in January or February. The yolk sac would be absorbed in possibly 30 

 days. I do not understand how you could force the feeding unless you gave 

 them an extra amount of food to bring them to a large size in May. If it 

 were possible to mingle the warmer stream water with the cold spring water, 

 so that the temperature would be increased to 55° or 60°, possibly the 

 rate of growth could be controlled. These things should be given con- 

 sideration when selecting a site for a hatchery. If you can combine the 

 two waters, it is possible to produce larger and better fish. 



Mr. Titcomb also spoke about the necessity of testing a hatchery loca- 

 tion. It is very easy to criticise what has been done in the past, but 

 when a man goes out and takes the initiative in establishing a station it 

 is a different thing. We might refer to the Holden station in Vermont 

 which was established with a view to making it a good trout station. At 

 that time the indications were that it would be a success, but expectations 

 have not been realized. Another case is Northville, Michigan, which in 

 early days was one of the leading trout stations in the United States. It 

 produced large numbers of brook trout, and was generally conceded to be 

 very successful but now it is given over entirely to other lines. At the 

 Wild Rose station in Wisconsin, the water seemed to be very good for 

 the production of brook trout eggs, but after a number of years it proved 

 entirely unsuccessful. The Bureau of Fisheries has located a number 

 of stations that seemed very good at the start, but later on had to be 

 abandoned. Possibly after a station has been operated for a while im- 

 proved methods in handling the fish demonstrate that at other plants 

 better results can be secured and the station originally established has 

 to take second rank. 



Mr. Titcomb : I do not want you to get the impression that I am 

 knocking the hatcheries generally, but our ideas In regard to them are 

 different from 30 years ago. Many advances have been made and we 

 have to produce more fish now than then. I located the Holden hatchery. 

 It was tested three years by running a small plant there, keeping the 

 eggs through the winter, and the fish in the spring ; the hatchery is on one 

 of the most famous trout streams in southern Vermont and derives its 

 water supply from that stream and from springs. I hope that talks of 

 this kind will be read by other than the practical men who are here, and 

 that they will take warning. The men who have made these mistakes 

 and are trying to profit by them are telling their experiences so that 

 others may avoid similar diflBculties. Some of the hatcheries which do 

 not meet the present day standards might just as well be abandoned and 

 the money put to more practical use. 



Me. Leach : I did not intend any criticism in regard to Mr. Titcomb's 

 talk, nor wish to make any suggestion that even appears that way. He is 

 one of the most eminent and practical fish culturists that we have today, 

 and I believe his judgment was good in locating Holden. I meant to say 

 that more modern methods have developed other means of making a 

 station efiicient. One may be very careful in locating a station, but later 

 developments may show it not as suitable as was expected. The Holden 

 station is not worthless, but natural causes have reduced its efficiency, 

 though when established it might have been 100 per cent efficient. 



Mr. Carlos Avery, St. Paul, Minn. : One thing we all agree upon is 



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