uka a fln; but tha arm, wriat. and manua. or hand, an all preaent. Ther«» an in many whalea rudimantal hind-limba. In a d4-foot right-whale, the pair of bonea repn- ■enting the palTio girdle an 16 inchea long, and then an often nodulea of bone re- praaanting the free limb or leg. The arched bonea. often 13 to 15 feet or mon in length, which hare been familiar objecU aa gate-poats, 4c., are the two huge mandi- blea, which bear maaaire lipa of a nmarkable form in the whalebone-whalea. The maxilla and pnmazilla above, and the curved mandiblea below, define a mouth cavity of vaat capacity, in aome ipecies not leaa than 200 cubic feet. The floor ia formed by the aoft cuahion-like tongue, which ia very full of oil and is atUched over moat of ito lower aurf aoe to the floor of the mouth. In toothed whalea teeth may be pro- lent in the lower jaw only, and are alwaya conical, aingle-fanged, and numeroua*. WUALOOMI AMD BLUBBER DBaCRIBID. In toothleaa whalea the mouth is armed with maaaive platea of whalebone attached to the tnnaverae fold* of the palatine mucous membrane. These plates ore wide at their attachment, out narrow towards the tip, and on the edge, turned towarck the tongue, a atrong fringe of bristles exists. The plates are from 6 to 12 or 16 feet long, and 12 inohea broad, at the wideat part. The plates an set in a seriea one behind the other, from the front to the back of the mouth, on each side. There are 800 to 400 large platea on each side, and as Prof. Eschricht said, ' their number ia really the aame in the new-born as in the full-grown individual.' and he added, 'the foremoat and hindmost lamine of both aeta must grow very slowly, for not only in a 22 feet long female, but *>ven in a 44 feet long quite full grown male, these lamina wen very abort, the smalieet Itlades being only 2 inches long.' The longest bladea may reach a length of 16 feet, but it has been found that while the female whale aa a rule is larger than the male, the largest bladi!« of whalebone occur in the male — and the bladea continue to grow even after the body has reached its full siie. The whalebone of rorquals and humpbacks is very different and commercially far inferior to right-whale whalebone. It is shorter — often paler in colour and of a less elnstic, drier nature. Whalebone ezhibita two portions, wheu minutely examined, a cortical outer layer, and an interior medullary part consisting of horny tubes iu which soft filaments extend. In the rorquals these filaments extend very far into the medullary tissue, which ia thus hollowed out, but in the right-whale the filaments are very short, and the horny tubea are hollow only near the base of the blade, hence the whalebone is more compact and is of far finer structure. A full-grown Arctic whale will yield about a ton or a ton and a-half of whalebone, which is valued at about (|(3,000 per ton. During last season (1904-6) a San Francisco whaler captured six bow-heads or Arctic whales, from which 12,000 lbs. of whalebone were taken, a very remunerative result, apart from the blubber and oil whicl are of some value, though the oil realizes only half the price which it brought 40 yei'.rs ago. Whalebone in drying loses about half its weight, but it is possible that were the blades, eispecially those of the dry crisp nature of the rorqual's whalebone, soaked for a time in dilute glue or ' size,' the weight and elasticity might be increased, and the commercial quality improved.f •The extinct Zeuxlodons had two-fanged teeth with serrated crowns. t The late Frank Bucklanu auid, ' The halriof baleen ar6 united one to the other by a kind of animil glue. By boiling auj hammering I find the baleen can be reduced to a state ot hair.* Th« ut^ of whakboM an remarkable It U no loncar ua«I at « aupportinc ^ZZt ultL •"j~ »'••;'»'•' inu-'krellaa. but ^f of it artificwT.SS of MquUit* lifbtWM and alMtioity. and wlir* or 'toupMa' . f a moat laatin* cfaarao- m, an made. Shredded into fine fllatnenti it ia woren in with the litk fibre* in the manufacture of the fineet French ailk fabrioa. imnartin. buoyancy and elaaticity to tUe rich materiaU and greatly cnhancinir their value. Utderneath the amooth dark •pidermi* oocura. in all the whale tribe, a .lo..^ layer of fatty tieaue or blubber, an immenaeiy thickenol panniciilu- a'lipoM...' which forma a blanket around the b)dy retaining beat in the midtt of the icy Arctic watera. Thie layer of fat U prwent in all mammala excepting the hare (i«pw): and in the bear family (Uriidm) it it yery thick e;i*ci«Uy before winter hibernation. Uau.Uy the epi.lenni. can be ekaij of atrong fibrre in which the oily matter it ttoiiHi. is cloaely attached to the outer «Wn. ami aharp knjve. or «pnde« ore uicd to separate it. The blubber may range from an inch, in th^ p.>rpoi««. to 5 or 0 inchc. in the rorquaU. or 6 to 6 or 10 inchea. but In the right whale, it it 14 or 15 iiicho* or more, indwd the famous Scottish whaler Captain I>«vi.l Gray wrote to Frank Duckla.ul respecting one large whale taken by him his blubber mea.ur«l 22 inches thick along the back.' The beat quality of oil trie,! out of whole's blubbi-r is uaed for soap-making, ointments and the like while ^nferor gradea are sold to tannen. rery little is now used for illumination pur- poaea, but chiefly for oiling machinery. &c. It is of special value in the manufacture of jute, as a lubricant m working the fibre. Hence Dundee whaling and Dundee iute m.lustries were luutuaUy associated ^^uunfe juie While the tootlied whale, live u n fish, squid, and other mar no creatures of ■o.ne size, certain apoc.es like the kilk. (Orca) attacking seals and -.von larger whale., the great whalebone whale, are wholly non-predac.ous. The huge moufh of the right- whale or the rorqual takes in a mass of water fuU of iloating moiluac, shrimps, jelly fiahea, and m Arctic water., pteropods and heteropoda. and on cloaing the jaws and elevating the great flabby tongue, the contents of the mouth ore pressed against the ei-'ve-liko arraugeinent of whalelnine plati^. which act os a strainer. The water -j S . tT" ''t''^ Pl«t.«. but every particle of solid matter is retained and s«a]^.we(l. The ror.iuals and shoals of cetaceans which follow the herring are as Dr. H.rry Good.ir p.„nted out to Dr. Robt. Knox, feeding on the same food as 'the herrin« themselves viz.. the minute copepode, &c., known to Scottish fishermen as ma.^re or n.a.ther. as Knox himself had surmised in 1&43. never having found any fish m the atomachs of ^arge whales he had examined. 8PERM WHALES. Of the toothe.1 whales the cachalot or n)erm-whale is the moet vulual.le» Tt i. unfrequent in the more northerly waters, indeed it is absent from the Polar seas *and prefers more temperate and equatorial latitudes. It is occasionally s.-en off the Britiah Isles, a large one being recorded in 17C9 in the Firth of Forth, and a male specimen CC feet long was cast ashore in 1825 off the Yorkshire coast, the skeleton of which is ?sTT ♦ at Burton Constable, and n 70 feet example off Caithnes.hire in August, 1863 but reliable records of its occurrence in Canadian waters ro rare That it inhabits our seas both on the Pacific and Atlantic is well-known, and a fine specimen was taken two years ago off the Newfoundland coast, but unfortunately it wTs not recognized as a sporm-whale until a great part of the valuable spermaceti had been wasted. The head is enormous, occupying one-third of the length of the body Ita huge size IS due to the great chamber or 'case' which may be .ailed the forehead of the whale. It la a network of fibrous bands inaide, and the intenpaces are filled * CalUgtialhut Mmu». Owen and Koala Floieert- Olll ths Isttvp nni. i» »... i i close .Ille. olPHy^ler n,acrocepHalu, !"the common cachl^ot 5". perm- wh.Ie '°*"'- "• 16 with a clear watery fluid which crystallizes into white Bpermaceti— a semi-tranaparent, brittle lamellar material long used for making the best wax candles. It is regarded as a cetylate of oxide of cetyle, and after crystallization leaves a clear yellow oil aa leaidue. The thick blubber yields sperm oil. Th« Caithness specimen already men- tioned, produced 1,620 gallons of oil and blubber. On each side of the lower jaw occur 22 or more beautiful ivory teeth, and they are used for tearing up squids and cuttle-fiah upon which it largely feeds. The purpose of the enormous head is not fcasy to decide, unless it be to act as a buffer and thus save the brain and skull from danger of concuasion. The sperm-whale cannot see directly in front, and one which by accident ascended a narrow arm of the sea in Scotland across which a bridge had been built, caught its huge snout against the bridge, and carried the structure bodily away on the top of its head. They often bump against vessels out at sea. Sir J. E. Alexander tells of a Nantucket whaling captain in the south Pacific, who sent three boats after a school of sperm-whales. The mate's boat was struck by one of the whales and he had to return to the ship for repairs. While engaged in repairs, a sparm-whale, 85 feet long, broke water 20 yards from the ship on the weather-bow. The creature must have been moving at the rate of about three knots an hour, and the ship at nearly the same rate, when he struck the bows of the vessel just forward of her chains. The collision of two such mighty masses caused the ship to tremble like a leaf. Incensed by the pain of the blow, the whale made a second rusli, and stove the vessel in by a tremendous bump from his head, so that the vessel soon sank, and out of 25 of a crew only 5 survived to return home. AMBERGRIS. Ambergris is the most valuable product of the sperm-whale. It is a gray speckled ■waxy material, very buoyant and of a peculiar musky odour. The Hindoos knew of the properties of ambergris over a thousand years ago and were aware that the sperm- whale produced it. In the middle ages wondrouL properties were attributed to it, indeed it was said to float up from the bottom of the sea. It is probably a product of disease and often contains the fragments of cuttle-fish, the horny jaws, &c., though whether the accumulation of disintegrated cuttle-bone, which consists of calcareous and glutinous matter, in the intestine of the whale, originates this intestinal con- cretion is uncertain. Ambergris has a musky odour so peculiar that it has never been artificially imitateil, and its amazing property of exalting any perfume in which it is placed makes it invaluable. The minutest grain makes itself perceived in the most fragrant perfumes. It is probably the most costly product produced upon our planet, and never realises less than $5 per ounce; indeed it usually sells for $10 per ounce. A vessel bound for Portland, Maine, picked up a lump which weighed over 100 lbs., and sold it for over $16,000, and four or five years ago a piece found floating in the Bay of Fundy must have been worth $8,000 or $10,000; but the fisherman who found it took it to Digby, where it was boiled for nearly a -7eek to convert it into soap, and the fragment that remained was identified by a chemist, who gave a handsome price for it. In December last the New York Tribune published a report from Seattle, Wash- ington State, that a whaler just returned from north Pacific waters had found that a substance which the crew had obtained from a sperm-whale and used for greasing their boots, oars, masts, &c., was ambergris. They threw away more than they used, but kept a 6-oz. bottle full for future use. In December a local druggist offered $73 for the contents of the bottle to the great astonishment of the possessor, who said that some quantity could be obtained in Arctic waters, but none of the men knew what it was or realized its value other than as a lubricant. Perfume manufacturers are on th(.' lookout for ambergris, which is of such im- mense value and utility to them. 17 Just u amber was once thought to be the congealed teara of sea-gulls, and as p«iru are produced to alleviate the pain of the injured pearl-mussel, so the precious ambergris is possibly a result of disease in the huge cachalot THE nXBACK, HUMPBACK, QRAMPUS, &C. For many centuries the whaling industry was dependent upon the right whales o£ the Arctic and Antarctic, and upon the sperm whales, which are wanderers in every sea. The rorquals, sulphur-bottoms or silver-bottoms, humpbacks, grampuses and smaller kinds were not hunted, as they were in some ways more dangerous to pursue and were of much inferior value. In recent years the industry has so revolutionized its methods that every spscies of whale and porpoise is now of value, hence a brief reference to other whales is desir- able. Of the huge fin-back wlialcs there are probably at least seven species, the largest being Balanoptera aulfureua. Cope, a Pacific whale probably the same as the Atlantic sulphur bottom B. borealis sometimes called Sibhaldius borealis, as both these whales are known to have reached a length of 110 feet. A despatch from St. John's, Newfoundland, dated October 11, 1903, stated that the whaling steamer ' Humber ' harpooned a whale 110 feet long on October 5, 1903, o£E Cape Spear, a specimen whose size ranks amongst the largest on record. The sharp-nosed rorqual or fin-back B. physalus is the common whale of the Atlantic and German ocean. It has yellowish or pale whalebone and an acuminate snout; but other fin-backs, such as B. gigas, B. musculus, the Razor-back, B. rostrata, the pike whale; B. laticepa, the herring whale; and B. aibhaldii are all characterized by a similarity of form and habit. They are quicker in their movements than other large whales, and unlike the right-whale they do not rush to the bottom or ' sound ' when struck, but spurt forward with terrific speed, pulling out the whole harpoon line at a single rush, and necessitating the cutting of the rope in order to save the whaling boat and crew. The head and dorsal parts are of a black or uniform dark colour; but the under surface is paler and often grayish white. All alike exhibit the deeply furrowed throat, the under parts from the chin to a point midway along the body being grooved by curious ' reeves ' or cuts, the purpose of which is obscure. They appear as if narrow •trips of skin li or 2 inches wide had been cut with a sharp knife and removed from the whale leaving over 100 sharply defined grooves or furrows upon the throat and chin. I counted 98 of these furrows in one huge finner, and they possibly aid in enlarging the vast capacity of the mouth when feeding— opening and closing like the folds of a fan, or they may facilitate rapid progression, as the rorquals and humpbacks are swift swimmers and possess these 'reeves.' The grampuses, porpoises, sperm-whales, and right-whales, have a smooth unfurrowed throat, being destitude of these ' reeves.' Of the hump-backs there appears to be really one species, though the four species deter- mined by Dr. Gray were for long accepted. Professor Eschrieht held that there was one Megaptcra only, viz. : M. boops— the so-called M. longimana being a variety only. The Japanese have a hump-back whale with long flippers — one-third of the length of the body— but they identify it with M. boops, and the same view respecting Tem- minck's M. antarctica is no doubt correct. The Megaptera with gleaming white pec- toral flippers, and deeply scalloped inner margin appears to differ from M. boops and has been distinguished as M. longimana; but its osteology and structural features gen- erally are apparently the same as M. boops. The killer whale Orca gladiator, Lacep, is a familiar cetacean with its high fin protruding from the water. It is distinguished by a white oval spot above the eye and by the irregular mass of white along its vmder surface. The late Professor Moseley observed in the South Polar circle large numbers of Orca with a large white saddle patch behind the dorsal fin and a white blotch on each side in front of the pectoral 18 flippers. This is identical with the Japanese Orca usually classed with Orca gladiator. The lesser killer Orca schlegelii. has the white spot slightly further behind the eye, and Prof. Lilljeborg deBcribea a patch behind the pectoral flipper and a purple atreak behind the high dorsal. The killer whalaa are very frequently called grampuses; but the name grampus best applies to Orampua grisetts, Cuv., which is of a slate gray colour with white markings. These whales range from 18 to 30 feet in length, the latter dimensiona being those of an Orca gladiator which I saw captured at St. Andrews, in Scotland, in 1884. The ca'aing whale, black fish, or pilot whale,* called the ' grina wha'- ' in the Faroes, congregates in large schools — indeed in August, 1878, 667 of theae creatures were killed in three hours at Thonhaven. They are driven in like a flock of sheep, and in the Faroes in 36 years, 1843 to 1878, over 6,000 of thes« creatures were alnu^tered valued at over $100,000. They abound in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and have been fre- quently killed off Prince Edward Island. They are of a rich deep black colour excepting a white spot under the throat and along the under surface. The skin is smooth ' like oiled silk' and the pectoral flippers are very long and narrow, a 22 feet pilot whale having flippers over 6 feet long. The most striking feature is the blunt rounded head, the forehead being very prominent, hence it is known in some localities as the round- headed porpoise. The head is sbi >i and the jaws extremely n >— the upper projecting a little beyond the lower. The dorsal fin is over a foot high and about a yard along its bases. The bottle-nosed dolphins, the white beluga and the porpoise, owing to their less commercial importance demand no detailed notice, nor is the curious Bottlehead, Uy- peroodon rostratus, of any value at present though it occurs in both the Atlantic and Pacific. These inferior species will no