REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 47 
The enlargement of the island upon which the laboratory is located, 
in consequence of the deposition of material dredged by the War 
Department from nearby channels; the recent additions to the 
building authorized by Congress; and the grading and sodding of 
large portions of the island have added greatly to the appearance 
na to the stability of the property. The station would be of much 
ereater practical service to the fishing industries of the coast were it 
enabled, through the provision of an adequate permanent staff, to’ 
carry on more extensive permanent peli eae work. Investi- 
Jee temporarily pursued serve a useful purpose in laying the basis 
or practical work, but it is usually only through continuous experi- 
mentation that the mevitable difficulties of new practical work are 
discovered and successfully overcome, as must finally be done to 
pave the way to substantial benefits. The terrapin experiments 
offer a concrete example of a businesslike mode of procedure in 
fishery experiment work, while other opportunities are awaiting 
with perhaps greater possibilities. 
The Key West, Fla., laboratory becomes nearer to realization with 
the developments of the past fiscal year, during which the Govern- 
ment has assumed title to the site and Congress has provided the 
necessary additional appropriation for its construction. The pre- 
liminary sketch plans were completed and at the close of the year 
the final plans were in course of preparation. Bids are expected to 
be sought by advertisement at no distant date. The laboratory site 
is properly chosen near a base of supplies accessible by water and rail 
and the seat of important commercial fisheries. Situated as it is, 
entirely remote from the influence of fresh-water rivers and on the 
thoroughfare from gulf to ocean, the conditions should be eminently 
suitable for work with marine forms. It is hoped to employ the most 
substantial method of construction, not only because the peculiar 
conditions of the geographic location demand it but because it is 
regarded as sound business policy to provide against the continued 
necessity for repairs and unnecessary operating costs. 
When this laboratory is in operation and provided with a staff of 
trained investigators, the service rendered by the Bureau to the 
fisheries of the Gulf and extreme South Atlantic coasts will be of 
more palpable benefit. Some of the evident opportunities are to be 
found in the study of the artificial propagation of the green turtle, 
the investigation of such useful forms as the spiny lobster and the 
stone crab, the fostering of the struggling industry of sponge culture, 
and the study of the important att fishes of the Gulf of Mexico and 
Straits of Florida. 
The Fairport, lowa, station, having a permanent scientific staff, 
is in active operation during the entire year. During the summer 
season its staff is temporarily augmented in order that particular 
problems arising from the regular investigations at this station or 
related to the other activities of the Bureau may be attacked by 
mail ane in particular lines of study. As at the marine laboratories, 
the facilities of the station are extended to approved independent 
investigators, who, as table occupants, pursue their researches without 
cost to the Government. 
The propagation of mussels, the fish-cultural experiment work, 
the investigations of the food of fishes, and certain studies of condi- 
tions in the Mississippi River, as elsewhere referred to, are among the 
