REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 101 
{to be due to the fact that the water to the upper tier was delivered 
‘through closed pipes, while that used in the lower tiers was from open 
‘troughs in which the water had been partially aérated. 
| With regard to measuring whitefish and other eggs, the following is 
‘from a letter from Superintendent Stranahan: 
Our plan for computing the number of fish eggs is to carefully measure out a fluid 
quart in water, draining until fairly dry, or to an extent that they will no longer 
‘drip. The eggs are then divided into two pans, which are part of the weighing 
scales, until they balance. One panful is then divided on the scales in the same 
manner until finally one-eighth of a quart is obtained, these being counted. The 
scales, prepared at the station, under my supervision, are so sensitive that the weight 
of one herring egg is indicated. Duplicate counts of one-eighth quart show varia- 
tions of five to twelve eggs. To comp™te the number of eggs in the hatchery we 
take ten jars, introducing a quart of water into each, marking the level on the gauge, 
and taking the mean of the ten marks for the 1-quart mark. The second quart is 
then added to each jar, and so on until 5 quarts have been introduced. Lines are 
established on the gauge stick between quart marks to indicate pints and half pints. 
Cisco or lake-herring eggs are found to number 78,848 per quart, whitefish 40,000, 
and pike-perch 171,000. 
The gauge employed is of wood, in the shape of a carpenter’s square, 
the short arm resting across the top of jar, the longer one following the 
outside to the base. 
Cisco or lake herring.—Active interest being exhibited by commercial 
fishermen in behalf of the propagation of this species, the collecting and 
hatching of their eggs was this year taken up, Messrs. Stone.& Gilbert, 
Daniel Vrooman, and Frank Miller granting the eggs free of cost and 
affording facilities to spawn-takers. The collecting-grounds were on the 
Shoals around Put-in Bay, operations being confined to November, 
aggregate collections for the month being 11,756,000. The fry resulting 
amounted to 6,500,000, and these, escaping simultaneously with the 
wuitefish, were drawn into the same collectors and distributed together, 
shipping cans containing both species. 
The opinion prevailing among local fishermen that a hybrid between 
the whitefish and cisco existed in those waters, an attempt was made 
to produce such a fish, the eggs used being those of the cisco. The 
number successfully fertilized was 588,000, of which 200,000 were 
Shipped to Smethers & Thompson, Warren, Ind., for experimental pur- 
poses. The hatching was successful and the fry were liberated in one 
of their private ponds. A letter received June 9 represented that thou- 
sands of these fish, 2 inches long, were in sight around the inlet. The 
water in the pond was from an artesian well. Eggs retained at the 
station produced 200,000 healthy fry, which were liberated in Lake Erie 
at points in the vicinity of the station. 
Lake trout.—When it was too late in the season a spawn-taker was 
dispatched to Dunkirk, N. Y., egg collections of lake trout numbering 
400,000 being secured. A loss of more than 100,000 was sustained 
almost immediately, while the eggs were held in cans of running water. 
Those reaching the station amounted to 225,000, of which 25 per cent 