doubt be turned to account with the develop- ment of the most recent methods of utilizing the whales. Of no commercial value, but interesting in such a review of whales and whaling as that here given, is the existence of certain species of fresh-water whales, including the small susu (Platanisia gauge- tica) only 3 or 4 feet long, and nearly blind, the eyes being practically closed. It in- habits the Ganges. Inia and Ponioporia are also small toothed whales found in South American rivers, more especially the Amazon. They all possess numerous small teeth in the upper and lower jaws. The narwhal, or sea unicorn, is a whale which loses its teeth with the exception of the upper-jaw canine on the left side. This left upper teoth grows out as a long spirally marked ivory tusk 5 to 7 feet, or more, long. Its use is very obscure. The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) reaches a length of 22 to 24 feet. The ivory tusk as a rule is present in the male on the left side, though occasionally on the right, and very rarely in the female — one female on record, however, possessed two very long tusks. BECEXT WHALIXO METHODS. The old methods of pursuing the whales far from shore, of harpooning them and lancing them from small whaling boats, of towing them to t le large whaler, secur- ing the whale bone, removing the endless strip of blubber as the carcass lay suspended alongside the vessel, have been supplanted. Formerly the carcass, the entrails, most of the skeleton and all the involved products were wasted, the blubber was preserved in casks in a rancid and offensive condition, indeed the methods were as wasteful as they were dangerous and disagreeable. Excepting in the remote Arctic seas the whaling is now done from a centre — a group of buildings on shore called the whaling station, and operations are, as a rule, completed within 20 or 30 miles from shore. The modern har- poon is six feet long of malleable iron with an anchor-like arrangement near the pointed head. Four hinged barbs lie flush with the shaft, but these spring out as soon as the harpoon forces itself into the whale's body. The conical bomb-head explodes by means of a time fuse and by tearing the whale's vitals, and shock to its system stuns and kills it. The bomb-harpoon is fired from a short cannon — moving on a swivel and pedestal, supported on the bows of ibe boat, a small well-built steamer, or small clipper, 100 tons burden, twin screw, and of 12 knots per hour speed. The vessels are specially built, * aiobiocephalut melat. and thoroughly braced to resist concussion with infuriated whales in case the harpoon is not effective, and able to turn in their own length to dodge a rushing whale. If the whale is fatally struck a hole is bored into the carcass and air is pumped into the stomach converting it into a huge floating buoy, a plug is inserted in the whale, and a man in a boat is left alongside, while the steamer goes o£F in quest of other whaks.* 20 or 30 whales may be captured in a week by this rapid and ready method, and over 260 large whales have been taken by one whaler in a season. CANADIAN WHAUNQ LICENSES. When tlic various captures are towed to the whaling station, the utmost despatch characterises the processes to follow. All the products of the whale should be handled in as fresh a condition as possible. If allowed to decay, the offensive odour and dangerous pollution resulting from such enormous masses of putrid organic matter as the carcass(.io license shall be issued until the site of the factory has been approved by the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, and no site shall be approved within fifty miles of any other whale factory, or in such proximity to any inhabited place or places as, in the opinion of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, may cause any danger or detriment to the public health; ' (b) No license shall be issued until the applicant therefor Los givpn assurances to the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, of a satisfactory nature, that (the appli- cant) is in a position to convert any whale captured into commercial products with- in twenty-four hours of the landing of such whale, and that he is also in a position to conduct his whale factory and business in such a manner that no noxious or dele- terious matter will be introduced into any public waters, bays, creeks, rivers or har- bours; ' (c) No license shall be issued until the applicant has filed with the Minister of Marine and Fisheries plans and specifications of the machinery to be contained in the proposed factory, and particulars of the reduction process; and the machinery proposed to be used shall be of a kind already proved efficient for such purposes, and of the most approved type theretofore used in the whaling industry. * 3. No license shall be for a period exceeding nine years : Provided always that the Governor in Council may renew a license in favour of the licensee from time to time for periods of nine years, upon receipt of an application, in writing, for a re- newal, six months previously to the termination of the current period. ' 4. The holder of any such license shall not operate more than one whaling steamer in connection with the whale factory under license. ' 5. The licen^^e shall become void and forfeited unless the factory named therein is erocteil, equippt^ and working within two years from the date of the issue of the license. A number of subsidiary conditions are included in the Act of which the fore- g^>ing is an extract (4 Edward III., chap 13, August, 1904) : — FLENSING AND DTILIZINO THE VARIOUS PRODUCTS. When a whole has been towed to the licensed whaling station it is brought along- side an inclined floating slip. From a winch on the slip is sent out a steel line, which • From time immemorial the Eskimo trlb«8 hsv* InlUted captured whales, a feature which if quite new In recent whale hunting methods. 6947—4 » is attached to the animal, and by steam power it is hauled out of the sea. The flensing process is then begun, which conaiste in stripping off the fat with knives ■pecially adapted for the purpose. Two or more men are usually detailed specially for this work, and are known as ' flensers.' They raise the fat in stripe, attach the ohain from the winch, and the whole slip, forty or fifty feet long, by eight or ten in width, is torn off. The fat averages from four to six inches or more in depth. After the fat is stripped the whale is opened and the intestinal fat removed. The long Strips after removal are placed on the landing, where a number of men engage in cutting it into strips of from ten to twelve inches. This is then placed in a chopper, operated by steam, which minoes it finely and carries it to the elevator, from whence it is taken up to the boilers. Here men are at work stirring the fat, vho keep it agitated while the steam heater is rendering it into oil. After a few hours the oil is drawn off. left to cool, then barreled, weighed, and made ready for shipment. The whalebone, which is very valuable, is removed whole, and each plate separ- ated from the other by means of a sharp knife. The bone is then placed in a solu- tion of soda, scraped and placed to dry in the same manner that codfish is treated; after drying it ia stored ready for marketing. A more important and, withal, more intricate method is the manufacturing of the carcasses into guano, and the chemical treatment of whale and bone oil, in order that it may equal in value and quality the oil of the fat. For many years the Norwegians had extracted the oil from the meat and bone, but it was almost valueless, the dark colour preventing a ready or remunerative sale. After the whale is stripped of all its fat it is turned over to be processed and torn by winches into small pieces, which are made still smaller by means of axes and saws, and then thrown into tanJks into which water has been placed. Steam is then turned on, and chemicals used to hasten dissolution. After a certain time the oil, of a very dark colour, is dipped off and placed into tanks ; the blubber from these tanks is drawn off into other tanks standing under, and the process recommences. After a sufficient quantity of the solid waste residue of the tanks has been obtained, it is conveyed to the driers, which are long revolving heated cylinders, converting the material into a dark brown earthy material, which needs little further treatment to make the most valuable kind of guano. WHALE BEEF. The i-hoicer fleshy portions of the whale's carcass are converted into * beef,' and after being smoked and prepared are as good as much of the smoked meat on sale in the American markets. A canned whale-beef industry is also being inaugurated with great promise. The Indians of British Columbia have long used whale flesh as a dainty food, and in Iceland, Norway and other countries it has been a recognized dish. Dr. Eobert Enox, in 1834, with some of his Edinburgh medical students, tried a steak of young rorqual or fin-back whale, grilled on a grid-iron, but they did not hesitate to express their preference for a steak of West Highland beef. Sir J. E. Alexander des- cribed whale hunting by Gasp^ boats, in July, 1849, near Seven Islands Bay, adjacent to Anticosti. After a most exciting chase his vessel came alongside the whaler, and they watched the process of removing the blubber by means of sharp spades used by a number of men standing upon the floating body of the victim. One of the pectoral flippers was removed and required the strength of four able-bodied men with powerful tackle to hoist on board. The whaling captain had a large piece of flesh like an immense round of beef cut off, and presented it to Sir J. E. Alexander, who tells us that ' during the suc- ceeding part of this voyage we breakfasted and dined frequently off the portion of the whale which fell to our share of the spoil, the lean of which was really exoellent, and when cut into slices and broiled was indistinguishable from tender beef-steak; the fat * Most o[ the details given are from the Newfourdland kindly supplied by Dr. Rlsmuller. official reports and from papers I 91 I did not admire, the smell of it bringing forcibly to my recollection the odour of oil-lamps with which the darkness used to be rendered visible in the city of Dublin in my younger days. As it has been found possible to remove the offensive odour and flavour of egga which are not bad, but slightly ' turned,' by a recent method of chemical troataient, so the removal of the odour and taste of whale-meat affected by the fatty matter of the whale has proved feasible. Whale flesh can now be prepared without any trace of the characteristic whale oil flavour. Mr. Cathcart Wason, representing Orkney and Shetland in the Imperial House of . commons, London, has placed on record his views as to the uses of whale flesh. He 88y3 I— ' ^a> meat isjiut like coarse beef, and it makes a most valuable material for mak- ing dog biacuita What cannot be used that way can be turned into valuable manure. It all depends, however upon the location where the amphibian is denirened. Whale meat from the Arctic whale is quite a palatable diet, and the Newfoundlanders smoke tne product for human consumption. It is gaining some headway in the States.' LEATHER AND FIBRE WARE. The intestines, which are of enormous length and of great diameter, have been tanned and prepared as leather. This leather is soft and smooth as kid, but lacks the necessary fibre and strength for many purposes. For artistic leather work it is ad- mirable its fine grain and texture, and the readiness with which it can be dyed all the most delicate art-tints makes it specially adapted for the purpose mentioned. The leather made from the huge lips of the whale is coarser and stronger, and could be used no doubt in the manufacture of boots, leather straps and bands, &c. Still more inter- esting 18 the crockeryware ' prepared from the chemically macerated bones, and pressed into various shapes, m appropriate moulds, is a more enduring material than vegetable fibre, indeed whale crockeryware is so tough and resistent that heat, hot water and roudi usage do not affect it; ' it can be damaged ' says a recent writer ' only by smashing it with an a«. Attempts have been made to extract glue products; but so far with only lair success. A most tenacious gummy product has been obtained, which will draw out endlessly into fine threads, so that they can be spun like fine silk fibre; but a strong adhesive hardening glue is diflicult to extract owing no doubt to some residue of oil Which remains in whale products unless subjected to extreme chemical treatment. WHAM UIQRATIONS. Hlr« J,«^r-!!!r"*' °/,^^'^«« *''''" ^e«8on to season are not erratic, but quite regular. Liht wh«^l^'"''/*J"'"^' *^.'"" T^ " *^" ''''''^^ '"'d '^ °»"«k-ox The Arctic ri^tJ?*t i"l? ^° I- - "■^'"■«^°' °^ *^ '""^ ^^^^'' ^"t t^«y ^^erat^ each season with fri^S^'ln iv' "'^'^ """^ tell almost to a day when the schooU should appear rr«?ri f • ?,; ^""TT* ^*'"^'°*^ ""^y *^-^« t^"* t" nds made by the pioneers of the modern whaling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic outside, incited inexperienced parties to enter upon operations on an extensive scale- The Massachusetts commissioners, who recently visited the Newfoundland factories, reported that the eighteen expensive plants fitted up could not get sufficient whales to keep half the number going, and they did not hesitate to say that the industry, which is only of few years' standing, is ahvady overdone. A prominent Halifax journal reviewed last year the Atlantic whaling industry, and said that an acute stage had been reached in Newfoundland, and the immense profits made at an earlier stage had not continued. ' Last year (1904),' says the news- paper referred to, ' there were eleven whaling steamers at work in our waters, whose total catch was 1,2"0 fish, or an average of 115, whereas in 1903 the four steamers then engaged killeti 859 fish, or an average of 215. When it is considoivd, too, that Norwegian conipi^tition was bri^ik, and that as a consequence, whale oil has dropped in price just one-half of what it was three years ago, it is easy to see that the money- making possibilities of he industry are greatly diminished. Eleven steamer- and crews and fourteen whale factories and gangs of workmen have had to be maintained out of a catch only half as large again as four ships of the previous year, while the price of the commercial products of the venture has declined so much that it is doubt- ful if the aggregate gross earnings of 1904 have exceeded those of 1903. Hence, it is scarcely surprising that only three of the eight whaling companies in working form last year have paid any dividend, two paying but 6 per cent each and the third, which operated under exceptionally fortunate conditions, 15 per cent. The others either lost money or realized such small profits that to pay a dividend was impossible. Some other companies will be in operation this season and with more steamers at work the nat"'"''! tendency Vill be to lessen the kill per ship, so that unless the price of oil, boi and other products from the cetaceans substantially advances it is difficult to see where all of these concerns are to make their profits.' The abundance of whales in the estuary of the St. Lawrence and along the shores of Canada from Gaspe to Grand Manan, is indisputable. Indeed, their numbers appear to have increased owing to the hunting operations along the Newfoundland coast. Like big game on land they move to new areas if harassed and disturbed. But ex- oeesive hunting and utilization will bring even our prolific supply to an end. The inshore waters of our Pacific sea-board abound in whales, hump-backs, rorquals, gilver-bottoms, killers, &c.. but unless the annual catch be wisely limited the industry will only be a success for a few seasons. As a Newfoundland writer, at the close of the year, stated ' 1906 will open un- favourably for the modern whaling industry initiated in this colony a few years ago, and now that a similar enterprise has been set on foot at Seven Islands, in the St. Lawrence and at Victoria, on the Pacific coast, it is interesting to note the vicissitudes which have befallen the undertaking here and which have caused its ill-fortune to as- sume the aspect of a national catastrophe. In 1898 the new pursuit was introduced here from Norway and the pioneer com- pany started operations, the feasibility of the venture being seconded by nearly every- body. Then after a year or two, when it was seen to be a paying speculation, opinion altered completely and everybody wanted to engage in it. The resjilt was that applica- tions for the organizing of whaling concern? were recorded to the number of thirty- five, though only seventeen were really started. This was the total in being last year. S8 and when all these steamers began fishing in waters where formally only two or three plied, it 'iM easy to understand that misfortunes came fa«t and furious upon them.' PROTECTIVE LAWS NECESSABY. The Canadian enterprises under proijer limitations, and if not overdone, have great promise. The first factory at Seven Islands, west of Anticosti, on the Quebec shore, commenced operations in August and found whales plentiful. Indeed, before the end of October the factory had handled nearly seventy large whales, while on the B. C. coast, the whaling factory operated at Sechart, Barkley sound, Vancouver island, has had remarkable success, though delayed by mishaps at the start. Before the end of December over 142 tons of oil, valued at $17,000, had been produced after only a few weeks operation. A little later no less than nine whales were captured and utilized within one week, the produpts of which were worth not less than $10,000. The oil is shipped to Glasgow, while the' fertilizer