586 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



is sufficient to state that iu one of the stone troughs 1.50 meters long, 

 75 centimeters broad, CO centimeters deep, with a water-supply of .675 

 cubic meter (== 675 liters) there are six Bonau salmon and common 

 salmon together, each of which weighs from 10 to 12 kilograms. One 

 of the Donau salmon measured 1.20 meters. Born in the establishment, 

 it was at the age of a year placed in this little box, and in eight years 

 it reached this enormous size. The length of its comrades varied be- 

 tween 85 and 110 centimeters ; they were likewise born iu the same 

 establishment. The space was so narrow for them that they for many 

 years had found it impossible to turn or to move from the place. Their 

 long-continued captivity had made them just as tame as other house- 

 hold animals. They were not alarmed when one aiiproached them but 

 evidently expected food from his hand. Every female of this age and 

 size lays annually 16,000 to 18,000 eggs. 



This is not the only example of the stall-feeding and packing which Mr. 

 Kiiffer's establishment furnishes. To the fish-hatching structure he has 

 added an annex in one of the storehouses, where he carries on the fish 

 trade. The fishes which he sells each day for consumption he keeps 

 living in stone troughs, or wooden tanks lined with zinc. The reservoirs 

 are furnished with water from the common water aqueduct of the city, 

 which does not contain the same water as that with which the fish-cul- 

 ture establishment is furnished, but which, however, is perfectly serv- 

 iceable. In a stone trough of the same measure as that which contains 

 the large salmon there are over 200 trout, weighing from 350 to 450 grams. 

 All these fish were lively, provided with a good appetite, and were ap- 

 parently in the best condition. One cannot, however, conclude from 

 this that such a packing is to be recommended as a rule. 



All the salmonoids in Mr. Kiifier's establishment differ in sex and age, 

 so as to i)revent them from mutually destroying one another. They are 

 fed with the viscera of the fishes which are sold for consumption in Mr. 

 Kufifer's storeroom, and in order that they shall never hunger, the food 

 is supplemented by commoner species of fishes, which he places in the 

 same basin. Mr. Kiift'er is of the opinion that one must feed to satiety 

 if one wishes to see the fish develop and thrive. He feeds them, there- 

 fore, twice in twenty-four hours at least, morning and eveniug. The 

 fishes which are intended as food for the rest are reared in a separate 

 basin, where they, as it were, get no other food than what they find in 

 the water. Those of the fish which live in the same basin with the 

 fishes whose food they are sooner or later destined to become, livx on 

 what these waste. 



Mr. Kiiffer employs for impregnation the French, or Mr. Coste's method. 

 The apparatus for hatching is the same as is used in many other places, 

 but it is entirely covered, so as to completely exclude the light. Some- 

 times he is obliged to distribute the eggs iu the basin intended for the 

 rearing of the young. Under all circumstances he succeeds completely 

 in the hatching. The loss during the whole hatching season is just as 



