84 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The eggs acquired were of superior quality, only 9,000 having been 

 discarded by December 31, when the outlines of the embryos Avere 

 clearly visible. It was anticipated that more than 200,000 would hatch, 

 but on January 15 an uuexi)ected death rate was encountered and its 

 continuance for a month materially reduced the stock. A minute white 

 spot on the egg resulted, in the course of two days, in a growth of 

 fnngus. The source of fatality is charged to careless handling in the 

 process of picking, when the eggs were exposed to the higher air tem- 

 perature of the room for unnecessarily long periods. On A^jril 5 all 

 were carefully washed, picked, and spread evenly on 81 trays, and the 

 contents of several trays being ascertained by counting, the whole 

 number was found to be 160,000. Hatching was observed as early as 

 April 8, and at the end of the month no eggs remained. A subsequent 

 table indicates the success attending the stock in the fry stage. 



Brook trout. — Egg collections were from wild fish taken from Wink- 

 empaugh Brook, a tributary of Branch Pond, 10 miles distant. On 

 October 19 two employees, j)rovided with equipment for establishing a 

 trap to arrest the progress of ascending fish, were dispatched to the 

 scene. The trap was at once put in place, and eleven days after 1 

 male and 10 females were taken, from 5 of which, then ripe, 10,000 

 eggs were secured, these being delivered at the station the same day. 

 The weight of one of these fish was about o pounds. During one 

 night, about the middle of November, 34 female trout were taken. The 

 ineffective arrangement of the trap permitted nearly all male fish to 

 escape, and this, together with injuries sustained from the cutting of 

 minks and muskrats, and a sudden freshet, led to the unobstructed 

 passage of probably two-thirds of all fish ascending. There were 72 

 females captured, a portion of which escaped before their eggs were 

 stripijed. The Winkempaugh trout are the geiuiine Salvelinus fonti- 

 nalis, ranging in weight from 2 to 5 pounds, and exhibiting brilliant 

 markings. The collection of eggs amounted to 109,400, of which 8,500 

 were treated with milt of landlocked salmon without result. Besides 

 the above, a few unproductive eggs were acquired from fish captured in 

 the Great Brook traps. The eggs in development turned out poorly, 

 as a result of defective fertilization, the greater portion being discarded 

 by December, many of those remaining showing up as "ringers." 



Other trout eggs. — Eggs additional to those already mentioned were 

 in the nature of express consignments, represented below : 



Date. 



Kind. Number. 



I 



Atlaiiti(; salmon 10, 000 



Von Behr trout 50,000 



Lake trout j 50,000 



Loch Leven trout I 30, 000 



Whence derived. 



Jan. 18.. 

 23.. 

 28.. 

 28.. 



CraiK Brook Station, Maine. 

 Northvillo Station, Michigan. 



Do. 



Do. 



On arrival there were dead, of the first three kinds named, 8, 13, 

 and 10, respectively. A consignment of rainbow trout eggs arrived 

 February from Neosho Station, all having perished en route from 

 delay consequent upon a railroad accident. 



