REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 101 



to be due to the fact that tbe water to tlie upper tier was delivered 

 through closed pipes, while that used in the lower tiers was from open 

 troughs in which the water had been partially aerated. 



With regard to measuring whitelish and other eggs, the following is 

 from a letter from Superintendent Stranahan : 



Our plan for computing the number of fish eggs is to carefully measure out a fluid 

 quart in water, draining until fairly dry, or to au extent that they will no longer 

 drip. The eggs are then divided into two pans, which are part of the weighing 

 scales, until theybalance. One panful is then divided on the scales in the same 

 manner until finally one-eighth of a quart is obtained, these being counted. The 

 scales, prepared at the station, under my supervision, are so sensitive that the weight 

 of one herring egg is indicated. Duplicate counts of one-eighth quart show varia- 

 tions of five to twelve eggs. To comp'" te the number of eggs in the hatchery we 

 take ten jars, introducing a quart of water into each, marking the level on the gauge, 

 and taking the meau of the ten marks for the l-quart mark. The second quart is 

 then added to each jar, and so on until 5 quarts have been introduced. Lines are 

 established on the gauge stick between quart marks to indicate pints and half pints. 

 Cisco or lake-herring eggs are found to number 78,848 per quart, whitefish 40,000, 

 and pike-perch 171,000. 



The gauge employed is of wood, in the shape of a carpenter's square, 

 the short arm resting across the top of jar, the longer one following the 

 outside to the base. 



Cisco or laliG herring. — Active interest being exhibited by commercial 

 fishermen in behalf of the propagation of this species, the collecting and 

 hatching of their eggs was this year taken up, Messrs. Stone & Gilbert, 

 Daniel Vrooman, and Frank Miller granting the eggs free of cost and 

 affording facilities to spawn-takers. The collecting-grounds were on the 

 shoals around Put in Bay, operations being confined to November, 

 aggregate collections for the month being 11,756,000. The fry resulting 

 amounted to 6,.500,000, and these, escaping simultaneously with, the 

 whitefish, were drawn into the same collectors and distributed together, 

 shipping cans containing both species. 



The opinion prevailing among local fishermen that a hybrid between 

 the whitefish and cisco existed in those waters, an attempt was made 

 to produce such a fish, the eggs used being those of the cisco. The 

 number successfully fertilized was 588,000, of which 200,000 were 

 shipped to Smethers & Thompson, Warren, Ind., for experimental pur- 

 poses. The hatching was successful and the fry were liberated in one 

 of their private ponds. A letter received June 9 represented that thou- 

 sands of these fish, 2 inches long, were in sight around the inlet. The 

 water in the pond was from an artesian well. Eggs retained at the 

 station produced 200,000 healthy fry, which were liberated in Lake Erie 

 at points in the vicinity of the station. 



Lalie trout. — When it was too late in the season a spawn-taker was 

 dispatched to Dunkirk, N. Y., egg collections of lake trout numbering 

 400,000 being secured. A loss of more than 100,000 was sustained 

 almost immediately, while the eggs were held in cans of running water. 

 Those reaching the station amounted to 225,000, of which 25 per cent 



