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FISH CULTURE _
| NER WE.

NORTH CAROLINA,

x? PREFACE.

In presenting the report of 8. G. Worth I call attention to
section 7 of the Act creating the Department of Agriculture
which charges the Board especially ‘‘ With the supervision of
all measures for the protection, propagation and culture of fish
in the rivers and other inland waters of this State, and to this
end they shall at once provide for stocking all available waters
of the State with the most approved breeds of fishes.”” Though
this Act was not ratified till as late as the 12th day of March,
1877, the services of an expert were secured and a corps of
young men of this State as assistants were stationed on Neuse
river and the hatching of shad began. Prevailing freshets and
diminutive run of shad interfered with full success of the
work.

Since that very great success has been attained not only in
the propagation of shad but also in the propagation and intro-
duction of California salmon, land-locked salmon and brook
trout. For the propagation of the latter varieties a cheap hatch-
ery was built at Swannanoa Gap in Buncombe county, and two
Seasons of winter work have been completed. The results are
embodied in the accompanying report.

Commencing only two years ago without a shad box, distri-
buting can, or the least preparation of the necessary apparatus
used: in fish culture, or without a man in the State who knew
the principles of the work, the people of the State may congrat-
ulate themselves on what has been attained.

I would especially note here that every effort has been official-
ly made to prevail upon the authorities of the State of South
Carolina to enjoin upon their Legislature to enact co-operative
laws that our people might secure a partial benefit from the fish
of streams running from this State into that. I regret to say
that not the first response has ever been made. The salmon

(4)

being more perfectly adapted to the Yadkin, Catawba, Broad
and Green, over 300,000 have been placed in those waters,
Without laws prohibiting permanent obstructions and a whole-
sale destruction of the fish south of our State line, it will be
necessary to discontinue the release of more fish in those streams.

It would not only be foolish to pursue our operations there,
but unfair and unjust. It would be a repetition of the abuses
on the Connecticut river where money was expended by New
Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts and the shad increased
seven times their former number, while the people of Connecti-
cut on the lower waters reaped almost the entire benefits. In
the laws of Virginia they will make an exception of such streams
agsrun into our State unless we remove the obstructions. They
will place no fish into streams running into this State unless ob-
structions to the passage of fish are removed and fish-ways or
other means of crossing dams provided. So I am informed by
the Fish Commissioner of that State.

If proper laws are not enacted by our Legislature toward the
protection of fish it will not and shall not be the fault of the
Board under which I act. In my recent report to the General
Assembly which received the unanimous approval and recom-
mendation of the Board, I entered into the details and offered
such recommendations as seem to embrace all the requirements
to subserve the wants of the people of the State in this interest.
The operations of the last two years have demonstrated the en-
tire practicability of filling to its utmost capacity every stream
in the State. One per cent. of the salmon released in this State
are worth more than our entire out-lay has been, and one per
cent. of the shad released at twenty-five cents apiece would bring
over nine thousand dollars. From one end of this State to the
other streams cover its face like a net-work, evincing the fact
that the fishing interests can be made one of our greatest in-
dustries. Successful demonstration proves that one acre of
water in New]York State is more productive than several acres of
land, hence any future policy in our governmental affairs which
fails to take hold of our natural advantages and restore their

productiveness will fall short of the progressive strides of the
day.

Without depending on the uncertain aid of foreign experts
whose time is elsewhere in demand, we have trained young men
who were born and raised here in our own State who are fitted
for doing all the work within our own borders.

We need friendly and fostering legislation and with the re-
commendations before them it remains for the General Assem-

bly now in session to act.
eck, POLK,

Commissioner of Agriculture.

REPORT.

Hon. L. L. PoLk:

Srr:—In accordance with your request I submit below the
operations in Fish Culture in North Carolina since April 1st,
1878. My immediate presence in the execution of all the work
done since that date, has given me the advantage of innumera-
ble facts which bear directly on the future of this work. But I
have written to you frequently as new points developed, and in
numerous conversations have so fully set forth the needs and
requirements that were pressing. that I will not attempt to en-
ter all of the details in this report. This art is so new that very
few among us have had an opportunity of looking into it suffi-
ciently to know its requirements or to pass judgement on past
o-erations. Hence, I infer, is due the honor your honorable
Board has bestowed on me in leaving the execution and the de-
tails of the work entirely inmy hands. During the past twelve
months, ending the 1st of April 1879, we have released in the
North Carolina waters over three and one-half millions of young
shad, three hundred thousand Qalifornia Salmon, fifteen thous-
and five hundred Land-locked Salmon from Maine, and fifty
thousand Mountain or Brook Trout. All of this was done at an
expense of less than three thousand dollars, and among the ex-
penditures was a sum of not less than five hundred dollars in
permanent structures and hatching and distributing apparatus,
tools, &c., now on hand, including all salaries. This sum
when compared with results will bear favorable comparison with
similar work done any where on the globe. To convey an idea
of the immense returns in fish culture, I will make a statement
which may surprise you. California Salmon attain an average

