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to eggs and fry alike. Reasons for this rapid destruction 

 existed" without question, and the commissioners set them- 

 selves to work to find out the cause of their repeated failures. 

 A noticeable diminution in the volume of water, towards the 

 latter part of the season, had been observed for some time 

 back, and the temperature had gone up to 52°. A microscop- 

 ical examination of the fry revealed "little blisters on the gill 

 covers, distended and inflamed eyes and a fungoid condition 

 of the gills," and an analysis of the waters of the creek found 

 it "contaminated to a high degree, with decomposing vege- 

 table matter, sewage from some slaughter house or glue fac- 

 tory courses into it " — said the examiner. Thus were they 

 convinced that any more work in this line at Pokagon would 

 would be worse than useless : from the thousands and thou- 

 sands of eggs over which they had labored, less than 450,000 

 fry had been planted in eight years, and it is more than prob- 

 able that the greater part of these were so infected with dis 

 ease as to live but a short time after being put into the stream 

 were it was hoped they would thrive. 



In July i88[, Cheney Creek, near Paris, in Mecosta County, 

 was selected as a desirable place to which to remove the 

 hatchery. 



As grayling were found in the stream and had been known 

 to exist there for some time previous, it was deemed almost 

 certain that the waters contained the necessary food and all 

 other properties and accessories so essential to the success of 

 trout work : the .magnificent results obtained by the Commis- 

 sion at this point since have fully shown the wisdom of its 

 selection. 



About 39 acres of ground and a strip of land 15 rods wide, 

 the creek meandering across 120 acres more, were purchased, 

 A hatching house, dwelling, barn, etc., were erected at a cost 

 of i^sooo which included apparatus, and the Michigan Com- 

 mission after eight years of hard labor, over which no one felt 

 very much elated, virtually began afresh in the work of hatch- 

 ing brook trout. It mijrht be well to add a few facts in re- 



