KEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 9 



lent results attained by the introduction of these fishes east of the 

 Rocky Mountains have made it difficult to meet the demands made 

 during the past few years. While the stations established for this 

 purpose have shown fairly good results, an auxiliary collecting station 

 recently located on the Mississippi River at Bellevue, Iowa, enabled 

 the Commission during the past year, at comparatively small expense, 

 to materially increase its supply of the large-mouth black bass, the 

 crappie, and some of the other sun-fishes. In the Mississippi Valley 

 thousands of the commoner fishes which had been left by the receding 

 waters in the ponds and lakes which are formed by overflows, and 

 which dry up annuallj^ have been transferred to the main river or 

 some of its tributaries, and thus preserved. 



The stocking of suitable streams with the various species of trout 

 has been continued, special attention being paid to the distribution 

 of brook trout, rainbow trout, and black-spotted trout. In New 

 England the extent of the work with landlocked salmon and trout 

 was impaired b}^ the severe drought which prevailed throughout that 

 section during the fall of 1899. In Vermont and New Hampshire 

 large numbers of fish were lost by the drying up of streams which 

 had heretofore never been affected in this manner, and in Maine the 

 water in many of the large lakes became so low that the trout and the 

 landlocked salmon were not able to ascend the streams to spawn, 

 which, of course, resulted in a material reduction of the number of 

 eggs collected. 



An investigation during the fall of 1899 shows that a large number 

 of Atlantic salmon passed over the falls at Bangor and reached the 

 spawning-grounds at the headwaters of the Penobscot, and from what 

 was learned it is believed that an auxiliary station for the collection 

 of eggs of this species on the natural spawning-grounds of this fish 

 may be profitably established and the supply obtained to better 

 advantage than by the methods now followed. 



The propagation of the grayling at the Bozeman station has been 

 continued, and during the spring of 1900 over 3,500,000 eggs were 

 collected, the majority of which will be hatched at Bozeman for 

 stocking the streams of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, 

 although consignments have been sent to Colorado, Minnesota, and 

 Michigan and some of the eastern stations with a view to introducing 

 these fish in other waters. 



The following tables show the output of the various stations, the 

 total number of fishes distributed by species, and the number of fish 

 and eggs furnished to the States and Territories during the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1900. 



