American Fisheries Society. 169 
all over. Men have been there from Germany, Japan, and all 
over, to visit this work, and it has attracted much attention ; and 
we feel very proud of it. We do not want to blow our own 
horn, but hope you will get interested in this matter, especially 
those of you who are located on the sea shore. 
I do not think the United States government could take hold 
of anything that would add more to the industries of this 
country than the work of growing lobsters. The lobsters are 
going, not growing. 
One of the difficulties in a large plant would be to get the 
eggs of the lobster. We have an understanding with all the 
lobster fishermen, that if they will hold their egg lobsters we 
will buy them and pay them more than the market price, and 
then return the lobster to the waters. In Maine you can get any 
quantity of them, but on our coast it is difficult to get female 
lobsters. 
Mr. Titcomb: The work of the Rhode Island Commission is 
most practical. That is a kind of scientific work that the world 
admires, and the practical results are admirable. [ am asking 
these questions as a business proposition. As I understand it 
now, the statement that the plant cost originally $1,000, does not 
mean that the actual lobster hatching plant cost that much. 
President: Oh, no, not by any means. Of course, to get 
this machinery was quite a little item, and required quite a little 
study on the part of Dr. Mead; and he had to work the whole 
plan out. Of course, it is not perfect yet by any means. I do 
not think he had a machinist there at all. He would think out 
an idea and go to some machine shop and have it executed and 
put it in there and try it. All experimental work, as you know, 
was a matter of delay, worry and effort, building up one thing 
on another—it is at that stage now. Dr. Gorham has been there 
only a short time, but he has done remarkably well and we 
think a great deal of him. The whole credit of this enterprise is 
really due to Dr. Bumpus. When he was in the employ of the 
United States Government he was also with our commission. 
He took hold of this matter and had an idea that the problem 
could be solved; and you know Dr. Bumpus goes ahead and 
