198 First Annual Report of the 



in that way during the winter. Eldridge lake is well supplied 

 with aquatic plants, and is fifty feet deep in the center. It has 

 no inlet, but is fed by springs. 



Maskalonge. 



On May 8, 1911, the foreman of the Chautauqua hatchery 

 reported as follows: 



" With to-day's take of 'longe eggs we have 230 quarts, 9,660.- 

 000 eggs, which is the largest number, according to records here, 

 taken since the years 1898 and 1899, when 10,020,000 were se- 

 cured each year. Ten quarts more will break the record, and it 

 looks very encouraging. * * * 



" I have the head of a 'longe that we got to-day that weighed 

 40 pounds, 4 feet 2 inches long; greatest girth 24 inches; caudal 

 fin 11% inches spread out." 



On May 10th he reported that the take of maskalonge eggs 

 on that day broke all records. 



On May 23d the foreman reported that during the egg-collecting 

 season for maskalonge eleven pound nets were used and 2,395 mas- 

 kalonge were taken. Of this number 1,295 were ripe males and 

 303 ripe females. Two hundred and fifty-four quarts of eggs were 

 obtained, representing 10,668,000 eggs. From these eggs 8,600,- 

 000 fry were distributed. 



Complaints are occasionally received by the Commission of 

 the Joss of fry in transit. It is always risky to carry maska- 

 longe far from their native waters, especially in a hot season. 



On April 27, 1911, the foreman had collected 14,500 eggs. 

 Cold weather has retarded the spawning, but conditions were more 

 favorable toward the end of April. 



In the spring of 1911 the foreman at the Chautauqua Station 

 reported that the glass tubes used in the Meehan hatching jars 

 are very destructive to maskalonge eggs, and he suspected that 

 they also injured the eggs of lake herring. The first maska- 

 longe eggs taken were run with the glass tubes and became a total 

 loss, after which he changed to the bell-mouthed tube. He made 

 a test, using a tube of each kind on some eggs that came out of 

 the same pan when put up and found that the one with the glass 

 tube soon killed the eggs, causing over one-half of them to turn 

 white in less than twenty-four hours, while the eggs with the bell- 

 mouthed tube were good. 