and other products are sent to Japan, Hawai and other countries. DEPLETION IX THE ARCTIC. The valuable right-whales of Canada's Arctic ae&s, once so abundant, are already almost depleted, and except for the immensely profitable captures made by foreign Iioachers, in the Canadian whaling areas off the Mackenzie river mouth, our Arctic whaling is u tiling of the past. Protective measures such as a close season for 5 years would still preserve to us the priceless bow-heads or right-whales in our northern seas, and a specially strict enforcement in the regions between Mackenzie bay and Banks Land or Melville island would permanently maintain the supply. American whalers systematically operate for periods of 2 or 3 years, wintering near Herschell island, and bringing to San Francisco and other U.S. ports their takes, often exceeding $150,000 in value for a single ship. Indeed one whaler recently arrived at the port" named with $100,000 worth of whalebone, apart from the oil, &c. The details of the earnings of an American whaler, whose catch had been practically all made in the Canadian waters east of Herschell island, were recently given as follows: — the earnings covering eight months' work:— captain, $16,000; 1st mate, $8,000, 2nd mate, $5,000; and so on down to the inferior hands the lowest of which received $200. It is authoritatively stated that in the season of 1904, not more than sixty-five right or Arctic whale-bone whales were taken in the northern seas, and the whale-bone would bring between $800,000 and $900,000, a much smaller annual return than was formerly secured on our Canadian whaling grounds. While the whale-oil has fallen in price as already noted, sperm-oil being about 60c. per gallon, ordinary whale-oil about 42o., yet these prices are much in excess of other animal or fish oil, such as herring and pale seal oils which bring from 19c. to 36c. per gallon. A single catch of seals such as that made by ilessrs. >;oble Bros., in the gulf a year oi; two ago, viz.: 1,500 seals brought only $3,000 — at the rate of $2 each. The value of whale-oil, of whale meat-fertilizer and above all of whale-bone must always make the industry remunerative if the whales be not depleted. If as authorities are agreed that the right-whales bring forth their calves between the end of March and the beginning of May, and that every second year the female may produce one, or in extremely rare cases, two calves, there exists a basia upon which regulations in the interest of the industry could be devised and enf 'ced. The decline of the Arctic whaling industry, apart from the operations of the north western shores of Canada, is a melancHoly story. During the last ten years the Scottish whalers have frequently returned ' clean ' or with oil and hides of the little valued be- luga or white whale, as in 1898, when the Dundee whaling fleet returned having taken only two or three right-whales. But this year (1905) has been for American whalers the worst on record in the 55 years during which U.S. Atlantic whalers have resorted to our Arctic waters. The British whaling fleet about half a century ago embraced 160 TeM«lg, 20 or 30 being from the Tay ; but there are not more than 8 or 7 Dundee whalers now in the industry. Forty years ago there were 780 U.S. whalen of 288,000 tons register; but in 1893 there were only 170 of about 40.000 tons register, while in 1904 the number of American whalers was barely 88. The three U.S. whaling ports, New Bedford, Provincetown and San Francisco claimed only 26 ihips, 1 bark, 1 brig and 16 schooners, or about a twenty-fifth of the number operated 60 years ago. The ntilization in Canada of the numerous kinds of whales formerly neglected and un- utiliaed will give an impetus to the whaling industry which it has long needed ; but the right, whalee of the northern waters merit attention nnd protection, while their lest valuable congeners are furnishing a remunerative industry in waten near at hand. n. THE PROGRESS OF FISH CULTURE IN CANADA. Bt Phc«kks8or E. E. Prince, Dominion Commissioner and Oinkral Inspector or Fisheries for Canada. Fish culture is one of the most ancient of human purauits, for the Chinese an known to have practised it from almost prehistoric time*. In Europe, and oa thit western continent, it is of recent date. There was, indeed, no necessity for aiding Nature's recuperative processes in the rivers, lakes, and sea, so long as' these abounded to excess in tlie most valuable kinds of food fishes. Even to-day those waters of Can- ada, not depleted by man's reckless wastefulness, are populous with the finny tribes, and over the Dominion generally, the enforcement of protective laws, close seasons, netting limitations, &c., has warded off exhaustion, though in international waters the difficulties of wise preservation are very great. Hence, the aid of artificial fish culture has been enlisted, not as a substitute for judicious fishery laws, but as sup- plementary and subordinate. The story of its development and progress in Canada ia an interesting one. It was not until 1853, so far as I can ascertain, that any attempt was made upon this continent to artificially breed fishes. Dr. Theodatus Garlick, of Cleveland, Ohio, was the pioneer. He obtained parent brook-trout in Canada, taking them across from Port Stanley in Ontario, to his establishment in Ohio. He wa« an enthusiast, and liis exhibits of young fish, hatched from Canadian trout-eggs, were a feature for many years at agricultural exhibitions in the various states bordering on the great lakes. Gantida soon followed suit. The initial tttempts were, of course, largely ex- perimental The late Mr. Samuel Wilmot claimed to have orig:uated fish-culture in Canada; but I find this claim was disputed, and with justification, by a well-known citizen of OtU'- ., the late Richard Nettle. Stimulated no doubt by recollections of famous streams in his native Devonshire, Mr. Nettle, as early as 1866 or 1857, began the incubation of salmon and trout eggs for purposes of artificial stocking, in hatch- ing tanks in the city of Quebec. He disputed the accuracy of the claim frequently put forward on behalf of Mr. Wilmot The Bishop of Ottawa, (Dr. Hamilton) in- cidentally confirmed the claim of Mr. Nettle in a recent conversation, his lordship informing me that he h' jiself saw the young fish and the hatching arrangements about the time referred to. Mr. Nettle was then superintendent of fisheries for Lower Canada. From a report by the late Mr. Wilmot, dated December 31, 1878, it appears that he commenced experiments in fish-hatching in 1865, «ight or nine years later than Mr. Nettle's experiments, and he carried it on as a pn/ate enterprise until the Dominion government took the work over and gave Mr. Wilmot an appointment as a government official. In 1866 Mr. Wilmot acted as a fishery officer, with authority from the government of Upper Canada, and on May 30, 1868, he became an officer under the Department of Marine and Fisheries; but it was not until eight years later (1876) that he became superintendent of fish breeding. For his initial experiments be was paid, in 1869, the sum of (2,000 by Order in Council. The Hon. N. W. Clarke, in an address to the State of Michigan Legislature (February, 1871) referred as follows to Mr. Wilmot's initial efforts:— ' The government of Canada has an extensive breedinff-house, located at New- castle, on Lake Ontario, under the successful management of Samuel Wilmot. Some five years ago, this gentleman commenced on his own account to breed salmon, and 2« his efortj wore crowned witli iuch perfect «ucceM tlidt the goTornment stepped in, paid him for hit outlay, and employed him to manage it. which, under their Uw», it had a right to do. He haa since hatohcl out, and i» now hatcliing large numberi of Mlmon, and turning them out in the public waters of Lake Ontario.' Thus fish culture in Canada, at first a private enterprise on a small scale, rec<>ived a kind of aemi-otticial sunction, but in 186« it became diitinctively a branch of the Dominion governmint service, the Newcastle Hatchery, possessed by Mr. Wilmot, being transferred to the Department of Murine and Fisheries. This hatchery, Mr. Wilmot affirmed, in his report dated Februury 3, 1875, ' has been the nucleus from which all of the national and state fish breeding eatablishments in Canada and the United States of America have taken their rise.' Additional hatchericB were soon built, thp famous KestiRouche salmon iiwtitution in 1872 (twice robuili), and the Miramichi Hatchery in 1873. In 1874 the Gaspe Hatchery was commenced, and in 1876 a large mill was purchased at Tadousac and converted into a fish-breeding establishment, supplanted by n new buildinjt later. The work expanded, so that Mr. Wilmot, in Febniary, 187.'), was able to speak of five hatcheries in Canada, four of them in full operation. Much interest naturally centres in the Newcastle Hatchery on Lake Ontario, where forty years ago the work commenced. The building, enlarged and improved, ia situated on a narrow stream at the head of a small creek or marsh opening into the lake near B)\vmanville. and about thirty-five miles east of Toronto. A sheltered and secluded valley of great sylvan be uty incloses the site, but the work has always been handicapped by its distance, both from good spawning grounds, and from suitable areas for planting the fry. Mr. Wilmot erected the hatchery, ns was natural, near to his own residence, and at a time when salmon frequented Lake Ontario, and resorted to the creek in ques- tion for purposes of spawning. So late as 1856 large schools of salmon still occurred in the lake; but as commis- sioner Whitcher and Mr. W. H. Venning stated in their report as fishery officials, they were a mere scanty remnant nine years later, having been destroyed by poachers, espe- cially on the spawning grounds in shallow oreeks and streams. In 1865 this scanty remnant ' was snatched from extermination ' (as the official report states in 18G9) by the efforts of the fishery department. This remnant was utilized at the Newcastle hat- chery in early fish-culture experiments, conducted under difficulties, with inadequate knowledge and training, and aided at a later date to a limited extent by the government. Thus for many years salmon have been practically extinct in these waters, and the hatchery failed in its original purposes of keeping up the supply of Lake Ontario sal- mon, which Mr. Wilmot claimed to be indistinguishable from the sea-going Atlantic salmon. From 1868 to 1873. over a million fry were sent out from this parent hatchery (nn average of 200,000 per annum). A sn.all private hatchery was also carried on dur- ing these earlier years of Canadian fish-culture, by the well-known salmon fisherman and merchant, the late John Holliday. Mr. IloUiday was bom on the banks of the famous salmon river, the Scottish Tay, and was stimulated, no doubt, by the salmon- culture work at Stormonthfield, in Perthshire, commenced in 1853 by the proprietors of the salmon fisheries on the Tay. He built a hatching establishment on the Moisie river (north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence), which has continued its operations to the present time. Messrs. Brown and Co., also erected a trout hatchery at Gait, Ont., and, in 1868 had no less than 10,000 parent trout impounded in one of their ponds for the purpose of taking spawn for hatching purposes. Other hatcheries privately con- ducted with zeal and success might be named, such as the Credit Forks Hatchery car- ried on by Mr. Chas. Wilmot, the Silver Creek establishment near Toronto and others. In the United States, it was not until 1871 that fish-culture became a recognized department of work under the auspices of the federal government. Previous to that year individual states had made attempts in this direction, indeed, New Hampshire, in lf«G5. had commenced fish-hatching operations, and agents were sent to the rivers of Canada, where they were permitted (at Mr. Charlra O, Atkins tellt u») to take salmon from the spawning beds, and were thus enabled to secure oome hundnds of thousands of eres, whicii wire ' hatched with a measure of succi'ss.' Pennsylvania and the State of Connecticut followi-d in 1866. In 1867, 1868, 1869 and 1870 the states of Maine, New York, California, New Jersey, and Rhode Inland, severally began Ksh-culture in their resiiective territories. ^In Canada tiic salmon and brook-trout naturally cloinied first ottention; but in 1867 and again in 1868, whitetish were successfully impregnated and hatched by Mr. Wilmot as lie tells us in one of his reports. In October, 1870, Mr. Wilmot obtained a small quantity of char (Salmo umhla or alptnut) from the Keswick hatchery operated undc-r the supervision of Mr. John Pur- uaby, of Leetls, England, who had visited tho Newcastle hatchery some years before. Though Canada is the home of the char genus, our trouts not being congeners of the Salmo fario of Europ culture was a mariced success. Thus the hatchery haa confined ita work to the incu- bation of Great Lake trout, the egge being secured by government officers at Wiarton. Georgian bay, and the lake whitefish, tranaferred from the Sandwich hatchery, early in the year, generally February, in the eyed stage. The hatchery was enlarged in 1876, and many aubsequent improvementa were made at later datea. The four earlieet hatcheriea, which were constructed after the Newcastle institution, were located at the mouths of the moat famous Canadian salmon rivers, vie. the Restigouche, the Miramichi, the Saguenay. and the York and Dartmouth, and have for thirty years been devoted to the hatching of sea salmon, being admirably located for the purpose. * Professor Spence F. Btird aanerouilr sent from the United Stttei at various timet esit of tbe Quinnat or Sprlnc salmon. 30 lb* following tabic msbracM deUik of tb« twraty-aiffbt Dominion hatehtriw •mngad for conei>«nni and conTtnianc* of refnvnec. Kinindcd. tm.. 1074. ( • ( IWB. . • ( 1«7M. . ■• 1 IWW.. ••{ 18M1., IHMS. . IWM,. •:: 8W.. 1 I M.. IWt . . . . 1 1003.. ■{'• 1 a-).. ..', Lnostioo. Kimli u( Hah hatohMl. NVwcMtU', Ontario Ij»ke tnjut, wliit.-H.h, kv KUlUnHi, KMtirxHihf R." Mimm, Uko tr<«il, «r. IJkmHi Ibk, Minniicbi K Mslmon and w« inmt TWI...I1... Siigiu.n«y R .Salmon and mianaiiicha and .f-a truut tJ*ii».,l. oi Halm.m iMandwioh. (Hit. .■..;. White«.h. |>ik»-|wreh or dorti ...'.'.. liwlford, Dsar HMifax, >. M. ^Kalmun, lako trout, rainlww trout and <• • J u .. . whitrHuh I J*1''.r'' ;• 5*- .•':*•> H.. N. B.. . (telmon, Uko tr««it and whiteAih I>unk K., >'. K. Uland" Haluiun P- Q Ivakf triHit, whiti>it»h and Jwock trinit ., ,• ., 'Salmon . . >«w Wratminiu-r, KnuwrR., B.C. .. Sookvyr, cjuinnat and "th« I'.oiHi „. .. . I •alnMii. and trout Otuwa Hatchery, <)nt Lake .Mapiff, nfar NherliruikK, Sjrdnrv, Ca|M Mrcton' Ikirk, H«l R., Manitoba Wliitertah trout, whitcflth, varii UD trout ■Imon and Aaaual •lutpat. S to R millioii*. ll«9 lUill 1 toS .. Itnii 10 to over 100 Uiilhoiii, 1 to M niilHona. a to 4 1 It4i4i 1 to 3 3 to 10 ., lOraiiitf ( 'rwk, »hu>wan I, , B. C. Lake Lakflae, Skocna K., B. C. Marfranv Ft., ra|>e KrHton Mont Trenitilant. Lalwllo, P. <^.. ttlwniofpu), Ca|w Bald, N. B. 1904 1905. jNimi.kiah R., near Alert Bay, B. C.v! Sockeye, ««li: St. Alrxia, Maakinontrr, 1'. if (hiananiche i Bockvyv, nalinon and tnHit. Sslmmi Lake tMut and trout. Lobatrra lion and trout . Sliipwwan, N. B.. . : j Loh.t«r». Block Houar, Chariottctown, P. E. I . . I Kelly'a Pond, ,. „ Tmut. Canao, N. 8 F,obater» Windaor. \. S. . . Salmon, trout and »had '..'.'..'.".'. Harmon Uke, R C. Sockeye and other B. C. iialmon Pembmon, Lil<.»t, B. C Sockeye, aalmon Oweckayno L., River a Inlet, B. C „ Uto7 Wltoiro ., 4i to 33 ., .4ti.7 . 4 1 I'tolUO M lit"') n Ml to 100 ', (SOUilOO ., 1 N Uto3 i :; 10 ' The two earlier hatcheriea were located at Deeaide ; the (latlanda haUhery waa opened in 1!KX). 