XXVIII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF F1SII AND FISHERIES: 
length of the west end of the building. Twenty-four special aquaria 
were built at the station and occupy 130 running feet in the annex. 
Besides being carefully fitted into paper work of massive and orna- 
mental character, in imitation of stone, the whole was housed in with 
glass, requiring a considerable amount of varied work. In addition to 
tlie above, twelve large and substantial aquaria were constructed for 
the reception of fry on the hatching tables. 
Preparations for Expositions . — During the year exhibits were sent to 
the Ohio Valley Exposition, held at Cincinnati, and to Augusta, Ga. 
More than a month’s time was spent in preparing for the Cincinnati 
exhibition, all the station employes and also outside help being engaged. 
FISH PONDS, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
Mr. Rudolph Hessel, superintendent, accompanied the original im-' 
portation of carp from Germany to the United States and has been in 
charge of the breeding and rearing ponds in Washington since they 
were first established. The totals area under pond cultivation is now 
about 19 acres. The entire production of carp, goldfish, and tench in 
1888 was 200,000, or about 10,000 to the acre. In 1889 the promise of 
increased production was very favorable, but an unusual flood in the 
Potomac submerged the ponds to a depth of 9 or 10 feet, and the greater 
portion of adult and young fish escaped into the river. At the same 
time many of the native fishes of the Potomac obtained entrance into 
the ponds, and preyed upon the young fish which had not escaped dur- 
ing the season of high water. As a result, the production of the ponds 
for the year was small, and only a limited proportion of the requests on 
file for carp and goldfish could be supplied.- 
Shad . — Nearly 3,000,000 shad fry were placed in the west pond in 
May, 1888. These were held in the ponds during the summer, but 
were not fed; on the natural food found in the ponds they made rapid 
growth. In October, when the young shad were released in the Poto- 
mac River, they had attained an average length of 3 inches. It was 
not possible to determine by actual count the number of fish liberated, 
but conservative estimates placed the number at 50 per cent of the 
number of fry placed in the pond. These results were as satisfactory 
as they were unexpected, and indicated a new departure in fish-cultural 
work, which promises important consequences. 
In April, 1889, the same pond was stocked with about 4,000,000 
shad fry. These had by the 1st of June attained a length of three 
quarters of an inch, when a flood swept the entire crop into the river. 
Only a few hundred remained in the pond, and these, when the water 
was drawn off in October, had acquired a length of from 6 to 8 inches, 
thus illustrating, in a very striking way, the rapid growth made by 
fishes when there is an abundant supjfly of food, and other conditions 
are favorable. 
