REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LXIX 



At tlie end of the year the stock of fish ou hand was as follows : 



The fish food used daring the year consisted of 8,957 pounds of beef 

 liver, costing $441.29; 504 pounds of beef hearts, $27.79; 7,400 pounds 

 wheat chop, $74; 364 1-pound cans herring roe, $14.50; 3 half-barrels 

 salted herring roe, $3, making the total cost $500.0-1. To this must 

 be added $119.20 for expressage, $103.50 fordrayage, and $42.30 for ice, 

 an aggregate of $885.70. 



The trout fry were fed exclusively on fish roe until they were two 

 mouths old, when they were given cooked liver and roe, alternately. 

 At the end of the third month a mixed diet of raw liver and wheat 

 chop was substituted. It is customary at this station to feed the fry 

 six times a day until they learn to take food readily. When the liver 

 and mush diet is taken up the number of daily feeds are reduced to 

 four, and finally they are fed only three times, morning, noon, and even- 

 ing. All trout over one year old are fed twice a day, on a mixture 

 composed of four parts mush to one of liver. The amount given to 

 each lot depends on the size and age of the fish, the smaller ones being 

 allowed more in jnoportion to their weight than the larger ones. 



From records kept during the year, it was found that 1,000 fingerlings, 

 4 mouths old and weighing 28i ounces, consumed 4 ounces of food per 

 day ; 1,000 fish 18 to 24 months old, 7 to 9 inches in length and weighing- 

 ISO pounds, required C^ pounds daily; and a similar number of adults, 

 from 12 to 10 inches long and weighing 1,010 pounds, took 25 pounds. 

 It will be seen that the fingerlings 4 months old ate about 14 per cent 

 of their weight daily, while adults required only 2i per cent of theirs. 



Erwin Station, Tennessee (S. G. Worth, in charge). 



The superintendent and a part of the force were occupied the greater 

 part of the year in the various works of construction authorized by 

 the act of July 1, 1898, appropriating $4,418 for the completion of the 

 station. The most important was the building of 30 reariug-])onds and 

 2 breeding-ponds below the hatchery, and the erection of an ice-house 

 near the railroad crossing. General improvements to the roads and 

 grounds were made. 