1903 "*'°* ''■*"''•''' °" "** Dartmouth river outlet waa cl.».e.minion «ut»rviaion. ' The total quantity of fry of all kinda diatributed from the foregoing inititutiona emce fish-culture hai been carried on by the Dominion goyernmont, that ii from 1868 to 1905, both years inclusive, is no less than 4,806,416,100. The average annual quan- tity during the last 20 years hM been 221,000,000. In 1896 the output waa extraordi- narily large, amounting indeed to nearly 300 millions. For the last nine years vast quantities of lobsters have been hatched, the annua] average being no leas than 100,000,- 000. Deducting these from the total output, we find that the average output each year, during the last twenty years has been 86 millions, mainly of the three kinds, aalmon, ■ Great Lake trout and lake whitefish {Coregonut), which are all fishes of great economic value. While the hatching of species of fish valuable from a commercial point of v ■' has always been the principal feature in fish-culture under the Canadian govemme.. experiments with fish, important from a sporting standpoint, have not been whcHy Ignored. Indeed, so early as l.q79, Mr. Wilmot eiperimeated with black bass at New- castle Ont. He secured a number of adult fish, obtained by fishermen through the ice, near Belleville, and conveyed in barrels to the ponds near the hatchery. In the fol- 30 lowing year he carried out a similar scheme on a more extended scale obtaining five parent baas in May from the drag-seiners operating on the shores of the Bay of Quintfi. These were placed in small ponds near the Newcastle hatchery. Mr. Wilmot in his leport states that on ' May 25, some of the bass began to pair off, and to commence making nests; some being made in the deepest parts of the pond, others in the shallow places ; some were formed on gravel beds ; others, where sunken sticks were fastened at the bottom of the pond. They were invariably hollowd out a little, and made clean by the action of the fish, which gave them a bright appearance; the nests being round in shape, and varying from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. Upon those, the parent fish deposited their eggs and milt. Nest-making terminated about June 10; the time elapsing from the first formation of these beds until the young fry were noticeable, varied from twelve to sixteen days, and a further period of five and six days took place, before the little fish left the beds. After the eggs were first laid, they were seen with difficulty through the water upon the nests. The surface of the beds presented in a few tlays a very dark appearance. When hatched out, a perfect mass of little black animals, n-it urJike tadpoles, covered the whole bed. After five or six days, as stated above, th. . - disappeared from the nest amongst the weeds and other substances, where hiding p'i., es could be found.' Sue .urk was of an erratic and subsidiary nature and it is only in recent seasons that systejiiutic black bass culture has been resumed. For about six years the breeding of black bass has been carried on in ponds secured by the department on the Bay of Quinte, Belleville, Ont. The principal pond is very near the boy and is about 100 feet square, a cold clear spring-fed inclosure with shelving rocks descending to the centre wJ.ere it is about 5 feet deep, while at the margin it is 4 or 5 inches. About fifty large parent bass are placed in the pond and many thousands of young are each season hatched in the nests made by the fishes, where they are guarded by the parents, and move off later into a connecting channel where there is abundant feed. Plenty of insect and minnow food is essential for bass breeding. It is the same with regard to stocking. As an authority recently says : — . ' To be successful with small-mouth black bass, they should be planted in ponds what are fed by clear, pure si reams, or with bottom springs. Large-mouth baas will do well in a pond with a mud bottom that has a liberal quantity of vegetation. It is of great importance that ponds for either species should contain abundance of natural food, as craw-fish, minnsws, frogs, &c., for it is a well-known fact that any interference whatever with the i.dmirable balance which nature has established in the animal king- dom is more apt to i»ad to mischief than to succt«s.' In the province oi Quebec the Lake Lester jionds (Eastern Townships) are used by the department for reading trout. About 250,000 trout fry are impounded from 'stecn kept, show that the water flowing rapidly and plentifully through the tanks is more equable and cold than the shallow waters outeide. The fry, it is further contended, are untaught to seek shelter, and must be gobbled up by watchful enemies. This cannot be so. The eggs are all taken from wild fish, and the j'oung inherit the instincts of their parents. Hence when the fry have leen carefully watched at tlie time of planting, they have been noticed to act with alertness and intelligence, and at once dart off to shelter. All the stock ob- jections are made in ignorance of the real facts, for the facts all prove the very op- posite of the theories set forth by critics, usually arm-chair critics. Fish culture, at this late date, needs no advocacy or defence, yet recent unsolicited testimony may be adduced, sent to me as affording evidence of the success of the gov- ernment hatcheries. A lake near Three Rivers, P.Q., was planted several years ago. It aiioiinds at the present time with fine trout, says the member of parliament, who is my informant, although these fish did not formerly occur in it at all. A lake in Victoria county, Ontario, I have recently been informed by residents, is alive with trout consequent on being stocked by means of fry. ilost visitors to the river Sague- nay know the Tadousac hatchery, and the small lake adjacent to the building abounds in small salmon a few pounds in weight, the result of the surplus quantities of fry placed there by the hatchery officer. ' On one occasion,' says the officer in an official report, ' I pennitted the Bishop of Chicoutimi, to fish in the hatchery lake. He was accompanie8 and lakes, unless proper protective measures are taken to prevent the fish being exterminated. Thus certain salmon rivers, and some of the inland lakes, including the great lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Superior, have been planted for long periods of years with vast quantities of fine fish, yet the old plen- teousness has not been restored. Incessant overfishing, and all kinds of destructive instruments, spears through the ice, &c., as well as the capture of small immature fish, has gone on without limitation, and yet an increase in supply has been expected from the planting of a few millions of hatched fry. Even anglers forget that streams cannot be restored if record catches are attempted each season. Scarcity of fish will inevitably continue if sportsmen will not be satisfied with an ordinary good catch. The angler who, a year or two ago, caught seven dozen river trout in a single evening in a Prince Edward Island stream, or the sportsman who took forty splendid ouananiche at the mouth of the Metabetchouan in two days, in May, 1900, or three U.S. tourists, who took out of the Niagara river, in a single day, in September 91 black bass weighing over 200 pounds, are frustrating all attempts to supplant the present scarcity of game and of table fish by the plenitude which fish-culture would crown with certain success. The wise fisherman and the true sportsman will, in their own interest, frown upon the excessive destruction of fish. A more judicious policy, and a more sportsmanlike feeling would render the work of fishery restoration easy. Even in waters regarded as almost virgin waters like those of northwest Ontario, the effects of wanton and waste- ful fishing, are being felt. There is wisdom in the observations of a well-known angler who describes his feelings on the matter, in his account of a Magnetawan trip, Georgian bay district, he says 'Forest and Stream, N.Y., C *. 23, 1899:— ' Heretofore much of the country traversed by the Magnetawan has been low and swampy, but hero the islands and shore line stand high up out of the water. Numerous islnn.Ls well wo^.le.l with pine, ixjplar, tedur and hemlock enrich the scenery As we rounded a rocky point a lone but not lonely fisherman exultingly held up a string of twenty-five bass. I have never been able to see how any intelligent angler can be so foolish and ba-of-ous as to kill twenty-five fish. Twenty of those fish might and ought to have been returned to the water. How often, oh, how often in the days gone by have I seen splendid bass rotting in heaps— angle: . unable to use their catch and too foolish and cruel to return the fish to the water. Again and again I have seen campers trying to give fish away to the fanners. Let farmers catch their own fish and return all you cant use to the water, and fishing here at least would be good for generations to come To most people fish culture is thought to consist in taking some * ripe mature fish ' juat before spawning, squeezing eggs from them, fertilizing them, and placing them ii jars or on trays, m a current of water until the young fish hatch out. Fish culture is however, much more than that, it includes at !e.i«t half-a-dozen different methods Of 8S course, one method, and that most familiar, consists in obtaining ripe living fish of both sexes, and after subjecting them to the same process of careful and gentle pres- sure, mingling the two products in a spawning vessel or dish, where the eggs are rapidly fecundated, and tht transferring the vivified eggs to the trays or hatching jars. The parent fish, being liMndled with care ere returned to the water, with rare exceptions, alive and unharmed, and in the case of salmon usually continue the ascent up-stream, which had been iaterrupted by the hatchery officials. In B. C, it is said, the spawned fish frequently descend, but this may depend upon the sex, for Frank Buckland noticed that male salmon invariably bolt upstream if disturbed, whereas the ' hens ' or female salmon bolt down stream. The fish do not die, as the signs of ripeness are readily visi- ble to the expert officer's eye, and ripe fish are spawned painlessly and with t\e utmost readiness and ease. It is a curious fact that eggs from dead fish may be successfuly used if death is recent. Thus the distinguished Russian naturalist, OwsiannikofF, in a paper read in 1869, before the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg, stated that he had fertilized the eggs taken from dead fishes, and in most cases with success. Different species also may be crossed and hybrids readily produced, but there are limits to the process due, no doubt, to certain microscopic peculiarities in the s+ructure of the egg capsule. Two methods of fertilization have been adopted, the wet and the dry, and the latter has almost universally superseded the former. In the dry method no water is added until some moments after the ova and mili have been mingled and gently stirred with a feather or the fingers. In the early days of Canadian fish-culture the wet method was followed, and the eggs were placed in water before the milt was added, and a pronor- tion of eggs always failed to be fecundated, hence the universal adoption of the so- called dry method. Some of the different methods followed in obtaining eggs or fry may be here instanced. (1) The parent fish are secured some time (days or oven months) before s -ning and impounded until they become ripe and swollen. Whitefish are often kepv . this way, and the plan has been adopted in Canada of confining salmon in tidal ponds for many months, and apparently without harm. Indeed the salt water prevents fungus, and as salmon take no food after leaving the sea, there is no difficulty in retaining theip until the spawning season, and then taking the eggs and milt. After beinr .>ept from June or July until October or November the parent fish are liberated on ^eing artifi- cially spawned. (2) The parent fish are netted at the spawning time near the breeding beds. Sal- mon, in British Columbia, are treated in this way, also Great Lake trout and whitefish. The parent fish are rarely injured, and are thus liberated in their native waters. (3) Parent fish are captured and the eggs taken and fertilized, but the fish are killed and sent to market. This is the plan adopted in some cases by U. S. fish-cul- tunsts, especially with the Great Lake trout. It is unavoidable as a rule, with black bass and sturgeon, even when very ripe, as they refuse to yield their spawn. It is not adopted in Canada. ... ^*^ Parent fish are impounded in ponds or inclosures, where they deposit and fer- tilize their spawn naturally. The spawn is then transferred to the hatchery and in- cubated artificially. Bass, maskinonge, perch, carp, sturgeon, &c., have been treated in this way. (5) A similar plan to the last is followed excepting that the eggs are allowed to hatch out in the ponds where deposited, and the fry are reared under official supervision for 6 to 10 or 12 weeks as at the Belleville bass ponds. (6) Instead of securing the parent fish, or obtaining the eggs after being de- posited, the small fry, incubated and hatched naturally, are netted and used for pur- poses of stocking waters. Trout and black bass have been mainlv introdu'v^d into new waters by this method. Black bass, when very young, devour each other, even 84 when only a little over an inch in length, and the Caledonia (N.Y.) Hatchery officers have reported that their young black bass grow so rapidly that they must be shipped immediately after being collected in the adjacent marsh ponds. Nearly 400,000 of these fry are annually distributed from the American hatchery named. The method referred to above of retaining salmon in salt water tidal ponds until they arc ripe, and ready to be artificially spawned, merits a brief notice. It is a method first practised, so far as I can ascertain, in Canada, and grew out of an ex- periment made at the Tadousac hatchery in 1876. In that year ilr. Wilmot selected a few salmon, as ho tells,* which were kept in a salt water inclosure until 'the very time of spawning. These eggs went through precisely the same process as those that wore taken from fish kept in fresh water, from the time of spawning till they were hatched out; there wa- no difference whatever observable during the period of incu- bation, nnr after they became young fry. This experiment was repeated with a large number of salmon that were kept in salt water last fall, and up to the present time the results are precisely similar to last year. It may therefore be now safely concluded that the ova of the salmon will arrive at maturity, and be equally susceptible of im- pregnation, when taken from fish kept in salt water, as in fresh, and that no difference exists witii the eggs during incubation or with the fry afterwards.' The system has been extended and a very extensive salmon retaining pond has been operated with remarkable succef.s at the mouth of the St. John river, near the city of St John, X.B., whence supplies of eggs are sent to a number of hatcheries. The parent fish are bought during June and July mainly, from the net fishermen, and convoyed alive to the tidal inclosure, where they remain, in good health and con- dition until October or November, when their eggs are ready for the artificial spawn- ing proces~. At St. John, X.B., Tadoussac and other places this method has proved very satisfactory, from 9' to 1,200 salmon being secured at the first-named. place. Broadly speaking the sJocking of waters may be carried out in eight ways: — By (1) Planting fry a'tircially hatched from artificially fertilized eggs, a method almost universally adopted in government fish-culture in Canada and other countries. (2) Planting fry naturally hatched from artificially fertilized eggs, a plan oc- casionally carried under special siress when eggs might have been lost, through short- age of water or similar cause in the hatchery. The artificially fertilized eggs are in Buch cases placed on appropriate shallows, and watch kept until they naturally hatch out. (3) Planting fry naturally hatched from naturally fertilized eggs, as has been done in the case of brook trout, black bass, &c., the newly hatched fry being dip- netted and transplanted aft<^r capture. (4) Planting fry naturally hatched from naturally fertilized eggs, but reared artificially, such wild fry, having been netted, are retained in feeding tanks or ponds, until of larger size, and then planted as has been done with sturgeon, striped bass, brook trout, &e. (5) Planting fingerlinjrs and half grown fish hatched on spawning reserves or in hatchery roaring tanks, a method which is valuable, hut costly and laborious with most fishes. Fifty per cent or 60 per cent of hardy fish like salmon or trout die while being reared, but of whitefish pickerel or dore not 5 per cent can be reared, over 90 per cent dying under artificial conditions, food, &c. (6) Planting fingerlings and half grown fish procured in the natural breeding resorts. (7) Planting eggs naturally or artificially fertilized on ' redds ' or natural hatch- ing places to incubate under natural conditions and thus themselves stock waters, ■without further aid. Lake Huron fishermen have planted lake-trout eggs in this way.' • See Rep. Dep. Mar. and Fish. (Supplement .No 4) U7«, p. 361. (b, Planting adult fish transferred from other waters. It is plain that if we can secure the eggs from the ripe parent fish, fertilize them by the dry method, and hatch them under the care of experts, the results must in- finitely surpass those possible under natural conditions, where a small proportion only can be expected to surmount all the dangers and difficulties of their environment. Let me give an illustration of this waste of eggs on the natural spawning beds— a waste not contrary to natural law, but obedient to the principle of compensation and ad- jtutment. universal in the world of nature. lu 1895 I spent some time closely observ- ing certain spawning beds of the Fraser river salmon, commonly called sockeye or blueback. I noticed, not once, but scores of times, pairs of fish busy nesting, the male fish lin^ring near his partner until she shed a shower of eggs. Just as the eggs were cast into the rapid stream, the male fish had his attention attracted by a rival and darted with lightning speed to drive him off, both male fish tearing at each other with gaping jaws, armed with formidable teeth, the teeth at this time being of ab- normal sire, xime after time I saw female fish wasting their eggs in this way, for the eggs deposited in the gravel by the female, while her partner was engaged in a fight twenty or thirty yards away, were unfertilized and would, of course, perish or be eaten by hungry enemies, suckers, trout, &c., which hovered near in hordes. This loss of naturally spawned eggs is universally admitted, but the crowding on the spawning grounds, or ' redds ' as they are called in Britain, proves injurious to the fish, as the fungoid growth, which is so terrible a disease, is transferred from one to the other, if indeed this crowding is not the original cause of the disease. The first great destruction takes place on the ' redds.' Everywhere over these are tiny raised h^ps of gravel sheltering the spawn, but the shelter is insufficient to guard It from devouring enemies. These are in the air, on the land, in the water. Many members of the hungry salmonidae themselves prey on the spawn, and it is difficult to cope with them. Bunches of wild duck and teal seek out the 'redds' in the autumn and feed on right througli the night if not disturbed. Here, too, as frequently wit- nessed, the swan leads he/ cygnets, and it is known that one of these large birds will destroy nearly a gallon of ova in a day. The curious fact repeatedly noticed by observers, that male salmon outnumber tiie female; and the fierce fights and numberless resulting deaths, may be a device for reducing the surplus number of one sex. ' To me it ii the strang«st puzzle,' said Irank Buckland. 