weight of 20 pounds, and sell readily at twenty-five cents a
pound. If we suppose that ninety-nine per cent of the three
hundred thousand hatched this season are never heard from and

(8)

that the ove per cent which de return attain the average weight
of other waters and bring a price of five cents a pound, the Sal-
mon of the past season a/one will more than pay the expense of
the whole season, including the Shad, Land-locked Salmon and
Trout. The immense losses in the eggs and fry of fish seems to
have been a great foresight of nature in giving to them the
gieatest ova-bearing powers of any of the vertebrate animals. A 40-
pound Salmon produces 30,000 eggs annually; the Yellow Perch
(Raccoon Perch or Red-fin Trout) 20,000 to 30,000; White
fish of the Great Lakes 60,000 to 70,000; Shad 30,000; Carp over
300,000; Mackerel over 500,000; Turbot and Cod about
9,000,000; Sturgeon 7,000,000, and a species of Mullet 13,000,-
000! ‘These figures are from scientists and fish-culturists, and
an annual value of the fish-catch of the world, amounting to
$120,000,000, will convey some idea of the millions and millions
of eggs annually produced irom a mass of fish aggregating so
many millions of dollars. On examination of the nests of the
California Salmon it is found that only eight per cent of the eggs
are impregnated. By the artificial method of impregnation we
secure ninety to ninety-five per cent! After impregnation by
the natural method the eggs are left a prey to enemies of innu-
merable numbers. Shad eggs are exposed three to five days, and
our common pond fishes twenty to thirty, and the Salmon fifty
to seventy. After hatching, these fish are helpless, some a few
days, (shad a week) some for months as in the case of Salmon,
Mountain Trout and fall-spawning fish generally. By the arti-
ficial methods they are not only almost entirely impregnated,
but they are kept in cones, troughs and other vessels, and each
day the dead removed and further communication of fungoid
growth stopped. And when the young are ready to go out they
are conveyed to head streams, where other fish are scarce and
where cold water suppresses the numerous hosts of insects and
crustacenas that abound in the lower and warmer waters. We
can see readily, that few arrive at maturity, when we recall that
one single sturgeon produces seven million eggs and that anum-
ber less than ten thowsand are taken annually in the Cape Fear.
Few realize the value of fish, but a moment of reflection will
show that they cost us nothing, and that by replacing them in

(9)

the waters by aiding their imperfect efforts we restore to our
land at a nominal cost its millions of wealth that our streams
annually bear away to the ocean. Who knows the value of the
constituents of our gliding rivers, and by what means can we
reclaim it? By the*judicious expenditure of a few thousand
dollars annually we can attain it. If our people lcok tlris year
for any return from what has been done, they must remember
that the patient farmer sows his seed and waits till they have
had time to develope and mature. No shad return in one year,
and indeed no roe shad ever returned to fresh water till the
third year.

Long ago fish became scarce as the population of Europe in-
creased and fish culture there is an established thing. Millions
of fry are annually liberated from their hatching houses, and
such judicious laws have been made as to foster and protect
them. In Great Britain a river yielding in 1853 less than 2,000
Salmon was made to produce in 1866 upwards of 20,000. The
Tay then leasing for $48,500 came up in 1866 to $75,000; and in
Ireland in 1866 one thousand tons of Salmon were transported
against almost none ten years previous. In the United States
we find shad now flourishing in the Sacramento river in Califor-
nia, where they were unknown till placed there in 1871. The
first results seen on the Connecticut from artificial propagation
of shad increased the usual catch seven fold. Twenty-five
thousand shad were taken in one locality one morning and the
Northern markets were overstocked and the price of eighteen
dollars per hundred reduced to three! In that river the Sal-
mon had entirely disappeared, but in 1872-73 fry were intro-
duced and since that time sufficient numbers of 12 to 18 pounds
weight have returned to justify increased operations, The
fruits of past work are also being seen on the Delaware, Susque-
hanna and all other streams where the fish have had time to ma-
ture and return. On the Merrimack a dam of 25 feet height
completely cut off the passsage of Salmon to their spawning
grounds, and for thirty years not one was seen, but by introduc-
ing the fry from other streams they have found that upwards of

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one thousand went over the ae on the same dam in the first
year of their return.

