REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 41 



It was noticed that the number of females exceeded the number of 

 males, and to such an extent at times that it became impossible to 

 secure an adequate amount of milt. At Quimby mill-pond, 4,000 eggs 

 were fertilized with mill taken at Lake Mitchell (about 2 miles dis- 

 tant) several hours earlier. On November 24 the traps and racks 

 were removed and the fish liberated. It was then found that most of 

 the males were ripe, just twentj^-five days after the last female had 

 been stripped. This peculiarity was attributed to the drought. 



Lake Dunmore is in the town of Salisbury and has an area of about 

 3,000 acres, one-half of which is suitable for lake trout and bass. 

 The other half is shallow and is inhabited by pickerel and other coarse 

 varieties. An examination of the spawning-grounds in 1898 seemed 

 to indicate that a large number of lake-trout eggs could be secured, 

 consequently on October 16 a field station was established and a care- 

 ful watch of the spawning-beds was kept. A camp was started, 

 troughs set up and connected with a spring, and a trap was set near 

 the spawning-grounds off White Rocks. No fish were caught and 

 the position of the net Avas changed, but with no better success. On 

 the 25th of October 208 lake trout were captured by using a 200-foot, 

 gill net as a seine off Birch Point, about a half mile from White Rocks, 

 the catch being made between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m. As soon as it was 

 discovered that they could be taken in apparatus of this character a 

 40-rod seine was used and 761 were captured b}^ the 14th of Novem- 

 ber, 639 being males. Of the females 102 were ripe and yielded 

 212,000 eggs. The fish averaged 3^ pounds in weight, though the 

 largest weighed nearly 15 pounds. Difficult}^ was also experienced 

 here in securing milt, in one instance over 100 males being handled 

 in order to obtain enough to fertilize the eggs from 12 females. • Only 

 about 84.5 per cent of the eggs taken were successfully^ eyed. The 

 station was closed on December 20 and the eggs transferred. 



A field station was established at the Averill ponds, principallj^ for 

 the collection of golden trout (aureolus) and incidentally for brook 

 trout, both species being abundant there, but no ripe fish of either' 

 species were captured, though an assistant was kept at the ponds 

 throughout the spawning season. 



Arrangements were made with the State Commission to collect at 

 Roxbury, and as a result 340,000 eyed eggs were secured. 



The total collections of eyed eggs transferred from all points to St. 

 Johnsbury amounted to 820,000 of the brook trout and 212,000 of the 

 lake trout. In addition to these, 30,000 rainbow-trout eggs were trans- 

 ferred from Manchester, 40,000 landlocked-salmon eggs from Maine 

 stations, 55,000 steelhead-trout eggs from Clackamas, and 72,000 gray- 

 ling eggs from Bozeman, all arriving in excellent condition except the 

 rainbows. These came in two lots and were transferred from a tem- 

 perature of 42° to 33". The losses on both lots occurred chiefly about 

 a month after their receipt and just as they commenced to hatch, 

 only about 800 fry resulting from the two consignments. 



