XXX REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



option was secured on the land on February 10, and as the act provided 

 for the completion of the station by June 30, 1899, the Department of 

 Justice was at once asked to secure the necessary titles. 



On March 15 a communication was received from a committee 

 appointed by the State Board of Agriculture of North Carolina, asking 

 the Commissioner to meet the committee at Edenton on the 29th of 

 March, or to send a representative, to discuss the eligibility of the site 

 selected and to secure a better location if it could be found. A reply 

 was made to the effect that an option had already been taken on the 

 land, but the assistant in charge of the division of fish-culture was 

 directed to meet the committee and explain fully the causes which led 

 to the selection of the proposed site. At the meeting, which occurred 

 on the date mentioned, certain objections were made to the location, 

 principally that Pembroke Creek was so strongly infected with juniper 

 that it was doubtful whether shad eggs would hatch in its water and 

 that the location was too distant from the egg-producing area, viz, 7 

 to 15 miles. No evidence was produced to show that the creek was 

 more strongly tainted than any of the other streams in the immediate 

 vicinity except letters from individuals, and letters testifying equally 

 to the contrary were read in rebuttal ; besides which a number of rep- 

 utable citizens testified to the capture of shad in the stream. Steps 

 were at once taken to have this matter thoroughly tested, and under 

 the direction of Capt. James A. Smith, of the steamer Fish Hawk, a 

 temporary hatchery was erected on the creek where, during the month of 

 April, 375,000 shad eggs were hatched with a loss of 18 per cent. 



The results thus obtained by actual operations would seem to fully 

 justify Mr. Worth's selection, and the i)urchase was consummated April 

 11, 1899. This location affords suitable water for the hatchery, and the 

 lay of the land is favorable to the construction of the necessary build- 

 ings and ponds. The hatchery has been completed. It is a two-story 

 frame building 70 by 30 feet, designed to accommodate 300 universal 

 hatching-jars placed on eleven tables and on shelves along the sides of 

 the room, this arrangement permitting the hatching of about 30,000,000 

 shad eggs at a time. The water is obtained from Pembroke Creek, 

 whence it is pumped into a G,000-gallon tank for distribution through 

 the hatchery. A frame pump-house 30 by 15 feet, with a fuel-house 

 attached, has been completed and a 15-horsepower horizontal Simplex 

 Blake pump with a No. 5 boiler has been installed. It is proposed to 

 furnish water for the bass ponds from artesian wells, several of which 

 will be driven, and during the coming year the ponds will be con- 

 structed and other buildings erected. A T-shaped landing-pier 95 feet 

 long has been built and the grounds surrounded with a wire fence. 



Plans for the new stations have been prepared by the architect and 

 engineer, Mr. H. von Bayer, who has had the general oversight of the 

 construction work involved, besides the more important alterations at 

 other stations. Plans of these stations and of those completed during 

 the preceding fiscal year are shown after page c. 