Propagation by the sical method is an outgrowth of neces-
sity. A hundred years ago every stream from the St. Johns to
the St. Lawrence teamed with its thousands of shad, To-day
they have become so scarce that we are compelled to resort to
the largest fisheries in the ]and to obtain enough spawn to make
our work profitable. In the absence of any data relative to the
run of shad in our own waters in former days, I will state that
the catch of shad on the Potomac in 1835 was 22.500,000, which
contrasts severely with any season approaching the present. The
alarming decrease in numbers of fish, when brought before the
Congress of the United States and fully impressed, at once led
to the creation of a commission for the purpose of enquiring
into their decrease, and for the institution of measures for their
increase and protection; hence originated the United State
Commission of Fish and Fisheries which has been the great mo-
tive power and educator in this branch ever since. ‘T'wenty-
seven States are now actively engaged in restocking their waters,
and Iam glad to say that with limited means we have made
a very decided beginning in North Carolina in two short years.
With the finest shad fishing grounds in the world, and many
secluded mountain streams yet full of trout we are ful-
ly capable of supplying every county in the State
with as many fish as the people can consume. In view of the
fact that the shad caught in our waters sell in northern mar-
kets before the run of fish has extended into their streams, and
since our,sales there bring double the price of theirs by sup-
plying the early demand, it is very plain to be seen that in re-
stocking our sounds and rivers to ten times their present capac-
ity, we can supply every demand at home and bring into our
State thousands of dollars from abroad. As the truck-farms of
the south are annually reducing the value of like products on
those further north, in supplying the ready demand for early
vegetables and fruits, so will the fisheries of Albemarle sound
and other waters, in like manner reap large cash sums of
money from northern markets if the millions of eggs now an-

(11)

nually wasted on the sein beaches, are only hatched and cared
for.

The taking and hatching of the many millions of eggs ty the
United States Commission last season, was simply saving the
millions, not one of which would otherwise have produced a
fish,

SHAD.

Early in April, in compliance with instructions from you, [
repaired to the Albemarle Sound, with a few assistants to work
in conjunction with the United States Fish Commission, that
of the State of Maryland and that of Virginia. The gathering of
ova which requires a special out-fit in the way of a steam launch
and a number of small boats and an efficient working force
of ten to twenty men, and the hatching of the ova involving a
great variety of equipments and a good working force,.to operate,
were conducted entirely under the auspices of the United States
‘Government and the State of Maryland,

The United States Deputy Commissioner, executing the
work, having an active force of distributing messengers
at command hurriedly pushed all shipments possible, to the
more southern States. He doing general Government work in
which the whole country is alike interested, manifestly did his
duty in making an extended outlay of sevenal millions of shad
while the weather was yet cool. At length when the shad com-
menced spawing in great numbers the young fry accumulated
faster than the United Sates Messengers could get them’ away
and then we were granted the right to take into the intenor of
‘the State all we could. But, young shad, after ten days ofage,
require food, and cannot be safely carried, and further than
this, forty-two hours had to be consumed in making a round
trip to Franklin Virginia, on each shipment—only seventy-five
miles distant. Hence it followed, that the great bulk of fish on
shand had necessarily to be consigned to immediate waters. To
‘get a larger number into more suitable points of release will re-
aquire a standing force of not less than ten men who shall be

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stationed at or near the hatchery ready at the proper moment to
move half a million at a single dash. Ido not call into ques-
tion the wisdom of your Honorable Board in limiting the amount
of expenditures on the coming spring operations; yet in view of
not being able to determine the particular time at which shad
begin to spawn. rst, itisnecessary to station a force on the
sound early enough to loose nothing. Second, since we get fry
for our streams only at intervals when the United States men
cannot move them and when rapid execution is necessary, a
smaller force than ten men would be of little efficient service.
Third, this work requires character, intelligence and willing-
ness to undergo work full of hardship and exposure to weather,
and such material, ought at least to have a reasonable compenss-
tion; and while we placed into North Carolina waters nearly
four million shad ata nominal cost compared with the benefits
to follow, and while we will promptly carry out the designs of
your Hongrable Board in like manner in the work immediately
before us, it is yet a serious matter of regret that we are obliged
to look calmly on at the operations of the United States work
and see annually ten to twenty million shad fry shipped owt of
North Carolina to replete the water of o/her States, when for
two thousand dollars economically applied every one of these
could be turned into the fine headwaters of our own streams.
No State in the world has a better showing to fill all its steams,
than this State has from the immense fisheries on the Albemarle
round. A beginning has there been made in permanent
hatching structures, by the erection of a tank of the very best
quality with cones for hatching the eggs.

