208 The National Geographic Magazine 



of Atlantic salmon, Sebago salmon, trout, 

 codfish, flounders, and lobsters ; on the 

 Great Lakes for whitefish, lake trout, and 

 wall-eyed pike; on the rivers of the Mid- 

 dle and South Atlantic States for shad; 

 in the central and upper Mississippi Val- 

 ley for trout and black bass; in the Gulf 

 States for black bass and other pond spe- 

 cies; atBozeman, Montana, for grayling 

 and various Salmonidae, and on the Pa- 

 cific coast for the Chinook and sockeye 

 salmon and the steelhead trout. 



The total number of species of fishes 

 and other aquatic animals that are or 

 have been propagated by the Bureau 

 exceeds ioo. With few exceptions, 

 these are all exclusively American spe- 

 cies, and the methods for their artificial 

 propagation have been developed wholly 

 in this country. 



The output of the hatcheries has in- 

 creased enormously, especially during 

 the last six years. We no longer speak 

 of hatching thousands of fry, but of 

 millions and hundreds of millions. The 

 number of eggs, fry, fingerlings, and 

 adult fish distributed by the Bureau in 

 1902 aggregated one and one-half bill- 

 ions. 



In distributing this enormous output 

 the Bureau employs five cars, each built 

 especially for this business and owned 

 by the Bureau. Each of these cars 

 is in charge of a car captain, who has 

 the necessary assistants. Each car is 

 equipped with tanks, in which the fish 

 are carried, facilities for aerating the 

 water and for keeping the water pure 

 and cool. There is a small engine in 

 each, adequate cooking facilities, sleep- 

 ing berths like the upper berths in the 

 standard Pullman, and an office for the 

 captain. These cars are kept almost 

 constantly employed, and travel all 

 over the United States. 



EXCELLENT RESULTS OF ARTIFICIAL 

 PROPAGATION 



The good results of the artificial prop- 

 agation of food and game fishes by the 



federal government are no longer ques- 

 tioned by any one who is at all informed 

 regarding such matters. Equally good 

 results have not been obtained with all 

 the species handled. That would be 

 entirely too much to expect. With 

 some species, as the sturgeon, the re- 

 sults so far are very unsatisfactory. 

 With the Atlantic salmon we do not 

 know whether the supply has been in- 

 creased by artificial propagation or not, 

 but with practically all the other species 

 now propagated it is certain that excel- 

 lent results have been secured. It is 

 certain that the shad, whitefish, lake 

 trout, and pike perch fisheries, each of 

 vast importance, have not only been 

 saved from entire depletion, but that 

 they have been maintained, chiefly 

 through artificial propagation, at a high 

 degree of productiveness. That these 

 fisheries are industries today, valued at 

 nearly $3,000,000 annually, is due en- 

 tirely to artificial propagation by the 

 Bureau of Fisheries. 



Important food- and game-fishes are 

 now found in abundance in waters of 

 the United States where they did not 

 exist until planted there by the Bureau 

 of Fisheries. Many examples might be 

 cited, but a few will suffice. 



Yellowstone Park. — Originally, the ma- 

 jority of the lakes and streams of Yel- 

 lowstone Park were entirely without fish 

 of any kind. In 1889 the government 

 began making plants of various species 

 of trout in the different barren waters ; 

 now trout are abundant in all these 

 waters, and there are practically no re- 

 strictions on angling. 



Lake Superior. — The steelhead trout, 

 native only to our Pacific coast, has 

 been introduced into streams tributary 

 to Lake Superior. It has done well, 

 and now thousands of dollars are spent 

 in that region every year by anglers 

 who go there to fish for steelhead trout. 



The range of the black bass, yellow 

 perch, crappie, brook trout, rainbow 

 trout, Sebago salmon, cutthroat trout, 



