112 KEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



World's Fair, and to the World's Fair commissioners of the State of 

 Missouri. Specimens of fish and other uatural-histor}' collections were 

 furnished to Prof. S. E. Meek, curator of the museum of the Arkansas 

 Industrial University. 



Of the rainbow trout brought over from the preceding year, 1,500 

 "were set aside for brood fish. These were weighed and measured in 

 February and fed for sixty-three days on a diet consisting of 2.85 

 pounds of beef liver and 15.5 pounds of mush made of mill shorts. 

 During the succeeding twenty-seven days they were fed on 4.44 pounds 

 of liver compounded with 22.94 pounds of mush. On the dates April 

 2G, May 20, and June 19 they had progressed from the aggregate weight 

 of 140.5 pounds to 390, 480 and 522.2 pounds, respectively. The cost 

 of each pound at the eiul of the first period was 3.6 cents, at the end of 

 the second I.IG, and at the end of the third 0.5, the price of liver being 

 4.5 cents per pound. 



Dried blood in conjunction with mush was tried without good results, 

 owing to the fact that the substance could not be reduced to its original 

 state so as to freely mingle with the farinaceous matter. Experimental 

 tests were made with cotton-seed meal. A trial with purely farinaceous 

 diet was made with rainbow-trout fry with satisfactory results. 



Examinations for Gammarus in the surrounding streams having 

 demonstrated that none was present, 1,000 were obtained in December 

 from the Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. Introduced into the black-bass 

 ponds, all apparently were destroyed, but in. the others they multiplied. 

 Aa\ attempt to convert into fish food the crawfish destroyed was unsuc- 

 cessful, as the time consumed in handling was not economically invested. 



Rainbow trout. — This species has attained unprecedented growth in 

 the ponds of this station, where it has been demonstrated that they 

 will spawn the second year. All reports concerning the growth of fish 

 liberated in the waters of the Ozark region have been encouraging. 



On December 14 the 3-year-old brood fish commenced to spawn, 

 and by December 30, only 23,000 eggs having been taken, it became 

 evident that the parent fish would not enter the spawning race. 

 Thereupon a haul seine was applied to their capture every day until the 

 close of the season, March 7. The quality of the eggs being superior 

 to those taken last year, the conclusion was reached that the hard and 

 glassy kind heretofore puzzling the minds of all concerned were the 

 result of overretention. In the preceding year, when the spawning 

 race was depended upon, GO percent of all eggs taken were of the kind 

 named, while this year none were of that character. Hence, it is 

 inferred that the hard and glassy eggs may be avoided by seining, and 

 taking eggs from fish as soon as mature. The total from 730 females 

 was G72,52G, of which, 84^- per cent, or 542,808, Avere fertilized, the 

 average number of eggs per fish being 935. Of the fish stripped, only 79 

 voluntarily entered the spawning race, all others being forcibly captured. 



As this station was equipped and designed to hatch only about G0,000 

 eggs, it was impracticable to care for the number obtained, and 21 