MOUNTAIN OR BROOK TROUT.

After earnest entreaty on my part, it was agreed last June

that I should be allowed to collect as cheaply as possible some of
our fine brook trout—yet abundant in our most retired western
streams for spawn taking purposes. Accordingly I spent sever-
al weeks in some of the wildest mountain gorges of the State. In

the more settled portions they have become scarce and some of

ee ee

(13)

the finest procured were carried from the headwaters of Tow
river at the base of Mitchell’s peak directly up the side of the
Blue Ridge within three hundred yards of the Pinnacle. I
was accompanied by a small party and we relieved each other by
turns. These fish we carried on our shoulders four miles up the
Ridge and three miles down accomplishing a trip in ten hours
and thirty minutes. On an average the water was renewed every
seven minutes and when it is remembered that we had to wade
the streams and follow acourse that only men reared in those
mountains could follow, it may well be realized that in conjunc-
tion with the highest summer heat ever known there, that the
undertaking was of a severe nature.

Owing to the streams being “fished out” at so late a season as
July 3rd and fish being scarce, and the high summer heat and
slow transit over the rocky and in many places nearly impassable
roads, I could not get any vastnumber, and of those I did gets
many were lost through the last mentioned agencies. I secured
over 2000 fish, but from deaths from various causes, including
injuries in the brain from the hook, they only numbered 1400
in September. Since then the deaths have ceased. For
the purpose of sorting these I built three cheap ponds for their
accommodation. I began to take ova from these on the 29th
day of October at the Salmon Hatchery at Swannanoa Gap.’ 7
took but ten thousand, when the fish became so wild that they
would no longer enter the spawning races, and Iwas obliged to
stop. It was not advisable to net them owing to the fact that
the Salmon from California were hatched in the house below,
and I deemed it unsafe to stir up the bottom and send down an
epidemic—producing volume of impure gases which had form-
ed from waste meats in feeding the trout previously. I do not
know what number were left in the trout but probably sixty
thousand. Young trout have just hatched from those eggs,
Besides these the 50,000 trout eggs ordered from New
Hampshire a’e now hatched, save 10,000 which became solidly
frozen up in the cold weather from January 2nd to 8th They
are yet on hand at the Hatchery at Swannanoa Gap, being too
young to go into the streams.

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With the knowledge attained this season, which was my first
experience with trout, and with care and feeding the trout
through the spring and summer and increasing their size, at
least 200,000 eggs can be taken from them next fall, while the
salmon are being hatched. If we were to purchase this number
from the north they would not cost less than six hundred dollars~
Farther than this the trout in the ponds will produce a greater
number of eggs each season. Our hatching house building is
of the most inferior quality, but was constructed for experimen-
tal work and has answered all purposes so far; butas nothing
but running branch water is used, its temperature is so reduced
in cold weather as to freeze solid in troughs, house and ponds
without incessant labor right and day while the cold spells pre-
vail. The troughs, reservoir and supply troughs are common
and leaky and,the ice formed eighteen inches thick on our entire
floor, even encroaching on our office, freezing six inches thick and
remaining a month in the bunks made for our sleeping accom-
modation, and within four feet of a stove in which a fire burn-
ed night and day for weeks. I respectfully recommend that we
may havea new building and at a point at which we may get
spring water and be near enough a market to buy necessary
articles without having to pay double their value to get them to
us; also where we can get fish food regularly and cheaply. At at
elevation of 2600 feet we may resonably look for cold weather:
every winter, and the house cannot be carried safely through
another winter of equal severity with the present.

CALIFORNIA SALMON.

