92 Thirty-fourth Annual Meeting. 
vicinity. It therefore seems to me that the time has come for 
the men interested in fish culture, and particularly in trout 
culture, to get together and aid each other, if so they may. Be- 
cause, if we can no longer keep stock fish in our hatcheries, the 
day of the brook trout is being hastened faster than most people 
suppose. 
Nor is this dreadful disease the only thing of the kind acting 
toward the extinction of the brook trout. I mean to speak frank- 
ly in the hope that others will also. The parasites that kill 
are increasing yearly in our waters. We cannot keep stock fish 
(brook trout) in any of our hatcheries. The Adirondack hateh- 
ery supplied by Lake Clear; the Caledonia hatchery with its 
magnificient water supply from an underground river; Cold 
Spring which has already been mentioned; the Catskill moun- 
tain hatchery known as the “Delaware or Margaretville,” not 
to mention the hatcheries at Pleasant Valley and on the Fulton 
Chain, are out of business so far as keeping a stock of fish on 
hand from which to take eggs is concerned. At the Adirondack 
and the Caledonia hatcheries in particular, where the water 
supply is both clean and cold at all times, we have a form of 
parasite that is known to you all. It seems to effect the brook 
ee 
trout only and is commonly known as the “fish louse.” Secien- 
tific men who have examined fish seriously effected say we are 
suffering from an unusual number of a copepod which they eall 
the Lernaepododa Salmonea Linnaeus. They say also that it 
is common in the west and east and that when it exists in large 
numbers it “seriously affects” the trout. This is an easy way 
to put it. The fact is that it kills the fish. 
Now the serious aspect of this case with us is found in the 
fact that this parasite is steadily increasing and has invaded 
nearly, if not all, the waters of the western Adirondacks. Thus 
far the waters of the eastern side of the Adirondacks seem to be 
but slightly affected. We have been very careful for years about 
distributing our trout, so as not to help spread the pest, but it 
has increased in spite of everything. It is not any longer con- 
fined to the water feeding hatcheries; it has invaded the moun- 
tain lakes. The best advice we can get is given by an eminent 
scientific man in these words: “No method has been found of 
getting rid of the adult parasite, but in the early stages it can 
