MANUAL OF FISH-CULTURE. 235 



The completion of the new marine laboratory and hatchery at Woods 

 Hole in 1885, with its complete system of salt-water circulation, per- 

 mitted the commencement of experiments in artificial hatching on a 

 large scale, which had not been practicable theretofore, although small 

 quantities of lobster eggs, as well as those of other crustaceans, had 

 been successfully hatched. In 188G the experiments had progressed so 

 successfully that several million eggs were collected and hatched at 

 Woods Hole, the fry being deposited in Vineyard Sound and adjacent 

 waters. From 1887 to 1890, inclusive, the number of eggs collected 

 was 17,821,000. 



From the eggs collected up to 1889 the average production of fry was 

 about 54 per cent. During these years experiments were conducted as 

 to the best method of hatching the eggs. The various forms of appa- 

 ratus used were the Chester jar, the McDonald tidal box, and the 

 McDonald automatic hatching-jar. In 1889 the resalts secured in the 

 latter form of apparatus were so much better than with the others that 

 it was adopted, and in 1890, from the 4,353,000 eggs collected, over 81 

 per cent yielded fry. Work was continued at Woods Hole on about 

 the same scale until 1894, when the collections aggregated 97,000,000 

 eggs. In the same year lobster propagation was undertaken at Glouces- 

 ter and a collection of 10,000,000 eggs was made there. 



During the fiscal year 189i> the number of eggs taken by the Fish 

 Commission was 105,188,000, the resulting fry liberated numbering 

 97,579,000, or about 93 per cent; and in 1897 the collections amounted 

 to 150,000,000 eggs, of which 135,000,000, or 90 per cent, were hatched. 



COLLECTION OF EOG-BEARING LOBSTERS. 



Although the new eggs appear on the lobsters during the mouths of 

 July and August, no special effort is made to secure egg-bearing 

 lobsters until the following spring. The collections usually commence 

 in April and continue until the middle of July. At Woods Hole it 

 has been the recent i)ractice to receive at the station and place in the 

 hatching-jars during the fall and winter any lobsters having external 

 eggs that may be captured by local fisherman. The collecting-grounds 

 extend from New London, Connecticut, to Eockland, Maine. For Woods 

 Hole station eggs are secured from iishermen operating between New 

 London, Connecticut, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. 



The most important grounds in Connecticut are in the vicinity of New 

 London andNoank; in Massachusetts, New Bedford, South Dartmouth, 

 Plymouth, Woods Hole, and numerous localities in Buzzards Bay and 

 Vineyard Sound. Eggs for the Gloucester station are secured from the 

 fishermen operating between Boston and Rockland, Avhich territory 

 comprises the most important lobster fishery in the United States. The 

 schooner Granqms is used in making the collections between Portland 

 and Eockland, the lobsters being delivered at Gloucester early in the 

 season and later on to the steamer Fish Hawk, which is stationed at a 

 suitable point in Casco Bay. 