'why the male fish always predominate over the female,' and he asserted that frequently there occurred seven males where there might b^ not more than one female salmon. During the second year of the Restigouche Hatchery's work, the late John Mowat reported that the male fish were in excess of the female as two to one, and the late Alexander Russell, in his famous book. ' The Salmon,' gave prominence to Shaw's not less interesting discovery, that in the young striped ' parr ' stage, male salmon are mature, 'the parr (alone) arrives at sexual maturity, and does and can impregnate the ova of the adult female salmon.' If, to the natural loss of enormous quantities of eggs by non-fertilization, be added the depredations of ducks, loons, herons and aquatic birds, not to speak of otters and four-footed enemies, as well as destruction by floods, by mud, gravel and ice. it is easy to see how great are the advantages offered by artificial incubation, and by caring for the eggs in properly equipped hatcheries. Anglers, as a rule, favour fish-culture, but there are exceptions, and the sports- man needs to be reminded that, whereas, the fish are liberated strong and uninjured after being artificially spawned, those taken by the angler's line shortly before the breeding season, are killed and prevented from fulfilling their task of peopling the waters with young brood. It is easy to hatch 90 per cent of salmon eggs in a hatcheiy. whereas. Sir Humphrey Davy estimated that not six per cent of the eggs deposited on the breeding grounds, come to perfection, and Stoddard held that only four or five fish fit for the table were the result of 30,000 ova on the spawning beds. The tak« •£ salmon in a single net may suffice to furnish enough eggs to keep up the supply 36 of young fish, and it ia the rule at the government nets to liberate all fish not re- quired, and these are allowed to ascend to the upper waters. Thus at the Tadousac nets in 1889, 550 salmon were taken for the hatchery, but 310 of the largest were sufficient, and the remaining 249 were turned into the river again. This is frequently done. In most of the hatcheries reliance ia placed upon the departmental nets, man- aged by the hatchery officers. In these nets fish are trapped, and after being spawned are set free. What the liberated fish do after being released has long been a problem, but as already stated, they do ibtless continue up the river, and linger about until prompted by the necessities of a long fast to return to their feeding grounds in the sea. They do not and cannot feed to any appreciable extent in fresh water, but that they survive has been fully established in the St. John river, N.B. Thus, among the salmon set free by the department's officers at the Carleton salt water salmon pond, St. John, N.B., during the spawning operations in November, 1904, one bearing the copper tag used by the officers was caught six months later in the Kennebeccasis waters, not many miles distant, viz., on April 11, 1905. A large number were thus marked and will no doubt be captured. In some cases paren^ fish are bought from local fishermen by special arrangement, but the plan has, on the whole, proved uncertain, as the fishermen asked exorbitant prices, or ignored their atreement and snipped the fish straight from their nets to tlie markets, 'eaving the hatchery officers in the lurch. Many parties have entertained an iguoraut prejudice against artificiui hatching of salmon, not fishermen only, but men of education and social standing. Thus the leasees of oertaiu rivers in Gasp6, refused to allow any salmon to be taken for hatchery purposes, and anglers who have been known ; tr after year, to kill hundreds of salmon in famous pools, really spawn- ing grounds, have declaimed against the inhumanity of taking the spawn from the small number of parent fish, which are ample for supplying a salmon hatchery. Frank Buckland has truly observed that ' the success of salmon egg-collecting de- pends upon very small circumstances, and he specifies seven necessary provisions to bo made by the ' spawner,' viz. : a water-proof suit, spawning pans of large capacity, a long, shallow basket to hold the fish under water until wanted, hose fiannel in yard lengths for wrapping the struggling fish when spawning, dry towels to wipe slime off the hands, moss and trays, and lastly, nets. In a report published in the Marine and Fisheries Blue Book, 1896, 1 described all the types of fishes' eggs known to scientific experts. I grouped them under seven heads, according to their special features, and I pointed out thai- they varied in shape, size, external structure, &c. The smooth, spherical, pea-like eggs of the salmon, trout, white- fish, and the like, are far more favourable for artificial incubation than slimy eggs, egga clinging in bunches, eggs in gelatinous strings, eggs covered with spines, oval eggs, and other varieties. The eggs resembling peas vary in size in different species. A quart measure is fre- quently used in counting eggs on account of its convenience. The measure holds 67 '76 cubic inches, and has been found to be capable of containing 3,300 land-locked salmon eggs; 4,272 Atlantic salmon; 3,696 Pacific salmon; 6,526 Great Lake trout; 8,311 to 9,936 English brown trout, 12,063 to 13,998 American brook trout; 24,363 striped bass; 28,239 shad; 36,800 lake whitefish; 73,938 maskinonge; 152,292 pike, perch or dor6; 233,280 tomcod; 335,000 cod; 496,000 smelt. In diameter the eggs vary from i of an inch in the Atlantic salmon, and ?!« of an inch in the brook trout, to ^ of an inch in the tomcod (Oadus tomcod, Walb) or hs of an inch in the silver hake (Merlucius). Or, to compare the sises in another way, the egga of the brook tro t are such that 36 will cover a square inch; lake trout, 21; whitefish, 66; black bass, 160, and pike, perch or dor6, 150. When the ripe female fish is being spawned by the hatchery operator, the eggs run freely in a stream into the pan or dish, previously rinsed in clean water, the operator g«ntly pressing the abdomen with one hand, while with the other he hold* the fish firmly in the region of the anal fin, the head of the fish being secured under the armpit, if « large fish like a salmon, A male fish is then treated in the same way, the milt flowing into the spawning pan amongst the eggs, and the eggs are stirred with a feather, thus securing fertilization. After being washed, the eggs are placed either upon black Japanned tin trays, 15 in. x 10 in. x i in., perforated with small holes and holding about 2,000 salmon eggs, or they are placed in glass vases 20 in. x 6 in. in diameter. The former are more suitable for salmon and trout, the jars being best for whitefish. Zino trays are found hurtful to eggs, the officer of the Miramichi hatchery reporting in 1874 that a large number of salmon eggs were poisoned from this cause. Tht eggi, being alive, require abundant oxygen, hence a continuous stream of water must past over them day and night until they hatch out. Under natural conditions river-water, of course, pours over the eggs, but fish-culturisU are agreed that spring-water ia pre- ferable for hatching purposes, not only because the temperature is more equable, but is purer and more free from debris and vegetable matter. In 90 to 120 or 160 days the young fish burst from the eggs ; shad, however, take only from two to five days, and cod hatch in ten to thirty days. Most of the valuable fresh-water species, like the trout and whitefish take many months. In special cases where the hatching of sturgeon and shad has been attempted as in Chautauqua lake, N.Y., hatching boxes with double wire screen, top and bottom, have been placed in a running stream, or if containing mas- kinonge eggs, have been sunk at a depth of four or five feet in the lake. The fry are transferred to large tanks for periods of a few days or a few weeks, and are distributed in large cylindrical cans, nearly two feet high and twenty inches in diameter, the narrow neck of which is devised to hold ice in hot weather, in order to keep the water cooL* The young fish carry beneath the body a small bag of food yolk, and require no other food until it is used up— a few days sufficing in some species, a few weeks in others. If possible, the fry should all be planted before the store of natural food is exhausted. In stocking lakes or rivers it is best to select inshore shallows not fre- quented by large fish, or rocky ridges and banks far from shore. The fish travel by rail or team for long distances without serious harm, if ice is used with care. Short distances are, however, best; indeed, Mr. Samuel Wilmot urged the establishment of small supplementary hatcheries, where the advanced eggs could be sent just before hatching, and the fry more saiely distributed from them. • This system of carrying or rather trying to carry, young fry to distant points (particularly where no speedy means of travel by railway is to be found) should be diseontinuwl (said Mr. Wilmot m 1877), because the time almost invariably spent in f uitless journeys of this kind, could be so much better and more profitably applied at nearer points, where the safety of the young salmon in the transit could be relied upon.' At times a few thousands of fry have been kept until they are four or five months old; but constant care is ne- cessary, and a large proportion as a rule, die when the fry are kept out of their natural habitat in lakes or rivers. The feeding of fry is not easy, as the quantity and kind of food require regulation, or the results may be fatal. In 1887 eight or ten thousand young salmon were retained in a pond at the Bestigouche hatchery, and were fed during the summer, ' yet they did not seem to thrive well, as but few were seen in October when the pond froze over (as Mr. Alex. Mowat reported) ... I have very little faith in ordinary attempts to grow fry with artificial foods, with a view of realizing any benefit from the proceeding.' Last year Mr. Mowat again kept some salmon fry (about 10,000) in outside tanks with an ample stream of water passing through. Mr. Mowat ia one of the best practical fish-culturists living, and this experiment was a' ■uccess owing to special attention, the fry growing satisfactorily until they were nearly six months old. The food consisted of finely ground raw fish and liver; but * Pry are conveyed up some salmoa rivers in floatlnc crates or pertorated boxes, and 25 mlUs 01 a river can be planted in a day. 88 quite M important a matter wa« the intelligent manipulation and care of a zealoua officer in charge. The fiah were well fed, yet not overfed, and kept perfectly clean, by the remcal of dead and decayed matter, especially waate food. The grov.jh of fiahea, especially young fishes, varies extremely; thus brook trout are usually two inches long when four months old; three inches when eight or nins months old, and five inches when a year old. Lake trout are six inches long at the end of the first year, and black bass at the same age are four to six inches. Salmon, when confined in ponds, are often stunted in growth, thus 3,000 salmon fry were planted in a small lake near LouJaburg, Cape Breton, in 1888. In 1889 they were three or four inches long, and in 1801 (in their third year) some were caught with the fly, but were not more than eight inches in length. A similar experiment at the Reetigouche hatchery, resulted in producing young salmon, seven inches long, in the third year, and ready to descend to the sea. Many of this batch of fingerlings meas- ured fully three inches in length. In British Columbia young salmon (sockeye, cohoe and other kinds) liare been kept until many montha old, in ponds near the hatcheries, and apart from the food sup- plied to them, must have fed upon minute organisms which abounded amongst the aquatic vegetation. In some U. S. hatcheries as at the Rogue River hatchery, Sacra- mento river, large numbers of salmon fry have died when about two months old, which had been fed on canned salmon. In these western hatcheries ground liver, liver and mush mixed, and canned salmon have been chiefly used. The last fouled the troughs with a greasy scum, said to affect also the gills of the little fish, hence it was pressed until of the consistency of damp earth and proved as satisfactory as liver, and liver and shorts, so far as the growth of the fish is concerned. A very prominent English pisciculturist has recently recommended dessicated haddock ground up coarse, bones and all, as the ideal trout food. The dried stuff con- tains only about 20 per cent of moisture and is fed to the fish in a stiff paste. Three to three and a half pounds of the concentrated meal will, it is claimed, produce one pound of healthy trout. Before the yolk is gore, trout fry will pick up minute particles of food, but they may be fed on hard roe of flat fishes, of mackerel, or of other fish with very small eggs, which are easily scattered amongst the hungry alevins. Liver and rock- mussels finely minced form good food; but very little should be given at a time as fragments falling on the floor of the tank pollute the water. Opinions are divided as to the ailvantages of planting young fry, or of keeping them until a year old. During their early stages and later in life various diseases attack fishes, especi- ally vegetable parasites such as the well-known fungus Saprolegnia ferax and Achyla racemosa. and psorosperms and bacteria. Dr. E. J. M'Weeney, made a most interest- ing study of some diseased salmon alevins about 1^ inches long, hatched at Ballisodare hatchery, which had died.* The eggs came from the Rhine and were German salmon. The young fish were found to be suffering from Saprolegnia, but in the culture on the 4lh day of the experiment the other vegetable parasite Achyla was found amongst the hyphal filaments of the original fungus. The rapid spread of Achyla amongst eggs in hatching trays renders necessary constant picking out of dead or diseased eggs. On eome smelts of salmon the same authority found ulcers on different parts of the body from the size of a pin's head to that of a ten cent piece, and they showed no traces of the mycelium threads of a fungus (Saprolegnia), but round and oval refractive granular bodies belonging to the protozoan myxoeporidia resembling superficially the microsporidia of barbel and pike found diseased in the Rhine. Further, a large aalmon with abraded spots on the skin and fins was shown to be infected with Saprolegnia. which so weakened the fish as to render it favourable for the attacks of bacteria found abundantly in the liver, &c. This fungus, which attacks eggs during incubation, is most pernicious. What is called 'dropsy' in the yolk-sac is not com- • See Dr. M'Ween«y's Report, Irish Fisheries Office, Dublin, 1892. mon, inBammation or clogging of the giUa ii frequent, but fungui U an epidamio that often carries off entire batches of eggs and fry. The commonest remedy is common salt, of which a saturated solution is made, practically strong brine, and this is poured into the tanks containing the infected fish. It 18 a good plan to turn off the supply tap so as to leave 2 or 3 inches of water in the tank, and it is easy then to convert the contained water into a fluid not quite the strength of sea-water. It must be thoroughly mix a and the fry left in for about half an hour. Usually the bath has no ill-effect; but if he fry appear to be becoming weak or discomforted, the fresh water should be turned on again. A bath of this kind has been found beneficial, though it requires care, as young salmon immersed in sea-water too long die from hardening of the yolk-sac, which becomes dense as stated above. Kecently another remedy has been advocated, viz., permanganate of potash, which sweetens the water and destroys organic germs. The Revue Scientifique notes that at the Geneva Exhibition, 1896, permanganate of potash was used to clean the aquarium, and It la claimed that it prevented the specimens of the sahnonid« from being attacked by daprolegnia. It is a matter, however, of experiment as yet, and further trials are necessary to establish its success. I have always recommended, however, bichloride of mercury as a remedy, though it requires more trouble in appUcation and some little skill. It is successful as is shown by a recent writer who says : — £ I. u^'i!'® visiting a friend who has a fish pond stocked with gold fish, I learned the fish had been attacked by a fungoid disease, or a growth of a white fluffy appearance on their scales which is common to fish in vivaria. He cured his fish in the following sin- gularly successful manner: He first caught the fish thus affected, and, with a small painters brush or the thumb and finger, removed the fungus, and then with a solution of 18 grains of bichloride of mercury diluted in a 6 ounce bottle, he applied with a camel-hair brush this solution over the parts affected, holding the fish a few seconds before returning them to the water, which was changed daily. The result, he states, is that after one application his fish have entirely recovered, with but a few ezceptiona, which, however, he states have been cured by a second application.' Discretion is not always shown in the planting of fish suited to the waters selected. Carp have been a questionable benefit, black baas in some waters have been far from a blessing, and that splendid game fish, the maskinonge, proves to be a veritable fresh- water shark in some lakes. 