64 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
ounces. Only 15 percent of the trout were of legal size, 10 percent 
of these being brook trout. 
In the South Branch of the Middlebury River the average number 
of fish (based on two sections) was 1,650 brook trout per acre, with 
a total weight of 54 pounds, 10 ounces. As in Furnace Brook, 15 
percent of these fish were of legal size. There were no rainbow in 
Middlebury River and fish other than trout were too few to be of 
any significance. 
The West Branch of the White River was found to have a much 
smaller population of trout. Three sections of this stream yielded 
an average of 376 trout, weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces, per acre. 
This stream also supports considerable numbers of sculpin, dace, and 
suckers which, when added to the trout, give a total of 20 pounds, 
14 ounces of fish per acre. 
Studies on St. Marys River—Monthly collections of bottom and 
chemical samples on the St. Marys River, Virginia, were continued 
during the spring, summer, and fall of 1938, to determine the effect 
of different current velocities on abundance of bottom animals in riffle 
areas. Samples collected during the past 2 years have been very 
uniform, with an average weight of slightly over one gram per 
square foot. In contrast with streams in the Southern Appalachians, 
there were fewer organisms in summer than at other seasons. 
It is evident that stocking St. Marys River with fingerling trout 
has not produced worthwhile results and that rainbow trout dis- 
appear before they reach legal size. 
Investigations in Pisgah ‘National Forest.—The experimental fish- 
management program in Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina, 
was conducted for the second year in cooperation with the United 
States Forest Service. The pr oject. susts ained an irreparable loss on 
January 4, 1939, in the death of Wm. M. Keil, who had been in 
charge of the project for the Forest Service since its inception. The 
work will be continued by Thomas K. Chamberlain, who has been 
conducting the biological studies for the past 2 vears. 
During ‘the late summer and early fall of 1937 the streams of the 
Wildlife Management areas of the forests were stocked for the first 
time under the new program. After determining the carrying 
capacity of these streams, brook, brown, and rainbow trout were 
planted by the most approved methods. In order to develop and 
maintain satisfactory fishing it had been decided to plant larger fish 
and to develop some system of rotating the open season on the sev- 
eral watersheds in order that each stream might have a period of 
rest after being fished and restocked. Several of the streams were 
opened to a limited amount of fishing during the summer of 1938. 
The danger of overstocking when ‘streams are not rich in food has 
been demonstrated in several small streams of this area. In one in- 
stance a planting of brook trout averaging over 6 inches long was 
made in the fall. These fish remained in excellent condition through 
the winter but in early spring they began to decline, and, in late 
summer, 10 months after planting, their average weight was less than 
when first put into the stream. 
Stream studies were carried out by Mr. Chamberlain to determine 
the rate of stocking for the various waters. Quantitative collections 
of food organisms were made from 977 square feet of trout-stream 
bottom in the Pisgah Forest alone. Observations were also made on 

