REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LZXXIII 



On August 3, immediately after a severe storm, accompauied by 

 electrical disturbances, 2,400 of the largest bass were found dead in 

 one of the ponds. As the fish in the other ponds were not affected it 

 was thought this pond was struck by lightning. Other storms occur- 

 ring in August interfered with the work very materially, but operations 

 continued to the middle of November, the season's work resulting in 

 the collection and distribution of 08,452 black bass, 0,270 crappie, and 

 1,250 cat-fish. In addition, large numbers of the coarser fishes were 

 taken from ponds that were drying up and transferred to living waters. 



Crappie were very plentiful early in the season, but on account of 

 the great difficulty experienced in transporting these fish prior to the 

 middle of September no effort was made to collect them until fall. 



Through the courtesy of the Illinois Fish Commission the steamer 

 Lotus was available for making collections during part of the season, 

 and rendered valuable assistance. 



Manchester Statioix, Iowa (R. S. Johnson, Superintendent). 



During the summer and fall of 1898, pending the obtaiument of a 

 special appropriation for the completion of the station, considerable 

 work was done on ponds X, Y, and Z, so that they would be available 

 for fish-cultural purposes the following season. A breeding-pond for 

 crappie, 80 by 40 feet, with an average depth of 2 feet, was excavated 

 and lined with plank. During the winter an appropriation of $0,000 

 was secAired for the completion of the station, including the construc- 

 tion of additional breeding-ponds and the i^rotection of the ponds and 

 grounds from freshets in Spring Branch, and work was commenced on 

 April 17. 



By the end of the year steam-heating plants had been installed in the 

 hatchery and residence and a contract was given out for the building of 

 a stone protection wall from the upper spring reservoir along Spring 

 Branch; 3 spawning-ponds, 75 by 17 feet, and 3 feet deep, had been 

 completed; also rearing-ponds, 22 by 7 feet, and 3 feet deep. The 

 80-foot ponds previously constructed, which had been lined with cobble- 

 stones laid in clay, became so unsatisfactory that the stones were 

 removed and four were lined with concrete and cement and the other 

 four with 2-inch hemlock plank. A breeding-i)ond for bass, 150 by 100 

 feet, and 4 feet deep, was excavated and its sides lined with plank. As 

 the soil is too porous to hold water the bottom will be lined with clay 

 to the depth of 4 inches. The channel in Lower Spring Branch was 

 straightened and widened and a stone wall was built to protect pond 

 X from freshets. A i)rotection wall of cement and stone, 5 feet high 

 and 3^ feet thick, was constructed from the wagon-bridge along Spring 

 Branch to a point opposite the dwelling, and the channel of the branch 

 was moved 75 feet westward. All of the low land east of the protection 

 wall was filled in and graded, and the work of constructing a dam 

 across Spring Branch was commenced. 



