SIR,--I have read with some interest the letter of your
correspondent, Salmo Salar, on the artificial breeding of fish;
and knowing, as I do, the great interest which the writer feels in
the preservation and increase of his namesakes, I shall be most
happy if my humble efforts in the same cause throw any more light
on the same subject, and in any degree contribute to the same end.
But Mr. Salmo Salar is quite wrong in saying that, with the
exceptions of the experiments made on the banks of the Hodder, by
Ramsbottom, no efforts have been made to increase the number of
Salmon by providing artificial breeding-places. Passing over my
own numerous experiments here for the last fourteen or fifteen
years (which you, Sir, are aware of, though the fishing world is
not), I may refer to the extensive experiments made by Mr. Fawkes,
of Farnley, in 1841 and 1842, and renewed again in 1848 and 1849;
and the whole of which (with the exception of a portion of these
in 1842) were successful. The experiments of Salmo Salar were not
made until 1851 and 1852, and were intended merely to test the
accuracy of an assumption that the impregnation of the ova takes
place long prior to their exclusion; which experiments terminated
in a complete failure. Salmo Salar says that the quantity of
Salmon fry in the river is enormous; and that he has caught five
pounds of them in a single pool in a single day. I have known
three times that quantity caught in the same way. But still this
proves nothing at all, for it is well known that almost all
migratory animals, however solitary their general habits may be,
are gregarious at the time of migration. Witness swallows,
fieldfares, and even woodcocks. Witness also the clouds of small
Eels ascending the rivers in May and June; and if we are to
believe the accounts of travellers, the enormous flocks of
antelopes in Africa, and of bisons in America, are proofs of the
same general law. No doubt Salmo Salar will find, as he says, that
the Samlets are exceedingly abundant in some of the pools, when
they have flocked together for the purpose of migration; but he
may perhaps travel for miles either up or down the river before he
will find any more. It is notorious that, in the tributaries of
the Hodder, they are walled in, in many places, for the purpose of
detaining them, that unscrupulous anglers may get as many of them
as possible before they go to the sea. Salmo Salar is in error
also when he says that Ramsbottom deposited 40,000 in the ponds of
Galway, of which 20,000 are expected to be fruitful. The fact is,
that he deposited 40,000 in December, 1852, of which above 20,000
are now alive and in the ponds, varying from four to five inches
long to two or three, notwithstanding that experiment was made
under very unfavourable circumstances; for there was so much mud
in the stream that supplied the spawning-boxes, that when
Ramsbottom left Galway he was afraid all the ova would be choked
by it.
Salmo Salar seems to think that almost all the ova deposited
naturally come to life, and that very few of those deposited
artificially do so. This, however, is quite contrary to my
experience, and I think that if Salmo Salar will listen to the
evidence he will change his opinion. It is well known that
Salmon are very fond of particular streams, their instinct no
doubt informing them which are suitable to their purpose; and when
one pair of fish have finished spawning, another pair will come
and occupy the same place. Now, what takes place under such
circumstances? The ova which were deposited by the first pair are
rooted up by the second, and their specific gravity is so near
that of the water, that they roll down out of the loose gravel and
are picked up by the Trouts, Par, and other fish that are always
lying in wait just below for that purpose. When Ramsbottom was in
Galway he caught a large Trout, out of whose throat he squeezed a
thousand ova, which were deposited in a spawning-box, many of
which came to life notwithstanding the pit they had escaped from.
