TWENTY-SEA^NTH BIENNIAL REPORT. 83 



the Bureau of Fisheries failed to get the appropriatidiis neeessary to 

 carry on the work of its teehnologieal hihoratories. Its fishery products 

 laboratory at Washington City of necessity remained practically idle 

 during the year and the laboratory at San I'edro would liave l)ecn 

 abandoned had not the State Fish and Game Commission agreed to 

 carry the expens-e of the laboratory for the year. Tlie Bureau of 

 Fisheries and this Commission have cooperated for many years in 

 fisheries conservation work. This cooperation began when the bureau 

 established a salmon hatchery in this state on the ^IcCloud River about 

 the year 1875. A few years later when the bureau, then the I'nited 

 States Fish Commission, was short of funds, the Fish and (Jame Com- 

 mission, then the State Fish Commission, financed and ran the bureau's 

 hatchery through several seasons. Later, in 1897, the State Commission 

 in turn being short of funds, the bureau took over, by purchase, the 

 state's salmon spawn-taking station on Battle Creek and an agreement 

 was entered into which has been continued to this day, under wliich 

 the two cooperate in the propagation of salmon. The bureau main- 

 tains all of the salmon spawn-taking stations in the state, with tlie 

 exception of the one near Hornl)rook on the Klamath River, which 

 was recently turned over by the bureau to the State Commission, aud 

 the state has carried on the bulk of the salmon-hatching operations at 

 its Mount Shasta Hatchery. 



In other words the bureau is assisting the state by spending annually 

 more than $25,000 in salmon propagation. State and federal employees 

 have also assisted each other in the salmon investigations and this 

 mutual help has been most beneficial. Under the circum.stances it was 

 natural that the United States Bureau of Fisheries, when it failed to 

 get the appropriation necessary to carry on the work of its San Pedro 

 laboratory should call upon the Fish and Game Commission for aid. 

 Xot only would the laboratory have been lost to the state but a large 

 part of the work of the first year, if left uncompleted, would be lost. 

 The Fish and Game Commission, therefore, agreed to carry on the 

 work of the laboratory for the year, or until the bureau co\dd get an 

 appropriation for the purpose. 



The work of the laboratory during the fiscal year 1920-1 !)21. was 

 partly devoted to completing the experiments on metlinds of canning 

 little used varieties of fish as well as the varieties already being canned. 

 Satisfactory methods Avere developed for practically every species of 

 fish studied. The information thus gained should be of future value 

 to the industry and obviate the necessity of individual canners wasting 

 their energy and time on experiments for which few of them are 

 equipped. 



A large part of the laboratory's work was devoted to a study of 

 sardine packing methods and a study by the chemist of the .sardine 

 fry baths with the object of cleansing and rectifying the oil or devise 

 means whereby the fry bath might be entirely done away with. Mueli 

 valuable information' was gained which is resulting at the present 

 time in improvements being made in the processing of the larger, 

 "pound oval" sardine. The chemical changes which take place in the 

 frv bath were published i)y this Commission in 1!>22 as ("in-ular .No. 1 



