78 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



99,600 were shipped to private applicants and other stations, and the 

 balance were retained for hatching. The first of the fry made their 

 appearance on January 2, and although the eggs had apparently been 

 of poor quality, the fish were strong and healthy, and at the close of 

 the year there were 97,000 on hand. The eggs from the 2-year-old 

 trout were kept separate and hatched about the same percentage as 

 the others, the fry from them being as strong as those from the older 

 fish, and the losses among them no heavier. 



There were no epidemics of any kind during the year and no losses 

 of old trout except in one instance, where 425 of the 2-year-old fish 

 were lost during the night. There is no accounting for this except 

 on the theory that the water supply was cut off in some way in the 

 night, though it was running in the morning. 



The black-bass ponds were drawn as usual in July and the young 

 transferred to troughs and supplied with water from pond 5. The 

 loss during the summer was much larger than usual, and of the 15,145 

 placed in the troughs only 8,765, or about 58 per cent, remained in 

 the fall when the distribution was undertaken. In the spring the 

 brood-fish were again placed in ponds 4, 10, and 11, and though there 

 appear to be many young fish in them, no estimate can be made as to 

 the exact number. Several thousand, three-fourths of an inch long, 

 were taken from pond 11 and transferred to Nos. 9 and 16, where they 

 have grown rapidly. Observations this season seem to indicate that 

 there is a much longer period of time between the hatching of the 

 young bass and the absorption of the sac than has generally been 

 supposed. It is believed at this station that it does not disappear in 

 less than ten days and sometimes lasts two weeks. 



One of the ponds which had been set aside for the rearing of straw- 

 berry bass was drawn on July 24 and 25, but owing to heat and the 

 difficulty encountered in handling the young fish it was decided, after 

 5,000 had been taken out, to allow the pond to fill and leave the bal- 

 ance of the fish until cooler weather. On September 11 it was again 

 drawn and 6,000 young transferred to the troughs. From all of the 

 ponds 17,279 were taken, but the fish were so frail and so hard to feed 

 that only 7,804 were distributed. It is noted that the young of this 

 species are more liable to attacks of fungus than any of the other 

 basses. The breeders were placed in ponds 3 and 7, but it has been 

 impossible to make any observations of their spawning habits, owing 

 to the unusual roiliness of the water; but this feature is favorable to 

 the production of young, and it is thought there will be a good crop 

 when the ponds are drawn in the fall. It is believed that these fish 

 are very prolific and could be distributed in large quantities were it 

 possible to handle them in the summer like the other basses. 



It had been determined not to draw down the ponds containing 

 the young rock bass until cool weather, but in order to supply appli- 

 cants from Quincy it became necessary during a very warm spell to 

 remove them from the pond. The results were very disappointing, as 



