42 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OP FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



which would have a tendency to choke the screen, and, of course, let in 

 less water, is to have the flaring end of the flume flush with the bank of 

 the stream, and fitted with cleats to receive a light wooden frame. 



To this frame should be fastened an oblong square basket made of 

 the screen wire cloth. The depth of the basket should be a foot or so, 

 according to the size of the ditch. The screen being in place, the depth 

 of the basket would thus project into the stream, and have the two ends, 

 one side, and the bottom of the basket as a screen surface. 



The upper end of the basket would, of course, be more or less clogged 

 up with floating stuff", but the under side and the lower end would be 

 almost entirely free, while the bottom of the basket, or outer surface, 

 which should be nearly parallel with the current of the stream, would 

 be kept comparatively free from floating stuff" by the current itself. 



This basket screen, being loosely fitted between the cleats, could be 

 easily taken out, and with a few splashes in the stream cleared of all 

 rubbish. 



A coarse rack of slats outside of the screen would keep off" any large 

 floating substance, which might otherwise injure the basket, and with a 

 boom fastened at the bank above the ditch, and swung diagonally part 

 way across the stream and fastened in position, would ward off' most of 

 the floating debris. 



Of course, if the main ditch at the stream has a screen, the smaller 

 ditches taking water from the main ditch will require none. 



Galvanized wire cloth of one quarter-inch mesh, strongly made, and 

 soldered at each intersection of the wires, can be bought in San Fran- 

 cisco for 6 cents per square foot. 



The cheapness of the wire will make the cost of a good sized screen 

 but a small item. And with a little of our American ingenuity in con- 

 structing it, and an ardent desire for the safety of our trout, screens can 

 be speedily placed at the inlet of all ditches. 



Accompanying this report wdll be found a copy of the Screen Law of 

 Wyoming, which Fish Commissioner Louis Miller kindly sent me. 



The Striped Bass, Roccus Lineatus. 



Geographical Distribution. — The Striped bass, as has already been 

 stated, occurs in all the waters of our coast from latitude 50 degrees to 

 latitude 30 degrees. In the North it is called the " Striped bass," in the 

 South the "Rock-fish," or the "Rock." The neutral territory, where 

 both these names are in use, appears to be New Jersey. The fishermen 

 of the Delaware use the latter name; those of the seacoast the former. 

 Large, sea-going individuals are sometimes known in New" England by 

 the names, "Green-head" and " Squid-hound." There is still some uncer- 

 tainty regarding the southern limits of the distribution of this species. 

 In the Saint John's River, Florida, they are very unusual. Though 

 familiar in the fisheries of that region since 1873, I have only known 

 of the capture of two individuals. Mr. Stearns has obtained one or two 

 specimens in the Gulf of Mexico, and gives an account of the degree of 

 their abundance in those waters. He writes: "They are occasionally 

 caught on the northern shores of the Gulf, and are, evidently, more 

 common about the mouths of the Mississippi River than elsewhere. 

 Since they are taken in this region only in seines, and in shallow water, 

 their abundance cannot be correctly determined. The earliest I have 

 been able to obtain of the capture of Striped bass in Pensacola Bay, is 



