Antcrican Fislieries Society 143 



of food ; and then two or thrt'o months later you seine out just as 

 niany fino-erlings as if you had not taken out any of them as 

 fry. That lias heen d(>monstrated l\v aetual test at one of the 

 ]iond stations, ^\'ith tlie l)ro()k trout, it is eustomarv to phint a 

 ])art of tlie tish, to I'elieve the overcrowded condition of the 

 stations, jnst at tlie time of ahsorption of the umhilical sac. 



The planting- is conducted almost continuously at many of 

 the hatcheries for five or six months after that, the fish heing 

 planted as Xos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 fingerlings. It all seems to be a 

 matter of conditions and funds to do with. 



President : I should like to ask whether any experiments 

 have hee]i made wliich are in any way conclusive as to the rela- 

 tive advantages of fry and fingerlings, including the cost of 

 rearing, the total product of the pond, and the results in stock- 

 ing. I have heard men talk time and time again, and each is 

 positive his way is right. But I have never soon an account of 

 any experiment which really determined it definitely one way or 

 the other. 



Mr. Titcomb : It seems almost impossible to make them, be- 

 cause no two streams and no two waters have conditions which 

 are exactly the same. You might plant fry in one stream and 

 not get results, and in another get good results, and iii the first 

 stream the fingerlings may produce results. 



President : That is perfectly true. 



^Ir. Titcoml): I think the fish culturists who have stocked 

 these streams for years, can as a rule pick out the streams in 

 which trout fry would produce results, and pick out the streams 

 in which to plant fingerlings. It is a ditScult question to con- 

 sider, taking into consideration the large numljer of applica- 

 tions and the answers to the questions which are sent to the 

 office on the regular form. 



Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, Xew York City: ]\[r. Chairman. I do 

 not want to begin a lengthy discussion of this question. Init J 

 want to supplement Avhat my friend, j\Ir. Titcomb, has said 

 about the distribution of fish when the extent of distribution be- 

 comes greatly enlarged, as it is in the United States bureau. 



