G8 INLAND FISHERIES. 



wliat they come in contact with ; and as they are continuously mov- 

 ing- aboiit in an ocean full of organisms, they must but rarely want 

 for food. 



LoBSTER-ClTLTUEE. 



The experiments in rearing- the fry through the critical period 

 have demonstrated that the chief difficulties to be contended with 

 are, first, that of supplying proper food ; and, second, that of fur- 

 nishing adequate protection. 



4. WJiai is the hest method of supplying food f—^\\en a large 

 number of fry are kept in an enclosure, the natural food supply, 

 consisting of other organisms, is of course not sufficient in quan- 

 tity and other food must be introduced. It is possible sometimes 

 to collect little crustaceans (copepo'ds) in abundance and put these 

 into the enclosure Avitli the fry. However, this method has prac- 

 tical disadvantages, since it is frequently difficult or impossible to 

 collect the small organisms in sufficient number, and even when 

 they have been collected and placed in the cars with the lobsters, 

 they will often escape through the netting or gather in one place 

 whither they are attracted by the light. Some method must be 

 resorted to, which will provide the food in greater quantities and 

 with greater certainty. The fry decidedly prefer an animal to a 

 vegetable diet, and, while shrimp can be fed satisfactorily on 

 bread, the lobsters will not eat it. 



In providing an animal food it is necessary to select tissues 

 which can easily be shredded or crumbled into small pieces. One 

 of the best foods in this particular is lobster liver, which is readily 

 shaken into minute short filaments. At the present price of lob- 

 sters this diet is rather too luxurious to be used on a large scale, 

 and furthermore the experiments seem to indicate that it does not 

 agree with the fry. Shredded fresh fish is fairly good, and very 

 satisfactory in the later stages. The best food so far discovered 

 is the soft i)arts of clams. The bodies of the clam are cut out and 

 chopped into fine pieces in a chopping-tray and then thrown into 

 the water. Even tlie larger pieces of the soft tissue can be torn 



