American fisheries Society. .i;; 



?jid wasteful manner in wliieb tlie ei^j^s are (leiK)site(l. it leads us 

 to infer that the instinct of the reproducers (adult s])eciinens) can 

 surely extend hut litth^ fiirihcr than a promptitude to the selec- 

 tion oi grounds favorahle to the mere act of spawning'. Wliite- 

 tish and lake trout are not heti i^uarders. as is well known, and 

 the eg-gs after being- expelled from the body are forever dis- 

 carded. 



Then why should we accept it as conclusive that spawning 

 grounds are really the | roper ))laces to deposit the frv from our 

 hatcheries? 



Then liou could parent wliitefisli and lake trout evince suf- 

 ficienflv provident care to select a locality where less enemies 

 abound and also consider the prevalence of al)undant food for 

 tlie residling fry? 



Is it not possilile that all the necessary conditions are not 

 favorable to any one locality? Then the work of the scientist is 

 doubly necessary to determine the true planting grounds for 

 hatchery fry. The character and formation of the honey-cond)ed 

 reefs, ledges of limestone rock, etc., that constitute the spawning 

 ground for whitefish would seem strange for the predominance 

 of minute life, either animal or vegetable. Grounds of this nature 

 are practicalh' barren of vegetation and consecjuently unfavor- 

 able to the development of fundamental water life. 



Yet we cannot with certainty know that better planting 

 grounds exist until practical investigations are consummated and 

 the proper localities determined by scientific study into the 

 plankton life with the food ciucstion in view. It is very natural 

 to suppose that the predatory fishes are familiar with the loca- 

 tion of the spawning areas of whitefish and lake trout, etc., and 

 that there are decifledly better localities for the welfare and safety 

 of the fry. 



Although conceding, without a shadow of uncertainty, that 

 the natural spawning resorts (with their rock crevices, etc.) af- 

 ford excellent accnnmiodations during the period of incubation. 

 I shall continue to believe that better planting areas exist, until 

 the fact is proven to the contrary. The solution of this question 