On the 8th of Oct.1878, 315,000 California salmon eggs reached
Henry's and I commenced the regular winter season with Mr.
C. J. Huske, of Fayetteville, assisting. On the 9th of October
an additional number of 52,500 of the same eggs came, making
a total of 367,500. These eggs were allotted to North Carolina
by Prof. 8. F. Baird, Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries of the
United States. They are taken annually to the number of five-
to seven millions on ihe McCloud river, California, under in--

(15)

structions from Prof. Baird. His idea has been that this salmon
will ascend our warm Southern streams, and the eggs coming
from the general fund cost us nothing but express charges. —
Last season over two hundred and thirty thousand-were turned
loose in our waters and although this season one crate of 52,500
were almost a total loss from over-heating while en route, the
rest turned out in a most gratifying manner and we released
upwards of 300,000. In the hatching ponds at Swannanoa
Gap I have eight of those hatched last fall, and many were seen
last summer in the streams in which they had been released.
They are six inches long and much more active than the moun-
tain trout. I am reliably informed that a few of this same
variety placed into Dr. D. W. C. Benbow’s pond, near Greens-
boro, in the fall—winter of 1875, measured at two years of age
nineteen inches in length. At that time they had been in fresh
water six months longer than nature provides, and demonstrated
their power to live even in as warm water as our midland streams
afford.

On reference to the report of the Commissioner of Fisheries
of California, of 1877, it will be found that this species has been
converted into a fresh water fish when effectually cut off from
the lower waters, but I am rather inclined to believe it would
do so in our waters in pure, clear mountain streams only. Thus
changed they attained a weight of as much as ten pounds. As
before stated the California salmon attains naturally an average
weight of twenty pounds. The larger ones attain forty, sixty
and sometimes seventy pounds. The young remain in fresh water
about eighteen months and then pass down to the sea. Here
they remain till grown when they return in the fall months to

-spawn. A large number have been seen in Atlantic rivers al-

ready, and if their introduction proves a complete success we
will have at our doors the finest fish in the world. Why it shall
not live here I cannot see. Full three fourths of the plants,
cereals, vegetables and grasses on which man and other animals
live are imported. There isa vast revenue derived from salmon
on rivers where they have not been recklessly destroyed. The
salmon of the Columbia river, Oregon, are yet abundant and
furnished a few seasons back in amounts, canned, thirteen mil-

(16)

lion pounds. I earnestly desire that every measure may be
taken by your honorable Board to protect those now in our
streams, and to allow us to continue the hatching and distribut-
ing of this valuable species each succeeding year. The number
of this variety placed in our waters in the winter season of
1877-78 were two hundred and thirty-four thousand. They
were hatched at the Swannanoa hatchery by Mr. W. F. Page,
of Virginia, who superintended that, our first season in salmon.

LAND-—LOCKED SALMON.

The fifteen thousand five hundred salmon of this name were
brought from the Maryland State hatchery the first week in
April last. They had been hatched at the Druid Hill Hatchery
under the supervision of Maj. 1’. B. Ferguson. Those’who
know the excellent flayor and qualities of this and the California
salmon, will appreciate the character and importance of the
task we have undertaken. The land-locked salmon is not migra-
tory in its habits, but remains exclusively in fresh, clear and
cold waters. ‘ney attain a weight of several pounds and take
both the baited hook and artificial flies. For the head streams
of our rivers taking rise west of Greensboro this fish seems en-
tirely adapted, and I respectfully recommend that more atten-
tion be given it in our future operations. They can be hatched
simultaneously with the California salmon and mountain trout.

FISH THAT OUGHT TO BE FOSTERED.

I would respectfully call attention to the importance of rock
fish and sturgeon, These are native fish and can be made of
immense yalue in the streams of this State.

It may not be generally known that the rock fish remains in
our streams half of the year, they ascend in the fall and remain
till the shad season is past. From what I learn there is no
doubt that their spawn can be obtained in abundance on the
Roanoke river near Weldon. ‘The immense number of eggs
found in sturgeon leads to a positive assurance that we could

——

~~

(17)

increase them to an almest unlimited extent. I do not profess.
any keen relish for them as food, but I have noticed that at the
most successful fisheries in the State, they always were taken off
and sold or eaten on the beach. They subsist by suction, liy-
ing on decayed matter, animal and vegetable, and could exist
by thousands above the present number and not only find an
abundance of food. but would consume that which would not
otherwise be utilized. There are some who regard sturgeon as
a good article of food and others pronounce it a delicacy. Iam
very positive that no article of food is more wholesome and the
oil from them is always utilized and sells for a price that is al-
ways sufficient to insure its being boiled out. In my opinion it
can be made of equal value with any other fish in our waters.
Under this head I will here state that the people of this com—
monwealth are making so many urgent requests for fish for pri—
vate ponds, that it becomes my duty to call the fact to the atten-
tion ofyour Board. Acting under the requirements of the present
law, creating and setting forth the operations of this part of
your Department, it has been conceived to be right, to handle
only such fish as were of greatest commercial value and of great-
est importance to the people at large. That we should not be
enabled to aid in perfecting the efforts of individuals, who have
recently become enlivened to the the importance of enriching
their waters, is a matter of regret. Parties all over the State have
built ponds for this purpose and others who have fine sheets of
water are constantly making application. In view of the fact
that many of the percoid family of fishes already in our waters,
are of fine flavor and respectable size, and could with a moder-
ate sum be propagated at a hatchery in some eastern or midland
county with very great success, I take the liberty of calling
the matter up, hoping that it may receive your commendation
and that of the people, so that when the next General Assembly
convenes we may have our field enlarged and our labors made
profitable in almost every township throughout the State,

