SOME PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF 

 FISH CULTURE 



HY TAHLKTOX II. JJKAX. STATH FJ.SIL Cri.TllilST OF MAV YOHK. 



I do not intend to rcjid a i)a])('r, but rather to place before 

 you an outline of some of tht' diflfieulties wbicb have been met in 

 the fish culture work of New York durin*^- the last year and a 

 half, or since alxmt tlie lOth of January. 190(i. 



I have not been able ti) do anytbinj:" more tlian make a synop- 

 sis of the practical tronbles and the menace, which we have, to 

 some extent, overcome; and in some other cases the reverse has 

 been true, we have been overcome by the difficulties. In the 

 first place I noticed here that an excess of air in the water supply 

 has given considerable trouble at two stations. One at Mus- 

 kellunge station, at Bemis Point, the other at the Catskill hatch- 

 ery, on the Hudson Eiver. At Bemis Point, Mr. Brown had 

 difficulty in keeping the eggs in jars. He hatches them there 

 in jars now — and also in keeping the fry in the rearing boxes. 

 He did not entirely overcome it at the Catskill station. Now, I 

 must tell you why he did not. In the first place, the water 

 supply at Bemis Point is artesian, the water comes into the 

 hatcheries through a four-inch pipe or six-inch pipe and there 

 was no ])ractical means of meandering it before introducing it 

 in the distributing box in the hatchery. He had to meet the 

 difficulty as best he coubl. I advised him to meander the water, 

 if he could, but after having done so. 1 learned that Mr. Charles 

 H. Wallace had adopted anotlioi' ])lan : in fact lie had two ways 

 of overcoming this excess of air in the water supply. The water 

 supply there was from the city. Tl(> put a fine scri'en in the 

 supply pipe, just a little distance from the receiving 1k>x in the 

 hatchery; but the effect of the screen was to remove the bul)l)les 

 of air, break them u]i to such an extent that it no longer was 

 able to carry out the eggs from llie jai-s: and 1 t(tl(l Mv. l^rown 

 about that method, and I know ix'rfectly well that lie can't in- 

 troduce it successfully at Bemis Point mi hatching the muskel- 

 lunge eggs. Mr. Wallace hit uiion another plan, which, of 

 course, is a moditlealion of the meaiidci-ing system, that is l.> 



1S4 



