HISTORY AND METHODS OF WHITEFISH CULTURE. 217 



which the bad eggs might be removed automatically and thus lower the cost of pro- 

 duction. By the tray method whitefish fry in 1874 and 1S75 were costing from 50 

 cents to $1 per 1,000, but by the bulk hatchers the cost has been reduced to from 5 

 to 15 cents per 1,000. The Chase jar was somewhat modified and successfully used 

 by myself in the Northville establishment in 1877. 



Other devices have been invented for handling whitefish, such as the Bower 

 trough hatcher, and a hatcher consisting of tin, devised by Mr. Holt of New York 

 State; but none of the devices, to my knowledge, has been used to any great extent. 

 The Chase and Clark jar (a modified Chase jar) were practically the only ones used up 

 to about 1880, when the McDonald jar was invented for the hatching of shad, from 

 which time the McDonald jar has taken the front rank with that of the Chase jar for 

 hatching whitefish, being used in the Put-in-Bay hatchery, the Alpena hatchery, and, 

 I think, at the hatchery at Erie, Pa. Since the invention of these jars they have 

 practically brought the hatching of whitefish almost to perfection, and no practical 

 invention has been brought out to take their place or supersede them. 



GROWING WHITEFISH. 



To my knowledge, the first whitefish grown that were held for rearing, to amount 

 to anything, was in 1882, when at Northville we held some few thousands of the fry, 

 of which we succeeded in raising several hundred to be one year old. These fish were 

 raised entirely upon chopped liver, and we kept them at the Northville Station until 

 they were large enough to spawn. We have taken the eggs from the parent and 

 hatched them in the automatic jars. In packing and shipping whitefish eggs since 

 1876 we have practically followed the same plans each season, namely, that of the 

 flannel-tray method, and in shipping to long distances, such as New Zealand, Mexico, 

 etc., the tray has been packed in a refrigerator box. 



It is a rare thing nowadays to find any of our shipments of eggs arriving at 

 their destination in poor condition, hardly an instance in a season. The work of col- 

 lecting eggs is practically carried on after the same method as in the beginning, with 

 the exception of certain localities where the fish, after being caught, are held in crates 

 till ready for manipulation. The work of the Michigan Fish Commission in collecting 

 their whitefish eggs is almost wholly upon this plan. Whitefish fry have been planted 

 in our great lakes from 10,000,000 upwards to 00,000,000 each season since 1876, and 

 it is to be regretted that the increase of whitefish in these lakes has not been larger. 

 The cause has not yet been satisfactorily demonstrated. The fish are planted in the 

 same time of the year that the eggs naturally spawned are supposed to hatch. They 

 are also planted upon the natural grounds where the fish spawn, and still the increase 

 is not so great as we might suppose. 



Since 1876 there have been planted in the Great Lakes and inland waters through- 

 out the United States by the IT. S. Fish Commission 677,176,000 whitefish fry. The 

 majority of these have been planted in the Great Lakes, and by Canada and the 

 States of New York; Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin there has, undoubtedly, been 

 planted double this number, and it would seem proper that the time has arrived when 

 we should see if there might not be some better means for introducing the fry in the 

 Great Lakes. especially. It is true that in some few of our inland lakes throughout 

 the United States the whitefish planted have done remarkably well, but for our 

 Great Lakes some new method must be adopted for introducing the fish in the waters. 



