6 DISTRIBUTION OF FISH AND FISH EGGS 



their destination in railroad cars equipped for the purpose, or by 

 messengers who accompany the shipments in baggage cars, and are 

 deUvered to the applicant, free of charge, at the railroad station 

 nearest the point of deposit. During the past fiscal year (July 1, 1906, 

 to June 30, 1907), the Bureau received 6,346 applications for fish, 

 nearly all for the game species. The demand, especially for the basses, 

 crappie, and the catfishes, is greater than can be met with present 

 resources. 



ALLOTMENTS. 



The supply of particular fishes available for distribution, and con- 

 sequently of the number allotted to individual applicants, is largely 

 determined by the difference in methods of hatching the different 

 species and the present facilities therefor. The area and character 

 of the water to be stocked, however, must likewise be considered; 

 the water area that would receive a million pike perch fry would per- 

 haps be assigned no more than 200 or 300 black bass 3 or 4 inches 

 long, or four to eight times that many if the bass were planted as 

 fry. The explanation is in the fact that pike perch can be propa- 

 gated by the hundred million, while black bass, hatched by other 

 methods or collected from overflowed lands, can be produced only 

 in comparatively small numbers. The Bureau does not attempt to 

 assign any applicant more than a liberal brood stock of the basses or 

 sunfishes. With brook trout, which are distributed both as fry and 

 fingerlings, allotments of fry are many times larger than allotments 

 of fingerlings 3 to 4 inches long. 



SIZE OF FISH WHEN DISTRIBUTED. 



Fishes are distributed at various stages of development, according 

 to the species, the numbers in the hatcheries, and the facilities for 

 rearing. The commercial fishes — such as the shad, whitefish, lake 

 trout, pike, perch, cod, etc., hatched in lots of many millions — are nec- 

 essarily planted as fry. It is customar}^ to distribute them just before 

 the umbilical sac is completely absorbed. Atlantic salmon, land- 

 locked salmon, and various species of trout, in such numbers as the 

 hatchery facilities permit, are reared to fingerlings from 1 to 6 inches 

 in length ; the remainder are distributed as fry. 



The basses and sunfishes are distributed from the fish-cultural 

 stations and ponds from some three weeks after they are hatched until 

 they are several months of age. When the last lots are shipped the 

 basses usually range from 4 to 6 inches and the sunfishes from 2 to 4 

 inches in length. The numerous fishes collected in overflowed 

 lands — basses, crappie, sunfishes, catfishes, yellow perch, and others — 

 are 2 to 6 inches in length when taken and distributed. 



