148 Thirfi/srrenfJt Annual Meeting 



June 1, Mr. Brown wrote that in handling the eggs the poor 

 ones will burst; they all bunch and stick together; it is impossi- 

 ble to do anything with some of them. 



Mr. William Buller, of Corry, Pa., has hatched muskalonge 

 eggs on the finest trout trays in water at a temperature of forty- 

 five degrees. He stated that the hatching period was sixty-two 

 days, and that the fry obtained were fine and healthy. 



Excess of air in the artesian well water at Bemus Point, May 

 27, 1907, made it impossible to keep the eggs in the hatching 

 jars. Mr. Brow^n was advised to transfer them to boxes in the 

 little creek in hatchery grounds, or to run them in the fry boxes 

 in the hatchery troughs. 



He was afraid to transfer the eggs from cold to warmer wa- 

 ter and, furthermore, the eggs were so tender it would not do to 

 handle them. Air bul)])les do not come on the eggs until they 

 are about ready to hatch and as soon as they hatch the bubbles 

 collect on the fry. Fry eggs, good and l)ad, all run out together 

 into the ]jond. He collected them in the pond and put them 

 Ijack in jars. It is a bad mess. The fry do not carry very well 

 in the troughs. Eight boxes (or 80,000) were lost and there was 

 no apparent cause for their dying. 



On June 7 I suggested to Mr. Brown that he might flow the 

 water a long distance before allowing it to enter the jars and 

 troughs. Or he might rig up a wooden trough or flume, open at 

 the top so as to increase the distance between the point of de- 

 livery and the eggs or fry to be handled. The best way out of 

 the difficulty, as long as artesian water is used, would be to re- 

 ceive the supply into a big j)ond or box and let it pass into an- 

 other box before entering the hatchery. A fine screen placed in 

 the course of the flow will hel]) to Ijreak up the air bubbles. But 

 the proper solution of the trouble would be to pump water from 

 the lake in much larger quantity than is available at present. 



If we continue to use artesian water, another well should be 

 put down and it should be run into a large reservoir before com- 

 ing into the hatchery. Mr. Brown cannot see why there should 

 be so much air this spring (1907) : there was very little in the 

 spring of 190(). In some cases the fry would not carry well in 

 troughs ; they would be all right for aliout four or five days and 

 then l)egin to die. The loss in this way was between 150,000 



