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moisture. During the forest era, rain fell, and gradually soaked its way through the<br />
soil and reached the streamlets and rivers; the supply thus remaining fairly constant,<br />
the rivers maintained a comparatively uniform flow ihroughout the summer,<br />
and all the conditions were most favorable br the generation and preservation of<br />
fish life.<br />
But under the agricultural era, the country is denuded of its forests, and the<br />
farmers dig ditches to accelerate the flow of water from the land to the river, these<br />
no longer maintain the uniformity of their flow, but are alternately swollen or<br />
shrunken, rs the meteorological condition of the preceding day has been stormy or<br />
fair; in this case, too, the water of the river is no longer clear, but is, during the floods,<br />
heavily freighted with earthy matters, by the erosion of the banks of the now swiftly<br />
flowing streams and from the surface drains of the farmers; and in the dry time, the<br />
sheltering trees having been taken away and the volume of the stream diminished, the<br />
water is unduly raised in temperature, so that whether swollen or shrunken, the<br />
rivers no longer present the same favorable condition, as the nursery of our fisheries<br />
which they formerly did.<br />
The remedies for these conditions are; first, to insert fishways in all dams;<br />
second, to prevent, as far as possible the defilement of our streams by sawdust or<br />
anything else in the shape of manufacturing refuse; and, third, to maintain about the<br />
head waters of all rivers and streams an extensive growth of timber. With these<br />
remeaies generally applied we may hope once more to see our rivers restocked;<br />
without them, much of the benefit arising from the work now done by artificial proW<br />
pagation towards re-stocking our streams is completely lost.<br />
The stock of bait formerly supplied by the anathomous fishes, which is at pro.-<br />
sent almost nonexistent, may be reproduced, the work will be gradual, but to be<br />
effectual, the remedies must be generally and rigidly applied.<br />
The baits used for cod are, mackerel, herring, squid, capelin and launce,<br />
clams are also used to some extent. Mackerel in consequence of its high price and<br />
great scarcity, cannot now be classed as a bait fish, though, formerly, it was extensively<br />
and successfully osed. The herring is one of the principal baits used by our<br />
fishermen. They are plentiful in their season and always obtainable at some point<br />
on the coast. A fishing vessel can always go and seek bait, but the 45,000 shore fishermen<br />
have to wait till the bait comes to them, or have to dig clams. In this bait<br />
fishery, many fishermen claim that the use of the purse seine for mackerel has in<br />
places affected the supply of herring. The temporary scarcity which occurs in some<br />
localities could, however, be easily and cheaply met by the erection of ice houses and<br />
refrigerators, in which a considerable store of herring could be kept. The squid is<br />
largely used by our fishermen and its arrival on our coasts is anxiously looked for;<br />
this bait is also frequently obtainable on the barks in quantities. Clams are used as<br />
a sort of reserved bait by our shore fishermen: when no other bait is to be had, they<br />
will dig clams and use them. Launee and capelin are used largely in the Gulf of St.<br />
Lawrence. Each bait comes in regular sequence and the most successful bait is always<br />
the one which is in season at the time. I have already alluded to the work undertaken<br />
by the United States Government of ropopulating the deserted littoral waters<br />
of the New Engbrid coast. The magnitudu and questionable success of the work<br />
should be a warning to us in Canada; the condition of our fisheries is still fairly good,<br />
but the fact that our fishermen have yearly to go further to sea to make their catch,<br />
points to a retrogression. The final destruction may and should be averted, and we<br />
should therefore not only stringently enforce all laws enacted for the protection of<br />
the fisheries, but should, if necessary, legislate still further in this direction.<br />
A FISHSRT INTELLIGENCE BUREAU.<br />
During the past season I was enabled, through the public spiritedness of a<br />
number of Collectors of Customs and other gentlemen, who acted as volunteer correspondents,<br />
to establish for a short time a sort of intelligence department, by which<br />
I was able to keep track of the movements of the fish. The system was that each