/hiicriciin l-isluTics Society. 127 



under sucli conditions that as large a minihcr as possible of them 

 shall grow into adult fish. It is clear thai of one of the elements 

 in this problem namely, the uhitetish, we know but little. 



"Wnat then do we know of the other elements of the problem, 

 the Great Lakes themselves? Individual naturalists have, from 

 time to time, made ef^'orts to study one uv another of the groups 

 of animals living- in the lakes. These efforts have been circum- 

 scribed bv the facilities at hand by the time that could be devoted 

 to the subject, bv the small area examined, or by the small num- 

 ber of animals taken into account. " * * We are thus in 

 tile positifin of bringing together under unknown conditions, two 

 things, both unknown in character; and we expect as a result to 

 get a third thing, marketable whitefish. Should we not pursue 

 our object more intelligently by first determining the characteris- 

 tics of the materials with which we have to work?" 



WMiat Prof. Reighard has said of the whitefish may be said 

 of other species with e(|ual truth. Clearly present methods liavt 

 reached their limit and the sul)ject must be attacked from a dif- 

 ferent standpoint. A(|uaculture must be given the same sort of 

 treatn.ent that agriculture alread\- receives at the hands of the 

 thou; and trained investigators in experiment stations that are 

 located in every State in the Union. It must be studied from 

 the same scientific standpoint; its problems analyzed, its course 

 marked out definitely. As I liave said elsewhere in discussing 

 one side of the problem: "Fish culture will never attain its proper 

 results until it receives, by the liberality of the State and nation, 

 the same favors that have been extended to agriculture, the use 

 of ])ermanent and well equipped experimental stations where 

 trained workers shall devote their time and energy to the solution 

 of its problems. Tlie Great Lakes furnish a cheap and valuable 

 food supply to one-third of our entire population; this food sup- 

 ply is rapidly becoming depleted. How long must such import- 

 ant interests wait their just recognition and adequate protection? 

 And if pro])erly developed, who can limit the possibilities of these 

 inland seas in supplying the nation with food? The urgent need 

 of th'.' present is not a mere biological observatory,, however 

 valuable such a permanent foundation may be, but a well 

 equipped and well directed experiment station to attack the 

 peculiar problems of fish culture in the Great Lakes. 



The idea is by no means entirely novel and much work has 

 been done preliminary tcj the foundation of such a station. The 

 classic researches of Forbes on fish foods, of Fiirge on the Crus- 

 tacea of the j^lankton and of many other individual observers. 



