PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1939 581 
with a mixture of sheep manure, superphosphate, and cottonseed 
meal. This unit’s pond system was increased by 6 ponds during 
the year. 
At the Elephant Butte (N. Mex.) station all buildings and ponds 
were completed by the Reclamation Service and placed in operation. 
From 13.4 acres of water more than }{ million fingerling pondfish 
were produced, of which 373,750 were largemouth black bass. A 
stock of crappie, which are reported to have reached a size of 3 pounds 
in the warmer waters of the Pecos Valley watershed, was secured 
for the purpose of introducing a large-size strain of this species into 
the waters of the Rio Grande. 
In the Utah field the Springville station distributed 1% million 
fingerling fish and shipped 980,000 trout eggs to other hatcheries. 
The production of largemouth black bass was negligible. Experi- 
ments were conducted to determine the effect of diet upon the fertility 
of rainbow trout eggs. The old wood-pipe hatchery-water supply 
line was replaced with a 10-inch asbestos-wrapped 12-gage spiral- 
welded steel line. 
At the Bear Lake (Utah) substation 5 species of trout and chum 
salmon were handled. This unit collected 1,174,000 eggs from local 
trap sites and received 657,820 eggs from other stations. In addition 
to the construction of a new residence, all buildings were painted 
by W. P. A. and P. W. A. employees. 
All buildings and ponds were completed at the Las Vegas (Nev.) 
unit. During the early spring this station secured an ample stock 
of brood fish from which 80,000 fingerling black bass were planted 
in Lake Mead prior to the close of the year. 
On September 11, 1938, the Bureau took charge of the Clark Fork 
(idaho) hatchery, which was constructed as a W. P. A. project 
sponsored by the Idaho Fish and Game Department on land donated 
by the Bonner County Sportsmen’s Association. Gratif‘ying results 
were obtained from the eggs handled and it was possible to liberate 
more than }4 million fingerling silver and blackspotted trout during 
the latter part of the year. 
In the Colorado territory the Leadville station continued to cooper- 
ate with local parties in the collecting of trout eggs. The Bureau 
received several million eggs from such sources at a nominal cost, 
thereby eliminating the necessity of maintaining a brood stock at 
this unit. Several thousand trout were transferred to the Crystal 
Lake Nursery to be reared to a larger size before liberation. There 
were 4,300,000 rainbow eggs collected from Eagle Nest Lake during 
April and the early part of May. More than 1 million of these eggs 
were assigned to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for 
hatching and subsequent planting in the waters of the northern part 
of the State. The hatchery building and 2 cottages at Leadville were 
reroofed and a two-car garage was built. A new cottage was con- 
structed at Turquoise Lake from lumber milled by W. P. A. labor. 
An average production of fingerling trout was obtained at the 
Creede (Colo.) substation. Due to the scarcity of spawners, the 
collection of brook and rainbow trout eggs from Lake San Cristobal 
was materially below that of 1938. However, the eggs obtained were 
of very high quality, eyeing up to 98 and 99 percent respectively. 
Three old concrete ponds were dismantled and 4 new concrete ponds 
were constructed in the same area. A two-car garage was built and 
