736 



EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



M 



ble of impregnation and of others which, though they may be impreg- 

 nated and develop through the earlier stages, are yet destined to perish 

 in the egg or alevin stage. 



3. — Development and shipment of the egos. 



The eggs were divided between the old and new houses, 655,000 being 

 placed in the former and 458,000 in the latter. Only the ordinary losses 

 were sustained, and as large a percentage — perhaps a little larger than 

 usual — were brought up to the shipping stage. The unimpregnated 

 eggs were removed from the most forward lots early in January, and 

 from the later lots in March. Without dwelling on the details, the sum 

 of eggs rejected was 74,614 unimpregnated and 46,842 that died from 

 other causes, making a total of 121,456 by actual count, or 11.3 per cent. 

 This loss left 992,000. The 25 per cent, reserve for the lake and stream 

 amounted to 248,000, and the remainder, 744,000, were divided among 

 the subscribers to the fund. The following statement shows the basis 

 of the division, and the numbers of eggs falling to each party: 



The first shipments were made January 6, and others followed during 

 the month, to the number of 570,000, which exhausted the supply in the 

 old hatching-house. The remainder, being in the cold water of the new 

 house, did not reach the proper stage for packing until March, and in- 

 deed would not have reached it until April had they not been removed 

 to the old house in January, as soon as the early shipments made room 

 for them. 



The packing for transportation was performed after our usual manner, 

 the only change made being the abandonment of sawdust as a packing 

 material, and a slight reduction in the size of the outside cases. The 

 employment of dry moss and leaves as an enveloping material enables 

 us without risk to reduce the thickness of the envelope, with a resultant 

 advantage in lessening the weight and cost of carriage. Speaking in 

 the absence of any comparative test, I think that in dry sphagnous moss 

 we have the most effective material that comes within a proper limit as 

 to cost. It is exceedingly light, and an exceedingly poor conductor of 

 heat. We find it on numerous peat bogs in the vicinity. When wet it 

 is very soft, and the best material in which to imbed the eggs. To dry 

 it we pull it in August or September and spread it thinly on some dry 

 open ground, and wind and sun soon take away its moisture. Leaves 

 are gathered in the neighboring forest, and are mostly beech and maple. 

 It is a good deal of trouble to gather them, and should much wet weather 



