384 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



1928 was below normal, due to unfavorable weather conditions. The first 

 collections of fry were made 30 days later than usual, and the spring shipments 

 numbered only about 47,000. The fish were somewhat larger than usual, and 

 it is expected that when the ponds are drawn in the fall it will be found that 

 the production of fingerlings was satisfactory. 



Louisville (Ky.) Station 



(Charles W. Burnham, Superintendent) 



This station, which is the bureau's chief agency for the propagation of 

 smallmouth bass, was operated successfully, although the output of fish did 

 not equal the record of some earlier years. It was found necessary to build 

 a concrete foundation under the hatchery building in order to prevent the com- 

 plete settling of the structure. The residence buildings were painted, and other 

 minor improvements to the buildings were made. Some new concrete walks 

 were laid, and the station roads and driveways were regraded and made 

 passable in wet weather. This station had a brood stock of 100 adult large- 

 mouth bass, but the output of fingerlings, for some unexplainable reason, 

 was very small. However, the brood stock of 400 adult smallmouth bass, 

 divided among four %-acre ponds, produced over 500,000 fry and almost 5,000 

 fingerlings. While this does not constitute a record output, it is well up to the 

 average. Efforts to augment the brood stock by transferring adults from Lake 

 Erie were hindered by heavy mortality experienced shortly after the fish were 

 received. The station has one pond devoted to the production of sunfish, but 

 virtually every fish of this species was lost, due to an epidemic of some sort, 

 which apparently was introduced with stock brought from the Mississippi 

 River. A small number of rock bass was produced, and a few channel catfish 

 were collected for filling applications. 



Mammoth Springs (Akk.) Station 

 (Dell Brown, Superintendent) 



Outside of painting and the construction of concrete floors and porches, 

 few improvements were made to the buildings. One of the ponds was deepened 

 and extended, and a new pond was virtually completed at the end of the year. 

 The latter will be supplied from a new well by means of a pump capable of 

 furnishing 100 gallons per minute. 



Although an excellent stock of adult smallmouth bass was on hand, spavining 

 W'as retarded by extremely unseasonable weather in the spring. A few nests 

 established late in the spring produced about 68,000 fingerlings, approximately 

 one-third the number that should have been obtained. A little better success 

 attended the hatching of the largemouth bass, particularly those nests that 

 lay in deeper water. About 66,000 fingerlings were shipped and 40,000 remained 

 for fall distribution, a normal season's output. A satisfactory distribution of 

 rock bass was made from the previous season's hatch. A brood stock of 100 

 sunfish also produced about 35,000 fingerlings for distribution. 



This station engaged in rescue work in the overflowed area in Arkansas 

 following the big flood. This work was carried on in cooperation with the State 

 of Arkansas, and over 8,500,000 fish were returned to parental waters. At the 

 close of the year the superintendent was detailed to supervise the construction 

 of a large bass hatchery that is being established by the State of Arkansas. 



Orangebtjkg (S. C.) Station 

 (G. W. N. Brown, Superintendent) 



The most important improvement made during the year was the building of 

 a concrete tank to hold fish before shipping them. The water was taken from 

 a spring previously used for holding such fish, its flow having been increased 

 materially by excavating. An electric pump was installed to pump water into 

 a storage tank, which is to be utilized to increase the flow of water while the 

 fish are being held. 



Weather conditions wei'e very unfavorable to the propagation of pondfishes. 

 Fish hatched early in March apparently were killed by a sudden cold spelL 

 Heavy rains in April increased the handicap, with the result that only 167,430 