'If planted in many of the small inland lakes says Mr. Annin, jr.. Superintendent of N.Y. State Hatcheries) the result will be that perch, pickerel and bass fishing wouM be greatly damaged.' If predacious fish abound, it is useless to attempt stocking wiiu a better class fish. The fry are inevitably exterminated. In Chautauqua Lake.N.Y., the U.S. authorities wisely decided to clean out that vora- cious ganoid, the bill fish {Lepidosteus), and in two seasons over 4.000 of these useless fish were captured in seines, pounds and traps, such extermination being often necessary before stocking begins. For some years the pike-perch or dore (Luciopv.ca or SHzoa- tedton) were hatched at Sandwich and at Ottawa. The first batch, about one million, were hatched in 1881, but partly on account of difficulties in securing ample supplies, this species was, after ten or eleven years, no longer embraced in the government opera- tions. Black bass too, for a time, were hatched at Newcastle, and German carp were also included, for one or two seasons, under the mistaken idea that it would introduce ' into ponds and waters (to quote Mr. S. Wihnot's report) now depleted a highly es- teemed description of food fish hitherto unknown in our country.' A thousand young carp were, with the late Prof. Baird's consent, brought from Washington to Newcastle in December, 1880. Some were planted in ponds in Manitoba, but apparently without result. Pacific salmor have also been introduced into the waters of the eastern provin- ces. In October, 1874, 20,000 Quinnat or spring salmon eggs were generously donated to the Newcastle hatchery by Prof, Spencer Baird; they h.qtchpd out in December, and were planted in April following. In 1874 a second lot was sent, and in October, 1875 40 .third con.ignment of 80.1K)0 (of which half were sent to Tadouwc H.tchery). .nd in 187« a further batch of 40.000. and in November a further .hipment of 80.(So 0?h« K- 7 '^L?"""""*^, "'."' ^'°^^^ «'^«° ^ »»'« U-S- "thoritii. but theZSu. ap^JJ to be decde^y inconclusive. A fiah. 16 inche. long. wa. deacribed by mT WiliTL bemg captured near the Newcastle hatchery, in 1876. in the creek there and S3 •V^ 1 ^ !!J"^ '?'."' r"** ^- ^*^°*' "«^ J" •«id«J. ' The flrat lot of CaSomS been two years old from the egg.' In July. 1877. feveral more, it said, were taken. The offlo«r in charge of the St. John river hatchery. N.B. Peported in 1888 Tw tull ZLTXr'ZZ"'!? :'^ '""*•''» \^ ^'^'^^ salmrCQlinnltf in' XT. }^ZTL ^^"P*"^*^^ J»"t " «oon aa the fishermen set their nets i spring they i^« unacauaZd' TV^' '"*^ *° *^'?'' P^°""" "P*^'" °* "l='°° ^i^h which the^ th/Zr^w *l ^^',«f''«."»« ^ i°«l"i'«8 and investigations, which resulted in Poni f, J7 ^"^ California salmon, averaging some seven or eight lbs. in weight Con equently they must have been some of identical salmon that were hat;hedTn the SaS' Tn rT \''f''l "^ P"* •"*<' *^« St. John river, four yJ.ra ago las! tISfs ttche^ '"'^ ^'■""' ''''• ""•'^ ^"""^ C«"^°"'^" -1^°° had been fent to «^Ji\'r"anLir>'" grievously disappointing; on r7her hand S.ey ha- exceeded all anticipations. Ihe planting of salmon has had no i«,ult whstevpr Sa^on were whoUy absent from New Zealand wate«. and in spif^ ofTpLted efforU to establish them, no successful results have vet been spen WiX V, ,P^,~** ^r"*" moe abundant, and have attained dimensicn. that are almost incredible A 2 Th English trout is considered a fine fish, and a i hames trout wel^bin^iliK rr^mZnl"' '"/ *'"%''" ^""'P'''"*^ ^o NrLSnd'r^f ro'm'Vlbs TlS Iba. commonly, and examples are not rare weiehinir 25 to 97 ih. t-iT i I- ^ Pacific salmon has had no r.ults practical in reaste^n wa^ o^ hifl^ K' Nor « there dear evidence of tangible results of attempts for oveV 30 yeirs to «2l . ^ew^Slt^L?;;^^^^^^ that particular waa related to me last autumn at Sandwich Then enga^ n nro^urin^ I^n?th:T^' ^ ''' «ff-V'"^" ^'"^ ^"^^-« several Sundfhfd Ln caught during the summer in he Detroit river, strongly resembling a salmon trout but brighter m cobur and longer, and more symmetrical in shfpe. Th.^s d«cr ption would very well answer that of the true salmon, but in the absence oflrT^ZT- spection of this speci.nen it must only end in c;niect„re iioT£^^L^Tr^^^^ in several of the papers that a specimen of the salmon tribe had be^ caZt durtf the pas year in the American waters of Lake Huron, and forward^ to P?of Ba7 d of the Smithsoman Institute, who pronounced it to be a smolt of the true SalmosZr It would be most gratifying to have close research made into «^is suWecfw Within the last four or five years rumours have been repeatedly circulated tbat Pacific salmon also have been captured by Canadian and U.S fishe^en'n the wtt em waters referred to. Many of these specimens have been pronTnced to beThe steelhead salmon, the only true Pacific salmon (Salmo gairdneri) as 3 sr^jl l^A quinnat, sockeye, and rainbow trout, as well as the Atlantic speci;, ha^ bX^^lantH for many years. Most of the specimens were reported to have rich orim«7n . i !; flesh, very tender and palatable; but Pacific salLn 'and tr7ut hjJing d'p coZ^ 41 flMh. OMDot be de^ribed u either tender or palauble; they >re on the contrary dry and inaipid, but improve in flavour and texture when canned and over-cooked. The •PMiea on the Pacific coast which are really tender and palatable, are very pale in the flceb, and frequently quite white. It ia probable that theK atray specimeni ar<9 really rerananU of 'planta' of At- lantic aalmon. Lobeter hatching had been tried in Norway by Capt. Dannevi« aa early aa 1886, and three ywira later Mr. Adolph Nielaon commenced operations in Newfoundland! Ihe United Statea also operated an artificial lobeter hatchery. A fine building, 76 feet by 86 feet broad, was erected at Caribou harbour, near Pictou, N.S., and began work m 1891. A duplex pump and twenty horse-power steam engine, draws salt water from the bay, and a wharf running out to 20 feet depth of water, enablea tugs to oome alongside with auppUea of lobster eggs obtained by the hatchery officers at the can- nenej. The eggt, it may be mentioned, are carried attached to the swimmereU in bunchM. under the body of the female lobster. Ripe and well-developed eggs are edeeted, and are known by their paler colour as compared with the deep green or black of the newly extruded eggs. With a spoon, the hatchery operator scrapes off most of the eggs, leaving some still adhering, including some that are unavoidably crushed or burst. Having visited several of the lobeter canneries, and picked out egg-bearing iobttters aufflcient to give him an adequate supply— the lobsters, of course, being alive and newly brought in from the trapping grounds— the operator at onoo conveys the eggs in buckets on board a tug to the hatchery, places them in upright jaw or vaaea, slightly wider than whitefish jars, where they are kept rolling about by rapidly circulating sea water until they hatch. At a temperature of 60° or 88'F they may hatoh out in 24 hours; but they frequently take fourteen or fifteen days if the temperature ia lower and the eggs are not advanced in development. At a tem- perature of 40 or eO'F. lobster eggs take many months for the incubation process, but so favourable are the conditiona at the Bay View hatchery. Caribou harbour; that the annual operations are frequently over in five or six weeks in May or June. The young fry like little active shrimps, swimming head foremost in contrast to the adult lobster, are so fiercely cannibalistic that they must be planted at once. They are conveyed in barrels on board a tug. each barrel having a square lid cut out, at the side which is uppermost, for aeration, and the young lobsters are lift«-d by scoops or dippers, and scattered in the surface waters 3 to 10 miles from land. The method of scattenng them by means of a hose pipe at the stem of the tug was not succesaful, the delicate fry being injured. Lobster fry are never found close inshore, but are pelagic in habit, and frequent the surface of the sea many miles from land. The methods in vogue at the Canadian lobeter hatcheries* appear admirable, and should ensure in due time, beneficial results for the lobster fisheries along te Atlantic coast Another effort to increase the supply of lobeters on the Atlantic coast has been a matter of experiment for three years at Fourchu on the Cape Breton coast The lobster commission, 1S98. had in their report (p. 33) favoured the reservation of lagoons where seed lobsters might be imiwundcd. after purchase from the fishermen or the canneries, and liberated when the close season commenced. In 1903, the department arranged with l^r. H. E. Baker, the well-known lobster packer, to have an experiment made, and an inclosure 380 feet by 167 feet, divided into smaller pounds waa secured on the south side of Fourchu harbour. The bottom consists of gravel, sand and rock while through the walls 9 feet high, small apertures. 1 or 2 inches diameter, permit the ingress and outflow of abundant sea-water. Fifty thousand lobetere bearing etm have been purchased and placed in these ponds and fed every third day upon chopped herring. After being impounded in May. June and July, they were replaced in lAe sea one and a half to two miles from shore. It is estimated that nearly a thousand * Five lobster hatcheries are Id operation In Canada, y|z. . pictou fan.n v o afc« and Shippegan, N.B., and Charlottetown, P.E.I, "ciou. canso, M.S., Shemogue miUioM of youof lobaten would U hatebMl out ffom tbw* 'UrrUd' /asAk ^ o **!.•" ***'f** *''"'** otherwii. h»y bMn oanned, and their egfi and fry da^ troyed. Such t mathod iDfoWea a aariout aspcnditure eapecially if it b« extended to aU parte of the ooaat; but of iti effeotiveneM there can be no doubt. Mr. Baker haa adopted the method of confining lobater fry in a floaUng inoloeurt in which a ma- ohamcal arrangemant ketpa the water actiTaly mofing at previoualy triad by loma U.S. axparta. For the aaka of eleameaa a brief aummary of acme of the featurea of fiah-cuUur* in Canada may be referred to in a concluding paragraph :— (1) Fish of tupreme commercial importance are mainly hatched, hence ipwiiaa. which are chiefly Talued for aport only, hare a aubordinate place in Dominion flth-cul- ture. (9) Eggi, the hatohing of which ia difficult or hazardoua, e.g. maakinonge atur- gMna. *c.. are not included. Baaulta, commenaurate with the expandittira of publi« mon^, are problematical in the cate of auch apeciea. /!x f*/"' ■■ P***."**'" ■" P*"n* ^'^ aw returned alire to the wi ter after spawning. (4) Salmon art impounded in tidM ponda for many montha prior to the breeding period in tlie fall. Ihey ceaae to feed on entering the mouths of rivera. and the sea water keepa them free from fungua and diaease. Lake trout and whitefish also, are kept in pena or pounda for a few days before being artificially spawned, while black baaa are kept in nesting ponds and hatch their young naturally. Lobatert, too. aa in Cape Breton, are kept in reUining ponds. (5) Fry are distributed gratia on the applications bting officially approved, and the government bears the expense, wholly or partially, of shipment and planting. (8) Lastly the fry are all practically shipped in the recently hatch l condition (three days to three weeks old). This is unavoidable when va^t quantities, tens of mil- hona, are handled. Retention of the fry would involve great expense and serious lou oy deatb, and all the applicationa could not be filled. It is hardly open to dispute that the planting, year after year for ov« 30 years. 2:.^T •.°'"°^'! of young fry of valuable economic fishes muat have vutly bene- fited the waters of the Dominion. The hatching of cod. mackerel and other marine fishes has not so far been attempted "L-fi'°', • . ^ '^'^ "^^ ^'^ °^ ^^'^^ *^'^^ »" °°* ■» favourable for the methoda of artificial culture, and the vast numbers produced by each spawning female (a aingle cod shedding 9 to 10 millions of eggs each season), the extremely delicate pelagic char- ^Vi *^?"'/?u *^" '"*''"y °^ •'""*"'"« -uccessfuUy the fry, are the reason, which have deterred the government from taking up thia work. The public, frequently, do not realize the conditions neceasary for successful results. Hatch plenty of fish and plant them, w the course too frequently regarded aa neceasary. Not long ago. indeed the view was widely circulated that a great «.lmon canning industry might be created in Prince Edward Island, parallel to that on the British Columbia waters, if only the government would plant salmon on a sufficiently large scale «n^ filhf chief resource, of Prince Edward Island,' said on^ authority ' are agriculture and fishing Our inland fisheries have hitherto been neglected. Bu» with our bay? rivers and lakea teeming with aalmon and trout, the resources of our province would be matena^y increased. There i. no reaaon why salmon canning cannot be sul^- fully earned on in thi. province. British Columbia ia reaping a fortune from^ induatiT. And it is an undisputed fact that our waters, too, ai« adapted for the thriv. ng of the salmon if proper steps were taken to foster the industry. Our provincial laws for the regulation of fishing should be improved. Hundred- of thouaanda of Sal- mon fry have already been deposited in Vernon river, Murray river, Morrell river. Wheatley river Naufrage river, and in streams in the vicinity of Kensington and Cape 1 reverse. And all thia is but a stepping stone to the development of an industry which might give employment to hundr«ls of our people and rich returns to the province.' Thi.. WM much too s.Dtn>iM M outlook. rU. culture might, in tim«. h«lp th« frnh Uh tMc. in Mlmon «d trout, but it i. •Itog.th.r too much to •» <^ that it c« Su^ S !? f«;»« "ything to ke^ up th. .uppll« of fi.h in our wlmon rirer.. our greft It! -Tl J*** ••*'""'• '.* '• '*'"^* """*'• ^y intwduoing we.t«m .pecic^ into ewt- th. il imiUbl. ocMn, opon to all the ftihing fleet, of the world, to be recupwated brth. unaaaiited methoda of Nature heraelf. «cup«ated by tb« 44 zzz. THE SCOTTISH HERRING CURING SCHEME, 1905. By John J. Cowie, Lossiemouth, Scotland. With Explanatory Preface By Professor E. E. Prince. Dominion Commissioner of FUheries, Ottawa. PREFACE. In an article which I contributed to the Pacifie Fisherman, January. 1006 on the S. IvoZ? T? *?f P""'^*"' fJ>°"W -^ot put "P « large a pack of the b^herriS nLfwS' ^ . y^l«'« «™ good reasons, as any one who has knowledge of the great herring industries of other countries is well aware though unfortunately his criticism was well-founded, when he said — Our Mh are put up in a most shameful way. Most of the fishermen use more salt than IS needed. One object is to cheat; the other is careless neglect. The fisHeTain TV. l°"i °J *^^ ^^"^^ ^'^°'^ *^«y ^^ ''^ *« «alt that it is impossible to cure them STn u^l:™'^v " *" *'?,l"™^ ^'« ^"" °^ «»'^' -''''« the same pri^asThe Jod For that reason the fisherman is careless. We put up a lot of fish last year (ISsIwel cleaned, washed, good and sweet, 100 lbs. in each half barrel, with half a bushel of sal ?n fa^^t °th Vr'"^ ' ''"'' " ^'"'^ '""'^ *°' *^^°» '^''^ those who putTbad Sh! In fact, the fisherman ,s not encouraged. The fish merchant buys of tfie fireman £ arge packages; then he re-packs into half barrels, making a gain in quantS^d To the consumer is cheated right and left.* quantity, and lo .r^A ^^«.'«P"tation of Scottish, Norwegian and Dutoh herring has only been secured and retained by a scrupulous adherence to certain rules, neglect of which wo^diT are cleaned and cured on shore, only about one in one hundred barrels being curK board vessels, and then chiefly when the vessels are fishing in sheltered inlets orTochs •Report of Dep. of Mar. and Fi»h. (Fisheries) 1889 Part IV. p. 45 along the shore, while of the total catch of herring the returns show that over 80 per cent are put up as pjekled herring, only about 3 per cent being prepared as split and smoked or 'kippered' hernng about 1 per cent being packed in tins or canned, while only i per cent were sold as bloaters or as ' red herring ' the ^orlfrt-'^^""^,*" ^^l'l'*f^'*°* ^'"^^ of h""ng recognized in the markets of }»1ZZ ^i special report last year. Under the system of official inspection and SST'rr *° fj°* ""*^.«^'' ^'«ff«»t *?"des or qualities of cured herring are rZ^^ ■^f^ T f T^^Tl "' °"'*^"'' ^^'"^ -« ^«*' ^«^" fl"^°"red fish, having the tW is °"* jf f ^P«^.' l'""*^ ♦»?« highest prices in the coveted Russian markets. I nr!vi*^ ^/ • ''T^ !f ^?* '''''°"°*^- '^^^ ^""«n «"^ A'^t""" "larkets have JjfjT'^f iu '""'*' *'^'''^' ?"'*^' ^"•^"'' <^""" h«"'°»- On the average probably consist nf'f II f "T"' ^"'-'l! H''"°« P"""^ "^""^'^^^ «^ '"«tjes.' while one-third consists of 'fulls, or herring with the roe and milt very large, only one-third of the pack are mat full '; about one-twelfth is of the special grade branded ' La full.' whei^ as about one-fifth are spent ' or the inferior spawnwl herring. Of course the propor- tion varies /rom year to year and there has been a notable increase in the quantity of barrels of hernng not bearing the government brand. But whether branded or not. the demand for herring of good quality properly cured and packed is increasing and in most seasons is tar in excess of the supply. W«^'!,?^^"°'a*^^' ^""'^I^'"-' '" P'^f*'"-*^^ i" «""e of the markets as. for instance, the VVest Indies. A large trade is carrK^l on in lean fish ' reported one of the department's experienced inspectors (Mr Ilockin) some year. ago. ' which being devoid of fat. keep well m hot climates, and the fat July herring are not sold for the same trade. WhUe t^SaXr.TNoTfiTh?'