FISH CULTURE

or PISCICULTURE, the artificial hatching and rearing of fish. Artificial propagation of fish is facilitated by the fact that the eggs are fertilized by the male after being deposited by the female, and was practiced in China at least two you sand years ago. The roe is taken from the female by gentle squeezing, then mixed with the milt taken from the male, after which it is allowed to incubate in tanks of gently running water. After being spawned, the fry may be grown in tanks to a size large enough to guard themselves against the dangers of their natural surroundings. They may then be transported to distant points to restock waters which have been depleted ef certain species. This function was first undertaken by the Government in 1871, through the U.S. Commi ion of Fish and Fisheries. Since then the Commi ion has established fish hatcheries in 33. states, not including Alaska and the District of Columbia. In 1921 the number of fish raised called ‘fingerlings’, so called on account of their size, was over 226,000,000, while the smaller fry aggregated over three-and-a-half billion, covering 37 species and varieties of fish. One feature of this service is the supply of a mosquito-eating fish, the gambusia, to districts where the malarial mosquito abounds. At the call of the Red Cro , shipments of these fish were made to Spain and Italy.