1174 TJ. S. BUEEATJ OF FISHERIES 



MANCHESTER (IOWA) STATION 



[G. H. Gill, Superintendent] 



In tlie course of the year the interior of the hatchery and the rearing 

 room were given two coats of flat-tone paint throughout. Four of the other 

 buildings were painted outside and two of them were reshingled. New wooden 

 supports were installed for 64 metal troughs and the new Clark-Williamson 

 trough. A cement water tank or cistern of 4,000-gallons capacity was con- 

 structed on a high point east of the hatchery. The old boiler was dismantled 

 and a new 6-section low pressure steam boiler installed. Approximately 60 

 cubic yards of clay were hauled for the bottom of the new bass pond. One 

 million eight hundred thousand rainbow-trout eggs of good quality were ob- 

 tained from the station brood stock and handled in conjunction with 624,800 

 brook trout eggs received from outside sources. A fair rating was attained 

 in the hatching and distribution of the product of these eggs and at the close 

 of the year 50,000 rainbow and 130,000 brook trout fingerlings were on hand 

 awaiting later shipment. All fingerling trout, both brook and rainbow, were 

 entirely free from disease and made an excellent growth, but all of the brood 

 trout, including yearling and 2-year-old stock, were seriously affected with 

 gyrodactylus and considerable losses resulted. Unseasonably cold weather dur- 

 ing the .'jpring injured the eggs of the smallmouth black bass but there are 

 indications that the output of rock bass will be good. 



NEOSHO (MO.) STATION AND SUBSTATION 

 [W. H. Thomas, Superintendent] 



Having undergone a rather thorough restoration within the past two 

 years, the stations in this field are all in good condition with the exception 

 that the severe cold of the past winter caused the breaking of several of the 

 pond walls. This damage will have to be repaired during the coming year. 

 Notwithstanding the loss of approximately one-fourth of the brood stock of rain- 

 bow trout at the Bourbon substation in August, 1929, the results of the propaga- 

 tion work with this species during the year were somewhat in excess of those 

 attained in any previous year. Although the parasite gyrodactylus manifested 

 its presence among the stock of trout, no undue loss of fish was experienced. 

 Approximately 3,500,000 eyed rainbow trout eggs were supplied to applicants, 

 the shipments going east to New York, west to Montana, and also into South 

 Dakota and North Carolina. The fingerling and adult rainbow-trout distribu- 

 tion amounted to 101,000. The combined weight of the latter aggregated 3 

 tons, and owing to their large size they could be delivered only for local 

 streams. A very successful year was experienced in the propagation of the pond- 

 fishes. Fertilizer was used freely in the ponds and daphnia cultures introduced 

 therein from time to time, greatly promoting the growth of the fish. The 

 year's distribution of bass, crappie, blucgills, etc., was slightly more than 

 303,000 and exceeded the record of any previous year. 



Bourbon (Mo.) substation. — The work at this station is conducted coopera- 

 tively with the owners of the property, and its main purpose is the production 

 of rainbow-trout spawn. The fingerling fish resulting from the work are either 

 retained for brood stock or given to the guests of the owners of the property. 

 The rainbow-trout spawn collected during the year was of the highest quality, 

 comparable in a measure to the eggs of wild trout, and all fingerlings carried 

 were maintained throughout the season in excellent condition. The adult rain- 

 bows were fed on a ration consisting of two parts horse flesh, one part sheep 

 liver, with a 30 per cent addition of middlings in the form of a mush. The 

 collections of eggs at this substation have incrensed steadily in volume within 

 the past few years and their quality during the past year was higher than has 

 ever before been experienced here. 



Langdon (Kans.) substation.— Owin^ to the severe drouth prevailing in this 

 region the collection of pond fishes did not equal those of the preceding year, 

 though they were larger than the take of any year before that one. The out- 

 put included black bass, crappie, bluegills, etc., with black bass making up more 

 than one-half the total. 



