EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LXVII 



There has been a considerable amonut of criticism on the part of 

 State commissioDers as to Mr. Clark's practice of hatching out white- 

 fish "prematurely," as they call it, and, in their opinion, placing them in 

 the lake when the water is too cold for them. A careful examiuatiou 

 of the subject, however, does not substantiate the assertions, and the 

 reasonings themselves are faulty. There is no reason to believe that 

 the eggs are hatched out earlier in the Northville hatchery than they 

 are spontaneously in the lakes, and the investigations by Mr. Forbes 

 prove conclusively that, although the microscopic food for the young 

 fish is not so much concentrated in cold weather as it is when warmer, 

 there is yet an amijle supply. 



Among the special features of interest in the island of Mount Desert 

 is a lake of deep, cold water of considerable extent, which is thought 

 to be suitable for the growth of white fish. 



At the request of Mr. Montgomery Sears, of Boston, who is a summer 

 resident of Mount Desert Island, in the vicinity of this lake, I gave in- 

 structions to Mr. Frank N. Clark to set aside 1,000,000 eggs of the 

 white fish in the Northville hatchery for the lake in question, and as 

 there were no facilities at the lake for hatching out the eggs, I ordered 

 the lot to be sent to the salmon station at Bucksport, there to be 

 brought forward to a sufficient size for planting. 



The eggs arrived at the Bucksport station on February 26, packed 

 in one case, and were found to be in good condition. The tempera- 

 ture of the moss was below 35 degrees. A small percentage, however, 

 hatched out and died ; so that there was some smell about the package. 

 The eggs were then carefully washed and put into water at a temper- 

 ature of 33 degrees. A few hatched out within twenty-four hours. 



Mr. Buck, the assistant to Mr. Atkins, who had charge of these eggs, 

 thought it best to keep them at the hatchery, if possible, until the ice 

 should be out of Eagle Lake, and the steamers running to Mount Des- 

 ert. He therefore continued the use of the coldest water (below 34 

 degrees) until April 19. At that time about half of the eggs were 

 hatched, and Mr. Buck took one twenty-gallon can filled with young fry 

 to Mount Desert, for the purpose of making arrangements for the de- 

 livery of the entire number. 



He found that the ice had thawed around the edges of the lake, and 

 had no difficulty in finding a suitable x^lace for introducing the fish. 



The temperature of the water used in developing the eggs on April 26 

 had reached 37 degrees, by which time all the eggs were hatched out. 



Mi\ Buck on that day reached the lake at 9 o'clock p. m. ; and in his 

 opinion successfully planted 700,000 of the young fry. 



The scarcity of suitable cans made it necessary also to use four casks 

 which had received two coats of shellac on the inside. All the fish, how- 

 ever, transported in the casks died on the way. 



Mr, Buck states that the fry taken down on the 19th were liberated 

 upon the north side of the lake, about one-fourth of a mile westward 



