Editorial 217 



six in Washington, D. C, three in New England (all in 

 Mass.) and three in the west. 



How are these irregularities to be accounted for? The 

 first thirteen meetings after the organization of the So- 

 ciety were held in New York City, with one exception, 

 Albany. This was probably because of the central posi- 

 tion of New York with regard to the early membership. 

 Since that time five meetings have been held in New 

 York State, and only once in the last sixteen years. The 

 six meetings held in Washington are not a dispropor- 

 tionate number when one considers the interest and ac- 

 tivity of the members of the Bureau of Fisheries in the 

 work of the Society. Aside from the above, only four 

 States have had as many as three annual meetings, 

 Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. Other 

 States are as follows: Illinois, 2; Nebraska, Wisconsin, 

 New Jersey, West Virginia, Missouri, Colorado and Cali- 

 fornia, one each. Since 1900 there have been only two 

 repetitions, indicating a desire on the part of the Society 

 for a fair distribution of the meetings. 



Undoubtedly a number of factors have entered into 

 the choice of meeting places in recent years. The most 

 important of these seems to be the distribution of mem- 

 bers, most of whom are still in the New England, Middle 

 Atlantic and North Middle States. Interest in fish cul- 

 ture has also been an important factor. For example, 

 two of the Massachusetts meetings were held at Woods 

 Hole and two of the Ohio meetings at Put-in-Bay. Great 

 "convention cities," which have much to offer the visitor 

 in the way of sight-seeing, have also influenced the dis- 

 tribution of the meetings, as witness New York, Wash- 

 ington, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. 



Now, why have no meetings until the present one been 

 held in the South ? Two reasons which come to my mind 

 at once seem sufficient to explain this apparent neglect. 

 In the first place, the membership in the southern states 

 has always been comparatively slight, possibly because, 

 owing to smaller population and natural advantages, the 

 necessity for artificial culture of fish has not been so 



