Report of Fish Commissioners. 
255 
erecl, it can be excelled by any of the states provided with com¬ 
missioners. The number of springs, the fall, and their close prox¬ 
imity to each other, are all that we could desire. There is an 
abundance of water, pure and cold, and the fall in some of them, 
upwards of twenty feet, is such that there is no danger from sur¬ 
face or back-water. That part of the tract which lies below the 
springs is marshy, and contains eight or ten acres. The residue is 
timbered, and will furnish fuel for the hatching house for many 
years to come. The upland, when properly cleaned of underbrush, 
will make a fine park of eighteen or twenty acres. We did not 
require the quantity of land purchased, but were compelled to take 
the tract we did in order to secure the springs. A view of the 
premises will, we think, satisfy the legislature that the purchase 
was made in the interest of the state, and at a surprisingly low fig¬ 
ure. Private parties would gladly have taken the purchase at a 
much higher figure than that paid by the state, and to be used for 
the purpose of fish culture. Its adaptation to such purposes is all 
that we could ask. 
As soon as the site was purchased, we at once let the contract 
for the erecting of the hatching and tenement houses. In the 
mean time, we constructed a barn; this being necessary to give to 
the men shelter while performing the other work, and for subse¬ 
quent use by the superintendent. The buildings authorized by 
law have been completed and paid for under the contract. We 
feel authorized in saying that all the work done, including the 
fencing, as well as the fitting of the hatching house, has been done 
as well and economically as the same could have been done by a 
private person. We give the dimensions of the various structures: 
The tenement house is 20x30 feet, with a wing 18x22; the 
hatching house is 25x40 feet, and the barn 16x24, and with sur¬ 
roundings, is convenient for the superintendent’s purposes. The 
hatching house is located on a fine spring, with two ponds above 
it. It has a stone foundation, and the reservoir from which the 
water is admitted into the hatching troughs is about five feet above 
the floor. It is well and compactly built, painted outside, and is 
fitted up with a reservoir, and has now ten troughs. If desired, 
these can be increased. The buildings are constructed of good, 
seasoned timber. 
We invite a careful examination of all that we have done in the 
