[5] PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SHAD. 657 
load, in place of the single messenger shipments, limited as they were to 
one or two hundred thousand fish. 
Although in previous seasons the production amounted to many mill- 
ions of fish, this was the aggregation of only one or two hundred thou- 
sand daily. Large shipments of one or two millions were impracticable, 
as before this number could be produced the earlier hatched were so 
far developed that they would require a much more abundant supply of 
food than that found in the limited amount of water to which they were 
necessarily confined. 
The production of previous years was necessarily scattered in com- 
paratively small Jots throughout the country, no streams except those 
on which the hatching stations were located receiving a sufficient num- 
ber to have their presence decidedly marked. 
Far greater results can be anticipated from the deposits of one or two 
millions of fish in a stream during a single season, and this is entirely 
within the possibilities, so great has been the advancement in the meth- 
ods employed in collecting the eggs, their development, and the trans- 
fer of the young fish produced. 
Shipment by car-loads was, therefore, a marked feature in the opera- 
tions of this season. By this method, it is confidently hoped that the 
work of distribution, not only of shad, but of carp and other fishes, can 
be made much more systematically, much more efficiently, and at much 
less cost. 
Having demonstrated the practicability of securing young shad of 
uniform ages in sufficient numbers to warrant shipments by car-loeads, it 
now becomes necessary to secure properly arranged cars for this pur- 
pose. The essentials of a car for this duty are: 
First. Arrangements for maintaining even and constant temperatures. 
Second. Capacity for conveniently storing special carrying vessels. 
Third. Automatic arrangements for change and circulation of water 
and aeration. 
Fourth. Comfortable living, accommodations for the messengers at- 
tending the fish, so that they can be constantly at their post of duty. 
Designs are being prepared for the construction of such cars, which . 
will be built as the work develops and the means are provided. 
The detail of operations at this station with accompamying tables, by 
Mr. F. N. Clark, who was in charge, will be found in the following pages. 
The fish produced at Washington, as well as the yield from the Havre 
de Grace station, were, as heretofore, transferred to various parts of the 
country. The places of deposit are given in the accompanying tables, 
which have been arranged both geographically and chronologically for 
easy reference. 
S. Mis. 29-——42 
