REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 123 



prime requisite in anj' fish culture, but in the case of the lobster 

 larvae even this may not be adequate. 



Not onl}' should the fry have food enought for their healthy growth, 

 but they should never be allowed to go hungry. From hunger to 

 cannibalism is a short step, and although, by means of the current, 

 the fry are kept from congregating, and danger from cannibalism is, 

 therefore, greatly lessened, there still occur chances of individuals 

 coming momentarily in contact with one another, and, if hungry, 

 they make the best of these opportunities. When not hungry, and 

 when the cannibal instinct is not aggravated by the crowding to- 

 gether, they are fairly peaceable. 



The question of the best food for the lobster fry is still open. There 

 are manj^ kinds that the fry will eat, and fortunately by means of the 

 stirring apparatus small pieces of almost any kind can be held sus- 

 pended and therefore made available, but the fry have preferences, 

 and, furthermore, the choice must involve the consideration of cost, 

 the labor of preparation, waste, and the effect upon the water in the 

 cars of the grease or decaying residue. 



In some of the earlier experiments several years ago the highly 

 Epicurean diet of lobster liver was offered, and the young larvse, 

 innocent of its antecedents and, as it proved, unaware of its conse- 

 quences, devoured the finely divided morsels ravenously. This 

 diet did not agree with them and was discontinued partly on this 

 account and partly because for operations on a large scale there were 

 financial objections to its use. Shredded codfish, finely cut or ground 

 fish of various kinds, clams, mussels, raw beef, beef liver, boiled beef, 

 and many other foods have been tried. The fry are extravagantly 

 fond of fresh fish, especially the strongly flavored and oily varieties? 

 but the pieces uneaten foul the car and are therefore objectionable. 

 Clams cut out and finely chopped or ground have been in very general 

 use with us. The expense, however, of digging and opening and the 

 considerable waste in the larger pieces of tough muscle, together with 

 the amount of decayed residue which accumulates in the course of 



