past, been out of its banks at such seasons of the year as made 

 it possible for the breeding fisli to go out and find spawning 

 grounds, while, on the other liand, the Illinois river has, every 

 season, overflowed its banks before the spawning season. As a 

 result the fish have sought that river and gone into it in search 

 of such breeding grounds. This has given it a very plentifui 

 supply, and left in the overflowed places millions of fish. 



The extremely hot weather early in the summei* caused a rapid 

 diminution of the water in these places, and they soon became cor- 

 respondingly low, many of them becoming entirely dry very early 

 in the season, and that so rapidl}^ that we could not take fish 

 out and furnish transportation for them fast enough to utilize 

 all. It should be remembered that the fish planted were, for the 

 greater part, from four to fourteen inches in length, and there- 

 fore fully capable of protecting themselves against their natural 

 enemies, and that the planting of such sized fish naturally pre- 

 supposes a large increase in the spring following such plant. 



We regard the rescuing and distributing of the fish from these 

 drying ponds, where otherwise they would inevitably perish, as 

 one of the most economical and practical methods of re-stock- 

 ing our streams ever used. All the fish so planted are adapted 

 to any of the waters of our State, and the cost of taking, 

 planting, etc., is very small when compared with that of arti- 

 ficial propagation. 



During the season last past the bass and croppie have pre- 

 dominated in the plants, and no more valuable and satisfactory^ 

 varieties could be found. 



Some idea of the number of fish that must perish annually 

 may be had when it is known that from one point of operation 

 alone, viz.: Along the Wabash Railway , opposite Meredosia. where 

 the overfiow of the Illinois river covers thousands of acres when 

 at its height, but which, when the river falls within its banks, 

 is drawn do\vn into a series of lakes and flats covering but a 

 few acres, we took, during this and last season, over thirty car- 

 loads of game fish for distribution, besides hundreds of thou- 

 sands of fish which we put into the river itself. At the present 

 writing this place is perfectly dry, so that if the fish had been 

 left there they must all have died. This is, of course, but one 

 of numberless points of overflow, only a few of which we were 

 able to work successfully, owing in part to the ditfieulty of get- 

 ting ti-ansportation, and, in some cases, to their being too far 

 from the river to permit our handling them at all. 



In the early summer the extreme heat ]U"evented any long 

 hauls for fish. On one or two days the thermometer showed 

 the tempei'ature of the water in the river at Meredi sia to be 

 90 degrees, and in Meredosia Bay, 93 degrees. The fish in live- 

 boxes during this extreme weather simjily cooked, but this state 

 of affairs did not exist for any considerable length of time, and 

 the black bass, when placed in the tanks in cars, where the 

 temperature could be regulated by the use of ice. carried well, 



