LXXXII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The lake-trout season opened the middle of September and closed 

 the 9th of November, 7,007,000 eggs of excellent quality being secured 

 from the following points: 



A shipment of 480,000 eyed eggs was transferred to the Manchester 

 Station; the balance were hatched and deposited on the spawning- 

 grounds where the fish were captured, the distribution extending from 

 early in April to June 22. ' The output amounted to 5,143,000 and the 

 total loss of eggs and fry to 1,384,000. 



An effort was made to collect whitefish eggs in the neighborhood 

 of Port Arthur, but only 200,000 could be secured prior to the close 

 of the fishing season on November 1. Spawn- takers were also sent to 

 Basswood and Crooked lakes, Minnesota, but no eggs were obtained. 

 Many fish were captured at these points, but no ripe ones were found, 

 which indicated that the fishing in the vicinity is not on the spawning- 

 grounds. The eggs obtained at Port Arthur were of poor quality and 

 yielded only 98,000 fry; these were planted near Isle Eoyale. 



During January 100,000 brook-trout eggs were received from Lead- 

 ville, from which 92,550 fry were hatched and planted in the waters 

 of Minnesota and South Dakota. Consignments of steelbead eggs, 

 amounting to 150,000, arrived from Fort Gaston in April. They were of 

 good quality and produced 130,000 fry, which were liberated in suitable 

 streams emptying into Lake Superior. 



Manchester Station, Iowa (R. S. Johnson, Superintendent). 



As soon as the appropriation of $i,216 became available, work on 

 the buildings and grounds was resumed, under the direction of the 

 superintendent. During the summer and fall of 1897 and the spring 

 of 1898 three large stock-ponds were excavated and graded, the ponds 

 being connected with wooden flumes to get a circulation of water from 

 one to the other. Owing to the large amount of sand in the soil, it was 

 afterwards found necessary to line the bottom of one of the ponds 

 with clay; but the results were not satisfactory. Seven large rearing- 

 ponds, 80 by 20 feet, were graded and the sides lined with 2-inch 

 hemlock plank. The bottoms were covered with clay, and on this was 

 spread 4 inches of muck. They were arranged in tiers, so that the 

 water could pass from the upper ones into the lower. Twenty-four 

 small rearing-ponds, 7 by 22 feet, were constructed in a similar manner, 

 and twelve existing ponds of the same kind, previously lined with 

 stone, were remodeled and wood lining substituted. Connections were 

 also made from the lower reservoir for supplying the large and small 

 rearing-ponds. In order to avoid a recurrence of damage from»freshets, 