(18)

IS THE INTERIOR OF THE STATE ENTITLED TO THE RESULTS OF
THIS WORK ?

In answer to this it may be emphatically said that without our
streams are opened to their sources, and all ‘obstructions to the
passage and destruction of fish removed, they cannot receive,
except in an indirect way any benefit from what we are doing.
To those who occupy the large fisheries in the sounds and lower
rivers and reap the ‘‘Harvest of the Sea” by hundreds of thous-
ands, this question is of greater importance. The decrease, now so
alarmingly apparant is due, more to the obstructions above than
to any other cause. Shad and sturgeon formerly ascended the

Jatawba and Yadkin almost to their head waters. Nature di-

rected them to the pure clear water, where on gravelly bottoms
the eggs would successfully hatch and escape the myriads cf
enemies below. By ma».’s agency they have been cut off and the
result is sadly felt. A general liw requiring all owners of dams
to build a sluice-way over each, aiter a pattern prescribed by
your board is our only hope. Such a m»lel as you suggest can
be made to answer the offices ofits design. Existing laws regu-
lating the construction of fish ways cannot be carried into exe~
cution, and equity preserved. It should be the duty of one in-
dividual to supervise the construction of each way, that experience
in the details may conduce to economy in their construction and
that the water powers may suffer no injurv. In an act re—
quiring the above, there shonld be also the requirement that
these ways should be kept open from February 1st to June 1st,
and at all other times when water is sufficient to allowit. I
would respectfully call your attention to the fish way recently
invented by Col. M. McDonald Fish Commissioner of Vir-
ginia. Itis an unquestionable success, and this, many have
sought after and utterly failed in. As fish naturally go down
stream into deeper watersas winter approaches, the constant and
never-ceasing tendency is to leave above each succeeding year
the puny offspring of fast-growing inferior ancestry.

The dams stand as barriers and destroyers and if the remedy
is not applied our annual supply will necessarily be on the

(19)

diminishing scale. The importnnce of this measure bears on
every inhabitant of the State and cannot be too urgently press-
ed. The labors of this work are for the people and unless the
dams are deprived of their objectionable feature they will be de-
nied that, which we cannot with our powers afford them. Co-
operative laws in South Carolina must be obtained or the in-
habitants of the upper waters of the Yadkin, Catawba, Broad
and Green Rivers will never reap the treasures of those streams.
Unless the laws of that State regulating fishing and the removal
of obstructions are enacted before the results of our work have
become an object, we will never secure them. Over three hun-
dred thousand California salmon have been released in waters
running through that State. It would be a pity to lose all of
them. With such laws and enough funds to run our work on
a legitimate basis we will fill every stream in the State. No
State can boast finer waters, besides the Chowan, Nottoway,
Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear, Yadkin and Catawba, smaller streams
fill up all the gaps between, and inlets and sounds indent a coast
line for hundreds of miles. Go to the Linville, John’s, Swan-
nanoa, Tuckaseege, Nantihala, Pacolet, Green and Broad and
you find waters as pure, clear and limpid as the world affords-
We have now the skill and appliances to restore them to their
former abundance.

In conclusion I will ask you to secure if possible a law pre-
venting the use of explosives in the capture and destruction of
fish in North Carolina waters; also to prevent the destruction
of any of the salmon we have introduced into our waters,
making not the capture but possession the offence. The reasons:
for protecting them are manifest.

Below will be found a table showing what dssposition we
have made of the fish released in the waters of this State. It
includes some work of the United States Fish Commission, and
of Mr. Frank N. Clark and W. F. Page who had charge of the
work during the first two seasons.

I would call to your special attention the earnest and faithful
labors of Chas. J, Huske, Wm. M. Russ and Thomas Taylor
who have shown character, willingness and determination while
aiding in the prosecution of our work.

