THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 1 38 1 



for fish for private waters and many of those for pubhc streams and lakes are 

 transmitted through and receive the indorsement of a United States Senator 

 or Representative. The fish are carried to their destination in railroad cars or 

 by messengers who accompany the shipments in baggage cars. During the 

 fiscal year 1908 the Bureau received 8,284 applications for fish, nearly all for 

 game species. The demand, especially for the basses, crappies, and catfishes, 

 is greater than can be met with present resources. 



Fishes are distributed at various stages of development, according to the 

 species, the numbers in the hatcheries, and the facilities for rearing. The com- 

 mercial fishes, hatched in lots of many millions, are necessarily planted as fry. 

 It is customary to distribute them just before the umbilical sac is completely 

 absorbed. Atlantic salmon, landlocked salmon, and various species of trout, 

 in such numbers as the hatchery facilities permit, are reared to fingerlings 

 from I to 6 inches in length; the remainder are distributed as fry. The basses 

 and sunfishes are distributed from the fish-cultural stations and ponds from 

 some three weeks after they are hatched until they are several months of age. 

 When the last lots are shipped the basses usually range from 4 to 6 inches and 

 the sunfishes from 2 to 4 inches in length. The numerous fishes collected in 

 overflowed lands — basses, crappies, sunfishes, catfishes.yellow perch, and others — 

 are 2 to 6 inches in length when taken and distributed. Eggs are distributed 

 only to state hatcheries or to applicants who have hatchery facilities. 



To insure the best results from plants of fish, apphcants are required to 

 furnish full information as to the physical characters and present inhabitants 

 of the waters to be stocked, and the suitable species is determined by the Bureau; 

 black bass, for instance, are not furnished for waters stocked with trout, which 

 they would destroy, nor are trout consigned to waters already inhabited by 

 predaceous fishes. The number of fish allotted to any applicant is governed by 

 the available supply of that species, and the area and character of the water in 

 question. Some species, merely hatched and not reared, can, as above stated, 

 be produced by the hundred million. The allotments of these fry are corre- 

 spondingly large. The species reared at the hatcheries or collected from over- 

 flows are available in no such numbers, and 200 or 300 fingerUngs of these would 

 be all that could be supplied as compared with half a million of the other fry. 

 Species that are distributed as fry and also reared are of course supplied in much 

 larger numbers as fry than as fingerlings. The Bureau attempts only to furnish 

 a hberal brood stock, expecting that the fish will be protected until they have 

 had time to reproduce. 



Fish are delivered to applicants free of charge at the railroad station 

 nearest the point of deposit, and for this purpose is maintained a special car 

 and messenger service, which is one of the most important branches of the 

 fish-cultural work. In the early days baggage cars were employed, but these 



