THIRTY-FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT 55 



ture, so that the fish make a rapid development. The fingerlings should 

 be planted early in this section for several reasons. First, the water 

 causes a rapid growth so that the fish are large enough to plant by 

 August, and some seasons during July; second, the aquatic and land 

 insects are in abundance during the summer and early fall so that there 

 is an abundance of natural food for the fish when planted. If the fish 

 are held too late in the fall it is more difficult to plant them. Third, 

 there are no predatory fishes in the streams that are stocked and, 

 furthermore, those fish that have to be carried by pack animal in the 

 higher ranges are in better condition to stand the trip than if held 

 until later in the season. 



KINGS RIVER EXPERIMENTAL STATION 



Experiments on Kings River were begun in the spring of 1928 to 

 test the water in Kings RiA^er between Trimmers and the mouth of the 

 North Fork. A temporary station was operated there during the 

 summer of 1928 with average results. The water was normal during 

 midsummer, and the fish remained healthy and made a rapid growth. 

 As the location was too low for a permanent site, being on a flat subject 

 to floods during seasons of heavy rain and snowfall, it was decided to 

 move the station above the mouth of the North Fork on a flat bordering 

 the South Fork of Kings River. A cottage and cabin for the help 

 were built and a dam constructed across the river; a 16-ineh pipe was 

 laid from the dam to the hatchery that was set up under a tent frame, 

 to be changed into a permanent hatchery if conditions are suitable for 

 the erection of a permanent station. Plans are now being made to 

 carry out the necessary changes to make the plant into a permanent 

 hatchery station. 



FEATHER RIVER HATCHERY 



The operations at this station during the last two seasons have been 

 very successful. There have not been many improvements. A number 

 of improvements are contemplated during the coming season. There 

 should be a garage and a small cabin built for the extra help used 

 during the summer months. The cabin and site should be covered 

 with rustic and papered to make it comfortable. A new settling tank 

 should be built, as well as a filtration tank, following out our plan of 

 installing filtration plants on water supplies that are taken from rivers 

 and creeks. 



The principal improvements during the biennium were the placing 

 of rustic on the foreman's cottage and the purchase of a two-ton truck 

 and a light Chevrolet with a truck body. 



One million seven hundred thirteen thousand trout have been dis- 

 tributed from this hatchery during the past two years. 



BROOKDALE HATCHERY 



This station, established in 1905, has been successfully operated dur- 

 ing all the years when there was a normal rainfall. The average out- 

 put has been approximately 700,000 fish per season. The hatchery has 

 furnished trout for Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Alameda 

 counties before the establishing of the Big Creek Hatchery on the west 

 coast of the county. Big Creek Station now furnishes fish for a large 



