10 degrees higher temperature. The nature of the food used in certain 

 waters varies from that which can be successfully used in other waters. 

 These factors are so numerous that we should try to determine what makes 

 water suitable for carrying fish under intensive conditions. We find 

 healthy trout in streams under natural conditions, but when we take that 

 water to a hatchery or into pools, and try to raise fish intensively, it is 

 with fatal results. 



Mb. N. R. Buller, Harrisburg, Pa. : I would feel uneasy if I had 

 money invested in a commercial trout hatchery where the temperature 

 exceeded 60° for any length of time. Our greatest success in holding trout 

 in large numbers has been in ponds where at no time has the temperature 

 exceeded 52°. Our Corry hatchery is entirely devoted to the propagation 

 of trout and now has at least 1,000,000 three to six inches in length 

 awaiting distribution. I have never known the temperature there to 

 exceed 54°. As the water comes from the earth the temperature is 46° to 

 47°. At the Belief onte hatchery, where trout only are propagated, the 

 water is from limestone springs ; one of the streams flows 20,000 gallons a 

 minute. The temperature in the ponds does not exceed 58° at any time. 

 We have another hatchery where trout are of minor consideration as we 

 attempt only to carry enough to supply several northeastern counties. A 

 chance is always taken in holding them throughout the season. This year 

 in most of the ponds the loss was due to high temperatures, which ran to 

 about 73° as compared wnth a former maximum of 68°. 



Mr. B. O. Webster, Madison, Wis. : There is no question but that 

 many mistakes have been made in the location of stations merely by 

 observation, because almost any cold stream will support a few trout. 

 Conditions, however, are entirely changed when 3,000 or 4,000 fish are 

 confined in a small space for breeding purposes. I was at the Bellefonte 

 hatchery three years and know water conditions there. I also know the 

 water conditions at Corry, Pennsylvania, Northville and Paris, Michigan, 

 and at other long established hatcheries, and to my mind soft spring water 

 is the most successful in the propagation of trout. I do not believe it is 

 possible to propagate trout, at least to any great extent, in real hard 

 water. A place has been finally located in western Wisconsin where I 

 believe it will be possible to raise enough brook trout to supply the State. 

 There we built 10 small troughs, about 18 inches wide and 10 feet long, 

 and hatched out a lot of fish. In October after all the hot weather, 66,000 

 fish 4 or 5 inches long were counted from these 10 troughs. This indicates 

 what can be done with the quality of water there. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances it would not have been possible to handle more than 4,000 or 

 5,000 in the space. At present we have about 200,000 to 300,000 fish there 

 4 to 5 inches long and the loss has been practically nothing during the 

 whole season. The water is as soft as rain water and as clear and cool 

 as any spring water you could expect to find. So I have come to believe 

 that the softer the water the greater the success in raising brook trout. 



Mr. Bullee : At Bellefonte we propagate brook and brown trout but 

 the brown trout did better in the limestone hard water there. We have 

 hatcheries where the water is very soft as at Corry. We are not able to 

 propagate brown trout there, but are very successful with brook trout. 

 In the propagation of brook trout, if temperatures are right, the softness 



63 



