REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LXXXIII 



the wagon-bridge was raised 1£ feet and extended 20 feet, a new stone 

 abutment being built on the west side of the branch ; the roadway was 

 raised to the same height and a dry stone wall built along the road to 

 prevent washouts. 



For the protection of the 14-inch water-supply pipe and ponds a dry 

 stone wall was also built along the spring branch. All of the grounds 

 around the buildings and ponds were graded and terraced, and road- 

 ways were built from the main entrance to all the buildings and ponds. 

 These roadways were graded and bedded with gravel, and surface 

 gutters of stone were provided. The necessary fences were also erected 

 alongside the country road from the Fish Commission reservation to 

 the main highway, and all of the lands were sown with blue grass and 

 white clover. An hydraulic ram, for forcing water to the dwelling, mess- 

 house, and barn, was placed in the hatchery. All of the dead timber 

 on the reservation was cleared up and converted into stove wood. An 

 orchard, consisting of assorted apple, cherry, plum, and pear trees, 

 blackberry, raspberry, currant, and gooseberry bushes, strawberry 

 plants, and grapevines, was set out south of the dwelling-house. 



As soon as the ponds had been completed, in the latter part of 

 October, arrangements were made to collect brood-fish from open waters 

 in the State. Supplies of large-mouth and small-mouth black bass, rock 

 bass, crappie, and rainbow trout were obtained from the rivers in the 

 eastern part of Iowa. All of the breeding-ponds were planted with 

 Ceratophyllum, Elodea, Ranunculus, water lily, and other aquatic plants, 

 and artificial nests and piles of gravel were located at suitable points 

 in the three large stock ponds and in the 80-foot rearing-ponds. The 

 spawning-beds were partitioned off with inch-mesh wire netting, so that 

 the young fish, by passing out into the main ponds, might escape the 

 depredations of the adults. 



The small-mouth bass placed in Pond Z began nesting on the gravel 

 beds on May 2, and a number of nests were observed between that 

 time and June 1. The first fry appeared on May 24, and though quite 

 a large number of nests were seen the indications are that the crop 

 will be small, owing to the difficulty of keeping the ponds full of water 

 and to the absence of the natural food necessary for very young fry. 



The large-mouth black bass collected from the Maquoketa River and 

 in the vicinity of Quiucy, 111., suffered severe losses during the winter, 

 owing to injuries received in transportation. In the spring 180 remained 

 on hand, which were placed in Ponds X and Y. The majority of these 

 fish spawned on mud bottoms, only a few of them using the gravel, and 

 in no instance were the artificial nests occupied. The first eggs were 

 noted on May 11, but no fry were observed until June 1. At the close 

 of the spawning season the adult fish were removed from the breeding- 

 ponds, so as to give full range to the fry. No effort was made to deter- 

 mine the exact number on hand at the close of the year, but it is believed 

 that the results will be good, notwithstanding the fact that owing to 

 the very scanty growth of aquatic vegetation natural food is not as 



