24.-METHODS EMPLOYED AT CRAIG BROOK STATION IN REARING 



YOUNG SALMONOID FISHES. 



BY CHARLES G. ATKINS, 

 Superintendent U. S. Fish Commission Station at Craig Brook, Maine. 



The station of the U. S. Fish Commission at Craig Brook was founded in 1889, on 

 the same site where, in 1871, the hrst attempt at the artificial spawning of salmon in 

 the United States was made. This site had been selected by tbe commissioners of 

 fisheries of the States of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for that experi- 

 ment because of its proximity to the salmon fisheries of the Penobscot Eiver and 

 the facilities presented for the maturing of the spawn that might be obtained 

 The collection of spawn has been carried on in the vicinity annually from 1871 to the 

 present time, with the exception of the three years 1876, 1877, and 1878, and since 1879 

 the development of the spawn has been conducted constantly at Craig Brook. No 

 attempt was, however, made to rear the fry of any species until 1886. Two years 

 later it was definitely determined to found a permanent station at Craig Brook, and 

 in 1889 the purchase of the grounds was effected and permanent improvements begun. 



The station is located in the town of Orland, Me., 7 miles east of Bucksport, a 

 seaport on the Penobscot River. Its territory embraces a tract of land extending 

 between Allamoosook Lake and Craig Pond and embracing within its limits the 

 entire length of Craig Brook, which connects those two bodies of water. Its latitude 

 is about 44° 42' N. The mean annual temperature and precipitation are believed to 

 approximate those of Orono, 25 miles distant, namely, 42-48° F. [5-8° C] and 45-44 

 inches [116 cm.]. The range of air temperature observed at the station is from 18° F. 

 below zero to 92-5° F. above [—27-7° C. to 33-6° C.]. Frosts not infrequently occur as 

 late as the 1st of June and as early in autumu as the first week in September. The 

 lakes in the vicinity are commonly covered with ice before the end of November, and 

 they are not often released until near the end of April. 



The water supply is derived from Craig Brook and from three large and several 

 lesser springs. The source of the brook is Craig Pond, which affords a constant sup- 

 ply of exceedingly transparent water, warm in summer and cold in winter, moderated, 

 however, in both extremes by the water from the springs, which mingles with the 

 brook in its lower course, forming about a third of its volume. It is this mixed water 

 which is mainly used in the rearing of fish. Its temperature ranges from 34° F. 

 [1-1° C] to 70° F. [21-1° C. ]. The lowest monthly mean in 1893 was 35-8° F. [2-1° C] 

 hi February. The highest was 64-6° F. [18-1° C] in August. The total volume is 

 variable, ranging from 875 to 3,000 gallons and averaging about 1,200 gallons per 



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