136 
them at a cost of not to exceed ten cents a thousand. The 
Chase automatic jar, an invention patented by Oren M. 
Chase, had now taken the place of the hatching-box, and 
was the means of greatly cheapening the production. 
The hatching of lake trout and of California salmon 
and land-locked salmon was continued through the years 
1877 and 1878, and experiments were made with the 
grayling, though with indifferent success. In 1877 the 
planting of eels was first inaugurated. They were taken 
in the Hudson, near Troy, and transported in cans. 
In the Third Report the Superintendent concludes the 
California salmon is too large a fish for the great bulk 
of the inland lakes, and should be planted mainly in the 
rivers emptying into the Great Lakes. The brook trout 
work commences about this time at the hatchery at Po- 
kagon, the take being from two to three hundred thou- 
sand eggs. 
On October 14, 1877, George Clark died, and was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Joel C. Parker, of Grand Rapids, who con- 
tinued as Commissioner by successive appointments until 
January 1, 1893. _He held the office of Commissioner con- 
tinuously longer than any other member, and gave much 
valuable work and thought to the subject of fishculture. 
The appropriations for the years 1877 and 1878 were 
seven thousand dollars a year. Twenty-eight States were 
now engaged in fishculture. The plant of whitefish for 
1878 reached the figures of upwards of twelve and a 
half millions, and for 1879 upwards of fourteen and a half 
millions. During these two years the work on California 
and land-locked salmon and trout and eels continued, and 
two new varieties, the German carp and the California or 
rainbow trout were introduced. 
The appropriations for the years 1879 and 1880 were cut 
down to five thousand a year. On July 1, 1879, George H. 
Jerome resigned as Superintendent, and was succeeded 
September 15, 1879, by James G. Portman, of Watervliet, 
