FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. I 15 



food of salmon, as of all other fishes, both in salt and fresh water. But what I write to 

 say is this: Last May I was in the splendid aquarium of the Amsterdam Zoological 

 Gardens. There I found that all the fish were fed on cntomostraca, and that herrings, 

 soles, cod, paradise fish from China, and odd fish of all sorts from the Tropics and 

 last, but not less, the sea anemones, all ate them greedily. The particular ejitomostraca 

 used when I was there were water-fleas, caught in muslin nets in some nice dirty ponds 

 frequented by the water fowl. In the net they looked like red sawdust, and not less so 

 when thrown into the water." 



Professor Verrill, in his report upon the invertebrate animals of Vineyard Sound, 

 says: "These small Crustacea are of great importance in connection with our fisheries, 

 for we have found that they, together with the shrimp, constitute a very large part of 

 the food of our more valuable edible fishes, both of fresh and salt waters. Even the 

 smallest of these are by no means despised or overlooked, even by the large and power- 

 ful fishes, that could easily capture larger game. Even the voracious bluefish will 

 feed upon these small crustaceans where they can be easily obtained, even when men- 

 haden and other fishes are plenty in the same locality. They are also the favorite food 

 of trout, lake whitefish, shad, etc." 



It is not necessary to pursue this subject further, for it will probably be admitted 

 that the Crustacea figured in this paper are admirable for fish food under all con- 

 ditions which obtain in the wild waters of this State, and it is abundantly proven that 

 large fish as well as the young feed on minute creatures. 



Fishing with a companion for lake trout in the spring when the fish were near the 

 surface of the water, we encountered a flight of small black flies. They were in 

 clouds, and it was difficult to keep them from our eyes and nostrils. The lake was 

 perfectly still, and after a time the flies settled on the water and I called the attention 

 of my companion to the trout feeding on the flies, and how quietly they moved along 

 and sucked the insects in without making more than a very slight disturbance on the 

 surface of the water. He could not believe that big lake trout would turn their atten- 

 tion from the abundance of whitefish breaking in schools all over the lake to feed on 

 the insignificant flies, but every trout that was caught had its throat stuffed with the 

 flies. 



The principal object of this paper is to call attention to the necessity of providing 

 food for our food fishes ; to illustrate some of the fish foods; explain how they may 

 be transplanted with little or no expense and how it may be determined whether the 

 water desired to be stocked contains suitable food for the fish to be planted. 



Fig. 13 is a test net made of cheese cloth with a wide-mouthed bottle of clear 

 glass tied in at the bottom. To Mr. Charles G. Atkins I am indebted for the original 

 form of this test net. With this simple net, which anyone can make for himself, it is 



