WHITE PEECH, SMELTS, ETC. 211 



tendents, presented a paper on the subject to 

 the American Fisheries Society of which the 

 following is a synopsis : 



The operations were conducted at Weldon, North 

 Carolina, and occupied twenty-three days, beginning 

 with May 2nd. The water temperature of the river 

 ranged from 60 to 70 degrees. The smallest ripe fish 

 weighed three pounds and the largest 50 pounds. The 

 smallest fish gave 14,000 eggs, the largest 3,220,000, 

 green in colour when fresh. Jars were used in hatch- 

 ing; but a number of floating boxes were needed in 

 addition, since the eggs of one fish weighing 50 pounds 

 would fill over 300 jars. Fully 69 per cent, was 

 hatched. When the fry were about four hours old 

 they were approximately three-sixteenths of an inch 

 long, and at four days they averaged one-fourth of 

 an inch in length ; at four weeks they had reached a 

 length of nearly half an inch with the fins easily dis- 

 cernible, and on close inspection the stripes on the 

 sides were visible. With the water temperature be- 

 tween 60 and 70 degrees, the eggs hatch quickly. The 

 period of incubation is only about four days. 



Since the publication of his paper Mr. Worth 

 has made a number of additional reports to the 

 Bureau of Fisheries, in whose publications they 

 may be consulted by any one interested. The 

 special weakness of the earlier work, the hatch- 



