FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



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The lake trout, called improperly in the statutes salmon trout, is a fish of deep, 

 cold water, and it also lives largely on one or another of the whitefishes, because they 

 inhabit the same deep, cold water; but the lake trout have been planted in Adirondack 

 lakes, where they drag out a miserable existence for lack, solely, of proper food. 



Doubtless, many streams that were once trout brooks could be restocked if proper 

 food was supplied, and failures to restock them may be traceable directly to the lack of 

 food if the subject is investigated. Changed conditions may have operated against the 

 food supply rather than against the fish. Fishes are probably creatures of habit as 

 well as man, and if they are supplied only with food which is found at the bottom they 

 will look to the bottom for it, and not look to the surface, where the angler casts his 

 flies ; so the food question is one that relates more than anything else to the condition 

 of the fish, as their habits may be changed by a change of food that causes them to 

 look up for it rather than down. 



Caledonia Creek, as it is generally known, on which is situated the hatching station 

 of same name, the first built by the State, has long been famous for the excellence of 

 its trout, and not alone for the excellence , 



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of its trout, but for the large number of 

 trout sustained in perfect condition. Prof. 

 J. A. Lintner, the State Entomologist, who 

 has examined the insects and other ani- 

 mal forms of Caledonia Creek, says it is 

 believed that the trout abound therein in 

 numbers more remarkable than in any 

 other natural locality in the United States ; 

 and he says of the food : " I found the 

 mosses and plants swarming with insect 

 forms, Crustacea, etc., to such an extent 

 as I had never seen before, and which I 

 could not believe to be a fair representa- 

 tion of the fauna of Caledonia Creek." He 

 was informed that no living forms had 

 been placed in the can containing the 

 mosses for examination, except those con- 

 tained in the plants when gathered. Com- 

 missioner Babcock has pulled a single tutt 

 of moss from the creek, and estimated that 

 there were fifty fresh water shrimps on it. Fig. 1 is a thin tuft of the moss (natural 

 size) from Caledonia Creek, attached to a pebble and having small water insects, 



Fig. 1. Moss From Caledonia Creek. 



