REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXIX 



Bulloch aud Mrs. Sarah J. Bussey, the deed coutainiug a proviso that , 

 the laud should revert to the owners iu case of its abandoumeut as a 

 fish-cultural station. The preparation of plans was promptly taken up 

 and at the end of the year the development of the station had begun. 



The station in the State of Washington being intended for propa- 

 gating the blueback or sockeye salmon, it has been deemed advisable 

 to locate the hatchery at Baker Lake, where extensive spawning-grounds 

 of this species are known to exist, as noted in the last report. Baker 

 Lake is in what is known as the Washington Forest Eeserve and is 

 the head of Baker River, its outlet, about IG miles above where the 

 latter empties into the Skagit River and about 35 miles by trail north- 

 east from the town of Hamilton. The lake is about 1^ miles long by 

 1^ miles wide. The point selected for the hatchery is near the center 

 of the south shore of the lake, where a State hatchery has been oper- 

 ated for a number of years. By a proclamation of the President, dated 

 May 10, 1899, the lake and surrounding lands within half a mile of its 

 shore were set apart for the use of this Commission for fish-cultural 

 purposes. The State hatchery and equipment have been purchased, 

 and preparations for operating the station were at once begun. 



Battle Creek Station, California, had been operated since the season 

 of 1896 under an arrangement made with the California State Commis- 

 sion, and as it afibrded exceptional opportunities for the collection of 

 salmon eggs its acquisition by the Government has been deemed of 

 importance. An act of Congress approved January 28, 1898, authorized 

 the establishment of a permanent station at this point. Owing to 

 difficulty in obtaining a valid title to the land, the purchase was not 

 completed till jMarch 25, 1899. The buildings and equipment of the 

 California Commission have been purchased, and the station is now in 

 condition for continued operation. It is on the east bank of Battle 

 Creek, in Tehama County, about 12 miles east of the town of Anderson. 

 The hatchery buildings are described in the appendix to the report for 

 1897, page 24. 



Edenton Station, North Carolina. — By act of Congress approved July 

 7, 1898, provision was made for establishing a fish-cultural station in 

 the State of iSTorth Carolina. As this station was intended primarily 

 for the propagation of shad, striped bass, black bass, and the perches, 

 it was almost imperative that it should be located on the headwaters 

 of Albemarle Sound, where the large shad and striped-bass fisheries 

 are conducted, and where bass and perch are also abundant. 



In December, 1898, this locality was examined by Mr. S. G. Worth, 

 who was designated to select a site, his past experience having pecul- 

 iarly fitted him to judge of the requirements needed for the contem- 

 plated station, as he had been in charge of the shad operations of the 

 Commission on the Potomac River for many years, and had also been 

 State fish commissioner of North Carolina. This investigation resulted 

 in the selection of a tract of land comprising 15 acres, about a mile west 

 of the village of Edenton, on the west bank of Pembroke Creek. An 



