The most sustained effort in British pisciculture has been in connection with the salmon-fisheries of the river Tay. At Stormontfield, near Perth, a series of ponds has been constructed, and a range of breeding-boxes laid down capable of receiving 500,000 eggs. The operations at Stormontfield were begun in 1851, and are still continued. It is calculated that by means of these ponds half a million of young salmon are annually added to the stock of the river Tay, the rental derived from which is now over £18,000 per annum. At several other places in Scotland, the artificial system is being introduced as an adjunct to the natural breeding resources of different rivers. The art of piscicul ture was also introduced into Ireland, at the fisheries of Loughs Mask and Carra, by the late Mr. Ashworth, who for a time obtained excellent practical results. These lo'clia contain an area of water equal to 35,000 acres: and. a communication with the sea having been opened, they now teem with salmon. Several attempts have been made to int.ro ince British fishes into the rivers of Australia. which, in the case of trout, carp, tench, and perch, have been quite successful; but in that of salmon greater difficulty has been experienced, and the result of the extensive experiments that have been made are not decisive. The fact that a salmon of 6 lbs. weight has been caught in Sandy bay. Tas mania, in the beginning of 1878, is proof that salmon ova arc capable of being hatched in Australian waters after such a lengthened voyage.
Pisciculture is largely practiced in America, both by private persons and under the auspices of a commissioner, Mr. Spencer F. Baird, who acts on behalf of the govern ment. Eggs are collected to distribution in the seas and riyers of the United States in enormous quantities, and are transported hither and thither to and from all parts of the country. AS one example of what has been lately accomplished, it may be stated on the authority of a recent report to the house of representatives, that the number of eggs of the Californian salmon Collected during the season of 1873 at the United States pisCi / cultural establishment on the upper Sacramento, amounted to about 11,000,000, making a bulk of eighty bushels, and weighing with their packing gear nearly ten tons. In the years 1874 and 1875, a total of 26,137,853 eggs of shad and various kinds of salmon were distributed by the U.S. fish conunission; and altogether 40,000,000 of tish eggs were
handled by the fishery officers of the states during the three years ending in 1875.
Nearer home, namely in France, great efforts have been made to increase the supply of oysters by nexus of artificial cultivation. Oysters were cultivated in Italy during the classic but the art of cultivating them seems to have been lost till it was accident ally re-Sseovered by an artisan of the Ile de Be, who found out that the chief point in artificial oyster-culture is to insure a supply of spat. The seed of the oyster is too often carried away from the place of its birth by adverse winds acting on the waves, and thus it sometimes falls on an unpropitious growing-place. The spat of the oyster must have "coign of vantage" to which to cling; if it falls on a muddy bottom it is lost forever. On the foreshores of the Ile de Re, there are countless oyster-beds of the most simple description, in which the spat is retired and tended during its period of growth. All that is requited for a good bottom to au oyster-bed is a rocky surface, Which, if not found naturally, can be easily constructed by the hiving down of stones and tiles. Oyster-culture, in simple form, has been practiced at Whitstable, on the coast of Kent, for a long period, ant the famous " native" oysters are fed on ground at that place. Other expetiments are in course of being made, and on some parts of the English coast artificial pares have been laid out on the French plan, in which plentiful supplies of oysters have been grown to maturity. The great difflcultv in all experiments connected with oyster-culture is to find the requisite supply of spat horn which to rear the mature animal.
Pisciculture is now being practiced to some extent in several countries of Europe. and has been deemed of sufficient importance to demand the attention of governments. It is probable that the attention turned to the whole subject of pisciculture, and the example of the transportation of salmon to Australia, may lead to the introduction of valuable kinds of fishes into waters where they are now unknown. The grayling has thus already been introduced into the Clyde and Tweed. There is no apparent reason why every valuable fresh-water fish of Europe should not be plentiful in Britain.