110 American Fisheries Society 



where there could hardly be a doubt left as to its suitability for 

 the propagation of trout, yet here we have met with conditions 

 unfavorable to an extent undreamed of. But if we can get the 

 trout past the stage of absorbing the yolk sac, our trouble is past. 

 The eggs that are taken there annually— some two to three 

 millions — are shipped to the Bayfield hatchery, where they hatch 

 into the strongest of fry and we have no losses in the fry stage. 



The man with the feed pail and dipper, the man who selects 

 the livers and plucks, the man that knows how to spread the feed 

 and do a thousand other things properly, is truly the man respon- 

 sible for the results, as it is with a successful stock raiser. For 

 months and years he stands guard over these things and he may 

 know little else and care less. It is confining work, but still very 

 fascinating. 



The fry are fed five or six times a day, at first, in the hatchery 

 vats, with very finely ground food composed of one-half liver and 

 one-half sheep plucks. We find the plucks an excellent food, 

 because the fine particles float, giving the little fellows plenty of 

 time to get it, whereas, the liver will settle quickly to the bottom. 

 However, the fry that have learned how to feed take it before it 

 reaches the bottom. This finely ground food must all pass through 

 a sieve before being mixed with the water for feeding, to make 

 sure that there will be no pieces large enough to harm the fry. It 

 is fed a little at a time and often at first, and how they do eat! 

 During the five or six weeks they have been in the hatchery fry 

 troughs, they have been absorbing nourishment from the natural 

 food sac. They are eager now for a change of diet, and the little 

 particles of liver and plucks are taken eagerly. What fun it is to 

 see them retain their places at the headwaters, where the current 

 is swift, and work for the food. All these things work into a 

 trout man's system, and become a part of him. 



Some of these little fingerlings are now growing faster than 

 others and some of them are destined to be, at maturity, much 

 larger than others of the same age. These larger ones must be 

 separated from the others, or else there will be a tremendous 

 loss during the late summer, for the large devour the small, 

 especially in the brook trout. Those who maintain that the rain- 

 bows are eternally eating up all the brook trout are, I believe, 

 mistaken to a great extent. We all know the rainbow is a very 



