REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 57 



held in the ponds as an experiment. Thej^ have {i^rown well so far 

 and it is hoped they will spawn next season. 



Owing to the unsatisfactor}^ condition of the ponds the black- bass 

 work at this station has not been successful in the past, but it is 

 hoped, with the improvements made during the past year, that better 

 results will be secured hereafter. Early in the sjjring the brood stock, 

 consisting of 82 large-mouth and 47 small-mouth bass, was transferred 

 to the breeding-ponds. Large beds of clean creek gravel were provided 

 for nest building, and b}^ June a number of nests containing young fish 

 and eggs had been observed. The fry will be transferred to rearing- 

 ponds as soon as they are large enough and every effort will be made to 

 rear a good crop. 



For the reasons given above rock-bass culture has been a failure 

 during the past few years. The brood stock has been increased and 

 there are now 190 on hand. These were placed in the ponds in the 

 spring and artificial portable nests (heretofore described) provided for 

 t'hem. Nearly all the 100 nests put in the ponds have been occupied, 

 and a number of fry have been noted, though it is impossible to give 

 an estimate at this season of the number on hand. 



About 20 adult carp are kept at the station. In May the}^ are 

 placed in the trout ponds for the purpose of cleaning out foreign 

 matter and for destroying the lime plant, algae, etc. As soon as they 

 spawn the fry are transferred to the bass ponds as- food for young bass. 



In December, 1896, about 4,000 eggs of the quinnat salmon were 

 received from the Cape Vincent station. The eggs were hatched and 

 a part of the fry were distributed at the age of one and two years, 

 about 1,000 being retained for further developments. From the time 

 of hatching up to the yearling stage these fish made a very fine 

 growth, but in the spring of the third year they began to grow weak 

 and to lose their sight. The disease continued through the summer 

 and fall, and but few of them were alive by the following winter. 

 The balance were planted in the spring, as it was feared they would 

 all die in the ponds. The water in the pond in which they were con- 

 fined was less than 4 feet in depth, and it is supposed this was the 

 cause of the failure to acclimatize them. 



Edenton Station, North Carolina (S. G. Worth, Superintendent). 



Mr. S. G. Worth was appointed superintendent on July I and took 

 charge of the station on the 14th, relieving Mr. G. A- Schneider, who 

 had been directing the work of construction. 



Notwithstanding the incomplete condition of the station, steps were 

 taken early in March to organize a force for the collection and hatch- 

 ing of shad eggs. There were no trained spawn-takers available in 

 the vicinity, as the fish-cultural work in recent years has been con- 

 ducted by the stenmer Fish Haivk-, consequently it became necessary 

 to transfer a few from Havre de Grace and Washington to be used as 

 a nucleus in training new men. In addition to other drawbacks the 



