KEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 87 



as spawu-takers, was employed iu makiug egg collections. Fish being 

 scarce off Gloucester, tlie sclioouer %Yas statioued the greater portion 

 of the time at Kittery Point, Maine, where regular supplies of eggs of 

 fair quality were obtained from January 13 to March 13. As usual, a 

 small run of codfish, available for spawn-taking purposes, appeared off 

 Gloucester in November, but fish were generally scarce here throughout 

 the season, the few eggs obtained being from the schooner Odd Fellow. 

 Early in January the upper harbor became tilled with ice and the 

 weather was so intensely cold that the steam condenser, the waste from 

 which is employed to increase the water temperature, became inopera- 

 tive on account of ice formation in the pipes. 



The collections from Kittery Point were obtained from vessels fi'shing 

 in Ipswich Bay, the price paid for good eggs being $5 per 1,000,000. 

 The collections were transferred to the station by messenger over the 

 railroad, the greater part arriving in good condition. 



There were no eggs obtained except of the codfish, and the first ot 

 these were secured January 14. On that date the harbor temperature 

 was 31°, the warm water overflow from the steam condenser, available 

 at that time, increasing the temperature in the hatching-boxes by 3°. 

 TLe shipments from Kittery Point in January were 12,202,000, Febru- 

 ary 18,108,000, and March 29,200,000. The total number received was 

 51,581,000, of which 49,831,000 were good. The fry produced amounted 

 to 20,142,000, these being liberated in the waters adjacent, within a few 

 days after hatching. Operations by months are indicated below: 



Mouths. 



Eggs re- 

 ceived. 



Fry pro- 

 duced. 



January . . . 

 February . . 

 March 



Total 



11, 045, 000 

 15, 019, OOO 

 23,767,000 



5, 150, 000 

 7, 328, 000 

 7, 664, 000 



49, 831, 000 



20, 142, 000 



On April 13 there were also received 1,753,000 eggs, of which 1,195,000 

 remained on hand unhatched when the station was closed, these being 

 placed overboard. 



This was a clear- water season until February 10, when a violent storm 

 occurred, filling the water with sediment. There was less uniformity 

 in the hatching of eggs and the fry were weaker than in the best 

 seasons. The jioorer quality of hatching was attributed to the low water 

 temperature, which could not be controlled for the reason mentioned, 

 but the larger portion of the fry were active, and the poorer lots — those 

 which failed to straighten — were not included in the record of those 

 distributed. One lot of eggs, February IG, consisting of 2,000,000, pro- 

 duced 76 per cent of fry. 



Alcoholic collections of eggs and embryo fishes were prepared and 

 transferred to the general ofiice for use at the World's Fair. On Ai)ril 

 17 the station was closed, Mr. E. F. Locke, flsh-culturist, being left iu 

 charge of property. 