The extraordinary avidity with which Trout take Salmon roe as a
bait is also a proof (if that were needed) of their preying upon
it in the spawning beds. Yet, in addition to them, are all the
Par, Bullheads, Eels, Loaches, and aquatic larvae which may be
found swarming in every spawning bed by any one who will look for
them. In addition to these enemies, millions of the ova are
destroyed by being washed away by heavy floods, and as many more
are destroyed by being choked with mud and sand in the spawning
beds as well as by being left dry at low water owing to the Salmon
spawning in places which frequently become quite dry in early
spring. No doubt many of the Salmon fry when they have reached the
sea are destroyed by enemies there, of which we know nothing. But
still, if 500,000 are bred, in addition to all that are reared
naturally, it will represent a larger proportion of the whole than
Salmo Salar seems to suppose; otherwise, how is it that in rivers
where Salmon are protected, or still more in unsettled countries,
the Salmon are so numerous? The Salmon in the Columbia river, on
the north-west coast of America, are cast dead upon the shores by
myriads after the spawning season, and these are merely the fish
dying from exhaustion, as a small portion always do here. How
numerous, then, are those which ascend the river to spawn, and go
down again to the sea afterwards! No doubt the grand object to be
attained is to make Salmon abundant, and the most important step
towards the attainment of this object will be to give an efficient
protection to the spawning fish, and the only way to do this
effectually is to give the upper proprietors of rivers such an
interest in the Salmon fisheries as will make them worth
attention. At present this is far from being the case. Now the
upper proprietors are merely considered as so many clucking hens,
whose business and whose duty it is to hatch Salmon for the
proprietors of fisheries at the mouths of rivers, who do not in
many cases spend a farthing in their protection when spawning, and
who grievously begrudge the upper proprietors every fish that is
able to pass their nets and other engines of destruction. Let the
upper proprietors of Salmon rivers bestir themselves so to amend
the law as to give them a chance of having a supply of Salmon when
they are in season. They cannot and will not have a more efficient
ally than Salmo Salar. Salmo Salar is in my opinion quite right
when he says that the fish kept in ponds will not be quite so well
able to take care of themselves as fish which have been bred and
lived all their lives in the river. Nor do I think that this is
necessary for any longer period than until the young fry get rid
of the umbilical vessel; after which they are quite able to take
care of themselves. Before that time they are scarcely able to
move, and thousands of them fall a prey, not only to the other
fish, but to the larvae of aquatic insects which prey upon them
very greedily. As I happen to know from my own observations, the
larva of the stone fly (May fly of Lancashire) and those of all
the larger ephemera (drakes), to say nothing of the fresh-water
shrimps, swarm in all the spawning beds, and no doubt destroy
myriads of the ova. All these would be saved by proper precautions
and well formed spawning-boxes, with good supplies of spring water
to feed them.
I think Salmo Salar has very greatly over-estimated the quantity
of Salmon fry that go down to the sea from the rivers. He speaks
of them going down by millions. Now we will take the river Hodder
as a river with which both Salmo Salar and myself are well
acquainted, and I will venture to say that, so far is this an
over-estimate, that if he would take the hundredth part of the
number he would be much nearer the truth. The Samlets when they go
to the sea may be reckoned to weigh eight to the pound, and two
millions would at that rate weigh one hundred and ten tons. Does
Salmo Salar think that one ton and a tenth of Smolts go down the
river Hodder to the sea on an average of years? I have more
favourable means of judging of the quantity that go down the river
Ribble than I have of those of the Hodder, and I believe I should
very greatly exaggerate their numbers if I estimated them at any
such weight as a fourth of that quantity. Again, the Hodder and
the Ribble are, in some respects, far more favourable for spawning
than many other rivers; for partly owing to the country through
which they pass, and partly owing to the rapidity of their
streams, the gravel is large and very suitable for spawning in;
there is also far less mud and sand in them, and the spawning beds
are much less liable to be choked up than they are in many other
rivers. No doubt the Salmon will make the best selection in their
power, but they can only select from such places as there are; and
if those are not suitable the ova must be in a great measure
destroyed. Since Ramsbottom returned from Scotland he has visited
the river Dee, about forty miles from Chester, and there he found
the spawning beds (ridds as Salmo Salar calls them) silted up with
mud and sand, and the ova buried in them to the depth of eighteen
inches. How or when were the newly hatched fish (supposing, which
is very improbable, that they ever did hatch) to make their escape
from such a heap of filth? It would be quite impossible.
In conclusion, it seems desirable and quite necessary to say a few
words as to the priority of discovery of this process of fish
propagation. The French claim it; the Irish seem to claim it; the
Messrs. Ashworth take great credit for it; and now Salmo Salar
says he first suggested it. Allow me, as there are so many
claimants in the field, to suggest one or two more. In the year
1832, without knowing that such a thing had ever been done or even
thought of, I made some experiments on the spawning of fish and
the artificial impregnation of their ova, which I communicated to
"Loudon's Magazine of Natural History," in which they appeared.
After that came the Duke of Buccleuch's game-keeper, Shaw, whose
experiments were both satisfactory and conclusive. This was in
1836 or 1838. Then after my experiments at home, I induced Mr.
Fawkes to take up the matter in 1841, and they were resumed in
1842, and again in 1848 and 1849, both with Salmon and Trout. It
was at this period that Ramsbottom came into the field. At Mr.
Fawkes's request I instructed him in the art, and sent him to
Farnley, where he was perfectly successful; and since then, I
believe he has had more experience and been more successful than
any other propagator in the kingdom.
The principle of this system is very easily comprehended; but
success depends on many niceties of manipulation, and much
experience in judging whether the fish, both male and female, are
in the proper condition for operating upon.
This experience is not gained without much practice. This practice
Ramsbottom has in great perfection. There is no doubt the
artificial breeding of fish will be found exceedingly beneficial,
if properly carried out; and I hope to see the time when Salmo
Salar may catch half-a-dozen of his namesakes at Whitewell, any
good day in the season.
I am, Sir,
Yours very truly,
THOMAS GARNETT.
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