REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XLIII 



3,506,642 eggs, which were much larger than those of the previous year, 

 and appareutly of fiue quality. Kotwithstandiiig their good condition, 

 the actual losses from lack of impregnation and other causes, up to the 

 time when the division was made with the State of Maine, amounted to 

 304,642. The United States received 2,630,214 as its share, 500,000 of 

 which were assigned to State lish commissions and private applicants, 

 and 2,126,975 fry, or 99.86 per cent of those divided, were hatched in 

 March and April. Besides these, the State of Maine turned back to 

 the Commission 540,199 fry. 

 Plants aggregating 1,975,000 were made in May, as follows: 



Locality. 



St. Croix River at Vanceboro 



Penobscot River and tributaries above Oldtowu. 

 Penobscot tributaries near Craig Brook 



137, 500 



1, 482, 500 



355, 070 



The balance of the stock was retained for rearing, and at the end of 

 June numbered 636,817. 



In May, 1898, the usual arrangements were made for collecting and 

 impounding adult salmon for the next year's brood stock; 472 fish were 

 obtained and impounded at Dead Brook, 400 of which belonged to the 

 United States Fish Commission. 



The domesticated Atlantic salmon on hand at the beginning of the 

 year consisted of three lots, the first of which were hatched in 1892, 

 the second in 1893, and the third in 1897. Of the third brood 1,029 

 were liberated in November, 1897, reducing that lot to 454. In Novem- 

 ber 25,287 eggs were secured from the first two lots, but they were 

 defective in quality and none of them survived to the hatching period. 



As arrangements had been made to carry on landlocked-salmon work 

 at Grand Lake Stream, no efforts were made to collect at Toddy Pond, 

 as heretofore. In March the surplus eggs from Grand Lake Stream, 

 amounting to 62,462, were transferred to Craig Brook, and of the fry 

 hatched from them 54,476 remain on hand at the close of the year. 



All of the rainbow trout at the station were liberated in Alamoosook 

 Lake in August, 1897, and nothing was seen of them till the following 

 March, when several were observed spawning in Craig Brook just below 

 the hatchery. Measures were taken to secure eggs, and by the end of 

 April 54,408 had been collected from 199 adult trout. The fish were 

 undoubtedly a part of those liberated in August, and were apparently 

 in excellent condition. The eggs were not first-class in (piality, how- 

 ever, and only 35,000 fry were hatched. At the close of the year 28,351 

 remain, which appear to be doing well. 



In order to test the practicability of domesticating the steelhead 

 trout, the 191 specimens on hand from the hatch of 1890 were placed 

 in one of the large deep ponds recently constructed and held for future 

 service as breeders. The fish on hand from the hatching of 1897 were 

 liberated during the fall, except 1,400, which were retained in a small 

 pond until March, when it was found that only 180 of them remained. 



