74 V. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



thoroughly affected with gill trouble, a condition that is troublesome 

 at Manchester. The effect of the change to this station will be care- 

 fulh' noted, and if it develops later that brook trout can be success- 

 fully grown here a brood stock will be built up and maintained as 

 a source of egg supply for other stations of the bureau. 



A recent investigation of the brood pond fishes by the bureau's 

 pathologist conclusively demonstrated a fact that has been evident 

 for some time, namely, that these fishes as well as the trout are 

 affected with a cystic degeneration of the ovaries, and to this un- 

 healthy state is no doubt attributable the greatly reduced output in 

 recent years. Notwithstanding the presence of this disease the out- 

 come of the year's operations with the pond species was successful 

 to an unusual degree, over 100,000 fingerling fish being produced and 

 distributed, and the black-bass production increased by 37 per cent 

 over the output of the previous year. This favorable showing was 

 made possible largely by the congenial weather prevailing during 

 the spring spawning season, a condition that has been observed to 

 occur on an average of once every eight years. During the spring a 

 consignment of several million eggs of the yellow perch was received 

 at Neosho from the bureau's Potomac River hatchery. Part of these 

 eggs were turned over to the Missouri Fish and Game Department 

 and the remainder were incubated, the loss in hatching amounting to 

 10 per cent. The efforts frequently made in the past to inaugurate 

 yellow-perch propagation at this station have always resulted in fail- 

 ure, ovarian trouble making its appearance within the course of a 

 year's time, with a consequent falling off in egg collections. As many 

 of the waters in this region are adapted to the yellow perch, it is 

 hoped that sliipments of eggs of this species can be made annually 

 from other hatcheries of the bureau. 



WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS (W. VA.) STATION. 

 [Edward M. Haynes, Superintendent.] 



The year's fish-cultural activities at this station were very gener- 

 ally successful, the aggregate output of the station being the largest 

 in its history by more tlian 500,000 eggs, fry, and fingerling fish. 

 Although the output of rainbow trout showed the most noticeable 

 increase, there was also a larger production of the other species 

 propagated. The brood stock of rainbow trout, of which 3,600 were 

 females from 4 to 6 years old, yielded 2,210,000 eggs. Shipments of 

 these to the number of 800,000 were made to applicants and to other 

 stations of the bureau after reaching the eyed stage, and 80 per cent 

 of the remainder produced healthy fry. 



Because of the high mortality that occurs every year among the 

 adult fish at spawning time only a comparatively small number of 

 brood brook trout have been maintained at this station. The 700 

 three-year-old fish of this species on hand during the fall of 1921 

 yielded 115,000 eggs; 125,000 eggs from wild brook trout were re- 

 ceived from the Springville (Utah) station; 450,000 were acquired 

 by purchase ; and the State of Pennsylvania furnished 300,000 in ex- 

 change for eggs of other species. The station also incubated 100,000 

 brook-trout eggs belonging to the State of West Virginia. Some 

 2,500 fingerlings resulting from the Utah eggs were retained at the 

 station to be reared for a brood stock. 