(20)

‘Special acknowledgments are due to the friends of our depart-
mentiat Henry’s and the Swannanoa Gap without whose cheer-
ful assistance we would not only have been constantly in many
difficulties (which there were numberless) but to them is also
due“the"preservation of half our salmon during the freezing
weather in January. Thanks are also due to Maj. J. W. Wil-
son, President of the Western North Carolina railroad and to
all the officers along the line whose effective aid will be remem-
bered. Also to the officials of the Charlotte & Atlanta Air Line
and of the Spartanburg & Asheville railroad and to Mr. Frank
Coxe of Charlotte. Also to officials of the Raleigh & Gaston
railroad’and of the Wilmington & Weldon railroad, and to the
gentlemen controlling the steamers of the Albemarle Steam
Navigation Company, and to the various railroad officials
throughout the State. In almost every locality into which our
operations have taken us we have met with cordial and enthusi-
astic support from citizens of all classes.

To Dr. W. R. Capehart is due much of our success on the
Albemarle Sound. His efforts to concentrate operations at his
fisheries were supported by his untiring efforts to make our work
a success.

I am respectfully yours,
S. G. WORTH.

APPENDIX.

DISTRIBUTION OF FRY.

SHAD,*

Prior to the establishment of this department, the United
States Fish Commission distributed to our waters, as follows :

May, 1873, Neuse River, ‘ ; ; 43,000
May, 1876, Neuse River, : ; 4 98,000
June, 1876, Catawba River, : : f 72,000

SEASON OF 187"%~'78.

Neuse River, May, 1877, ; ‘ , 134,000
Yadkin River, July, ‘ : ; : : 73,000
Haw uf Ey 26 4 3 i . 70,000
Catawba <“‘ ier 568 : é : 67,000
Contentnea Creek, Bet 1877, : : : > $2,000
Tar River, July, 1877, : : : 50,000
Nottoway River, een 11th, 1878, : wll ooe
Roanoke “ ya a ier ; ' 139,000
Neuse ne Geral ahi: s : . 100,000
Meherrin ‘“ ne vty eis : : 150,000
Salmon Creek, ye labie. oe : : 5 120,000

* The seemingly undue proportion released in the vicinity of Avoca was una-
voidable. The young fry had to be transported a distance of about eighty miles
by water to reach a railroad, and it employed the time of the messengers, day and
night, to keep the hatcheries clear. The runand catch of the spawners was af-
fected greatly by the state of the weather, A heavy catch, especially towards the
close of the season, would sometimes occur when the boxes and apparatus were
employed to their fullest capacity, and if the steamboats and messengers were
not at hand, the fry had to be released to make room for the new supply of eggs.

Neuse River, April 20th, 1878,

oar ۤ me r8 ad ;
Salmon Creek, Ad lhe : .
igs ee ce 25th, 6c

“Chowan River, cf oe Dob, Mee
Albemarle Sound, ‘‘ 25th, “
Roanoke River, ‘‘ 26th, ‘
Salmon, Creek, = (26th; a
Albemarle Sound, ‘‘ 26th, “
¢ Six Runs, N. E. Cape Kear, pal 26th, 1878

-+ Goshen Oracle N, E. Cape Fear, April 26th, 1878,

Salmon a April 28th, 1878,

ee ee “ce 29th, “6
sé 6s c< 30th, ce
Tar River, May 2d, ; : .

Yadkin River, June 8th,
Catawba River, June 10th,

Making a total of
CALIFORNIA SALMON—WINTER OF 187

Dec., 1877—Yadkin River,

ee ee 1 ce
Pigeon

“eé ee Broad ce

Me = Swannanoa ‘
.Jan., 1878—Cape Fear ‘‘

te $f Linville ‘“

ce ce John’s ce

a A! Catawba “‘

Total;

+ The only accessible points of release.

178.

50,000
100,000
800,000
200,000
200,000
115,000
250,000

25,000

70,000

. 100,000
100,000
300,000

18,000

45,000
150,000

50,000

50,000

3,$02,000

25,000
. 27,000
. 20,000
12,000
30,000
50,000

234,000

a a a a ae

( 23)
CALIFORNIA SALMON—WINTER OF 1878-79.

To Green River, on the 8. & A. Railroad, A
“« Broad ‘‘ at the mouth of Reedy Patch Creek,
“Linville ‘* near Bridgewater,
“* Johns ‘* 12 miles from Morganton,
SeYadkin ‘* at Patterson’s;
“< Deep <* at Jamestown, ‘
“* Town Creek, at Germanton,

Dan River, near Danbury,

Total,
LAND-LOCKED SALMON—APRIL 5TH, 1878.

