LXXXII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



lu planting the fry hutclied at this station, steamers are utilized for 

 couveyiug them to the natural spawning-grounds. The fish are carried 

 inlO-galloncans, 30,000 to the can, the water being kept at from 35'^ to 

 44°, and fresh sujjplies substituted when necessary. When the vessel 

 apjiroaches the planting grounds, the fry are jDOured into a tub filled 

 with water and placed iu the gangway. Into the side of this tub is 

 fitted a spout 2i inches in diameter and long enough so that when the 

 tub is in position it extends about feet out from the steamer, its end 

 touching the surface of the water. The fry pass through this spout, 

 and as the steamer is running from G to 10 miles per hour while the 

 deposit is being made, a plant of 240,000 is scattered over several miles 

 of territory. 



During the year a number of improvements were made. A new two- 

 story frame building 18 by 22 feet was erected south of the hatchery. 

 Upon the first floor, which will be used as a supplementary hatchery, 

 8 hatching-troughs, 4 large fry-troughs, and, a picking-trough were 

 arranged. The upper story will be utilized as a workshop) and store- 

 house. The crib wall on the beach south of the hatching-house was 

 raised, and the carpenter shop, which stood on the bank of the river, 

 was moved and set uj) over it. The small octagonal building located 

 over the reservoir was removed to a point just east of the out-of-door 

 fry-troughs, and is now used for storing paints and oils. A pier 8 feet 

 by 24 feet by 3i feet was built and filled with rock near the mouth of 

 the Lester Kiver to protect the end of the drain pipe running from the 

 hatchery from becoming covered with gravel or being broken off by the 

 waves from the lake. A new gravel road was also constructed from 

 Lester street across the hatchery grounds to a point near the flagstaff, 

 thence north to a junction with Park avenue. A number of other 

 walks were laid out, improving the grounds greatly, and a large amount 

 of grading was done north of the hatching-house. During the summer 

 all of the hatching ai)paratus was overhauled and painted. 



QuiNCY Station, Illinois (S. P. Bartlett, Superintendent). 



As indicated iu the report for the previous year, the spring of 1898 

 was unusually favorable for the spawning of bass and crappie in the 

 overtiowed regions of the Illinois and Mississippi river valleys; conse- 

 quently youjjg bass were very plentiful at the beginning of the fiscal 

 year. The spring having been warm and the temperature of the water 

 high, the young fish grew very rapidly, and it was an ordinary occur- 

 rence dnring the summer to take specimens weighing f pound from 

 schools hatched late in the spring. The early part of July was marked 

 by heavy storms extending the whole length of the river and causing 

 high water, nevertheless 30,000 large-mouthed bass were collected that 

 month and 24,000 shipped. Had there been sufficient storage room it 

 would have been possible to have secured 100,000 during the same 

 period. The fish averaged 4 inches in length. 



