424 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



struction work such as pouring a 4-inch concrete wall through em- 

 bankments of ponds to prevent crayfish from tunneling from one 

 pond to another, the widening of pond A, and other necessary work 

 have been accomplished with labor furnished by the local welfare 

 agency. 



The Fairport, Iowa, station has become of increasing importance 

 in the production of pond fish required to meet appUcations formerly 

 filled with rescued fish. Relief labor was employed for a complete 

 renovation of the pond system and other activities incidental to 

 maintenance. 



At the Tishomingo, Okla., substation the pond area has been 

 increased during the past year by workers from the Federal Emergency 

 Relief Administration so that at present there are 33 acres in ponds. 

 Four miles of standard grade 40-foot highway was constructed to the 

 station by the State. Interest is centered on the production of channel 

 catfish at this hatchery and to date the work has been fairly successful. 



At the Natchitoches, La., station the production has been approxi- 

 mately the same as during the previous year. Experiments are being 

 conducted with fertilizers, their use and quantity per acre in order 

 to procure data to determine the best methods of quantity produc- 

 tion of pond fishes. The pond area of this station is being increased 

 through the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration 

 and this new area will be in production during the spring of 1936. 



MISSISSIPPI RIVER TERRITORY 



Fisheries matters in the Upper Mississippi Wild Life and Fish 

 Refuge, and hatchery activities in the North Central States were 

 supervised from the La Crosse, Wis., headquarters. This station 

 hatched successfully over a million game trout and operated several 

 bass ponds at the hatchery and in the adjacent territory. In addi- 

 tion, it supervised the rescue or salvage work in the refuge (discussed 

 elsewhere) and cooperated in the collection of lake trout eggs in the 

 Illinois waters of Lake Michigan. Three large trout rearing units 

 in the national forests were stocked or supervised from this point, 

 and the work also included supervision and stocking of private co- 

 operating rearing ponds at 39 different locations in nearby States. 



The construction of dams as a part of the 9-foot channel project 

 for the Mississippi River is greatly changing conditions in this vicinity. 

 Several semicontrolled ponds used for rearing bass have already been 

 rendered useless and certain parts of the territory formerly covered 

 by rescue crews are being flooded. As construction progresses these 

 effects will be extended. The Bureau has developed plans for con- 

 struction of propagating ponds adjacent to the new dams but no 

 funds have been obtainable for the carrying out of these plans. 



The Homer, Minn., substation affords shop and repair facilities 

 for overhauling equipment and was used for this purpose as well as a 

 center for rescue work. 



The new Rochester, Ind., hatchery, in its second year of production, 

 received the benefit of relief labor throughout the greater part of the 

 year. This resulted in creation of additional ponds to the extent of 

 more than 6 acres and the partial completion of another pond. Minor 

 jobs required for the completion of the dwellings and other buildings 

 were attended to. Due to drought conditions, the water supply was 



