l8 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



excess of the number to be obtained by the Commission. The spring spawning fishes, 

 and some of those spawning in the fall, should be planted in the fry stage of their 

 existence, as it is not practicable at this time to attempt to rear them to yearlings, 

 except, perhaps, in the case of shad; and where 1,000 are now planted, 100,000 should 

 be planted to make them sufficiently abundant to be within the means of every one in 

 the State to obtain. 



It is our wish and our duty to so manage the affairs of the Commission as to 

 produce the best edible fishes in abundance and cheapen this important food product. 



Heretofore the Commission has been hampered by lack of facilities to bring about 

 this' desired result, but with such a plant as is here recommended, the Commission 

 should, and doubtless will, be able to increase the commercial fishes of the State in a 

 manner commensurate' with the demands of the people. 



We feel that we must utter a word of caution to those who apply for fish, particu- 

 larly for the different species of trout, other than lake trout, and for black bass. The 

 annual applications call for more of these fish than it is possible to supply under the 

 most favorable conditions. Applications are made for 25,000 trout, when the water 

 named may not support more than 5,000. The question of food for the fish seems not 

 to be considered, and really it is of vital importance. Without food in abundance fish 

 will not thrive any more than farm stock. Last year the applications for black bass 

 amounted in the aggregate to several millions, while the State, by strenuous effort, 

 was able to obtain less than 20,000, and some of them had to be purchased. One 

 application called for one million black bass for Lake Ontario, when we were looking 

 to this lake to furnish a srnall number of black bass for other waters. During thirteen 

 years of the life of the New York Fish Commission a total of 8,043 small-mouthed, 

 and 4,821 large-mouthed bass were distributed, or a grand total of 12,864, an d from 

 this it will be seen how idle it is to ask for black bass in million lots. 



A dozen adult black bass thoroughly protected will do wonders in the way of 

 stocking a pond. 



A trout stream can be more certainly stocked by planting 5,000 fry annually in 

 the headwater rivulets of the stream than by turning in 25,000 in one year and leaving 

 it to fate. If there is no food for the fish in the stream planted, it is simply a waste 

 of fish to plant them. We have just received a letter on the subject, from which we 

 make an extract. 



A good trout stream in this State seemed to lack fish food, and it was suggested 

 to a resident at its headwaters to plant shrimps for food. He not only planted the 

 shrimps, obtained from the Caledonia Station, but procured a lot of trout eggs from 

 the United States Fish Commission and hatched and planted them. A small pond 

 was built on a tributary stream and in it the fry were placed and reared until they 