^' ''' '"" '^' "■°"''^ "^ '^''''' '"^^"°'' '^ '^' ^- '^ p"- Mr. Cowie and his staff have now put up all the various classes or grades of her- on"fhrmX "i ?' '""^' L"^''"*" ''"'""^'''" ^'^^ ^'^'^'^ '^''^' ha^^been placed The 1^' nbLt AY' ^T"^ 't' 'T'7^ °^ '^' ^''' authorities on this continent. Ihe main object of the scheme has therefore been abundantly fulfilled. It has been proved beyond question that Canadian herring, handle,! and cured according to the best Scotch methods are not interior to the fish taken off the British coasts and! indeed have gained the hrst place in the best markets of the world. The herring wer^ maini; caught by the Steam Drifter No. 3.3. purcha.e.1 by the government for the purpose of ths scheme bu a proportion of the fish were bought from fishermen (abou't 200 barrefs) honlhtS "" rwfi* \'*f^ '""' "* '''"^- ^''^ '^''^ difficulties with the locally a^7i!, ^r"'/ ^'''T Y 'u".'''*^^"' "' " ^"'^' '"«^'y ^^"■°^-^'i ^y <>"«le«« handling! and were often too long before being placed in the hamls of the staff. The Xova Scotia 'Zw- hrh H " 5f «» Pf '« obtainable. As a rule they sell for more t^au nf ' ^.Ik^ the demand for the latter is vastly larger and more general. The barrels N S '„1P r ^^ "^ ^"~'';^ ^l '^^ ^'^ ^'"'''^ "••"^ ^«"- them. They were the first ?;«;«/ herring cured in the Scotch waj that had ever been placed on the United States markets and they created a most favourable impression and brought the follow- C$4.25 to $5 per half barrel) ; and • medium full ' and small realized $8 per barrel. H.-.„ i • ^^ lesson has been given; the aim of the experiment, to prove that Cana- dian herring are equal to any other herring in the worid, and will bring the highest market prices, has been achieved, and the result has exceeded the most sanguine hopes nLlr 7 initiated and support..d the experiment. As the government official r«- ponsible for recommending arranging and supervising tlie scheme, I confess that my W«r ^^!!' "? heen realized. I felt that if Canadian cur«i herring have ranked ZTr ?t "Zl- "" ^^^.^'''^ ""''"*« *^« ^«"^* l«y' »ot ^ith the fish, but with the methods of handling, cunng and packing them. It remains now to apply the lesson taught by the experiment and to circulate as widely as possible full instructions to the £« rr "". t5'"p°" ^'^ '^^ i*'""*''' ""'^ P^^'fi'^ ™«^'«- The herring put up by the staff under Mr. Cowie on the B.C. coast surprised all qualified judges by their 4t splendid qualities. It is necessary therefore that in addition to printed instructions there should be brief practical lessons by the staff at as many points as possible on' both coasts. Thus the fishing population and the curing firms may be, without loss of time, induced to cure herring which has realized not 75c. to $2 per half barrel, but $6 to $6. Our herring fishermen would find their earnings rapidly increase if the cured herring of Canada were thus improved by the methods adopted by Mr. Cowie. It is stated, on authority, that the earnings of the fishermen from Mr. Cowie's own town, Lossiemouth, in Scotland, exceeded $2,000 for each crew during the short herring season on the Eng- lish coast, after their own Scottish fishery was over. On tho Pacific coast the greatest interest has been aroused and a leading B. C. journal, cnlliiitr attention to the presence at Xanaimo of the Scottish staff said: — ■ An industrial movement of prime magnitude in connection with the exploitation of the wonderful resources of this magnificent province is now in progress at Nanaimo, where Mr. Cowie, the Scottish herring expert, assisted by some lassies from Auld Scotia, skilled in the art of handling fish, is giving demonstrations of what may be done in the matter of improved methods in packing and curing. With the knowledge that the an- nual • run ' of herrings in Xanaimo harbour and vicinity is of tremendoifs size, and the fish of prime quality, it will be readily seen that with the adoption of improved methods in packing and handling the fish, a great industry will be launched, one, in fact, which will be only of slightly lesser importance than the salmon canning industry. A great market for herring in its cured form exists in Germany, France and Russia, not to mention the prowing markets in Australia and the Orient; and if it can be de- monstrated that the Xanaimo herring can be cured in as attractive a fashion as the Nova Scotia variety, it would appear that birth will be given very shortly to another very important provincial industry.' Indeed the packing of Scottish cured herring on the B. C. coast has been so rapidly advanced that the Xanaimo Fisheries Co. recently shipped 150 barrels to the eastern states, upon which a local newspaper remarks : — ' In a few days now Xanaimo herring will be tickling the palates of the connois- seurs in the aesthetic homes of Xew York. To-day the Xanaimo Fisheries Company shipped a carload of its famous pickled herring to the metropolis. The fish, some 150 barrels in all, or approximately 60,000 pounds, is being taken by the steamer liquid to Vancouver to be loaded on train there. The shipment is the famous Scottish brand, put out by this company and which, although it has only been in the market a short time, is being much sought after, and commands a v^ry good price. The firm originally put up the Viking and the Thistle brdnd?, but it was found that the Viking brand was put up by a Xew York firm also, and that the Thistle brand was the name of a brand iirtpared by a Scottish firm. The brands that they have adopted now are the Sea King, and the Scottish brand mark, which was designed by expert Cowie, when he was here. It speaks well for the standard of the fish as prepared by this Xanaimo company when they can ship clear to the Atlantic coast and in point of quality compete with Atlantic herring.' The details of Mr. Cowie's season's work are given in his report which follows these remarks; but it may be stated that owing to a slight break -down on the liner, on which the staff sailed to Halifax, that city was not reached until May IT. About a week later the steam drifter was in full oreration taking on May 25 her first catch of 40 barrels of herring at Canso. From that date until July 12, the staff were at work at Canso. On July 15 preparations wi re made to move to western Nova Scotia, and on August 1 the nets were put into the water off Clark's harbour, and catches of ' full ' herring were made until the end of the month. On August 14, the steam drifter No. 33 went to Clark's harbour, where part of the staff, including three of the Scottish girls and Mr. Wm. McBean, of Halifax, formerly of Aberdeen, was temporarily authorized to super- 47 vise the work. On September 13. Jlr. Cowie, Mr. Cumming, the cooper, and three of the girls attended the annual Halifax exhibition, and demonstrated to large crowds the Scotch mode of handling and curing lierring. On October 25, the same staff. Mr. Cowie, the cooper, and three girla, left Yarmouth for British Columbia, and early in Novem- ber were busily engnged with the curing of B. C. herring nt Xanaimo. Two firms were already making trial efforts to put up a .superior class of cured herring, and Mr. Cowie received much aid and encoura^rfment in the course of his experimental pack, and a number of capitalists and interested persons connected with the fisheries watched with interest the details of the work, as it proceeded in the curing sheds on the Nanaimo whiirfs. I'iie Nova Scotia hcrriiij,' were dodnrod l\v the experienced representiitive of the N.Y. Fishing Gazette to be ' firm, fat ^nd a good colour, with the peculiar sheen of the Scottish pack, well-graded and uniform.' The British Columbia herring handled by Mr. Cowie at Nanaimo were also of most excellent character being, as he points out, * of the " full " variety, equal to the " full " grade of the Atlantic coast, and not exceed- ing 11 inches long.' On the Pacific coaat the herring industry is not scattered as on the Atlantic coast, but centres at certain important points. This is an immense advantage, and facilitates the success of such an experiment as that in Mr. Cowie's charge. Fur- ther, the fishermen, unlike the Maritime Province men. confine themselves to actual herring fishing. In Scotland and in Norway the fishermen devote their time to cap- turing the fish and delivering them to the curing staffs on shore, and if this system is carried out on all our coasts the herring industry will assume the character of this great fishery in other countrits. To be landed in the best and most satisfactory con- ditions for curing, speed and care are necessary. Some of the herring brought to Mr. < owie, as he points out, were not landed in a satisfactory conditic , ' many of the fish were landed minus scales thereby losing that silvery sheen which they should have even after they are cured.' Systematic curing on shore not by fishermen, but by curing firms, employing qua- lified gutters,' ' curers ', ' packers ' and ' coopers ' will ensure the necessary care and skill, and secure ready sale for Canadian herring in the best markets. The processes of cleaning, salting and packing cannot be done by inexperienced persons. The proces- ses, as Mr. Cowie states, are : first salting when the fish are brought in fresh from the fohing grounds: gutting or nnioval of the 'gib' and part of the entrails; grading the fish; rousing; packing in neat tiers in barrels; dating or branding; first filling- second filing up; repickling. The quality of salt and the right quantity and proper mode of salting are fully referred to in Mr. Cowie's report. If the e-xperiment carried out under government auspices, with signal success, acta as a stimulant to firms engage 1 in the fishing industry to raise the standard of Cana- dian pickled herrini,' it will have achieved more th.i;i can be estimated. Over one hundred years ago a Scottish author said:— ' From the irregular manner of curing herrings at that time on the Scottish coast, no progress of any importance had hitherto been made. Although abundance of fish might have been caught, the ignor.ince or dishonesty of curers in preparing inferior fish, put up in unfit, inferior packages, with inferior salt, preventetl herrings from being received with favour either at home or abroad. ' At that time Scotch herring were generally cured by the fishermen themselves, and that being the case, it could not be expected that the work would be well done.' There are, of course, special conditions in different markets which cannot be Ignored by herring curing firms. As already pointed out, the West Indies have de- manded a cured lean or ' poor ' fish, owing to its superior keeping qualities as com- pared with cured fat herring. In some cases the description of package adopted is important. The Mexican market, one very accessible to Canadians, requires fish to be put up, not in large barrels, but in quarter barrels, or even in small kits. For these small packages there is a great and increasing demand. But in such markets as those 48 fUZ >"•'' ''"4?'«"°"' the demand is. above .11, for the best Scotch-cured herring thnwrSsnal'ed:-""*^ ^^"""-'^> ^"^^ '"»--« ''"-cities were im^JteSTt! New York. Bo.ton. Herring from Great Britain ssSi) lU.UT 164.So S J^'.^-f- "«.''24 2.974 28 660 l.OlO S„'?"? '^•''^ 21.256 8.000 438 ^"^^ ^«'*'» 108.955 2.682 328.300 2 954 a sta\'„83a7t'nL*^r?"''^1.*^ •* '".P™^^ "'''^'^' ^«^« «^'«° ^«"«dian herring a status equal to the best cured herring in the markete; but the whole hi^torr nf til tiTcurdtLrAsrir'' 'v'-. -'"r-^-^^-. -'".? °K '"''> i°"i»««-"^ iP'o^nt. or dishonest cur « ^ So It TV II mevitably be ,n Canada, and it is open to our fishing population to excel in this great and remunerative industry population to excel E. E. PRINCE, Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries. THE SCOTTISH HERRING CURING EXPERIMENT IN CANADA. 1906. By Mb. J. J. Cowie, Lossiemouth. Scotland. n,„inA?'V^^ ^°"°"'' *?.^"''™'t "ny '^P""^* "Pon the operations of the Scottish herring curing staff, under my charge during the past season. Following up the initial ei"?? Tnd o,frf r'*^- ^'' *'■' ^^•^P"t'".«"t °f M''"'>e and Fisheries. ?he work S captSg and curing herring was not restricted to one portion of the coast but was extendpH fn include other areas on both the Atlantic and Pacific coaats of cladl !":« tLtel^ }>«rhm!!f' v'^^'e^'T •'°T^,°'=^<1 « Canso and continued at Yarmouth and Clark's harbour. Nova Scotia, and Xanaimo, British Columbia. Mav 7 v'^fllh^K''*'?? °^ '^'1 ^'^^'^'^' °^^ <=°0Per and six girU, left Scotland on ^!!*\: ^'"^^'/'''"kd^wn in the machinery of the steamer on which the staff sailed was the cause of some delay at Glasgow tiU repairs could be effected ' to put th^drTf^^/'Tt"! °T.^"^^."' *"d Canso on the 19th, and steps at once taken L'cuyngonlw *'''^''" "^° '^'"^ °"^"' «°^ *" ^«- ^'^-^ - -diness *v. ^'^ addition to the three fishermen from Scotland, an engineer a fireman nnH s:*?dS,?",rsS!'"™'' "'" '-""^ " '^•"»' "•«■■ » ""V'-T^wt All the necessary preparations having been comoleted » Btarf «,«. ™ j * .t. StT. 7SC ^" "■ "^ '^^ -""•' "» ■"'"S'^^llt -pot ^S^IS Operations were continued at Canso, from that date until Ji.ly 12 Ihe fishing grounds tried being those from 10 to 40 mil*, ^a Ji from Isaac's harbour, N.S.. to Louisburg ^B *^ °*'"*' "°^''«^ The highest single night's catch at Canso was 84 barrels and the total 166 to W di.p.«i „, ,„, b.i, ,«'l„ne„w;r..Tw.l &h:™,"" "' ' "°'" "" "'-' '■•'' The C.„so „.„„ . „.„ well r«ci,ed i, Ihe New York m.rket U,t ,e„, .„d U» reputation they then gained hag been more than maintained thia year, for, as you will obaerre, by the account aales, the first consignment sold for $7 per half barrel, and the next at $7.60. The following is a report by Messrs. Woodward & Son, herring merchants. New York, on receipt of the first consignment of Nova Scotia ' matjes ' for 1906 :— ' We have to report to you on first consignment of 26 half barrels of matje herring. They look to us to be very well packed, and we do not see how any improvement could be made on the cure or the pack. ' We are endeavouring to sell these to a number of our customers as we want the general trade to become acquainted with them. We are trying to get $7 a half barrel for them, but we may possibly have to take less. The only fault the trade finds with them, is that the packages do not seem to be quite so full as they might be. One or two of the buyers expressed themselves as being afraid that they would get soft on the bellies, but we ourselves do not see how you could have improved very much on the pack or on the cure, and we call them a choice parcel. The entire trade generally are much prejudiced against any herrings that are cured in Nova Scotia in the Scotch way. We want to overcome this prejudice and for this reason we want to have enough of the buyers have your goods, as we feel sanguine that they will give satisfaction.' The prices obtained, namely: $7 to $7.50 per half barrel, and the requests made for more of those ' matjes ' abundantly prove that the trade is satisfied with the quality, and wants &ah ^f that character. 3y the enu of July the demand for ' matje ' herring practically ceases, after which time the more keepable ' full ' herring is in demand. The ' matje ' herring is a fat herring having no milt or roe. * Full ' herring ai« herring in good condition, though not very fat, with the milt or roe almost fully de- veloped. It was decided therefore to move tho staff to a point on the Bay of Fundy, where I was assured ' full ' herring could be got in abundance. After making all due in- quiries when visiting the spot, I concluded that Yarmouth, with its central poeition and its facilities for shipping to the United States, would make the best headquarters for operating from on that part of the coast, with a branch at Clark's harbour. On July 16, I therefore made a start to move the curing stock and fishing gear from Canso to Yarmouth, two trips of the drifter being necessary to accomplish this, and by the end of the month the whole staff and outfit were in order for work at Yarmouth. To take charge of the work at Clark's harbour I employed, with your permission, Mr, McBean, a Scotch cooper, who happened to be in Hal. at this time. He arrived in Yarmouth on August 4, and after receiving inat. .'tion proceeded to Clark's harbour next day. As the staflF of girls was now to be divided, and to cope with the expected in- creased work at Yarmouth, I also added to the staff the Scotch woman who remained in Canso last year. I further engaged a pilot belonging to Clark's harbcur to insure the safe navigation of tho steam drifter amongst the fogs of the Bay of Fundy. On Augrust 14 I sent the drifter to Clark's harbour with three of the girls and a supply of barrels and salt, retaining four at Yarmouth. A continuous week of fog had prevented me from sending them along sooner. On the night of August 1, the nets were put in these waters for the first time, and next day 24 barrels were landed. Part of this catch consisted of small fish, but the very next day 10 barrels of very fine ' full ' herring were landed, and on August 8 another 20 barrels of the same quality were got. There was then a scarcity of fish until August 24. when another 20 barrels were caught, and again on August 29 another 12 barrels, after which only small lota were landed, making in all 100 barrels. M All through the season on this part of the coast, operations were considerably hampered by the occasional dense fogs, for which the Bay of Fundy ia famous, and also by harassing hordes of dog-tish, not to mention sharks, 14 of which were tangled np in the nets one night. The fishing was all done on the off-shore grounds at n distance of from 16 to 30 miles. After September 1, the herring seemed to move very close in amongst the rocks, and into places where it was impossible to drift with a large vessel, so that tho local fishermen began now to get herring in fair quantities. It nmst be pointed out, however, that these herring when they move in to tha shore, are seeking the shallow waters to spawn, and by this time, have the roe and milt in a pretty ripe condition, which deteriorates the quality of