454 Roosevelt Wild Life .liuials 



easily stripped, and the eggs can be hatched in hatchery jars of the kind used for 

 whitefish. The success that has been obtained at hatcheries with whitefish and 

 trout is well known. Bensley ('15, p. 46) notes that the eggs of Pike Perch are 

 more difficult to handle than those of whitefish and trout, but on the other hand 

 relatively greater results may be had with little effort and cost. The small size 

 of the eggs permits a jar capacity of three or four times as many as in the case of 

 Whitefish eggs, and the period of operation involves but three or four weeks, the 

 time dependent upon the temperature of the water. Leach ('2~, p. 4) says in 

 regard to the success of the culture of Pike Perch : "In spite of the zeal with which 

 it is pursued, on account of its fine food qualities and the ease with which it is 

 captured, it appears to be maintaining its numbers well, a condition that may be 

 attributed, perhaps, to its hardiness and the facility with which it responds to 

 artificial cultural methods." Accounts of the cultural methods used for the species 

 are given by Leach ('27, pp. 4-19), and details should be sought in such special 

 ]iublications. In general, the adults are captured at the spawning time. At Oneida 

 Lake this is commonly about the first week in April (P>ean. '13, p. 267), but the 

 time is later with backward seasons. The fish are caught in traps in the form of 

 weirs, like the one used by the Constantia Hatchery, in .Scriha Creek (Figs. 236 

 and 237), or by trap nets placed in the lake. In 1920 when Hankinson visited the 

 hatchery and watched the operations, both methods of catching the fish were being 

 used. The weirs have been abandoned in recent years and the fish are taken 

 entirely by trap nets. In 1927 seventeen of these nets, placed in 4-8 feet of water 

 a short distance from the mouth of Scriha Creek, secured during the height of the 

 season an average of 2000 fish daily. With the present conveniences this is about 

 the maximum number that the hatchery force can strip in a day. There are about 

 four times as many males as females and consequently the milt of three or four 

 males is used to fertilize the eggs of a single female. After the fish are caught 

 they are placed in tubs (Fig. 238) or tanks until they can be stripped. The eggs 

 and milt are received in a wooden bowl and stirred with a feather brush (Fig. 

 239) to insure fertilization. The eggs are then transferred to the hatchery jars. 

 Some figures as to the output of the Oneida Hatchery at Constantia are here given. 



T.^BLE Xo. 15. Siiowi.Ni; Till-: Numi'.hr oi-- 1'ikk Pf.iu u 1<'kv Pkunrn-.n .\t the 

 Oneida Hatchery. 



Year No. of fry produced References 



1923 42,100,000 Macdonald, '24, ]). 113. 



1924 97,700,000 Macdonald, '25, p. 80. 



1925 70,200,000 Macdonald, '26, p. 70. 



1926 115,200,000 Macdonald, '27, p. 106. 



The fry produced are planted in various waters of the State, including Oneida 

 Lake. In 1922. forty million were planted in Oneida Lake (Macdonald, '23, p. 

 114). From the Oneida Hatchery many eggs are sent to the Caledonia Hatchery 

 for hatching and fry distrilmtinn. The St. Lawrence Hatchery also collects eggs 