April, 1878—John’s River,

ae ee Linville ‘‘

‘6 ‘6 Mayo ‘6

ce ce Dan é 2 x
Ponds near Charlotte, : : ‘

ee ** Greensboro,

“ ‘¢ Morganton,

fe «¢ Salisbury,

Total,

30,000
45,000
30,000
30,000
60,000
65,000
20,000
20,000

300,000

NOTES ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF PRIVATE FISH

PONDS.
Eon. bcs POLE:

Sir :—In obedience to your request to furnish some practical
hints about the construction and management of private fish
ponds I will make a few brief suggestions. The numerous
letters you have received show a general interest throughout the
State, but this is especially the case in the middle section.

When popular opinion becomes stronger in favor of fish cul-

(24 )

cule, better facilities will be offered for the attainment of improy-
ed breeds for stocking ponds. At present it isnot only imprac-
ticable to obtain suitable fry for this purpose, but there are very
few who know how to undertake stocking with native fish. The
conditions to be preserved are these:

Dams that will stand.

Small areas of water.

Introduction of limited varieties of fish.

Ability at all times to draw off the water.

Preparation of gravelly placesfor spawning.

Introduction of water plants.

Protection.

Drive wooden piling to build the dam on and make a waste-
way sufficient to carry all surplus water. Protect the waste-way
with wire netting. In most instances it does not matter if the
bottom of the pond is muddy and especially in the case of bream
and blue perch, All the banks several feet out from the water’s
edge and foot under the water should be scraped clean to the
sand with ahoe to dislodge crawfish, terrapins, and snakes. For
ordinary purposes small ponds are preferable. Where one or a
number of these can be arranged on clear sandy streams a single
variety may be introduced into each and the young annually re-
moved to larger ponds. The great loss in fish is in the
eggs. A single variety ina small { of an acre pond can increase
and avoid depredations of other fish. Our native perch deposit
twenty to thirty thousand eggs. No effectual means of extermina-
ting the jack fish canbe used, except the careful and thorough
preparation of {a flood gate of medium size, protected
over the face of out-flow with wire cloth. Every two years
the water should be lowered and the fish sorted out, and jack
fish and pike removed. I believe jack fish eggs are carried by
some mechanical means into various waters, as perhaps by cling-
ing to the feet of water-fowl.

Gravel or sand beds in the shallow water near the inlet will
afford natural spawning grounds. Ifnot present it should be
put there.

Water plants afford numberless insects and should be intro-

(25)

duced from neighboring places. They are well known and
easily obtained. ;

King-fishers, herrons and other birds will only be kept away
by locating in a frequented place.

The black perch is found on the Yadkin, Catawba and other
western steams and will make a success in ponds. Also the large
trout, chub, or green bass will pay. Inthe middle and lower
sections the white perch, is generally present in the main streams.
Wherever it is found in ponds it attains a size of one to two
pounds. In the lower portion of the State I would unhesiat-
tingly recommend this and the bream and blne perch above all
others. Any of these are excellent as food and have firm flesh.
Many other fine perch are susceptible of cultivation and can be
raised in ponds with slight attention. A pond on the
plantation of Mr. Rowell near Wilmington contains a very sur-
prising number of fish in a very limited space. There are eleven
varieties in the pond or there would be a greater number. He
gives them a few grass-hoppers, about once a week, and the one-
eighth acre in the pond would furnish a considerable family the
year round. The young fish are at times removed to his mill
pond.

Willow trees or others that attract insects should be planted
near fish ponds.

No better food than catterpillars can be found. All the perch
and chub are fond of mulberries—the cheapness of which ren-
ders them important.

Three or four small ponds are greatly preferred to one large
one.

In introducing fish intoa pond to answer as food for larger
ones the smaller varieties of perch are to be preferred.

There is no work which treats fully on this subject, but my
own knowledge of what has been accomplished in this way
shows that fish of any variety placed into a pond and not en-
tirely neglected will prove a source of pleasure and profit.

Large fish cannot be carried safely without using very large
buckets or barrels and by applying changes of water. In carry-
ing them in warm weather frequent changes are necessary, but
sudden changes of temperature must be avoided. When 4

NETH

858 156 -
(26)

1 the
i only a portion of
is made, it is better to remove mee
ed a snicke bhaaines oftener. With care they can be
Bs anumber of hours without material loss.
: Yours respectfully,
S. G. WORTH.

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