the fiah very much indeed. For the purpose of augnientinB the catches of the drifter you instructed me to purchase the herring catches of the local fishermen, and out of 20 boats I managed to secure 186 barrels between the two places, during the month of September. I may here mention that the herring received from the local fishermen were not landed in an entirely satisfactory condition. Owing to the want of room in their small boats for the proper handling of their catches, many of the fish were landed minus their scales, thereby losing that silvery sheen which they should have even after they are cured. As was anticipated, the herring caught in and around the Biy of Fundy wore of the ' full ' class, and of the quality then wanted. All the various classes of ' fulls ' recognizpfl by the trade were represented in the catches, namely : — ' Medium full.' ' full,' and ' large full,' that is, herring containing milt or roe, and of not less than 9}, lOJ or Hi inches respectively, as measured from the point of the nose to the tip of the tail. There was also quite a large proportion of the herring over 13 inches in length, and which were designated ' extra large full,' making in all four distinct grades. -r, ,, . Of the total qtiantity of full fish cured W Extra Large Fulls, *% Large Fulls, »2 Fulls, and '% Medium Fulls, were sent to New York, % Fulls to Halifax, 97 kits to Yarmouth, and 200 kits and 5 quarter barrols to Montreal. The prices made in New York were, for ' Ex. Lar. Fulls,' $0 to $10 per barrel, ' Lar. Fulls and FuIIh,' $4.2.5 to $.5 por half barrel, and * ifeilinm Full,'— a very small herring — $X per barrel. The ' Fulls ' in Halifax brought $3 per half barrel on the spot, and m Montreal, $1.50 for quarter barrels and 60e. for kits. In Yarmouth the kits made 60c. and 70c. each. The herring which were packed in kits were ' spent ' fish i.e. herring which had shed the milt or roe. It will be observed that the price obtained for the ' full ' fish is not so great as that received for ' matjes,' but this is also the case with ' fulls ' and matjes sent into the markets from Scotland. The supply of, and the demand for matjes is comparatively limited, whereas the supply of 'full' tish just bofore H>awnins tinw is greater and surer, and the demand almost unlimited, at a figure naturally lower than that given for the less plentiful matje. These being the first Scotch cured Nova Scotia 'fulls' to be placed upon the American market, it is highly gratifying to be able to say that they as well as Nova Scotian ' matjes ' have been well received, and especially so when compared with the price of Scotch cured Newfoundland ' fulls ' in the same market. The following report, taken from the New York Fishing Gazette of September 2 speaks for itself: — ' There has been an arrival the past week in the metropolis of an experimentary consignment of Lar. Full. Scotch cured Nova Scotia herring to the order of a well- known importing firm. In order that there might be no possible misunderstanding re- lative to the landing of these fish, of which so much comment has been made, a repre- 61 ■entative of the ' Gatetie attended the examination made by the consignees, and a well* known expert, from the Hebrew quarter, wag alio present. The statement giren out for publication is as follows : — A careful examination hag been made by us of the sample consi^ment of Scotch cure forwarded us from tho Yarmouth, N.S., fishery staff. Wp previously had received a consignment of ' matjes ' from Cango which made a verj- favourable impression on us and were taken up by the trade at an equivalent parity to that ruling on Shetland fish although they were detected as of Canadian production. We can of course say nothing as to the market on the Lar. FulU. now in question, but the quality of the stock i« excellent. The herring are firm, fat, and of good colour. In the pickle in which they were entered the peculiar sheen of the Scotch pack waa iioticed and the appearance of th« top layers gave a most favourable impreggion. Removing entire staves and hoops after drawing pickle the pack held to formation denoting good care and understanding in barrelling same. The stock was uniform and well graded throughout. The herring should com- mand a good market in the United States if produced according to the sample sent us, but the trade is most particular and the consumer is the only party who can inform us as to whether the goods are acceptable. These people want the best, nothing else suits their requirements and they are willing to pay for just what they get.' In the beginning of September I was instructed to send part of the staff to give demonstrations in herring curing at the Halifax Provincial Exhibition which was to be held from September 13 to 21. 1, accordingly, with Mr. Cumming, cooper, and three of the girls, from Yarmouth, proceeded to Halifax on September 13— a supply of barrels and salt having been pre- viously sent tliere. SuflScient space was reserved in the fisheries building in which the staff demons- trated before large and interested crowds. Some difficulty was experiened in obtaining fresh herring for the purpose of 'gutting and packing,' however, Mr. Boutillier, of Halifax, was able to secure a few for U£ on two occasions. Having anticipated this difficulty I brought along from Yarmouth a few half barrels of herring, already gutted and packed, so that in the event of fresh herring being unobtainable we, at least, could show how the barrek were finally filled up and finished off for market. Aa it turned out, however, we were in a position to show both the process of gutting and packing and that of fiUing up. In the beginning of October it was decided to discontinue operations, as the herring were then spawning and getting into rather an unfit condition for curing. By your inatructions, therefore, the drifter was sent to Canso, there to be utilized in the collection of dog-fish for the government reduction works, and the staff paid off, with the exception of those required for the British Columbia herring curing scheme referred to in the department's fishery report last year, and who were em- ployed in repacking the kits of herring for distribution in Yarmouth and Montreal, till the time of departure for the west. Two of the Scotch fishermen and one of the girls went back to Scotland. The other Scotch fisherman took employment on the drifter at Canso. Two of the girls found husbands and homes in Canso and settled there. On Octolier 25, Mr. Cumming, the Scotch cooper, three girls and myself left Yar- mouth for British Columbia via Montreal and Ottawa, and reached Nanaimo, B.C., on November 4. The system of conducting the herring business on the Pacific coast is altogether different from that on the Atlantic seaboanl. On the Atlantic coast each fisherman cures his own catch of herring, afterwards disposing of them to some local fish mer- chant. On the Pacific the fishermen simply catch the fish and sell them in a fresh state to local curers who have curing places on shore where the curing takes place. The curing firms own boats and n«t« and employ men to do the flahing. There are also a number of independent fishermen, however, fiehing on their own account who, besides selling to the local buyers, send fresh herring direct to Vancouver and New Weetminater each morning by steamer, but in no case do fishermen euro their own herring. On arriving at Nanaimo, B.C., I found only two firms engaged in hemng curing. As the season advanced, however, a ' kipper house,' and a wharf and shed for dry salting herring for the Chinese market, were erected, besides another curing place under construction for a Fraser river firm. Herring were reported plentiful outside the harbour at Nanaimo about the be- ginning of November, but it was the middle of the month before they were got in- side, and even then only on occasional nighta. Herring in phenomenally large quantities come right into the harbour about the end of November, and stay there for some months. It seeme, however, that their movements during the latter hnlf of November are somewhat erratic. They will come into the harbour quite plentifully for a night and then disappear for a few nights in succession, coming and going in this way until hey finally come in to stay about the end of the month, although their flitting out aud in has been known to continue tul near Christmas. * v l The herring caught at Nanaimo are of the ' full ' variety, the largeet of which are equal to the ' full ' grade of the Atlantic and never exceed 11 inches in length. When herring began to come in fair quantities the local curing establishments were visited by the staff, where practical lessons in gutting, packing, salting and fillintf up, were given to the staffs of the local curcrs, each day on which herring were to be " The Scotch staff filled, in all, 32 barrels and 234 half barrels, in their demonstra- tions of the Scotch method. ,,.,.« * i- An cTtraordinarv amount of interest was shown in the work of th« staff, not only by Nannimo people, but by represpntatives of most of the salmon packing companies of the Fraser river as well, some of whom donned overalls and went to work gutting and pnckiuK along with the girls. utj^™. ;„ The members of the Dominion Fisheries Commission who were holding sittinfw in British Columbia, under the chair— nship of Professor Prince, visited the curing sheds with Mr. Sloan. M.P. and Mr. Balph Smith, M.P.. on November 24 and 26. The results of marketing will not, of course, be known for some time yet. Samples are being sent to Australia, New York. Canadi.in Northwest, and the Western Stated. , , „ . . , ^. • ^ j Besides showing the aetunl work of curing, I had the following instructions printed and distributed to all those interested in the industry in Nanaimo and Vancouver:— IXSTRLCTI0S8 FOR CLRIKO HERRING IN THE SCOTTISH STYLE AT NANAIMO, B.C. Fresh fish indispensahle.—ln the first place it is necessary to have herring per- fectly fresh. Sprinkling wUh sali.—Aa the herring are discharged from the boats they should be sprinkled with salt. Gutting— In gutting, the gills and gut must be taken clean away with a sharp knife, cutting just below the two upper fins, and the roe or milt left in the fish. Oradinj/.— There are two marketable grades amongst the herring caug^ in Nanaimo harbour, namely: what are known in Scotland as ' Full ' and ' Medium Full. »3 Itt gnuU.—The fint grade, or ' Full ' herring conaitta of herring of not lesa thaa 10| inches, mrasured f roir the point of the noae to the tip of the tail, and clearly show* ing the milt or roe at the throat when the gut has been extracted. tnd grade. — Tho nwoiul, or ' Mnliiim Full ' herring consists of all herring under lOi inches, but not Icm than 9i inches, as measured from the point of the nose to th* tip of the tail Rousing.— Aa the fish are gutted they nre put into a tub, or any other suitable re- ceptacle, and thoroughly turned over in, and mixed with salt, allowing as much salt to stick to each herring as possible. Kind of tall. — For this purpose, what is known as 2nd Fishery Liverpool salt should be exclusively used. Mode of packing. — After having been thoroughly ' roused ' the herring are then lifted from the ' rousing tub ' and packed in tiers in the barrels. In packing, the fish are placed back down, kept close together, using three herring to stretch across the barrel, one at each side with their heads to the staves and one in the centre. When the tier has been completed, two herring are placed on their sides, over the heads of the herring in the tier, with their tails crossed and their backa next the staves. The whole tier is then salted and the nest tier packed across the one below it and so on until the barrel is packed full, each tier being salted separately. The gutting aad packing takes place simultaneously. Quantity of salt on tiers. — There is no fixed rule for regulating the quantity of salt to be used to each tier. This varies slightly according to the condition of the fish, the market to be cured for, and the length of time the herring are to be kept, and therefore must be necessarily gauged, accurateJy, by experience. A safe guide, however, is to scatter as much salt on each tier as will nearly hide the bellies of the fish in the tier. Kind of salt. — For the purpose of salting the tiers, California salt may be used, but 2nd Fishery Liverpool, is preferable for use on the tiers as well as for ' rousing.' Dating and marking. — As each barrel is given to the packer to be filled, the date of filling, and the grade of fish to be packed, must be written, iu pencil, on the bottom of the barrel, aa for example: — Dec. 1-F. or Dec. 1-M.F., the letter F. denoting that the barrel contains ' Full ' herring packed on December 1, while ' M.F. ' denotes ' Medium Full ' packed on the same date. The necessity for this appears later. 1st filling up. — On the third day after packing, the salt will be found to have dia- solved a little and pickle seen almost up to the top tier. The herring will also have sunk two or three inches in the barrel. On this day each barrel is tilled up to the * croze ' with herring of the same day's pack, a little salt being added to the herring used in filling up, the head put in and made light, and the barrel laid to one aide until the herring pined and matured the stated number of days before the final filling up and preparation for market. Snd filling up. — On the twelfth day, counting from the day of first packing, a bung-hole is made in the side of the barrel, about three inches from the centre, that is, nearest the bottom end, the barrel up-ended and the head taken out. It is necessary to have some distingushing mark, to know the head end of the barrel from the bottom. The bung is then taken out and the pickle drained off as far down as the bung-hole. It will now be found that the barrel will take from two to three more tiers of herring M to complete it. ThU is done by taking herring of the lame day'i pack, and grade, which are readily known by the marka on the bottom, already referred to, andjwcking them aa before until the apace i« filled up, thia time filling the barrel ao that the top tier will be quite fluah with the ' chime ' and laying three herring atraight on their backa, aoroaa the heada of the top tier, instead of two on their aidea aa in the case of the other tiera, after which the head it preaaed in and made perfectly tight, then, aa much of the original pickle aa the barrel will now take is inaerted through the bung-hole. The herring uaed for the final filling up, should be washed in pickle and rery alightly •prinkled with salt, when in the tiers. Repickling.—U the herring have to lie for aome weeks after being finally filled, they should be supplied with pickle about once in two week*. With what haa been aeen of the actual work of the ataff, and by adhering closely to the foregoing instructions, there can be no doubt about the Nanaimo curera carry- ing on herring curing, in future, in an improved and systematic manner. While on the coast, I found that a deep and widespread interest waa being taken in the work of the staff, and due appreciation of the govemment'a action, in sending the staff to British Columbia to giye object-leasons, wag manifested on every hand. On December 11 the stnt! left Nanaimo for the east, reaching Ottawa on December 16, and after being paid off, left next day for Scotland via Halifax. GENERAL BBMARK8. The task of improving the system of herring curing in British Columbia waa found to be an easy one compared to that of introducing the new system on the Atlantic sen- board. This, in the first plate, is owing to the fact that the herring trade of Britiah Colum- bia, at present, centres at Nanaimo. Fishermen gather there from Vancouver and other placea for the season's work. In the second place, because curing was being done on lines somewhat similar to the Scotch system, by merchant curera on shore, who, being in direct touch with the markets, are alive to the nwcssity of exercising that care and skill in curing which will enable them to find larger and more remunerative outlets for the product, and, fur- ther, because a most desirable barrel, made of the best of wood and well hooped, is in general use thert-. The real reason that the industry started out on lines akin to the Scotch, aoon be- comes apparent to the visitor to Nanaimo, during the season. The enterprise in British Columbia is quite a new one, and the fishermen being mostly Scotch, many of whom I knew on the other side of the water, although they know little about curing, have nevertheless given the local curers some idea of how the industry is conducted in Scotland. On the Atlantic coast, on the other hand, a little curing takes place, more or leas, in almost every creek and cove along a coast line of some thousands of milea in extent, in the most deplorable of barrels, by the fishermen who are not in touch with the great cured-herring markets, and do not therefore know how to find an entrance to the best markets. Similar conditions existed in Scotland 80 or 100 years ago. Signs are not wanting now, however, of an inclination on the part of fish mer- chants, on the Atlantic coast, to take up the curing of herring on shore. Fishermen, in the western part of Nova Scotia especially, have expressed to me their desire, time and again, to be relieved of the necessity of curing, so that their time and skill might be devoted more to the catching of the fish. As an example of the increased energy that fishermen would put into herring catch- ing if relieved of the trouble and expense of curing, I may mention that aa soon aa I had ftarted *o imy frmh hfrrinn from the iiiih^rinen of Yannouth and Clark'i har* bour, the metnben nf ono crow were to eager to vet herring that tbejr went to tea on* blowy night, and to loade