108 Thirtieth Annual Meeting 



l)ox placed ill a stream of water not ten rods away, where they 

 fully recovered, and when I saw them next forenoon were as 

 lively and as smart, crowded thickly in their close quarters as 

 they were, as when I started them on their journey the previous 

 day. I doubt A'ery much if an analysis of the waters from the 

 spring and stream would have shown the vital difference in 

 quality, proved beyond question upon trial. 



Trout fry may be successfully hatched in water not possess- 

 ing the quality necessary for future success, and while they may 

 do well if transferred immediately to other streams more adapted 

 to them, such may not be the case if retained under the first con 

 ditions until they become sickly and weak. Frequently have 1 

 heard someone exclaim : "I don't see what is the matter with 

 mv fry, they are feeding well l>ut are dying fearfully!'' Such 

 may be the case when the greatest care is taken, the proper 

 methods followed and the eggs from strong, healthy, vigorous, 

 parent fish are used. T should like to mention a case where the 

 hatchery and fittings formed one of the best arranged and com- 

 plete plants 1 have ever seen. The water supply was from a 

 spring reservoir with ample aeration. I was asked to visit this 

 plant as the fry were dying in large numbers, and find a remedy 

 for the trouble. As soon as possible I went to the hatchery. The 

 hatch of brook trout tb.at season was nearly 3,000,000, and the 

 sight I saw on arrival made me shiver. The fish, just on the 

 point of feeding, were dying by hundreds of thousands daily, 

 and the bottom of the troughs were covered with dead although 

 the man in charge assured me that all dead had been removed 

 the day before. A most careful search failed to show anything 

 wrong, the water was cold and splendid to drink, and all right 

 for "it had Ix-en analyzed." Yet nevertheless T told the man that 

 I did not believe trout fry would live in that water for the qual- 

 ity was not right for them. He replied that it must be for there 

 was trout living the _year round a quarter of a mile below, in the 

 same stream. But future seasons proved that I was correct, no 

 trout fry could be reared in that water and after a time the at- 

 tempt to do so was al)andoned. The methods followed were 

 right — the quality of tbe water alone prevented a gratifying 

 success. 



I might mention several other cases of the almost total loss 



